Paul Weston: A ferry good idea for Gold Coast waterways would be a City Hopper in the Broadwater

WE have more waterways than Venice, yet why do we not have a ferry service? Surely it’s a ‘ferry’ good idea, writes reporter Paul Weston.

WHY does a city with more waterways than Venice lack a ferry service?

Every six months or so the Gold Coast Waterways Authority is asked about it. The Spit master planners are being asked the same question.

And on Mother’s Day, in Brisbane, the same question was asked — again.

After breakfast on the restaurant strip at the River City’s South Bank, the CityHopper ferry arrived.

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The ferry journey included a stop-off at Eagle Street Pier opposite the Story Bridge.

How Brisbane outshines the Gold Coast — the ferry service under the Story Bridge.

There I discovered you can walk off to a French coffee shop for a doughnut and cup of tea, resume your trip and at New Farm Park walk off the doughnut. At no cost. The CityHopper service runs seven days a week and it’s free.

Businesses all along the river are benefiting.

Thoughts turned to the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and how some restaurants took a bad turn in trade.

What if there was a Broadwater tourist ferry service? Tourists from Surfers Paradise could visit the shopping strip at Paradise Point. They could even make their way to Carrara for a Suns game.

How good does Brisbane City look from the water?

Yes, the river is a lot browner than when explorer John Oxley discovered it, but viewed from the water, under blue skies, the Story Bridge and the signature glass-tower skyline glisten.

The Kangaroo Point ferry in Brisbane in 1936 — the city has a long ferry service history. PIC: STATE LIBRARY OF QUEENSLAND.

How great would Surfers Paradise look from the deck of a small ferry on the Broadwater? What about a service from Labrador to Wavebreak Island, to an enclosed swimming area there for the kids?

Answering these questions provides more twists and turns than the old river itself.

The starting point is which level of government pays to subsidise a service. Some authority must build the wharves and help organise a ticketing system.

When the Brisbane City Council claimed it funded the CityHopper, the State Government detailed how it contributes more than $1 million a year. In 2015-16, the government outlayed $17 million on ferry services.

The government is unlikely to rush down and put a hand in its pocket to fund a Coast service.

Other challenges include speed limits. How fast should these ferries be allowed to travel?

The busy ferry service on the Brisbane River. Photographer: Liam Kidston.

Should they have preference over private operators for docking, locking up wharves in Surfers Paradise?

But here’s the thing. Ferries for events work on the Coast.

During the Glow Festival, 1600 fans enjoyed the trip from the city tourist heart to Evandale. Mayor Tom Tate reached out to the waterways authority about exploring further services to the cultural precinct.

Imagine travelling to a concert at Doug Jennings Park, from Labrador across to Wavebreak and then to The Spit?

Guess what would happen, providing a fresh east-west link transport? The traffic jam around Main Beach would ease.

This debate has sputtered on in the background, less louder than the one for the cruise ship terminal but just as long. Reports on ferries stretch back more than a decade.

Wavebreak Island in the Broadwater. Imagine a ferry service there? Pic by David Clark.

There is no need for a jetty into the raging ocean here. No monster cruise liners trying to navigate the Seaway.

No need for a casino on the Broadwater to fund it. The Spit master plan could cut through bureaucratic sand banks and open up a pathway for a small starter service.

This idea could yet float your boat.