TIME TO BUZZ BAD BOATIES

WATER quality fears are one extremely important reason for a crackdown on squatting boaties in the city’s showpiece Broadwater.

And isn’t it always the way? A minority abuse the system and ruin it for everyone else – in this instance, the boaties who monopolise the best spots to park their vessels, refuse to budge and dump sewage in the waterways.

The Gold Coast Waterways Authority is considering using drones to identify the culprits, claiming it is expensive to use a vessel and crew to rove the Broadwater, rivers and creeks hunting offenders.

There is sense in using a squadron of robotic spotters to monitor these people, but officials in uniform on authority vessels are still needed to deal with the problem elements once they are located. Many have parked themselves in the usual obvious spots — Bums Bay, for example.

The authority can’t afford to dither. The Southport Yacht Club has called for a clean-out of the squatters and a clean-up of the waterways before the Commonwealth Games. Club general manager Brett James summed it up when he said pumpout facilities are available around the Broadwater for boaties to empty effluent tanks, but “I don’t see a lot of these boats using them’’. Exactly. They occupy prime spots, won’t share, overstay their welcome and foul the water.

Whether pursued by drones or hunted out by officials, it’s time for them to go.