The storms over the past week have bought their usual heavy seas that we have come to associate with such lows. While there were a few trees blown over the area faired better than expected and those associated with fishing did the right thing in staying away from the water. The south easterly winds however whipped up the Clyde River bringing further erosion to an already heavily eroded Surfside, this time in the area of Korners Park where John Holland are constructing a temporary double lane boat ramp.
Photos courtesy of a resident
While temporary it was meant to last for a few years to provide boating access to the Clyde River while the new bridge is being built. It now appears that they will have to go back to the drawing board. The provision of a temporary boatramp is part of the agreement that the RMS have with the local recreational fishers and the boating community with the deal coming about due to the RMS and John Holland needing to close the existing Northern and Southern boatramps adjacent to the bridge. The northern boatramp was closed several weeks ago and the Lions Park ramp on the southern side was due to close as soon as this new boatramp was opened. The Lions Park ramp remains opened even though John Holland has already installed a crane and has begun pylon construction on the southern side. It is unfortunate that the new boatramp has been undermined as it was hoped that it would be in play for the long weekend and for the gala local fishing competition. Local fishers and boaters are already asking questions around what will come next. Recreational fishers and locals alike warned engineers that the sand they were placing the temporary boat ramp on was highly susceptible to erosion and at best required pinning to the substrata. It is inevitable that there will need to be a full reassessment of the temporary boatramp however time is pressing for John Holland to take control of the southern boatramp so that they can focus entirely on the bridge construction and close the site off. This will require anyone wishing to launch into the Clyde River to either do so from Nelligen or from Hanging Rock. To launch from Hanging Rock however requires that a boat be prepared for open sea with additional safeguards such as flares aboard. To launch from Hanging Rock without the additional requirement is a breach of the law.
