Threatened: Richard McGlashan at the disused Rippleside slipway.
By Noel Murphy
RIPPLESIDE’S former slipway, in disrepair and disarray, remains a target of vandals, trespassers and illegal anglers, says caretaker Richard McGlashan.
Barbed wire, iron gates, ramshackle old buildings and makeshift fencing characterise a neglect and undeveloped site all too common around Corio Bay.
Like other foreshore precincts, it remains a mess despite various proposals.
“When I first came here this place was full of syringes, broken windows and squatters,” says Mr McGlashan, who works for Quay developer Jim Ramsay at Rippleside Pier yards.
“People were smoking bongs, drinking, hanging donuts. I’d put up wire, fishermen would just cut it down with bolt-cutters.”
Mr McGlashan said matters had improved on his watch but he insisted it was a job requiring constant vigilance.
“I’ve been here a year and the locks have been broken 28 times,” he said.
“People climb over the fences. I had one guy pull a knife on me, arguing it was public property – it’s not.’’
The Quay project, a controversial condominium development, has been on the drawing board for more than a decade without a sod being turned.
noel.murphy@geelongindependent.com.au
