Tourism boss blasts leak dredge anger

Jessica Benton
A 1000-litre hydraulic fluid leak has prompted the region’s tourism authority chief to slam controversial dredging of Port Phillip Bay shipping channels.
Geelong Otway Tourism executive director Roger Grant said the project’s “latest debacle” placed extra strain on businesses relying on tourists to visit the bay.
Mr Grant, also chairman of Tourism Alliance Victoria, said the businesses were already nervous about the viability of trading through summer with the dredging in full swing.
“We have real concerns about the tourism operators in the southern parts of Port Philip Bay and the impact this is having on their businesses,” he said.
“There’s probably about 25 to 30 operators in the southern area on both sides of the bay who are going to do it tough or may not even be able to operate because the business just isn’t there.
“This latest debacle gives them no confidence that this major tourism asset is being looked after. Meanwhile, State Government has failed to provide any support at all to these tourism businesses.”
The project came under the eye of the Office of the Environmental Monitor after Port of Melbourne Corporation revealed the recent leak in the southern end of the bay from dredging vessel Queen of the Netherlands.
The leak was the second environmental hiccup for the project after the office identified an inadequate clean-up of 9400-square-meters of dredged seabed near The Rip in July.
Mr Grant said Tourism Alliance Victoria had called on the Government to support businesses affected by the dredging project.