HOME HILL Boat Club recently submitted feedback as part of Maritime Safety Queensland’s Recreational Boating Facilities Demand Forecasting Study, with regards to improving facilities at Groper Creek.
It was interesting to note the Queensland Government’s 2017 study, which identified a need for all-tide all-water access in the Burdekin which, in days gone by, Groper Creek provided with larger vessels and trawlers moored in the creek.
Through fundraising and voluntary assistance, sand dredging was performed by the Club in the 1960s through to 1990 to allow boats to navigate to deep water.
However, the past 30 years has seen the channel fill with no maintenance being performed and access now restricted.
Comments have been made that boaties would utilise the creek more instead of driving further on to Molongle Creek.
With demand anticipated to grow, it was also pointed out that whilst the newer upstream boat ramp is currently adequate, the downstream ramp requires an extension with room for a second lane, which would cater for peak-time demand.
The Home Hill Boat Club opposes the widening of the newer upstream boat ramp to a double ramp, as this would compromise the bank and jeopardise the community.
During flood events, debris builds up on the banks and then creeps in via the boat ramp openings – a wider opening at the upstream ramp would allow more debris to enter the reserve and damage properties, whilst the current opening at the downstream end is large enough for a boat ramp extension towards the jetty.
Community concerns that the jetty could possibly not be replaced if it were ever washed away were also put forward with a plea for it to be adequately maintained and possibly updated to include a shade cover for land-based anglers.
The jetty is Groper Creek’s most photographed attraction, with the majority believing Groper Creek would simply not be Groper Creek without its iconic jetty.
