Organisation: Walkerville Blue Water Boating and Angling Club
Subject: Letter to Boat Club president
To: Dale Sartori
From: Steve Graham (President of WPA)
Date Sent: 12th February 2011
Return correspondence from recipient to date: None
Dear Dale,
Congratulations and welcome as the incoming President of the Walkerville Blue Water Boating and Angling Club. The Walkerville Progress Association also extends a warm welcome to all other incoming committee members.
During the last few years the boat club and other local associations have been somewhat at a loss to know how to deal with the autocratic behaviour of the Foreshore Committee and DS&E.
As you are aware the Boat Club was formed to promote the enjoyment of recreational fishing represent boat operators interests at Walkerville The main thrust had been to improve boating facilities at Walkerville, particularly at launching and retrieval.
Since formation the Boat Club’s officers and members have fought long and hard to achieve this. They fought to get safer and easier launching/retrieval for all boaters. In return they have been treated shamefully by the majority of the Foreshore Committee which has been backed by a complicit DS&E.
The Progress Association does not have a magic wand that can redress the wrongs that have occurred. However the Progress Association pledges its support for those issues that are in the community interest.
The Progress Association was formed to give campers, visitors and all those that had no other voice a say in the affairs and management at Walkerville.
The Progress Association has a range of diverse issues, of which, some, may not be of great interest to a lot of Boat Club members. There may even be times when we agree to disagree
While Progress Association and Boat Club issues may at times differ, there will be many times when our causes are the same and should be supported by each other for the common good.
An example of this was the upgrade to the toilets at North and South. While some Foreshore Committee members had fought for these upgrades for a long time it was the combined weight of the Boat Club, Ratepayers and Progress Association that finally got them done.
The one interest that should be held in common is a belief that Walkerville is a great recreation area that should be available to all, be it for boating, swimming, walking, picnicking or the myriad of other family activities that can be undertaken there.
The following excerpt is from;
The Victorian Coastal Strategy (2008).
Boating 3.1.2
Policy and Actions, specifically to paragraph 4.
Quote; It is important to understand and strategically manage the increased demand for improved and new boating facilities. We need to provide safe access to, from and on the water while ensuring impact on the natural environment and coastal processes are minimised. The safety of boat users and swimmers is paramount ( Victorian Coastal Strategy bolding not mine)
The above sums up what needs to be done here.
The Progress Association will be making a submission to the upgrading of the Gippsland Boating Coastal Action Plan in the near future. It is hoped that the Boat Club will also make a submission.
Our new interactive website is soon to be launched to cater for the numerous requests we get for information about whats to do at Walkerville.We encourage your association to use this new site to promote your activities/agenda by using the feedback sections for us to upload onto the WBAC section and the Walkerville calendar your newsletters and events.We would also like your association to contribute a general “blurb”to the public about recreational fishing…the do”s and donts.
The Progress Association looks forward to a continuing liaison with the Boat Club and has a genuine desire to continue working together.
Yours sincerely,
Steve Graham – President
