Kamay Ferry Wharves to cost $500k to maintain every year paid from NSW Waterways Fund, boat fees

Sydney’s newest ferry wharves lack a running service but will cost NSW more than half a million dollars a year to maintain, with local boaties barred from them for more than 15 minutes – despite their fees helping pay the upkeep.

The wharves were originally built to resume the ferry service across Botany Bay. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Sydney’s newest ferry wharves are without a running service but will cost NSW more than half a million dollars a year to maintain, with local boaties all but barred from using what critics have labelled a “white elephant”.

The Saturday Telegraph can reveal $529,000 has been allocated this financial year to pay for the structural and environmental maintenance of the $78 million Kamay Ferry Wharves since they opened in late February.

Announced in 2020, the controversial site was developed in a bid to revive the historic ferry route across Botany Bay between Kurnell and La Perouse, but its construction budget had blown out by $60 million by the time the Minns government took power in 2023.

Then-transport minister Jo Haylen decided against cancelling the project due to a combined $46 million in late cancellation fees.

But the wharves failed to secure a single expression of interest from ferry operators after spending months on the market last year.

The wharves cost $78m to build, and will now cost a further half a million to maintain every year. Picture: Chris Huang / Matrix

A Transport for NSW spokesman confirmed no ferries would run from the wharves as there was “no viable market appetite” for the service despite the lengthy search process, but said it would “revisit potential opportunities in the future”.

Transport for NSW claimed the wharves come with a silver lining for boaters as the sites were designed to have ferries on one side and recreational boats on the other.

Recreational boats can only dock at the empty wharves for 15 minutes on one side. Picture: Chris Huang / Matrix

But boaties can only spend 15 minutes at the empty wharves to pick-up and drop off passengers, while access has been limited to one side for at least 12 months until environmental checks are completed. Recreational vessels more than 20 metres long are also prohibited at the wharf.

Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party MP Mark Banasiak said the price tag and red tape has left boaters frustrated amid growing concerns about where their fees are being spent.

“The wharves weren’t supposed to be for fishermen or boaters, it just turned out that way because (the government) couldn’t get anyone to take it up as a commercial wharf,” Mr Banasiak said.

“And why would a recreational boater dock for only 15 minutes, it’s not like they are going to be able to enjoy this new area for 15 minutes and then leave … I don’t see the benefit for boaters at all.”

The wharves have become popular among fishing enthusiasts including Alexa Quiazon, Kate Alvarez, Marita Quiazon, Mason Quiazon and Jackson Grant. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

About $370,000 is being spent to maintain the wharf structure from saltwater damage, while the remaining $159,000 will be spent on protecting local marine species.

A Transport for NSW spokesman confirmed a similar amount will be allocated to maintain the wharves each year for the foreseeable future.

It comes after boat licencing fees increased by 80 per cent last July to “improve safety services” for the state’s 580,000 boaters and private water craft riders in NSW.

The wharves’ maintenance is paid for through the NSW Waterways Fund, which receives cash from boat licencing, registration and mooring fees as well as revenue from the state’s maritime property assets.

The Minns government denied fees were hiked over the wharf project.

There are no immediate plans to run ferry services between the wharves. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison, who oversees the maritime portfolio, labelled the project “one of the worst examples of mismanagement”.

“What the former Government has delivered is a glorified fishing platform … that’s money that is not going to other crucial projects across the state,” she said.

With Transport for NSW now spruiking the wharves as a fishing spot for locals, Barden Ridge local Marita Quiazon and her family have made use of it to cast a line or two.

Ms Quiazon said she had no idea the wharves were originally built for ferries and that the maintenance bill was “a lot of money”.

“We are getting to enjoy it at (boat owners’) expense, but I’m happy to use this space … we try and look after it while we are here,” she said.

Originally published as Kamay Ferry Wharves to cost $500k to maintain every year paid from NSW Waterways Fund, boat fees