I think something along the Lines of

"Geoff,

Re: rous head ramp

Build it!

Regards,
West Australian Fishermen"

I was thinking of something a bit more constructive, but considering it will be snuffed out before it gets anywhere near geoff's office, a well written piece probably won't go far anyway.. But that hasn't stopped me before and it won't in the future, something must be done, and its time is now..

As far as I know regarding this issue there has been some reasonably detailed work done that looks at the issues such as :
1. The unnecessary pollution in the Swan from all the boats having to travel from EF to the heads.
2. The unnecessary fuel usage for the same journey and the resultant greenhouse gas production.
3. The vessel congestion and riverbank damage from wake formation at peak times.
I think the issues from the first two points when looked at over a twelve month period would add up to some fairly substantial figures .I know marine propulsion systems are continually evolving into more efficient and less polluting animals which is great , the problem is that as that occurs we keep strapping more and more horses on the transom to negate the effect to some degree.
If the argument was couched in an environmental manner you would imagine that Green Grandstand Gallop (He who would attend the opening of an envelope if there was going to be an audience)given his track record of targeting so called environmental issues whilst ignoring scientific evidence would be hard pressed to refuse.

Agree 100%. I spose the problem for Geoff is justifying the money spent on building a new ramp compared to spending it on other sectors which require funding?

The environmental impact on the river would be significantly reduced if the level of fishermen launching/retrieving from EF was placed at the heads. I spose it still doesn't resolve the issue of the big diesels that want to just cruise up and down the river, but surely less traffic on the water could only be a good thing for the points you mentioned. The weekends at East Fremantle ramp have got to the stage where something serious is going to happen one of these days, too many boats, with too many people wanting to cut in, too many people not thinking about others and this can only lead to trouble in my opinion.

I really want to know the reasoning why it hasn't been built, or if the government has even considered it, or why they have rejected it.

It seems that this issue has been brought up before. Item 4 of RecFishWest's Electronic Bulletin Feb 2004 states

"Recfishwest has received a request from the Boat Ramp Action Group for support to lobby for a new boat ramp facility at Rous Head. So far the group has gathered over 1000 signatures and is hoping for another 3000 to present to the Legislative Assembly in March. You can give you support by contacting Josephine Muir at jo@theloudspeakerkit.com"

Maybe we send Jo a line and see what the situation is? 

Another interesting thing is that the Department of Planning and Infrastructure Annual Report 2002 has a Rous Head Boat Launching Facility on the agenda, which is meant to be built by 2006-2007 at an estimated cost of $5300.

So.. what happened there? Is this thing still happening?

Doesn't look like it from the tone of this RecFishWest Media Statement from 2002, which begins:"Recfishwest has today asked the government for a full, independent review of the administration of the Recreational Boating Facilities Scheme after gross inconsistencies have been discovered."

What a messy situation for poor old GG.

Yeh.. I'm sure it does have something to do with the parking fees and fines.. Its highway robbery down at EF, $7.60 or something ridiculous to park there.. The meter guys are there 2 minutes after your expiry time too!  Certainly had a few occasions where we have been a couple of minutes past our expiry and still copped $60 tickets.

The tide that rips through there causes all sorts of havoc with people trying to hold their boats and land on the side where the wind and current and pushing them away from the ramp.. Seen many a situation where people launch where the people are retrieving and have to go around them, it is quite a trying and painful situation sometimes and the sooner something gets done the better..

Have received something from BIA today about the ramp situation, will post it up when I read through it fully.