Boat row ramps up
CHOOSING the right places for new boat ramps and maintaining what we have in Townsville is vital for tourists and locals.
Townsville fishing charter operator Eddie Riddle and Hinchinbrook MP Nick Dametto have weighed into the issue. Mr Riddle, a fishing columnist for the Bulletin, said the priority for a new boat ramp in Townsville should be Alligator Creek, not the Bohle River.
“The Bohle is already serviced by the Stony Creek boat ramp ... it probably needs a little bit of maintenance but it does the Bohle River fairly well,” he said.
“The Bohle River is not a system that is all tide access to the bay, so a boat ramp there wouldn’t service anything but the Bohle River and on the other hand there’s no public ramp in Alligator Creek.”
This is in contrast to a State Government forecasting study, which rates a new ramp at Alligator Creek as a lower priority than one at the Bohle River.
Mr Dametto said problems with all- tide access at Townsville boat ramps was a safety issue.
“People that aren’t savvy to the area and are going out on high tide ... they get stuck out there on low tide waiting to come in,” he said.
“That’s very dangerous in my eyes.”
Mr Dametto said if there was an accident on the water it was a concern because of a lack of timely access to the systems.
Mr Dametto brought up the issue of boat ramps at Toomulla and Rollingstone to Transport and Main Roads Minster Mark Bailey
In an answer to the question on notice from the Hinchinbrook MP, Mr Bailey said there were difficulties with dredging to achieve alltide access for the boat ramps at the Northern Beaches.
“Particularly the constant change of depth, width and location of coastal entrances which makes dredging an expensive and short- term solution,” he said.
Mr Bailey said the Townsville Recreational Boating Park was finished in 2016.
“These facilities were built with the intention of providing all- tide access for communities within an hour’s drive. Both Toomulla and Rollingstone fall within this distance,” he said.