Community
5 February, 2025
Concern raised for boat ramp deterioration
A PRINCETOWN resident fears it is only a matter of time before a car is lost due to the condition of the town’s boat ramp.
Access to the boat ramp was restored in October 2024 following the completion of works to replace the adjacent single land, 80-year-old bridge over the Gellibrand River at Old Coach Road in Princetown.
Princetown’s Matt Bowker has since raised his concerns surrounding the continued deterioration of the boat ramp with Corangamite Shire, but said he received no response.
He said the entry to the boat ramp was now steeper, shorter and narrower, making it more difficult to back a trailer in, while the previous ramp was longer and shallow with good lines of sight.
Mr Bowker said the boat ramp also had a loose, mud surface and he had seen a number of vehicles become stuck.
He labelled the current ramp as “dangerous and almost unusable,” calling for a fix as a matter of urgency.
“It’s a poor state of affairs,” Mr Bowker said.
“It’s been shut for so long with no access but now it’s open again, it’s nowhere near the same amenities.
“It is the only accessible boat ramp to the Gellibrand river – there’s nowhere else to put a boat in as the rest is private land.
“It’s in dangerous condition.
“Someone’s going to drop a car in at some point.”
Mr Bowker said he believed the boat ramp had continued to get worse over time, and called for remedial works to rehabilitating the areas around the bridge – including the boardwalk beside the boat ramp.
“The whole area is a real mess and locals and visitors are putting up with an inadequate and ugly end of the boardwalk in to town, that should have been reinstated as a priority,” he said.
“An impact of the poor surfacing and angle of the boardwalk is that the old boat ramp provided safe and easy access to the water for elderly people, people with disability and people with young children.
“There is no other access to a river for people with limited mobility to swim, paddle or stand in the water anywhere along this coastline from Warrnambool to Lorne.”
Corangamite Shire Council was approached for comment, but a response was not received prior to publication.
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