Posted on March 26, 2018
By Cathy Stubbs, Daily Telegraph
Devastating bushfires which cut road and rail routes between Sydney and the Central Coast in 1994 have been held up as a critical reason Ettalong Channel must be dredged.
The fires destroyed 225 homes in NSW including 101 in Sydney. At the peak of the fires all but one road and rail route out of Sydney were closed — including the freeway, the Pacific Highway and the main northern rail line to the Central Coast.
Central Coast Ferry operators, the Conway family, said ferries had been the only way home for hundreds of people with many left sleeping on train stations, in RSL clubs, or in their vehicles.
Bets Conway recalled the events of almost 25 years ago clearly and how State Rail had asked local ferry operators to help get people home.
She said Starship Cruises had used the Lady Kendall while Central Coast Ferries had used their charter boat for evacuation operations.
“Between these two vessels the boys worked flat out for two or more days evacuating people to and from the coast at Palm Beach, Brooklyn and Patonga,” Mrs Conway said.
“Hundreds were brought home by the only remaining transport route — the channel between Half Tide Rocks to Little Box Head.
“Back then both these vessels fully laden could navigated this channel easily — at any tide, there was no concern of running aground, or touching the bottom — it was navigated with ease!”
George Conway was at the helm during the evacuation and said the importance of the water transport route had largely been forgotten by Central Coast Council and the State Government who are currently bickering over who should pay for dredging.
“There are three transport corridors to the Central Coast — one is road, the other is the rail and the third is the waterway,” Mr Conway said.
“The third one is entirely in doubt due to the lack of government support to keep it open,” he said.
“If we had a situation where we had the devastating bushfires again — where very bad visibility and the fire risk to people, trains and cars shuts the other two — then the only link in is by ferry.
“You see what happened in Tarthra last week — with the right conditions it’s certainly a possibility it could happen here.”
Mr and Mrs Conway said they were frustrated that nothing was being done to keep the channel open.
“Please stop bickering, finger pointing and postulating,” Mrs Conway said.
“This channel is vital and it has to remain open
“It’s urgent that it is dredged before someone is injured, loses their life or becomes stranded — it’s purely and simply a safety issue”
Source: Daily Telegraph
