Victorian Government calling for people to have their say

The Victorian Government has developed an overarching vision and plan to improve recreational boating in Victoria.

Their timeline shows that community consultation has opened with a closing date of the 20^th September, with a plan to release the final plan in October this year.

A report on the Department of Transport web site states the following.

We know boaters want better facilities and access, less congestion, better facility management, and transparency of funding used for facilities.

That’s why we are developing a Victorian Recreational Boating Strategy that will address long-standing issues in this sector and underpin prioritisation of future boating investment.

A Victorian first, this strategy will provide the road map for future investment and the boating community will have a chance to help us shape it.

The Victorian Government has passed legislation to establish the Better Boating Fund that will return every dollar of marine licensing and boat registration fees to improving boating safety and facilities. The Fund was made operational in July 2021.

The Victorian Recreational Boating Strategy will inform how the Better Boating Fund will be allocated. And that’s why we’ll be working closely with the boating community to understand what they believe are the priorities for Victoria.

A Ministerial Boating Round Table has been established to assist with the planning and development of the Victorian Recreational Boating Strategy.

We asked boaters and asset managers to help us identify what they believe the boating priorities are across Victoria in a consultation that ran between 29 January – 20 February.

For the purposes of the consultation, we divided the State of Victoria into 8 boating districts and sought stakeholder views about the priorities for improving the boating experience across these districts. The information captured in this consultation has help us understand the breadth of priorities across Victoria. We then consulted boaters further in April and May to confirm the boating needs within each district.

We’ve analysed this feedback, consolidated it across eight districts and have developed a draft strategy. Before we finalise the strategy, we want to hear from you to make sure that we haven’t missed anything.

Those wishing to contribute can do so by answering a questionnaire on their web site at https://engage.vic.gov.au/rec-boating-strategy