Public pressure has led to a belated decision to include the Bundeena ferry channel in the Port Hacking dredging program. But the rethink does not extend to the silted up Maianbar channel, leading to a warning that residents’ lives could be in danger.
Environment Minister Phil Koperberg has announced the State Government would spend an extra $250,000 to dredge the Bundeena channel, taking the total cost of the program to $2.1 million. Mr Koperberg said the extra work would start this month and be completed in the first week of December.
Heathcote MP Paul McLeay said he had asked for the work following community representations.
“Dredging takes place every three or four years and involves up to eight of Port Hacking’s channels,” Mr McLeay said. “The hydrographic survey conducted to assess this year’s work found Bundeena to be a low priority channel as, unlike the others, it hadn’t suffered serious siltation.
“Concerns have been expressed that if this were to change and the channel were to become less navigable over the next couple of years, that could force the ferry to use a different route for the southern part of its run, leading to increased travelling times for commuters.”
Mr McLeay said the Maianbar channel was not included on the memorandum of understanding between the State Government and Sutherland Shire Council. It was up to the council to seek to have the Maianbar channel included.
Councillor Kevin Schreiber, who also pushed for the Bundeena channel work, said not dredging the Maianbar channel risked the safety of boat users and residents. “You need only think back a few years ago to when bushfires forced the evacuation of residents in a flotilla of boats,” Cr Schreiber said. “How would you do that now with the channel being almost blocked?” | 
