Ferry war erupts on harbour

By Sandra Conchie
A territory war has erupted on Tauranga Harbour between two rival ferry operators over the right to land at Salisbury Wharf and collect passengers.
The owners of Bay Ferries and The Spirit are now seeking legal advice over the dispute.
Bay Ferries owners Roger and Jean Leigh say they have suffered a drop in business because of the docking clash and The Spirit's Norrie Mackenzie says there was never enough business for both companies to survive.
Tauranga's harbourmaster has become involved, saying he has safety concerns about boats "hogging" space at Salisbury Wharf.
British couple the Leighs launched their fast ferry service in October but have now had to change their timetable to avoid clashing with the Spirit Ferry's schedule.
In late December, the couple were told by Tauranga City Council that The Spirit - a 17-year-old business which started its summer commuter service on Boxing Day - had "priority" landing rights at Salisbury Wharf.
This has caused the timetable clash at Salisbury Wharf. There are no problems at The Strand end where both have separate pontoons.
Bay Ferries makes 23 harbour crossings a day.
Mr Leigh said their original ferry timetable had been tailor-made to accommodate the needs of working commuters and to ensure it did not clash with The Spirit's crossings.Mrs Leigh said their ferry operation was going along nicely until out of the blue they received notification of their rival's priority landing rights from council.
"Obviously we very miffed and tried to discuss the issue with the other operator but he refused to talk to us."
Mrs Leigh said the crux of the matter was The Spirit, owned by Norrie Mackenzie, had decided to sit alongside Salisbury Wharf for 30 minutes after passengers disembarked, rather than the 10-15 minutes it was doing last year.
That has caused major disruptions to the Bay Ferries afternoon peak schedule, affecting it by at least 2 1/2 hours a day.
"As a result of giving way to The Spirit's priority landing rights and changing our own timetable, some regular commuters are no longer using the ferry service. In fact there had been a significant drop in patronage," Mrs Leigh said.
She would not be drawn by how much.
The couple say when their resource consent was issued by Environment Bay of Plenty, they were told The Spirit would "utilise" Salisbury Wharf. But they claim there was no mention that it possessed priority landing rights - something Mr Mackenzie strongly disputes.
"The Leighs can't complain that they were unaware that we had priority landings rights as they have a copy of my service contract with the council, which allows me to park up alongside the Salisbury Wharf for half an hour before the scheduled sailing and half an hour after they disembark."
Tauranga City Council has confirmed to the Bay of Plenty Times that The Spirit has had priority landing rights at the wharf since 1998. Mr Mackenzie said the arrangement was made after the council bought his privately-owned pontoon and offered him use of Salisbury Wharf with guaranteed landing rights.
He said The Spirit would make 10 harbour crossings a day until mid-February, depending on demand, although it's harbour cruises continue all year.
"I was unaware that the Leighs were launching Bay Ferries in opposition to me until I read about it in the Bay of Plenty Times. But even so, I am well within my rights to run my operation as I see fit," Mr Mackenzie said.
"Why should I compromise my operation, which I have been running for 17 years, when the Leighs are directly taking money out of my pocket? There really was never room for a second operator."
Tauranga City Council's senior property consultant John Budden said the matter was now "under review" and he was talking to all parties to try to find a solution.
He said options included offering the Leighs two other landing points on Salisbury Wharf.
Mr Budden said the British couple were told from the outset there was a possibility their timetable could clash with that of the Spirit once its summer service resumed.
Harbour crossings to Salisbury Wharf were always going to be dependant upon the tidal flow in Pilot Bay and it would therefore be a delicate balancing act to achieve a win-win for both sides.
Harbourmaster Jon Moore said since watching both ferry operators in action this summer, he had become increasingly concerned about water traffic safety in and around Salisbury Wharf. Because of the strong tidal flow in Pilot Bay, it was at times extremely difficult for water craft to manoeuvre in and out.
Anyone "hogging" the Salisbury berth only added to his worries, he said.
"In my opinion the Salisbury Wharf is a public facility and therefore no one should have guaranteed landing rights to use it and certainly rules around its use must never compromise safety."Mr Moore intends recommending to council that The Spirit's rights be revisited.
Garry Maloney, Environment Bay of Plenty's transport policy manager, said that while the Leighs have a contract with the regional council to run a ferry passenger transport service, it could not supplant any arrangement Mr Mackenzie had with the Tauranga council which was responsible for approving landing rights.
"I hope all parties can get together to resolve this difficult situation so Tauranga people can have the very best ferry passenger service options available to them."