Bridport Pier Restoration Action Committee chairman Robert Perkins will look to secure funding for a new Bridport pier from the newly opened round of the Building Better Regions Fund.
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The federal government grant is open until December 19, and is offering $480 million to regional infrastructure and community projects throughout Australia.
However, Mr Perkins said he was not confident about the group’s chances of getting a slice of the coalition’s infrastructure pie.
“I’ll certainly push funding through [the government program],” he said.
“But, we’ve put up applications for funds before and been knocked back over the last few years.
“We’re saying to the state and federal government, ‘you build and you do it’.”
Tasmanian Liberal senator David Bushby said he did not know of any specific plans that had been put forward by the pier restoration committee.
“I am aware of the desire from many in the community to rebuild the Bridport Pier, but to the best of my knowledge I have not been approached with any specific plan to do so,” Senator Bushby said.
“I would welcome the opportunity to hear from the committee so that they can make their case, and of course, I would also welcome the views of the wider community."
Mr Perkins has been pushing the state and federal government’s for a new pier at Bridport since 2014.
[A pier] would mean the boys with their big toys from Victoria, who go to Flinders Island but don’t go any further, can get off their boats at Bridport.
- Robert Perkins
The development would be adjacent to the destroyed old pier at Anderson Bay.
A new pier would provide a boost in tourism to the area, according to Mr Perkins.
“There is basically no all tide access to Anderson Bay,” Mr Perkins said.
“[A pier] would mean the boys with their big toys from Victoria, who go to Flinders Island but don’t go any further, can get off their boats at Bridport.
“I’m talking 40-feet pleasure crafts.”
Treasurer Peter Gutwein said he would be in contact with Mr Perkins in the near-future to discuss the project.
“Bridport is really coming into its own as a destination and this proposal is certainly worth looking at,” he said.
“I will be catching up with Mr Perkins in the near future.”