Marina solution floated

‘‘I think we need a marina here whether it be at Tea Gardens or over at Hawks Nest,’’ she said

‘‘The amount of boat traffic we’re getting now justifies it.’’

She said Tea Gardens/Hawks Nest was a coastal resort town and a marina could help continue to grow the area.

‘‘People might prefer to have their boats on private moorings,’’ she said.

‘‘It could encourage more day trippers from Nelson Bay.’’

The council’s manager of parks and recreation David Bortfeld said it was putting together preliminary assessments on how to boost the number of public wharves along the waterfront.

‘‘We are looking at how best to extend the public boating facilities,’’ he said.

He said the council was hoping to upgrade services with the assistance of a Better Boating Program grant.

‘‘Usually better boating grants are given on a 50/50 basis but we are looking at getting special consideration because of the [number] of tourists that use the facilities,’’ Mr Bortfeld said.

Private vessels and ferries continued to vie for space at Tea Gardens Public Wharf throughout the holiday season – the new dedicated ferry wharf is not large enough to take Port Stephens Ferry Service’s larger vessel.

‘‘Council is making amendments to the dedicated ferry wharf,’’ Mr Bortfeld said.

He said both operators would continue to use the public wharf until the council made more changes to the new dedicated ferry wharf.