Bass Coast Post
  • Home
    • Recent articles
  • News
    • Point of view
    • View from the chamber
  • Writers
    • Anne Davie
    • Anne Heath Mennell
    • Bob Middleton
    • Carolyn Landon
    • Catherine Watson
    • Christine Grayden
    • Dick Wettenhall
    • Ed Thexton
    • Etsuko Yasunaga
    • Frank Coldebella
    • Gayle Marien
    • Geoff Ellis
    • Gill Heal
    • Harry Freeman
    • Ian Burns
    • Joan Woods
    • John Coldebella
    • Jordan Crugnale
    • Julie Statkus
    • Kit Sleeman
    • Laura Brearley >
      • Coastal Connections
    • Lauren Burns
    • Liane Arno
    • Linda Cuttriss
    • Linda Gordon
    • Lisa Schonberg
    • Liz Low
    • Marian Quigley
    • Mark Robertson
    • Mary Whelan
    • Meryl Brown Tobin
    • Michael Whelan
    • Mikhaela Barlow
    • Miriam Strickland
    • Natasha Williams-Novak
    • Neil Daly
    • Patsy Hunt
    • Pauline Wilkinson
    • Phil Wright
    • Sally McNiece
    • Terri Allen
    • Tim Shannon
    • Zoe Geyer
  • Features
    • Features 2022
  • Arts
  • Local history
  • Environment
  • Bass Coast Prize
  • Community
    • Diary
    • Courses
    • Groups
  • Contact us

Ferry plan refloated

9/9/2021

11 Comments

 
PictureA 2018 proposal to site a car ferry terminal at Mussel Rocks was quickly dropped and the Cowes jetty is back under consideration.
By Catherine Watson
 
A CAR ferry linking Phillip Island and the Mornington Peninsula is back on the agenda with the State Government committing $200,000 towards a feasibility study to determine whether the Cowes Jetty is a suitable docking point.
 
Bass Coast Shire Council will commission the study which will assess implications for the Cowes Jetty Triangle and a detailed traffic and parking impact assessment.
 
Bass Coast Mayor Brett Tessari said the community would be invited to provide feedback on the project, which has created ripples in the Phillip Island community since it was first floated many years ago.

The ferry project is an essential component of the Government’s proposal to create an iconic touring route linking the Great Ocean Road, Mornington Peninsula, Phillip Island and Wilsons Promontory.
Picture
Council backs car ferry ‘in principle’
April 20, 2018 - The Cowes jetty is back on the table as a possible terminal for a car ferry service to the Mornington Peninsula.
​

Car ferry a goer
February 16, 2018 - A stretch of beachfront between Mussel Rocks and the Cowes Yacht Club is the preferred dock for a proposed car ferry between Phillip Island and the Mornington Peninsula.
It’s also supported by the Phillip Island and San Remo Visitor Economy Strategy 2035, adopted by the council in 2015, and still supported by the council – at least in theory.

​But the practicality has proved far more difficult. A 2018 business case study showed overwhelming support for the proposed ferry among Mornington Peninsula residents (87 per cent), but it was much lower in Bass Coast (66 per cent), with concerns expressed around environmental impacts, traffic congestion and the location of the terminal in Cowes.

 
The Cowes jetty was expressly excluded from consideration as a docking point in the study due to a vocal local campaign.
 
Instead the study recommended a section of beachfront between Mussel Rocks and the Cowes Yacht Club – and that proved even more controversial.
Following the release of the business case study, Bass Coast councillors voted six to three to back a car ferry “in principle”. However, they declined to endorse Mussel Rocks as the preferred location for a terminal and asked the State Government to investigate the Cowes jetty as a docking point. 

​Last year, the council adopted a notice of motion stating it would not proceed with any further consideration of the sites already explored in the business case.

Cr Tessari said the council continued to support a car ferry in principle.
 
“However, Council deferred consideration of the Business Case based on community feedback throughout the consultation process, until a comprehensive investigation has been undertaken as to whether the Cowes Jetty is a more suitable location.
 
Bass MP Jordan Crugnale, a former Bass Coast mayor, welcomed the feasibility study.
“If it is viable, the car ferry will bolster our region’s tourism appeal and bolster jobs into the future.”
 
11 Comments
Tim Shannon
10/9/2021 01:23:11 pm

That is regrettable, better to spend the money on fixing a few problems rather than creating more.

Reply
Loloma Kannava
10/9/2021 02:39:59 pm

Won’t it need a huge carpark area? Where could that go?
The north facing beachfront from Silverleaves to Ventnor is so rare and beautiful can it not go somewhere else?
Worried about even more dreadful impacts to our long suffering wildlife.

Reply
Tim Shannon
10/9/2021 03:05:26 pm

A bit of background. Two Councils prior to the current one, when Peter Paul was Mayor, after much ado and community angst over an earlier proposal to lump a ferry terminal onto the Triangle and the Cowes Jetty, the Council accepted its legislated obligation to protect the Cowes foreshore from such degradation, and a Council Resolution was passed prohibiting any such thing. Where is this now ?

Reply
Bernie Mccomb link
10/9/2021 03:23:40 pm

Based on ferry big enough for 36 cars, but annual average expecting 15 cars, trip time 40’mins, disembark/ embark 15 mins, round trip cycle time must allow 2 hours. Impossible more than 5 round trips per day x 15cars = 75 cars per day.

Car ferry has never made any sense and never will. Now, about climate crisis....

Reply
Philip Bagley
29/12/2021 01:18:04 pm

What climate crisis??????????

Reply
ian samuel
10/9/2021 04:33:43 pm

I also am very concerned that the previous Council's decision in 2010 to protect the iconic North facing beach and foreshore from Erehwon point to Mussel rocks from building a ferry terminal at the jetty, has been ignored by the current council's support of the Cowes jetty site in another study.
This iconic foreshore is only one of three North facing beach foreshore areas in Victoria, and has always been one of the most significant attractions for Cowes tourism.
Once lost to development and vehicle traffic, it can never be recovered.

Reply
Dr. Lynda Hanlon
11/9/2021 09:27:17 am

Seriously? How many times do residents have to say NO before the council listens? 'No' means 'No', not maybe.

Reply
Pink Kannava
11/9/2021 10:19:19 am

Agree with all above - also council will be having to protect the rare and much loved north facing beach from surges and higher tides - destruction and development will only make it worse.

Reply
Bob & Anne Davie link
11/9/2021 10:53:27 am

This is breathtaking when you consider:
1. Already nearly a million dollars has already been spent on
feasibility/proposals.
2. A Jetty Car Ferry terminal proposal was voted against
unanimously in 2010 by the Bass Coast Council and applauded
by the community.
3. There has been a 2 million dollar upgrade of the Jetty Triangle to
remove cars and be more people friendly.
4. With serious coastal erosion on the precious Cowes foreshore
beach why would the infrastructure required not be the cause of
more detriment ?
5. How can a Car Ferry in Cowes benefit the businesses when it is
probable that most cars will just drive across the Island to another
destination ?

Reply
Dev Dulai
31/1/2022 04:32:04 pm

There is alot of people against the terminal, what are the pros rather than the cons and what do the business owners and landlords think?boost in tourism and local economy or not?

Reply
Bernie Mccomb
31/1/2022 06:09:40 pm

Possible pro is average daily move 75 cars, compared with 60kmh road at 1200cars per lane per hour. Illustration looks cute but boat is sideways on to waves. No hope.

Reply



Leave a Reply.