Northern Beaches Council urged to take on the iconic Manly ferries as a tourist attraction
A campaign group fighting to save the iconic Manly ferries say an idea suggested by Manly MP James Griffin is ludicrous and insulting.
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The Save the Manly Ferries’ chief campaigner has hit back at suggestions that northern beaches ratepayers should take responsibility for the two iconic vessels destined for the scrap heap.
Deputy Mayor Candy Bingham reacted with disbelief at the idea that Northern Beaches Council should consider taking responsibility for the ferries, saying transport was a state issue and the council knows nothing about running boats.
“We are not in the maritime business,” she said.
“We don’t know how to run ferries.
“The whole thing is stupid.
“It’s plain ludicrous.”
She said the council was never going to be able to afford to turn the ferries into a tourism attraction.
“We have enough trouble funding our tourism office,” she said.
The idea was mooted during a debate in Parliament on Thursday over the future of the iconic vessels due to be retired.
Two of the ferries will be retained by the state government to run on weekends and public holidays, while a new small and faster fleet of ferries will take over the weekly Manly to city route later this year.
Cr Bingham said the debate was called after 22,000 people signed a petition to save all four ferries on the route and come up with a proper long-term maintenance plan for them.
She said she was disappointed by the attitude of the Liberals during the debate on Thursday.
“They showed a total disrespect for the community,” she said.
“More than 22,000 people signed that petition and they treated it like a joke.”
She said Manly MP James Griffin’s suggestion that Northern Beaches Council look at the idea of using the two boats, which are being scrapped from the route, for tourism opportunities was insulting.
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The Manly ferries could be given away for free to the people of the northern beaches, says Manly MP James Griffin.
Two out of the four Freshwater class ferries are to be retained and will be in service on weekends and public holidays when the new smaller and faster Emerald class vessel is introduced on the route later this year.
But the future of the other two is unknown.
Mr Griffin said that the two ferries could be given to Northern Beaches Council to be turned into a tourist attraction.
“I’m encouraging the Northern Beaches Council to work alongside Transport for NSW to facilitate the council being gifted the ferries to operate for tourism and heritage purposes,” Mr Griffin said.
“The council has expressed its interest in saving all the Manly ferries and this is a terrific opportunity to do just that.”
Liberal Cr Pat Daley, representing the Manly ward, said he will put forward a motion for the council to consider taking on the ferries to help boost tourism.
He said there was “absolutely no doubt” that the vessels could help tourism on the peninsula, but said ideas needed to be workshopped with all stakeholders, including Manly Business Chamber.
Northern Beaches Council previously passed a notice of motion to save all four ferries.
Mr Griffin made the offer in a speech at Parliament House on Thursday, in what turned out to be a lively debate on the future of the iconic ferries.
The debate was sparked after more than 22,000 people signed a petition to keep all four large ferries on the Manly to Circular Quay route, rather than have them replaced by the Emerald class boats.
Cr Candy Bingham led the campaign to save them and said she wanted the four iconic vessels to be retained and eventually converted to electric.
Shadow Transport Minister Chris Minns said removing the Manly ferries from the route was like “New York getting rid of their buildings or Athens tearing down the Acropolis”.
He said that as well as losing an icon from the harbour, it will result in a poorer service for customers, who will see more services cancelled in big swells.
He called on the NSW Government to reverse the decision and criticised the fact that new boats were built in China.
It comes as the Maritime Union today warned of problems with the Emerald class vessels set to replace the large ferries.
It revealed that more than 80 defects or safety observations were made by inspectors when the new Emerald Class ferries were delivered to Australia.
The problems identified by the union include faulty windows and poor plumbing in the engine rooms.
It also mentioned that the hulls were “too thin to hold a rigid form”.
Yasmin Catley, Labor Member for Swansea, said Mr Constance had bought a “floating bunch of junk”.
She said the new ferries would not be able to cope with the swells Sydney saw last weekend, but that the current “Freshwaters did not miss a beat”.
The chamber voted to note the petition.
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