Additional berths for WA boat owners
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| Addressing the desperate shortage of boat pens for West Australian boat owners, the West Australian State Government is assessing the need for more pens at Geraldton and Exmouth boat harbours. Officially opening 67 new pens at Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour last month, Transport Minister Simon O'Brien said expressions of interest would soon be called by registered boat owners for 50 new pens at the Batavia Coast Marina and 44 pens at Exmouth Boat Harbour. Mr O'Brien said both proposed construction projects would rely on boaters prepaying mooring pen licence fees - a similar funding arrangement for the new state-of-the-art pens at Fremantle. The Minister said the success of the $3million Fremantle project, which saw the highly sought-after pens allocated by public ballot, had cleared the way for duplicate projects in the regions. "Growth in the recreational boating sector in recent years has increased demand for mooring facilities throughout the State and there are long waiting lists for pens at the Batavia Coast Marina and Exmouth Boat Harbour," he said. Geraldton MLA Ian Blayney welcomed the State Government's decision to examine the issue and said that the Geraldton boating community would welcome the enhanced infrastructure. "These new initiatives come only two weeks after the State Government announced that an additional $390,000 will be invested in Geraldton to improve traffic flow and parking at Batavia Marina," Mr Blayney said, who is proud to see an improvement in boating facilities. Mr O'Brien said during the past 10 years the number of larger registered vessels in WA measuring more than 7.5m in length has increased from 4,000 in 1998 to 7,200 in 2008 - an increase of more than 40 per cent. Projections show that by 2025 these numbers could double. "The Department of Transport will advertise shortly for expressions of interest in the new pens at Geraldton and Exmouth and people will be asked to make a financial commitment and clarify the size of pen required," the Minister said. "The department will assess the level of commitment from potential penholders and establish the scale of each project. Contact the Dept of Infrastructure for further information. | |
| Updated August 2009 | |
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