Bays group welcomes jetties review

The Bays Community Group has welcomed a review of rents charged to jetty owners, which will be undertaken by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal.

Community Group president Mr Bob Puffett said owners of jetties in Woy Woy were currently being charged unfairly.

"Many residents in the bays have very long jetties because of the nature of our waterway.

"We welcome the review because at present they are paying outrageous amounts for access to deep water," said Mr Puffett.

"Many of these residents are on fixed incomes and have been living in The Bays for a long time," he said.

The review is also supported by the Waterfront Action Group, a sub-group of the Boat Owners Association of New South Wales, a peak representative body for recreational boaters in NSW.

Secretary Mr George Citer said: "The owners of long jetties in the Woy Woy area, where the water is shallow and they need long jetties to get to deep water, are disadvantaged because they are charged on the basis of the area of mud and water under their jetties," said Mr Citer.

"Someone who has a short jetty in deep water pays a much lower rent," he said.

"The old formula included a 3.05 per cent rate of return which is substantially more than the actual rate of return, which is actually less than one per cent.

"So everyone on the Central Coast has been dramatically overcharged," he said.

"The Land and Property Management Authority has also failed to update the rate of return as used in the old formula since 2004, so that all licence holders in the Central Coast area have been overcharged by at least three times the market rent for the mud and water under their jetties because of the use of a rate of return that is now seven years out of date," said Mr Citer.

According to Mr Citer, the Waterfront Action Group, the Auditor-General of NSW and the NSW Valuer General have all been critical of either the formula or its application over the last five years.

The current rental formula was recommended by the tribunal in 2004 and is applied to around 8500 tenancies across NSW by the Land and Property Management Authority and NSW Maritime.

Mr Puffett said: "We are aware that a resident in Daleys Point last year had his fee reduced by 43 per cent as a result of an appeal to the local landlord.

"While this gives us hope it's very important that the review consider all the factors impacting on this living on the water," said Mr Puffett.

"Indeed the fee for jetties is outrageous given the massive increase we have had to endure over the last five or six years.

"The character of The Bays is partly due to our jetties and our waterways and people who live on the water actually contribute to maintaining clean water ways because they clean up floating rubbish and take pride in where they live."

To inform its decision-making, the tribunal will release an Issues Paper and call for public submissions, hold roundtables for discussion and release a draft report for stakeholder comment.

The tribunal plans to provide a final report before the end of the year.

Media Release, 19 Jan 2011 George Citer, WAG Media Release, 19 Jan 2011 Matthew Edgerton, IPART Interviewee: 17 Feb 2011 Bob Puffett, Bays Community Group