Call for a ferry service between Glenelg and the Yorke Peninsula
The proposed $110 million upgrade of Glenelg jetty has imaginations whirring — and one idea in particular is floating the boat of many: a ferry service between Glenelg and Yorke Peninsula.
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Provision for a ferry service between Glenelg and the Yorke Peninsula should be included in a proposed $110 million redevelopment of the Bay’s jetty, a Liberal MP says.
Narungga MP Fraser Ellis said a 12-month trial of a ferry service between the Glenelg and Edithburgh in 1998 was “very well received” and the idea should be revisited as part of a mooted overhaul of the Glenelg Jetty.
The State Government this month announced it had commissioned a review into the feasibility of redeveloping the jetty.
The potential $110 million project could widen the jetty to 30m, lengthen it to 300m and include a hotel.
Mr Ellis called for the proposed upgraded jetty to include a ferry berth to allow a service between Glenelg and the Yorke Peninsula, about a two-hour journey each way.
It came after Kangaroo Island Mayor Michael Pengilly earlier this month said he wanted a terminal to be included in the redevelopment so a ferry service could run between the Bay and Kingscote.
“It has been 21 years since the Enigma III passenger ferry service from Glenelg to Edithburgh was unsuccessfully trialled, stopped only due to repeated sand and seagrass ingress into the Patawalonga and sediment build-in that required dredging too often, but it is time to look at it again,” Mr Ellis said.
“The vision was for a ferry service from Glenelg to Edithburgh to Kingscote return on Saturdays, Sundays and Thursdays but despite all efforts had to be abandoned due to the harbour blockages at the Glenelg end.
“Getting such a ferry service right would provide a good return on regional development and tourism investment funding, creating a lot of small business local jobs for a massive economic injection for the Yorke Peninsula region.”
Mr Ellis said ideally a vehicle and passenger service would then link to the Wallaroo to Lucky Bay ferry terminals, connecting our tourism region to the Eyre Peninsula.
Yorke Peninsula Tourism manager Deb Clarke backed the idea, saying it would encourage tourism and create jobs.
“I think the concept is great — the more people we can get up to the Yorke Peninsula to visit the better,” she said.
“It would be a brilliant thing for tourism on the Yorke Peninsula.”
The Advertiser put the proposal to Transport Minister Stephan Knoll.
A spokesman responded, saying “The State Government has recently gone out to tender for the feasibility study for the proposed Glenelg Jetty redevelopment and will await to receive and consider that report”.
Meanwhile, Sea SA remains hopeful it will be able to reinstate a ferry service between Wallaroo, on the Yorke Peninsula, and Lucky Bay, on the Eyre Peninsula, by December.
It has secured the Aurora V ferry, which is currently anchored in Venezuela, on a 10-year rolling lease.
However, it says political instability within the country has meant the Sea SA has so far been unable to secure a port declaration, which is needed before it can sail.
The company said in its website that it hoped to begin the Spencer Gulf service before Summer.