State under fire over fees to use jetties at Howard Smith Wharves and Coochiemudlo Is
Fees of more than $100,000 at one of the state’s busiest jetties, and more than $430,000 at another are crippling boat operators, with one threatening to stop some crucial services and another forced to relocate.
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The operator of a fast ferry service from Brisbane River to North Stradbroke Island says jetty landing fees are crippling boat operators, have halted services to a popular riverside precinct and put vital bay island services in jeopardy.
River to Bay owner Paul Crowther lodged formal complaints with the state government after Howard Smith Wharves introduced a new $200 landing fee this week, ahead of the opening of Star Casino, the state’s newest waterfront playground.
Mr Crowther said boat landing fees were crippling ferry operators across the state and said it was “unfair” private enterprises were charging to use facilities built with public money.
He said the $200 fee equated to $100,000, with River to Bay boats scheduled to use the $5 million pontoon, in front of the restaurant precinct, 500 times a year.
“It’s unfair that a private company is charging us to use the jetty which was built with taxpayers’ money,” Mr Crowther said.
“We have been using that jetty for three years without charge and our initial agreements with the state government did not include this fee, which has been sprung on us in the week that the casino is opening.
“I complained to local member Grace Grace about taxpayer money from the state Attracting Tourism Fund being given to Howard Smith Wharves for the pontoons but no conditions on who could use them for free.
“In 2020, Ms Grace said the pontoons were being built for the public and commercial operators to all use.”
Howard Smith Wharves notified the operators a month before implementing the $200 fee this week, when it also extended the booking slots to 30 minutes.
“The decision has not been made lightly and essential to assist us in covering the ongoing expenditure required to maintain the landing including recent damage, necessary repairs and administrative costs associated with the management of the pontoon landing,” the email said.
Mr Crowther said River to Bay boats would no longer stop at Howard Smith Wharves and he hoped to use the new Star Casino jetty instead.
River to Bay permanent stops will remain at the Botanical Gardens and the Brisbane Powerhouse in New Farm, where the Brisbane City Council does not charge landing fees.
Two new pontoons are also being constructed at Howard Smith Wharves, where a City Cat jetty is already operating.
However, in June, the state government revealed that construction delays had pushed back the opening times until June next year, but with no time frame set for completion.
Exorbitant landing fees were also affecting residents of a southern Moreton Bay island, who are living in fear that their ferry operator will leave them stranded and walk away from the business after a local council increased the fees to $435,000 a year.
Coochiemudlo ferry and barge operator Amity Trader’s Steve Wallace told a community meeting this month that he would stop providing the service if federal, state and local council grants and financial relief were not forthcoming.
Mr Wallace, who declined to be interviewed while negotiations with Redland City Council continued over landing fees, told concerned residents he was finding it difficult to make ends meet even though the service was running 19 hours a day, seven days a week.
His main overhead was the Redland council landing fees, which this year were going up to a whopping $308,000 for the ferry services and $127,000 a year for the barge to run between Coochiemudlo Island and Victoria Point.
The meeting was told the ferry operator’s only revenue was from ticket sales from the island’s 800 residents as the service did not receive any state or federal grants, unlike the Moggill Ferry.
Mr Wallace told the meeting ticket prices were set by the state government and kept low to make fares affordable.
Redland City Council’s register of charges shows landing fees for Coochie have risen from $8000 in 2016 to a $57,000 in 2018 after a new jetty was built, which equates to a 3750 per cent increase in the eight years since 2016.
The council said it had to charge fees to responsibly maintain the jetties it owned or managed on behalf of the state.
“The fees are required to be applied to help relieve the cost burden on ratepayers,” the council said.
“Prior to 2021, fees charged did not cover the full cost of owning and maintaining the marine landing facilities.
“This meant council was, in effect, subsidising the cost of the infrastructure used by commercial operators.
“The amount being subsidised by general rates was estimated at an average of approximately $1 million per year.”
Coochiemudlo Island Business Association called the meeting on August 25 to discuss the prospect of the island’s only ferry service closing.
Association president Russell Jackson said without a viable ferry service the island would be doomed.
He said Redland City Council was “quietly squeezing” island residents for hundreds of dollars every year with a hidden “access tax” in-built into the ferry ticket prices.
“The landing fees are supposedly so the council can maintain the infrastructure and the ferry operator has to pass this on to residents,” Mr Jackson said.
“It has gone unnoticed by most residents with most on the island paying an excess of $500 a year in ferry tickets just for the right to return to their homes.
“This hidden ‘access tax’ is on top of the council rates, which are already the highest in southeast Queensland before this extra burden is added.
“And it’s not just Coochiemudlo Island; residents of the southern Moreton Bay islands such as Russell and Macleay are also being charged $150 a year for the same unjust tax.”
Redland councillor for the bay islands Shane Rendalls stuck up for the council, blaming the state government for failing to pay for the cost of transport to the island.
“The state pays for trunk road infrastructure and as the only access to the islands is ferry or barges, infrastructure should be regarded as a main transport corridor,” Cr Rendalls said.
“The state funds roads to every other town in Queensland, but it does not pay for access points to the islands.
“Ferry and barges are our island roads and should be paid for by the state.
“If Coochie and Straddie ferries were recognised as the public transport which they are, we would have a fair system.”
Cr Rendalls said it was unfair that Coochie residents did not receive the 50c transport fares for six months after paying $13.60 for an adult return fare to Coochiemudlo Is.
He called on all the bay islands to join forces to lobby the state government for better transport subsidies for barge and ferry operators and for the extension of TransLink to all islands.
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