Tourist island slugged with parking fines, no 50 cent boat concessions

Stradbroke Island businesses say they are sinking under full transport fares and stringent parking limits, claiming the state and local governments have left them out of recent public transport concessions.

Cars parked on the foreshore at North Stradbroke Island. Car owners will soon be fined by Redland City Council if they do not meet strict time limits. Pictures: Contributed and Judith Kerr

Small businesses and tourist outlets on one of the state’s island meccas claim they are being penalised because they are not being eligible for the recently-announced 50 cent state government public transport concessions.

Even worse, motorists would now face new parking time limits.

The North Stradbroke Island Chamber of Commerce said last week’s state government decision to drop the price of public transport trips to 50 cents would not apply on the island’s ferries or barges as they were not part of the TransLink system.

Residents and tourists to the island would still have to pay the full fare of $106 for a one-way trip for a car on the barge, $11 on the North Stradbroke Island ferry or $12 one way on the Stradbroke Flyer.

Once on the island, a bus fare from Dunwich to Point Lookout, which is now $10 return, will be $1 return from August, even though the island buses do not take Go Cards.

A TransLink bus stop at Point Lookout where bus users cannot tap on with a Go Card but will be eligible for the 50c concession in August. Picture: Judith Kerr

A statement from Translink said the six-month 50c trial, starting in August, would include buses on North Stradbroke Island and also the Southern Moreton Bay Island ferry services but not the ferries or the barge which are privately-operated transport services.

Translink said it was rolling out the Smart Ticketing across the public transport network, with Smart Ticketing available to adult customers on South East Queensland trains, Brisbane River ferries and Gold Coast Light Rail.

“The first bus trial will be announced this year and we will announce the trial of Smart Ticketing on Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) buses in due course,” the Translink statement said.

Chamber president Colin Battersby said both the state government and the local council had neglected public transport on the island.

What a mess. Cars parked on the foreshore at Dunwich near the passenger ferry to Toondah Harbour. Picture: Judith Kerr

He said state and council plans to get more people using public transport had failed dismally on the islands, where the council had recently restricted parking at the Dunwich ferry terminal to 12 hours.

In some places it was only 24 or 72 hours.

“The islands aren’t considered the same as the mainland and therefore the governments do not provide the same standard of services be it transport, waste management or any other service that would be expected,” Mr Battersby said.

“There are no TransLink services on the islands let alone affordable connectedness.

“We are not even being considered as part of Redland City in today’s TMR state government survey.

“There is no appetite for change by TMR and new Redland City Council parking rules in Dunwich will rule out most people on the island using public transport at all because there will be no parking at the ferry terminal for them to leave their car.

A state government transport survey for Redland does not include the southern Moreton Bay islands or North Stradbroke Island.

“Because there are no proper bus services on the island and people have to drive to the ferry terminal, they have to leave their car there while they are on the mainland which is often a lot longer than 12 hours.

“Amity businesses are withering with irregular, unreliable public transport services that don’t serve the needs of residents let along tourists.

“When the new parking fines and time limits come into play on July 8, we’ll have cars parked ad hoc at the bus stops and in the streets around Dunwich and at Amity.

“People still need to get their shopping, suitcases and kids from the bus stop to their homes.

“But the island has no regular buses going into local streets near houses at all of the three townships — and not just in and out of the ferry terminals.

“Without a proper bus service, people need to have, or bring, cars to the island every time they visit, whether they are tourists, residents, or property owners.”

A Redland City Council map showing the new parking time limit restrictions.

Redland City Council was contacted for comment.

But in letters to island residents and businesses last month, Redland City Council service manager John Frew said the new time limits were designed to improve community parking access, stop people using public carparking for private vehicle storage, improve foreshore amenity and safeguard Dunwich’s cultural heritage.

“It is essential that long-stay vehicle parking does not continue to occupy sensitive cultural environmental and commuter access areas,” Mr Frew’s letter said.

“Infrequent visitors to the island are encouraged to leave their vehicles at home or their island property and use the island bus service instead.”

The letter also told residents that vehicles exceeding the specified time limits would be removed, with fines to be issued from July 8.

Barges going to Straddie are not part of the TransLink network and will not offer the 50c concession. Parking fines will also be imposed on residents leaving their cars at the ferry terminal for more than 72 hours.

A community meeting in April, called to highlight the island’s transport problems, was told that TransLink was required to approve any changes to the island bus timetable even though the services were run by a private company owned by SeaLink.

A Transport Department survey, which closed on Monday, May 27, asking bayside and Redland residents to list their transport priorities, excluded Straddie and island residents.

Stradbroke Flyer owner John Groom, who runs ferries to the island from Cleveland’s Toondah Harbour, said he had been begging the state government to include his ferry services in the TransLink network since 2013.

Mr Groom, who has been running ferries to the island for more than 30 years, said the lack of parking spaces at Dunwich would get worse once the state government built its proposed $9 million cultural and arts centre at Dunwich.

He said proposed hefty council parking fines, would also deter people from using the island public transport.

Rejuvenation plans for Dunwich on North Stradbroke Island do not include upgrading parking facilities. Image: State Government 2023

“There has been a push to try to get the buses on the island on the TransLink Go Card network but TransLink has said it will not be including the boats to get there,” Mr Groom said.

“People put $100 on their Go Cards thinking they can use the card to pay for the island ferry or barge and bus.

“The parking at Dunwich for those who are using the boats has also been neglected with people parking their island holiday vehicle at the ferry terminal for months on end taking up valuable parking spaces.

“The council’s answer is to fine people – but there is no long-term planning for the island and a long-term car park is not even in the Dunwich Masterplan which shows the island is set to get a major arts centre at Dunwich soon.”

The state government announced plans to double funding from $4.5 million to $9 million at the 2022-2023 state Budget which also set an expected deadline for the entire project’s completion of January 2024.