A decision to condemn the crumbling Greenwell Point Fisherman’s Wharf has left commercial fisherman Des Roberts without a mooring for his boat and struggling to supply his seafood business with fresh fish.
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Mr Roberts made the original complaints about the deterioration of the jetty following a fall on the wharf which left him with a crushed testicle and damaged Anterior Cruciate Ligament in his knee.
“I was told by council they had no obligation to find us a new berthing even though I’ve paid until the end of the financial year,” Mr Roberts said.
“It’s like paying rent on a house for the whole year and then being kicking out without notice.
“We’ve got nowhere to go.”
Mr Roberts partner Bec Penno attended an at times heated meeting with the then wharf committee prior to the announcement the wharf would be closed.
“I asked them if the wharf was knocked down what would happen to our boat,” she said.
“They said to go to Ulladulla, Des has never fished out of Ulladulla. He’s fished from Greenwell Point for 20 years, the knowledge he knows is in this area.
“They’re so big and we’re just two little people.”
A recent engineering report suggested the wharf be condemned; it also claimed the only fishing vessel which would be impacted by it’s removal was that of a trailerable boat, which could launch at a nearby boat ramp.
This is a suggestion Des Roberts vehemently denies.
“I’m an eight metre boat, I don’t know how I’m a trailer boat,” Mr Roberts said.
“It weighs six tonne, I do have trailer for it, it’s illegal it’s too wide for the road. It is just to pull it out to do maintenance, it’s always gone on a truck.
“It has a keel, if it didn’t have that it could be a trailer boat, but I need two-metres of water to get the boat to come off the trailer. So it has to be top of the tide, I’ve got 20 minutes to get it off or on before it’s too low and I need two four-wheel-drives to tow it out.”
Mr Roberts was furious to hear Ulladulla Harbour is set to receive a six-figure funding boost and suggested Greenwell Point could benefit from an upgrade.
“Joanna Gash is going to give Ulladulla Harbour $1 million to put in 21 new berths so vessels can pull in,” Mr Roberts said.
“If it’s big ocean out there and you have to come into Greenwell Point, there is nowhere for any boat to park if you’re over ten metres.”