Anglers set for an early present

Alex de Vos
Torquay could have a new boat ramp before Christmas, according to Great Ocean Road Coast Committee.
The foreshore manager has called for tenders to build the new ramp worth $936,500 adjacent to Torquay Angling Club.
Coast Committee executive officer David Clarke expected work to start in July or August.
Tenders would close on June 3, he said.
“We want to have it finished by Christmas,” Mr Clarke said.
State Government announced earlier this year that it would provide $749,000 to replace an existing crumbling ramp in the same site at Fisherman’s Beach.
But Victoria’s peak recreational fishing group, VRFish, said the new design was not safe without a breakwater to protect anglers launching and retrieving boats from ocean swells.
A 2007 VRFish study listed the Fisherman’s Beach boat ramp as one of the state’s most dangerous. The organisation used the study to back local anglers’ calls for a breakwater.
An earlier Great Ocean Road Coast Committee study had investigated options for replacing the ramp but ruled out a breakwater amid fears of impacts on the environment and a nearby surf break at Yellow Bluff.