Boaties angry at marine madness

By Alison Noonan
TEMPERS are reaching boiling point in Casey’s coastal villages as hundreds of angry boaters battle for limited space at local jetties.
One fisherman said he waited for more than two hours to retrieve his boat at Warneet last weekend amid scenes of chaos and violence.
Granger Barnett said he counted 173 boats in Westernport Bay about 11am on Sunday and about 270 for the day.
“It’s just madness,” he said.
“Warneet has become one of the most popular launching spots in the area but the facilities just aren’t there to accommodate the huge number of boaters.
“It gets pretty fiery here on the weekend. There are often punchons when people are trying to get their boats in.
“It’s a nightmare.”
Bob O’Connell described the boating conditions at Warneet on the weekend as “very feral”.
“The car park was full and people were parked miles up the street.
“Boats had to circle for up to two and a half hours to retrieve their boats, which is absolutely ridiculous.
“There were a lot of frustrated people,” he said.
Mr O’Connell said he was often forced to rescue boats that had missed the tide and become stuck in mud at Blind Bight and Warneet.
“Everyone comes in at the same time because you can only retrieve your boat three hours either side of the tide.
“This causes a lot of drama when the water runs out and boats are stuck for hours on the mud.
“The facilities at all the coastal villages need to be improved, desperately in Blind Bight,” he said.
Balla Balla Ward councillor Colin Butler said council had rejected calls by the Central Coastal Board (CCB) to upgrade Warneet from a district to a regional boating facility.
Cr Butler said there was simply no room at Warneet to accommodate the major facility improvements associated with a regional ranking, with the area already stretched to capacity.
“Warneet can’t handle the boating it already has. There is no boat ramp capacity, the carpark is overflowing and the facilities aren’t up to scratch,” he said.
“It is that clogged up now it can’t handle any more development. Boaters are getting very annoyed because they can’t get out or in. But there’s just no room to expand.”
Cr Butler said council instead planned to develop Tooradin as a major tourist destination and bump its boating status from district to regional.
“Warneet is not a fishing port, it’s a residential coastal village.
“Development needs to be restricted at Warneet. It’s not just about fishing, it’s about the needs of the whole community.
“Tooradin is certainly a better place for further development. They could put in a better boat ramp and even dredge out a channel to get out to deeper water,” he said.
Cr Butler said council would submit its recommendation to the CCB to support Tooradin as a regional facility over Warneet.
He said council also suggested the CCB further develop alternative boating venues to the south, such as Corinella or Lang Lang, to ease the increasing demand on Casey’s facilities.
“We have to relieve our situation somehow,” he said.
“Now we just have to wait and see what they come up with. It should be very interesting.”