Article: Bulimba's $4 million ferry upgrade to go ahead

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Bulimba's $4 million ferry upgrade to go ahead

Bulimba's $4 million ferry upgrade to go ahead
Tony Moore
November 17, 2010 - 11:00AM

Bulimba's $4 million Oxford Street ferry upgrade will finally go ahead, Brisbane City Council's public transport committee chair councillor Margaret De Wit said last night.

The project was stalled in May this year when councillor Shayne Sutton, the council's opposition leader and member for Morningside, wanted to make amendments to the proposed design.

At that time, council delayed the project until 2012-13 and re-directed funding to another CityCat terminal at Milton.
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Since then, the issue has descended into a political bunfight with both the LNP administration and Labor opposition accusing each other of wasting up to $750,000 in further design studies.

The Bulimba ferry terminal is the fifth-busiest in Brisbane and carries 8000 passengers a week, according to figures released earlier this year.

Cr de Wit said the residents had accused Cr Sutton of "grandstanding on the back of a handful of nearby residents and business owners".

"The Lord Mayor was fed up with the politics being played by the local councillor on this issue and wrote to Bulimba residents to get their views," she said.

"The overwhelming message from Bulimba residents to the Lord Mayor was that they want the project to proceed and that Cr Sutton should get out of the way.

"They have spoken loud and clear that they support the upgrade and it will now go ahead."

However Cr Sutton last night said half of the 180 responses had been sent to her as well and accused both Cr de Wit and Cr Newman of not being honest about the submissions.

She said the council's plan would block out the view of the Brisbane River from Oxford Street.

Cr Sutton also said important street safety issues on Oxford Street, identified by council's own design team, would not be fixed under the plan.

Cr de Wit said Cr Sutton's plans would mean the waiting area would be cut in half.

The new plans include a sheltered waiting area for 58 commuters and improved disability access to the ferry terminal.

It will also allow two ferries to dock at the terminal at the same time.

A formal vote to cancel the decision taken in May to allocate council funds from Bulimba to Milton for the terminal will go to next week's council meeting.