ACT government neglecting Kingston Harbour, boaties say

John Arganese has operated chartered cruises on Lake Burley Griffin for 16 years and has only recently moved his boat to Kingston from the old Acton jetty.

Since then he and other boat owners have grown frustrated with issues such as rubbish being left on one of the jetties and bird poo covering the wharf.

"I moved here about three months ago," he said.

"We had to move our boats here and it seems like the harbour is now being run by complete amateurs.

"They have got no idea how to run the [Black Mountain] slipway and no idea how to run the harbour."

Businesses paid around $405 each month to park at the harbour and use the jetties, Mr Arganese said, and they deserved to be treated better.

"Parking at the front of the entrance is another issue. Cars block off the part where the diesel truck comes in and without that I can't re-fuel.

"They could sort that out easily with a couple of no-parking signs."

Jim Paterson runs chartered cruises on the lake and said his biggest problem was the government's unwillingness to listen to business owners.

"I'd like to see a better attitude from the workers that deal with us," he said.

"Their attitude seems to be that we are paying rent to use the harbour and [collecting that] is all they need to do."

Mr Arganese agreed.

"They don't return our calls," he said.

"We leave messages that never get returned. It's like they don't really want to know us."

But a spokesman for the Economic Development Directorate said the ACT Property Group had responded promptly to the concerns raised. New bollards were being installed to address parking problems and general advice about dealing with seagulls had been provided by a pest expert.

"Individual jetty maintenance such as general cleaning and rubbish removal is a tenant responsibility, as it was at Acton also. Bin enclosures have been provided by ACT Government as part of the project," the spokesman said.