Grants up for grabs to improve boating facilities

Up to $2 million in funding will be made available for boat ramp managers to undertake significant structural maintenance, making getting out on the water easier for all Victorians.

View original release here.

Set to be delivered as part of the Victorian Government’s $31 million Better Boating Fund, the program will be run as a competitive grants program overseen by Better Boating Victoria (BBV).

The Recreational Structural Maintenance Program will be open to ramp managers required to undertake structural maintenance and asset replacement works at publicly accessible boating facilities.

A review led by BBV into boating infrastructure management found facilities across Port Phillip, and Western Port vary in consistency, and replacing and maintaining boating facilities can be costly for asset managers who do not have direct funding support.

From installing more user-friendly pontoons or to laying down a new boat ramp surface, the grants, worth up to $300,000 each, will help make boating better.

The program is open to committees of management and local waterway authorities able to along with state and local government departments and agencies.

An unprecedented increase from the previous $5 million per year investment, the Better Boating Fund delivers on a promise the Government made to Victorians at the 2018 election to ensure all money from the licence fees and recreational vessel registration of Victorian boaters goes to improving boating infrastructure and programs.

The Department of Transport and Better Boating Victoria manage the fund’s distribution – having already made it free to park and launch at Victorian boat ramps – and has embarked on the most significant boat ramp construction program in the state’s history.

The Recreational Boating Structural Maintenance Program grants applications are now open and close on Wednesday, 23 March. For more information, click here.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Fishing and Boating Melissa Horne

“It is critical boaters have safe and user-friendly facilities when launching or retrieving their vessels, and this grants program will help ramp managers carry out important structural maintenance.”

“This is just another way we are ensuring boating registration and licencing fees are reinvested into projects that will make recreational boating in Victoria even better.”