Try 'user pays' for dredging

Palm Beach ferry operator Matthew Lloyd fails to mention that the service is owned by Riverside Marine, a successful company that also owns the Fantasea and operates a dredging company which is presently sand mining at Moreton Bay, Queensland.

Mr Lloyd states that he carries over 400,000 passengers per year which means he turns over $6 million per annum and yet pays only $2000 per year to NSW Maritime.

Mr Lloyd wants the ratepayer to pay for the dredging of the channel to make it safe for his service.

I think it's high time that Gosford Council put in a program to regularly dredge the channel under a user pays system.

If local restaurants and cafes have to pay council to put a chair and table on the footpath then this highly successful business should be contributing to maintaining our waterways.

Jill Donald, Umina Beach