Focus on ferries for upper harbour

Auckland transport planners are focusing on the Government's land development scheme in Hobsonville as the launch pad for an upper Waitemata Harbour ferry service.

That is despite postponement of ferry terminal projects for Bayswater and Beach Haven, for which they blame a cash squeeze caused by the abandonment of a regional fuel tax and a reduced dividend from Auckland Regional Holdings.

The Auckland Regional Transport Authority wants to concentrate on providing ferries for Hobsonville, ready for new residents expected next year in the first stage of a 3000-house development project on the former Air Force base.

North Shore City's representative on the Auckland Regional Transport Committee, Chris Darby, is bitterly disappointed at the deferral of the Bayswater and Beach Haven terminals, saying it shows how the Government's extra investment in roads is harming public transport growth.

Those projects have been deferred three years despite a promise by the Government's Transport Agency that they would be delivered this year.

Asked about the regional transport authority's commitment to a Hobsonville ferry terminal, Mr Darby said it was important to build a facility across the water at Beach Haven as well, to provide enough passengers to make a joint service sustainable.

Authority corporate services chief Stephen Smith said he could not disagree that both were needed.

But he saw Hobsonville as the best initial prospect, as a ferry terminal there would promote public transport in a developing growth zone.

"What we are doing at Hobsonville is trying to create an environment where people use the ferry right from the start of the subdivision, rather than build it at the back end, when everybody's got two cars."

Once a viable operation was established for Hobsonville, he believed further investment could be justified in Beach Haven.

The transport authority also subsidises a service between the Westpark marina and downtown Auckland.

Authority planning chief Peter Clark said a park-and-ride facility would be an important feature of the Hobsonville terminal.

Sailing times are expected to be shorter than the Westpark ferry's 35-minute runs, and considerably less than motorway trips.

Detailed design work has begun on the Hobsonville terminal, ready for construction to be completed by July next year.

Mr Smith said an allocation in the national land transport programme of just over $1 million - including a 60 per cent Government subsidy - would not be enough but an accurate estimate would be provided in the design phase.

Meanwhile, the transport authority hopes to boost Bayswater's case for a $6.6 million terminal - for which resource consents have been granted - by leasing carparks to rebuild patronage.