Trailer boat Facilities
How does the average trailer boat user feel about the current situation for boating in Perth and its surrounds.
I know the Ramp's at RockingHam and Mengals bay are very good, The one at Cockburn /Woodmans point is excellent,leeuwin On the river, not much parkng and expensive, The Hillarys marina, this was built in 1987 (about) and was for the Northern suburbs users. but with the advent of the commercial developments ,The shops,Pub and beaches it is becoming more difficult to find a parking space on a real good weather weekend. I have asked several people and some say they always find parking easy as they are on the water before 8.30/9.00,but what of the people who have kids sports or jobs that mean they cannot get there until 11.30 or after 12.00 noon, as this is when cars are able to be parked free of charge and one car will take up a bay meant for car & trailer.
I know that a lot of the time the designated trailer/car parking is not full,but when we get those real magic days and it is busy people turn up after 12.00 and are not able to park. I think that being it was built for trailer boat recreational users, so no one should be allowed to park a car without a trailer until after 2.30pm, and also those that do park there should also have to pay a nominal fee, say half the boat launching one for the upkeep and maintenance of this facility.
The next one is Ocean Reef which is going to undergo some major disruption when the new marina starts, (if it starts) and then Mindarie, which is a good ramp but is also under pressure from users. then the debacle at Two Rocks and we know of the problems faced there by those who have written here recently.
The Government has put up Boat rego fees, Trailer license fees, fishing from a boat fees but where in the hell have they actually improved the situation for the ordinary trailer boat person. I will sit back and see what the members on this site think.
Faulkner Family
Posts: 18065
Date Joined: 11/03/08
yeah it sux. unfortunately
yeah it sux. unfortunately there is nothing that can be done. these ramps are controlled by local councils or in two rocks case the yacht club. the only way i can see anything getting done is by a heap of people approaching the local councils involved . forget about trying state govt as nothing ever gets done unless it helps them
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
diver
Posts: 149
Date Joined: 25/09/08
Hillarys to-day
Arrived at the marina at approx 0930 and although there were some trailer/car bays left, the place was almost full, due to several cars parked contrary to the regulations (No cars untill 12.00) but was there a Joondalup city parking inspector, no not one car had an infringment notice on it as of 09.30 so any trailer boat owners who go there after 10.00 would be battling to find a park.
Is this right? we pay to launch and park, why are some trailer boat people so apathetic that they seem to accept this. I truly do not understand. we pay taxes, we pay fuel tax but do not use our fuel on the roads, we pay rego, we buy services for our boats and trailers that employ other tax payers, but people seem willing to be walked all over.
The Faulkner family suggest that we, (trailer boat owners) should phone up and voice our anger well I think that is a start but phone the Minister's office Simone O brien, phone Chris, the Hillarys Harbour Master, The Joondalup Shire do not own the launching area, they are paid a fee to send parking inspectors to oversee the parking and they get a percentage of the fines they impose. They also get rates from the commercial area of the Marina, I believe it to be around $12Million a year, but unless YOU, people, the trailer boat owners are prepared to start making demands of a better deal from the meager facilities provided then,quite frankly, you get what you deserve, in the way of ramps, nothing.
Yes The mayor and city of Joondalup are pushing for a Marina at Ocean Reef, but it is going to be GREED driven, with shops, pubs and other like outlets that will do little to improve trailer boat users. They will have pens, but not many trailer boats go in pens so who do these help, only the ones with money, for goodness sake, wake up recreational trailer fishermen and boat users and start to show we want to be recognised for the huge amounts of money we spend each year and only want to be able to launch our boats without the stress of finding parking spaces.
wogboy1963
Posts: 67
Date Joined: 26/02/08
Hillarys on Sunday
How about the Joondalup shire start handing out some infridgements for non trailer cars parking in the trailer boat sections. I have a season pass and I know others pay a good $6-8 to find they can't find a parking spot. There was plenty of parking down the far carpark near West Coast Drive but no the Triathalon crow and Hillarys patrons seem to think its alright to park there before 12:00pm. Put some decent signs up that states clearly that if you park in there before 12:00pm you will be fined. Someone is making a shit load of money out of this but they are not protecting the boat users who fund their money making racket. They might be on contract but how about getting of your arses to fine these people who do the wrong thing. I think the boaties might have to take a stand and ignore the pay machines and don't pay the fines to get them doing their job! See if they like the bad publicity then.