ACCESS to boat ramps on the Mornington Peninsula and Frankston will be improved after the state government awarded its annual dredging grants to various projects. The projects at Tootgarook, Dromana, and Kananook Creek boat ramps were announced on September 16 as part of the recreational boating access and dredging grants, which are provided through the government’s better boating fund.
The money will be used to dredge Anthony’s Nose boat ramp near Dromana using a long reach excavator, which will be undertaken for the first time by Dromana Foreshore Committee of Management thanks to a grant of $42,000.
Tootgarook boat ramp will be supported through $60,000 in funding to undertake its annual channel dredging while Mornington Peninsula Shire will receive $128,000 to help address local ramp dredging needs.
Frankston City Council will receive $125,000 in funding to further dredge near the boat ramp at the mouth of Kananook Creek, which occurs several times each year as part of an ongoing maintenance program to retain easy boating access onto Port Phillip.
The grants will be delivered through the Victorian Fisheries Authority’s (VFA) better boating division, which is currently undergoing the state’s biggest ever boat ramp construction program. “These annual dredging grants are a great example of how we’re reinvesting recreational boaters’ licence and registration fees into projects that improve the experience for everyone, and make getting out on the water easier,” Outdoor Recreation Minister Steve Dimopoulos said.
The VFA is working to ensure launching boats and parking is free at all public ramps. The Victorian Boating Associations’ chief executive Steve Walker said the grants were a “credit to Mornington Peninsula Shire and the committees of management along the coast there that make sure they put their applications in because it is a statewide contest”. “Some of those ramps have a lot of dredging need and it’s an essential service,” he said.
But Mr Walker added improvements could always be made to the Rye boat ramp, noting it was a case of “how can we use the money that we get for the compensated funds for the loss of parking revenue and how can we use every cent of that to improve the facilities and things like Rye boat ramp?” “Money could be put towards wave attenuation or something to improve the amount of days of the year when you can launch and retrieve there, especially when the northerly is blowing and it becomes unusable”.
First published in the Frankston Times – 24 September 2024