REPAIRS to North Haven's main boat ramp for safety reasons have still not been started and orange barricades and pickets blocking access have been taken down and not replaced.
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Since the ramp was partially closed in April this year, there have been continued pushes by residents to have the work completed, but it has been continually stalled. The boat ramp was upgraded in late 2012 to include a floating pontoon, but a council inspection after issues were raised about the safety of the ramp access to the Camden Haven River prompted the partial closure.
Some widening of the ramp was required to allow for launch/retrieval lanes on either side of the new pontoon, however, as the result of the upgrade the concentration of boat propulsion over the centre of both launch/retrieval lanes significantly eroded the base material from under the concrete ramp planks.
This erosion has resulted in failure of pre-existing concrete ramp planks which were found not to contain steel reinforcing.
In April, the council indicated that repair work would likely proceed after their school holiday period. North Haven businessman Steve Drury has been one of the people trying to have the ramp issue resolved.
"This is North Haven's busiest ramp and straight opposite the shopping precinct," he said.
"If people can't use it, why would they bother coming here?"
The Courier put the question on timeframes to the council in August and was told by Port Macquarie-Hastings Councils group manager of infrastructure delivery, Gary Randall, that reconstruction of the ramp was scheduled for commencement by early October.
"Since the closure of the ramp earlier this year, and handover of the project to infrastructure delivery section for investigation, a number of alternate treatments have been considered by design staff to address the premature failure that has occurred to earlier works," he said.
"An innovative solution has been identified that utilises significantly different pre-cast concrete planks and fixings that will provide significantly quicker installation time, greater longevity and also a more cost effective solution."
In response to questioning in relation to the work still not having been started a council representative confirmed that work had not yet commenced.
"It appears that a member of the public has taken it upon themselves to remove the barriers."
