A huge ferry fee increase is proposed.Be at the RICA Hall next Thursday 22 May or Saturday 24 May.
Raymond Island Ferry Fees
The proposal to make property owners pay for a second vehicle pass is a breach of our rights of access to our house - and my understanding is that the Shire received money specifically to provide the islanders with free ferry passes.
We have a right to get to our house for free like every other ratepayer in the Shire.
Your Mayor's comment on the radio "that’s the dilemma we as a council have so do we continue with the free access for all residents, which means that every resident in East Gippsland and Shire pay for that service or do we have a full user pay, or do we have something in between that’s a reasonable imposition on everybody and a reasonable cost to everybody" seems reasonable on the surface - but is it going to be applied across the board?
As a Raymond Island resident, my rates have just paid for the Bairnsdale library - but I don't use that - and rolled my eyes at the expense.
My rates are paying for the work at Mallacoota - but I don't use that - and rolled my eyes at the expense.
Are either Bairnsdale ratepayers or Mallacoota ratepayers going to be charged extra for their "optional use - don't have to use to get home every day" facilities?
To say that there must be some arbitrary "user pays" for the Ferry is ridiculous. You are talking about a service which provides access to our houses - we don't have an alternative to use.
Raymond Island brings many many thousands of tourists to the East Gippsland area who come purely for the koalas.
Has that annual income has ever been assessed? I bet the revenue generated and benefit to the business owners and tourism industry in this shire would far exceed the cost of running the ferry - so in a way, the island is already paying for the ferry!
The $20 cost of the ferry to the island is not only going to penalise visitors of families who live on the island (my own elderly mother who lives in Bairnsdale has stated that she will no longer be able to visit if these fees go ahead), but may also have an impact on the number of visitors to the island - has a full cost benefit analysis been done on the doubling of the ferry fee?
By the way - can you imagine the uproar if public transport trip fees in Melbourne were doubled?
As a community we came together to discuss these outrageous proposed increases in the ferry fees and intend to fight them every step of the way.
