Friday catch: Sydney’s trailer trials continue

Sydney’s Randwick City Council is the latest to propose a crackdown on boats parked in its streets, with plans to introduce rolling trailer parking restrictions across the municipality.

The council’s planned bans, which would mean trailer boats that do not already have parking permits would need to be moved by at least a block every 28 days, follow on from opt-in NSW state regulations that were introduced in 2016.

Under Randwick’s proposed restrictions, council will need to receive a complaint about a trailer before monitoring its movement. It will then need to notify owners within 15 days that their trailer boat will be impounded, with the municipality also reserving the right to charge a release fee for the impounded trailer and boat.

Randwick City Council’s reasons for considering the crackdown include discouraging the nuisance caused by long-term parking of unattended boats, encouraging the use of off-street parking, and opening up more street parking to residents.

A report is being prepared to help council make a decision about introducing the new laws.

The Victorian Government has tipped fishing licence money back into the sport in an effort to encourage more children to pick up a rod.

Under one initiative, a new fish habitat and fishing platforms will be established in the south-west of the state on Warrnambool’s Merri River, while under another, a not-for-profit venture called FishCare Victoria will develop a mobile app that will teach children about responsible fishing.

The investment falls under the state government’s Target One Million plan, a $46 million Victoria Fisheries Authority initiative that aims to make fishing more accessible to non-commercial interests. Half the money spent so far has been used to buy out commercial netting licences in Port Phillip Bay.

Commuters making the 70-kilometre round trip from Geelong to central Melbourne each day will soon have another option to being stuck in traffic or crammed in on a train – a high-speed ferry linking the two cities.

The Victorian Government has announced a three-year, $6 million trial of the service, kicking off from early 2019 using a fleet of high-speed ferries that will be operated by a commercial service.

“We’ve seen a take-up of 6000 passengers a month on the Portarlington to Docklands ferry,” Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said while announcing the trial. “Now Geelong locals will have another transport option.”

The Queensland Government’s newfound interest in the state as a superyacht destination could bring a maintenance-led bonanza to the state, a strategy paper released this month says.

The report says there were about 200 superyachts operating in Australian waters during the 2016-17 season with a combined value estimated to be as high as $10.9 billion.

But what’s attractive for the state is the 10-12 per cent of the superyacht’s value that their owners will spend on maintenance each year, which amounted to about $155 million spent in Cairns and the Whitsundays, and $316 million in south-east Queensland according to a 2016 study.

The report says the state’s aim is to lift Queensland’s share of the global superyacht sector by 10 per cent by 2023, with the state recognised as “the key superyacht hub in the Asia Pacific region”.

One of the winners out of this month’s Sydney International Boat Show is Multihull Solutions, which swelled its books with 18 orders – more than double its previous record.

The new customers included 10 of the new Fountaine Pajot Astréa 42 sailing catamarans, which had its exclusive Southern Hemisphere launch at the Sydney show, five Fountaine Pajot Helia 44 Evolutions and a Fountaine Pajot Lucia 40 sailing catamaran. Another two sales were snared by the recently launched MY40 power catamaran slated for delivery in 2019.

Multihull Solutions said it was expecting to add more show-related sales to its tally over coming weeks.