Victoria's fee-free campaign ramps up ahead of snapper season
State government announces 21 ramps have already had fees removed, with more to come before spring deadlineVictoria now has 21 fee-free boat ramps as the state moves to cut parking and launching fees across more than 200 publicly owned facilities – just in time for snapper season.
The Andrews Government has set itself a springtime target to remove all parking and launching fees as part of its 2018 pre-election promise aimed at making boating much cheaper for Victorians.
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It established a $47.2 million war chest to remove fees, upgrade six of the state’s busiest ramps, and look at how boat ramps should be managed in the future.
Ramps already named to be upgraded under the scheme include Mordialloc, Queenscliff, Point Richards, Hastings, Rhyll and the Cowes jetty.
21 ramps fee-free
The government said this week it had already removed fees from 21 boat ramps under the Better Boating Program, which aims to return all of the fees collected from boat registrations and fishing licensing to recreational boating.
Ramps that have removed fees include:
- Altona and Warmies, Hobsons Bay
- Rhyll, Newhaven, Inverloch and Cowes, Bass Coast
- Portland
- Corinella
- Lake Nagambie
- Fisherman's Beach, Torquay
- Port Welshpool
- Tooradin
- Lake Eildon (Alliance)
- Mornington (Schnapper Point and Fisherman's Beach)
- Rye
- Safety Beach
- Sorrento
- Hastings
- Tootgarook
- Dromana (Anthony's Nose)
The announcement means that all public boat ramps throughout the Mornington Peninsula, which over summer has some of the state’s most congested ramps, were now fee-free.
Better Boating Victoria is still in talks with a number of other local governments over how it can remove fees from their facilities.
The Victorian government is also investigating whether some of the state’s busiest boat ramps can be upgraded to “super ramps” with extra launching lanes and extended car parks to take pressure off the facilities at peak times.
It is also looking at setting statewide standards for facilities such as fish-cleaning tables and jetties.
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