Bridport boat ramp dug out amidst Parks conditions
• Matthew Bayles and crew digging out the sand of the Bridport boat ramp last week to allow users better access over the summer months. Image supplied.
By Taylor Clyne
December 23, 2020
Work has moved ahead on the digging out of the Bridport boat ramp in a bid to make the space more user friendly for the summer months despite Parks placing twenty-five expensive conditions on Council.
The work was undertaken by Bridport’s Matthew Bayles last week who has, over the past few decades, completed the tasks three to four times a year depending on the tides and how much sand has washed into the area.
The work is done as a service to the community as without it the sand fills up so far that people are unable to launch a boat off the ramp.
Mayor Greg Howard explained that the recent work completed by Bayles was not under the direction of the Council.
“Tank [Bayles] has cleared away the sand as a service to the community for many years.
“It was only up until a few months ago when Council was receiving complaints from the community that the boat ramp was unusable, despite the fact that we had contributed Council funds in the past to assist with the repairs and maintenance of the ramp and pontoon that infrastructure has never belonged to Council as it is on Crown Land and Council does not have a lease or licence over it.
“Council referred the complaints to MAST who then made a monetary offer to assist with clearing out the sand.
This prompted Council to apply for a works order with Parks to undertake the work.
“However due to the unacceptable and completely onerous twenty-five conditions that Parks placed on our application we then referred it back to MAST to deal directly with Parks on the matter as the cost of meeting the conditions would run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Mayor Howard said.
“One of the ridiculous requirements is that all excavated sand must be transferred to an approved waste management site (Launceston City Council site at Remount Road) and treated
as if it were acid sulphate soils which clearly it is not.”
Council have yet to hear from Parks on the recent works and it's unclear what their next steps might be.
As for the community, they will be free to launch their boats in deep water during the summertime.