The new Noosa North Shore ferry operator promises larger vehicle ferries, less queues, contemporary payment systems and a streamlined service provided by an experienced operator, Noosa Council staff told last week’s council meeting of their recommended tender choice.
But what will be the costs?
Council received tenders for the 20-year contract from three companies – incumbent operators Noosa North Shore Ferries, KBRV Services, part of the Kelsian group which operates SeaLink, Australia’s largest ferry operator, and Divers Den Investments (DDI), part of the Estrada Travel Group, which is New Zealand’s largest passenger transport company.
Council officers recommend council choose DDI and its tender to supply two newly constructed diesel-fuelled vessels – a 27-vehicle ferry and 12-vehicle ferry along with an emissions offset agreement using Greenfleet offsets through the Yurol forest project.
“At 27 vehicles the single larger ferry exceeds the capacity of both existing ferries by 35 per cent and would eliminate most vehicle queuing issues, allowing DDI to operate only one ferry to comfortably meet service KPIs for all but the busiest times of the year and to significantly simplify the service’s staffing and rostering needs,“ council’s recommendation states.
Currently dealing with 770,000 customers a year with all their platforms, websites and customer services in place DDI “have all the tools to deliver on the contract“, the officer said.
Cr Amelia Lorentson asked why DDI was preferred over the more sustainable tender from SeaLink which proposed using newly constructed 10-vehicle and 21-vehicle ferry with the 21-vehicle ferry to be propelled by electricity.
Officers said SeaLink had submitted an exceptional tender but it came with a “significant price disadvantage“.
Cr Lorentson asked if consideration had been given to an unwanted consequence of increased beach traffic on Noosa North Shore resulting from the use of a larger vehicle ferry.
Officers replied that Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) was responsible for beach travel permits and the larger ferries would better combat the long queues in Moorindil Street during peak times and its impact on Tewantin residents.
At present, state government permits to Noosa North Shore are required only by overnight campers, not day trippers.
Councillors heard the recommended tender price was above the current contract budget, ferry ticket increases were “inevitable“ but would come with an “uplift on the level of service“ and infrastructure upgrades required to accommodate the new ferries had been included in the current budget.
Upgrades are to be made to the Moorindil Street approach to the ferry landings to extend 600m southward, with the addition of pedestrian and cycle facilities.
The changeover of ferry operators proposed for mid-2024 when the current contract expires will be a complex process involving the larger ferry being brought to Noosa from a Cairns ship builder and installed before the new contract begins to enable a smooth switch over of services, council heard.
The issue has been referred for further discussion to next Monday’s full council committee meeting.
