SAILABILITY Batemans Bay president John Clement said he was “mightily encouraged” by the Far South Coast Regional Boating Plan community information session on Tuesday night.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The meeting at Batemans Bay Soldiers’ Club was chaired by representatives of Roads and Maritime Services and Transport for NSW.
“It was very positive,” Mr Clement said.
Sailability, a club which provides opportunities for the disabled to participate, was one of many interest groups represented at the meeting.
Mr Clement said a common theme was the importance of putting a pontoon wharf on the south side of the Clyde River, west of Batemans Bay Bridge.
“Recreational fishers, kayakers and the houseboat people want pontoon access to the river and disabled access,” he said.
“The houseboat people also want better pumpout facilities.
“There is no pontoon access from the Batemans Bay bridge to Nelligen.”
However, Mr Clement said Eurobodalla Shire Council was a stumbling block.
“The old enemy is still on the horizon,” he said.
“RMS has offered to pay for a pontoon, but council does not want to maintain it, so they are against it,” he said.
Mr Clement said that no-one from Eurobodalla Shire Council spoke at the meeting.
Council’s infrastructure services director Warren Sharpe said he was there to “listen to the presentation and what the community had to say”.
He said the council had made a submission to the regional plan.
“The submission was about getting funding for marine infrastructure, such as Batemans Bay Marina and dredging at the Batemans Bay sandbar and Tuross boat ramp,” he said.
He said council opposed a pontoon wharf on the south side of the Clyde River, west of Batemans Bay Bridge, because it was a high wave area with several underlying cables.
