Boating's heroes and villians

Some Redlands councillors, a state politician as well as former and current Queensland premiers, feature in the ‘villains, heroes and the very confused’ section of a web site created by Ramp It Up -- an alliance drawn from the state’s 236,000 owners of registered boats.

The web site also describes council’s efforts to equitably manage the over-demand by picnickers and boaties for space at Wellington Point, as a "debacle" as well as "disastrous" and "embarrassing".

The web site which is located at www.rampitup.net.au, notes:

"Just months after winning office in 2012, the LNP announced it would plunder half of the $4.5 million paid annually by boat owners through the Recreational Use Fee and use it for bureaucratic administration instead of waterfront programs including fish stocking."

"In the preceding few years under Labor, powerboat registration fees rose between 27 per cent and an astronomical 146 per cent. Trailer registration fees rose an unprecedented 35 per cent."

"In Redlands, where one in five households owns a registered boat, the Redland City Council has created a debacle with its attempts to steal back some of the reserved boat trailer parks and make them also available to single cars.”

"These are just a few of many examples of anti-boating and anti-marine policies which have directly prompted the formation of Ramp It Up."

Ramp It Up spokesman, David Anderson said the decision to form Ramp It Up had been featured prominently in newspapers, marine and fishing-related publications and on-line boating web sites.

"The amount of interest and coverage is itself a reflection of how boating forms such an important part of the Queensland lifestyle," he said.

"We also now are starting to get the first inquiries from interstate boat owners looking to form subsidiary or similar organisations."

"Ramp It Up began just a few months ago with a handful of people that soon became more than 100, which doubled again within a couple of weeks to more than 200 and since then has exploded in its support.

"That’s perhaps not surprising when you realise there are more than 236,000 owners of registered boats in Queensland and understandably, many believe the way they have been treated in recent years and used as cash cows, has been very unimpressive."

Ramp It Up continues to offer to work as a conduit with Redland City Council and other users of Qld reserves, to provide a workable solution to the current conflicts.

For more information go to: www.rampitup.net.au