As the largest salt water lake in the Southern Hemisphere, there is no doubt that Lake Macquarie is the heart of our region.
Locals and tourists love to use the lake for fishing, boating and a range of other sporting and recreational activities, especially during summer.
Swansea Channel is the gateway to this iconic body of water. However, the recurrent silting reduces the depth of the channel and prevents people from being able to safely travel through by boat.
As silting continues to occur at this location, vessels have been forced to bypass Lake Macquarie and visit alternative locations such as Newcastle Harbour, Port Stephens and the Hawkesbury River, leaving our community to miss out on crucial economic activity.
Silting in the channel has drawn attention from yacht clubs across the state, including the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club.
Even though Lake Macquarie is many of their members' preferred sailing destination, the uncertainty of safe passage and the stories of groundings and yachts requiring assistance from Lake Macquarie Marine Rescue discourages them from sailing up to the lake from Sydney.
Last year Marine Rescue Lake Macquarie were required to escort 55 vessels through the channel as a consequence of the silting.
We are not even a month into the new year and they have already surpassed this figure because of the dire silting situation.
With boats not being able to safely pass through the channel many of the region's renowned sailing and boating events have been affected.
Vice-commodore of Royal Motor Yacht Club Toronto Melvyn Steiner has experienced this issue first hand.
He has raised with me that the silting of the channel has prevented a number of local and visiting yachtsman from entering his club's annual Heaven Can Wait Charity Sailing Regatta because they are unable to access the lake and safely navigate the course.
The regatta is due to be held on February 5 and 6 to raise funds for the Hunter Branch of Cancer Council NSW.
The regatta and other boating events have the potential to raise funds for important community organisations as well as to stimulate the region's economy.
However, the reoccurring silting is restricting the success of these events and denying local businesses the opportunity to benefit from this economic activity.
I have continuously argued for the need for the implementation of a permanent dredging solution since being elected as the Member for Swansea in 2015.
I have made numerous budget submissions to the NSW Government requesting a large-scale dredging campaign along with an annual monitoring and dredging program to enable yachts and other vessels to safely navigate the channel, and received numerous letters of support from right across the state.
The NSW Government has ignored these pleas.
In July 2021, Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Taylor Martin said that Swansea Channel would be the first NSW waterway to benefit from a $6.2 million dredging program. This was announced as stimulus funding.
It is now 2022 and our community is yet to see a cent spent by this program to tackle the silting issue in the channel.
This is despite being recognised as a priority by Transport for NSW in their 2019-2024 Maritime Infrastructure Plan and identified as a key investment location under the NSW Coastal Dredging Strategy 2019-2024.
We are fast approaching the end of the busy summer period and the government has still not awarded a dredging contract.
Queensland-based company, Sandpiper Dredging was the last company to hold the contract in late 2019.
Transport for NSW has recently advised that planning and investigation works are underway with the tender process.
It also anticipates that dredge works will start early this year.
The fact that the tender process is only now underway with no exact date for dredging to take place is simply too little action too late by the NSW Government.
As each day passes the situation in the channel worsens.
With a new Transport Minister the government has an opportunity to correct the errors of the past and finally deliver a permanent dredging solution for Swansea Channel.
I have invited the minister to visit and see the issue first hand.
