DRAFT PITTWATER WATERWAY STRATEGY NOW  ON EXHIBITION (November 2018)

Northern Beach Council has now released their draft strategy which is on now on exhibition and open for review for submissions until 3rd February 2018

Click here for the Draft Strategy

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(Read the NRA submission under ‘Documents/Submissions’ in the above Menu)

The Pittwater Waterway Review, which has been in the making for a few years by council, has recently released a discussion paper for public input Pittwater Waterway Review . Please go to this paper and make your comments.

Council is hosting two drop in sessions at Mona Vale Memorial Hall

  • Saturday 29th April – 12noon -3pm
  • Tuesday 2nd May – 5pm -8pm

The Newport Residents Association is very concerned about the direction of this review and discussion paper and believe if input from the public is only made as a comment to the items raised in the discussion paper a lot of important matters may be overlooked.

One of our members (Greg Ross, formally the President of the Horseshoe Cove Assn) has on our behalf made a list of the matters that should be brought up with council as a response to this review. Would all members please comment/add etc to this list and either do so by adding a post below or sending an e-mail to one of the executive so the NRA can make a submission in its own right. Please also go to the above link and armed with the below comments respond to the discussion paper as an individual.

Comments close 14th May 2017

List of matters of concern;

The Newport Residents’ Association compliments the previous Pittwater Council and now the Northern Beaches Council for undertaking such a review.

The Southern end of the Pittwater Water way in now in turmoil with an overload of Marinas, moored boats, boats on the street and limited parking facilities. This area can no longer accommodate any more boating facilities nor will it be able to in the next 10 to 15 years for the following reasons:

  1. Parking is at a premium. Only Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club and Pittwater Aquatic Club have adequate parking for its’ members. Any increase in size of marinas in this area must include multilevel parking (such as in place at Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club) as part of their DA to expand.
  2. Offsite parking for general boating is not a solution. These users of Pittwater usually have canoes, boards, jet skis that cannot be carried on a bus or other modes of transport. They can only come by car direct to the launch site.
  3. All launching sites on Pittwater for watercraft are now overloaded and the question is “can the council provide other areas to launch these craft?” The answer to this is probably NO.
  4. We do however agree to offsite parking for larger yachts that could be stored on land say at Terry Hills and brought to the water by a transport company on notice from the owner. The owner would then have to park at the storage site and take a commuter bus. But where will these larger boats be launched? Bayview ramp perhaps or the ramp at the Royal Motor Yacht Club.
  5. Regarding swing moorings- RMS has capped the mooring numbers on Pittwater to 3641 moorings. Of these moorings 969 moorings are commercial moorings provided to clubs by the RMS. This number far exceeds the legislation and we ask council to check what percentage of moorings are allowed to be allocated as commercial moorings and rectify the situation. Council should be reminded that if the Royal Motor Yacht Club wins the current case to expand their marina in the Land & Environment Court based on their commercial moorings giving them existing use rights then the other commercial mooring owners may use the same precedent.
  6. We request that the Northern Beaches Council writes to the local State Member Rob Stokes requesting an enquiry into the Maritime section of the RMS on Pittwater for the following reasons:
  7. Maritime only has two part time Boating Officers.
  8. They only have one boat to patrol the whole of Pittwater.
  9. More often than not the patrol boat is not out on the weekend. Rules not enforced on those days.
  10. The boating officer alone makes decisions on safety aspects of boating. The Newport Arms proposed Marina shows exactly this. The boating Officer stated that all was safe but howled down by the boating public.The marina application was withdrawn.
  11. Moorings in most areas have not been aligned for many years. This causes boats to protrude into navigation channels.
  12. So called “mooring minders” are not enforced. Many derelict boats are on moorings –they often break away in storms. The Boat Owners’ Association estimates that 30% of moored boats are derelict and just mooring minders. The RMS needs to have a system of registration like cars. Owners must present each year –mooring service certificate-proof of public liability insurance-boat is sea worthy-boat has all the required safety gear. None of these then mooring forfeited. This would free up many many moorings.
  13. Re Pollution. Our Association believe that existing clubs and marinas have their underwater surrounds ( sediments ) audited by the EPA and that these facilities be made to remediate any contamination now. Waiting for more contamination to arrive is wrong. Leaf blowers must be banned from blowing leaves etc. into gutters and drains. These all flow to the waterway in heavy rain. Council should fine people who do not pick up the debris and place it in the green bins. After rain, Pittwater is full of leaf debris.

France have implemented a system of first flush for diesel engines. This stops unburnt diesel being discharged into the water especially in boats that have not started their engines for some time. No flush system no registration. We agree with page 26 of the Review in that areas off Palm Beach and Careel Bay must have their sea grasses protected. But where can new facilities be provided?

  1. Important material left out of the review:
  2. There was no mention of fire control. The Newport fire report shows that only foam can put out marine fires. The only fire tender on Pittwater (we believe there are only two and manned by volunteers) do not have adequate foam if any foam. The NSW Fire Brigade does not have a boat but should have one on Pittwater equipped with paid crew and foam.
  3. Mona Vale Road widening will bring a lot more people to the area. When the Gosford Freeway was built some years ago, many people found it easier to go to the Central Coast. But this will change with the widening of Mona Vale Road.
  4. Possible solution-use Akuna Bay in the National park as an example- it works well and has adequate parking. Approach The State Government to set aside areas in the National Park that an ecological marina with boat stack storage and good parking could be built. The road structure is already in place.