Paul Weston: Why the Gold Coast cruise ship terminal needs not just big ships but a ferry service

Councillors are about to be briefed on the oceanside cruise ship terminal, which could potentially hold 4000 guests. But how will they get around the city without clogging our streets?

COUNCILLORS are about to be briefed on the oceanside cruise ship terminal. Given the talks so far have been behind closed doors, what do we know? Main Beach faces a potential traffic nightmare.

A recent confidential briefing on The Spit master plan touched on the terminal. Part of a redacted report has been made available and confirms four future options for the Philip Park site.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate’s proposed oceanside cruise ship terminal.

“A second option shows a larger, reorientated terminal facility providing for vessels carrying up to 4000 passengers over Philip Park,” the report says.

“This option was developed collaboratively by the State Government and the State Government-appointed project consultant team and has not been assessed or verified by the city.”

So the council is saying it never put forward the idea of 4000 passengers.

But the Government has taken on board comments that the council wants a “mega cruise ship terminal”.

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The Spit master plan - the options report, showing the area around Sea World.

For the oceanside terminal to be a commercial success, the Government is being sensible and saying let’s consider a large number of passengers and the impact.

Now that means a bigger footprint for Philip Park, which without a terminal might become an environmental park with upgraded boardwalks.

From the council’s point of view, it would be much easier to pitch a smaller terminal to residents.

The Spit master planning process has required the government to sign off on a memorandum of understanding with the council.

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The beach off Philip Park. Pic by David Clark

The rules of this engagement include that the Government does not either support or oppose an offshore CST. But it must give an honest appraisal of its impact.

The master plan must consider “the built form, access arrangements, servicing layout and infrastructure requirements”.

Let’s look at this simply, and from a street level. Some basic questions need to be asked.

How big do you make the car park at Philip Park? How many buses can you fit in there? Do you just line up the buses on Sea World Drive? Is there a better transport alternative?

A pro-development tourist industry source, at the coalface of big picture Broadwater projects, gave this advice.

“You’re talking 4000 people, that’s 80 (people) by 50 private buses at Philip Park,” he said.

How do you quickly offload passengers from the big ships like Majesty of the Sea. Picture supplied

“We don’t even have a shuttle going down the end of Sea World Drive at the moment. Where are you going to park those buses? And when they leave, where are we going to locate them in Cavill Avenue?”

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Debate at the council in the past week focussed on an update about a ferry service.

Officers in their report said modelling for a five-stop service suggested between 400 and 700 passengers a day. This is a very modest start for a two-year trial expected to be launched in December.

Various piers would need to be upgraded. Village Roadshow Theme Parks, the owner of Sea World, and Marina Mirage have indicated support for the project.

“It has to be a four-berth ferry terminal (at Sea World). It must be water proof. It must be linked to Go Card,” the tourist industry source said.

An overhead bridge with “people movers” from the terminal would have to link with an upgraded pier at Sea World.

“You can take them across the Broadwater to light rail. They can go north to Brisbane, or south to Surfers Paradise, to Broadbeach, to The Star,” the tourist source said.

Or they could go directly to Southport pier and to a global tourism hub at Carey Park.

You can see where all of this is heading.

This is the city’s biggest conversation yet. The government and council need to bring it out in the open.