Moira Shire Council has given in-principal support for a management solution that would allow residents to use the boat ramp.
In September last year, Council began a process of community engagement following concerns from the Yarrawonga Holiday Park that public access to the boat ramp caused operational and safety challenges and difficulties implementing improvements.
Council initially said the new public boat ramp at Cullens Road had better access, parking and safety, but locals disagreed.
They said the Cullens Rd ramp is too shallow, that the gradient is wrong and the sealed access stops once you get to the gates.
A public appeal by some of the men who regularly use the boat ramp resulted in 517 responses to Council with 98 per cent agreeing it should remain open to the public.
A more detailed survey, with 158 respondents plus written submissions, echoed the poll’s results.
Council then asked for a traffic count to be undertaken, which found an average of 25 boats per week using the ramp in March to May this year.
Moira Shire Council chair administrator, Dr Graeme Emonson said community consultation and the traffic count had shown strong public support for continued access to the boat ramp, but Council also wanted to support the committee with their development of a masterplan for the site.
A plan is now under consideration to allow locals to access the boat ramp through an automated gate system, as part of a broader masterplan.
Dr Emonson said a boom gate installed to control traffic at the front of the park would satisfy the committee’s requirements while allowing continued public access.
Regular users, the Yarrawonga Holiday Park management committee and the Yarrawonga Canoe Club all agree the biggest issue is a lack of maintenance with erosion for about 600m of riverbank downstream an ongoing problem.
The boat ramp was built by community volunteers and decisions involving it are complicated by the fact that nobody knows who owns it.
Earlier this year, Goulburn Murray Water (GMW) dam safety engineer and storage manager at Yarrawonga Weir, Peter Klowss told fisherman, Doug Mcqueen the date of construction and the ownership of the boat ramp was unknown.
The southern bank of the Murray River, where the boat ramp is located, is under New South Wales jurisdiction.
The adjacent land on the Victorian bank, above the boat ramp is under Victorian DEECA jurisdiction.
Currently access to the boat ramp remains unchanged.
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