Moreton Island barge from Redcliffe stalled due to no landing site

REMEMBER the good old days of catching the Combie Trader from Scarborough to Moreton Island? It may remain a thing of the past, with plans to reinstate the service now dead in the water.

The Combie Trader II leaving Scarborough before it ceased operation in 2008.

• 2015: Barge revival waiting on a landing point
• 2014: State Government approves barge from Peninsula
• 2013: Barge could be in water by 2014
• 2013: Momentum builds to bring back barge
• 2008: Combie Trader sails into sunset

A BARGE connecting Moreton Island and the Redcliffe Peninsula is all but dead in the water, two years after the State Government approved Bhagwan Marine to reinstate the service.

The Combie Trader II from Scarborough stopped operation in July 2008, leaving the Port of Brisbane (walk-on passengers) and Victoria Point (vehicle access) as the only link to Moreton Island.

Following years of public pressure, the State Government granted a permit to Bhagwan Marine to reinstate the service, but plans have stalled with no landing site on the mainland.

Bhagwan Marine’s Brisbane commercial manager Tim Lovett said he wanted nothing more than to deliver a barge between the Peninsula and Moreton Island but there was a $3 million roadblock — the need to dredge a landing site on the mainland, which no level of government was willing to fund.

“The State Government put out the expression of interest for the barge (in 2014) knowing full well there was nowhere to land on the Peninsula,” he said.

“They gave us a permit, but never a land-based solution.”

A spokeswoman for Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, which manages the permit, said “discussions were ongoing”.

“QPWS is committed to working with other departments and the proponent to establish a barge service between Moreton Island and the north side of Brisbane,” she said.

“However, progress of this matter primarily depends on the proponent identifying a suitable landing site.”

“The (2014) expressions of interest process assumed the successful proponent would be responsible for meeting all other requirements in providing the service, including a vessel and access to other barge landing sites.”

Mr Lovett said the dredging cost, which would need to be covered by Bhagwan, would take the business’s upfront expense to about $7-8 million.

“With that investment, the ticket price would need to be quite high just to break even,” Mr Lovett said.

He said without state or council support to find a suitable location and help fund the dredging, the business felt it had “exhausted all possible options”.

Moreton Bay Regional Council acting mayor Mike Charlton said it was a shame the barge had gone and council wanted the State Government departments address issues that were preventing the barge operating between the Peninsula and Moreton Island.

State Labor MP for Redcliffe Yvette D’Ath has sponsored a petition for new operators. Presumably, any new operator would also need to foot the cost of dredging a site, along with finding the site, gaining approval from multiple State Government departments and the cost of a building, buying or transporting a barge.

“The former Government’s preferred operator has failed to establish the required service,” Ms D’Ath posted along with the petition.

“I am sponsoring a petition to have a new Expression of Interest issued to identify an operator who will promptly establish and provide a reliable barge service between the Island and Redcliffe.

“I will present the petition to Parliament early in the New Year and encourage residents to sign the e-petition.”

Where could it go?

Bhagwan Marine put forward many options for landing sites on mainland including Scarborough and Bribie Island.

THE site where the Combie Trader II used to land at Scarborough has changed since its closure in 2008, but Bhagwan Marine has looked at other sites.

Mr Lovett said the preferred site was opposite the former landing site at Scarborough, but that site would require approval from Transport and Main Roads department and cost about $3 million to dredge.

“Next we offered Bribie Island,” he said. “Bribie would be a shorter distance (to Moreton Island compared to Scarborough) but there are other issues, like managing the traffic on the bridge.

“Even opposite Bribie at Sandstone Point (was suggested) ... or Beachmere.”

Mr Lovett said Scarborough remained the preferred location.

“But we’re barge operators, we’re not land developers, we’re not traffic operators or people who can pull strings.”

Acting Mayor Mike Charlton said Moreton Bay Regional Council’s planning scheme identified Scarborough Boat Harbour as a possible location for a ferry terminal or barge service.