Equipment to measure sand at Roebuck Bay

Specialised equipment to measures and movement has been placed at the site earmarked for a boating facility in Roebuck Bay, Broome.

The Department of Transport said further testing of ground conditions in the area were scheduled in coming weeks.

But boaties claim it is a smokescreen adding to a dilemma that has festered for decades.

Broome Boating Alliance chairwoman Karen Crosby said the DoT information was all engineering “mumbo jumbo” lacking basics including a timeframe, cost and a start and finish date.

“The Broome Fishing Club will this year be hosting the Australian International Billfish Tournament and it is embarrassing because the fishing club still doesn’t have anything nice to show people,” she said.

“Even though we are holding this big flash tournament we have still only got third-world facilities.

“People are going to come up here and say ‘yeah, the fishing’s great, but how do you get out there and back in again?’”

DoT project manager James Holder said some of the data would be used to undertake computer modelling to assess the maintenance requirements for the proposed boating facility associated with sand movement in the bay.

“This work is part of the ongoing site investigations that will include onshore test hole sampling to analyse soil and ground conditions,” he said.

Mr Holder said DoT engineering and environment consultants would continue to work over coming months to improve the department’s site knowledge in what he described as “a challenging environment with one of the world’s highest tide ranges of up to 10 metres with cyclonic weather

.

“This is another part of the significant investigation work that is essential given the challenges of the site,” he said.

Mr Holder said the work followed recent activity on site in preparation for the commencement of the environmental approval process.

He said Worley Parsons had been contracted to progress the project’s environmental.

Recreational boaties told the Broome Advertiser last week a $337,000 State Government grant to repair the boat ramp at Town Beach was a “band-aid” solution.