If the full amount was borrowed, then an annual cost of $400,000 would be required.

Tracing the history of the project, Mr Tegart said that council and the Land & Property Management Authority (LPMA) - formerly the NSW Department of Lands - had provided $200,000 to revise the Snug Cove Masterplan, including the cost and feasibility of improvements to a number of harbour facilities.

These included:

• Construction of the Eden Unloading Wharf extension to accommodate larger commercial vessels associated with the Bass Strait oil and gas fields and cruise ships operating on the eastern seaboard.

• Installation of a wave attenuator to improve mooring conditions for both local and visiting recreational vessels.

The wave attenuator would enable a marina pontoon system to be safely accommodated within the harbour created by it.

Mr Tegart said it had also come to council’s attention that new technologies may soon be available for power generation through the harnessing of wave action from the attenuator.

Mr Tegart said that an economic assessment report commissioned by council and the LPMA suggested there was a high probability that extending the breakwater wharf to the end of the breakwater would generate a sustained trade in the provision of the goods and services to the East Gippsland offshore oil and gas sector.

It could generate an additional 50 full time jobs for people directly employed in servicing that sector, plus a further 20 in the retail, accommodation and restaurant sectors.

While the issues were more complex in relation to the wave attenuator, it would encourage marine based tourism as per the Australian Coastal Wilderness tourism strategy.

“The study concludes that the voyage savings derived from the proximity of Eden to the East Gippsland oil and gas field (potentially $6.4 million per year) provides a strong case for Eden becoming an operational centre for servicing the offshore oil and gas sector,” Mr Tegart said.

“In this respect the extension of breakwater wharf could be nationally significant.”

On projected short to medium term utilisation of 30 per cent to achieve a break even revenue stream, average berth hire charges would need to rise from the current $330 a day to $2,250 per berth per day, he said.

Similarly if there was capacity for 100 boats, yachts and other vessel within the protected zone created by the wave attenuator then the charge per mooring slot to recover the cost of the project would be approximate $16 per day.

This assumed that all moorings were used every day of the year.

The study had also concluded that the potential safety afforded by the wave attenuator could be significant in terms of mitigating or eliminating damage caused by the south westerly winds during winter.

Mr Tegart said the purpose of preparing the grant application was to demonstrate commitment by three tiers of government to fund public infrastructure and act as a catalyst to private enterprise in the surrounding precincts, in particular Cattle Bay and the BP and Mobil sites.

He said the NSW Department of Planning had assessed the merits of the Cattle Bay Resort development application and had recommended project approval subject to conditions.

The development site over an area of 8.1 hectares would include a 2-4 storey tourist facility with 60 hotel rooms and 74 serviced apartments, conference and function rooms and restaurant. Single dwellings, townhouses and residential flat buildings were also proposed along with 5.8 hectares of open space including foreshore access.

Mr Tegart said that council will continue to progress the revision of the masterplan and prepare an investment prospectus for key precincts in Snug Cove, estimated to cost $50,000, from the balance of the $200,000 funding.

The studies would form the base of any revised business cases to be presented to the State Government (as the property owner) or the oil and gas industry sector for investment.

Eden Chamber of Commerce President Steve Heffernan said that in his view trying to do all of the projects in one hit was always going to be difficult.

“The immediate need is for the breakwater wharf extension and that will drive private investment which will in turn help to make the other parts of the plan such as the wave attenuator more viable,” he said.

He said he saw the proposed road improvements as the third stage of the project.

Mr Heffernan said he was spending a lot of his time talking to the offshore oil and gas contractors trying to get them to commit to a full time base in Eden.

“We need the extra wharf space now. Once we get it established it is just going to go from strength to strength,” he said.