A ferry service is being planned for up to 200 construction workers to get to and from Shelly Bay in Wellington where a $500 million housing development is taking shape.
The private arrangement is being worked on between Shelly Bay developer Ian Cassels and East by West Ferries.
Workers will be picked up on existing ferry services from either Days Bay or Queens Wharf and dropped off at Shelly Bay - a dog leg that’s estimated to take about five minutes.
East by West Ferries hopes the new stop could also provide a solution for Scots College students left in a pickle after the ferry company announced it would not resume weekday sailings between Eastbourne and Seatoun.
Developer Ian Cassels said the plan was to eventually make the Shelly Bay stop permanent and available to the public.
Starting with construction workers was the obvious thing to do, he said.
“There’s going to be quite a bit of activity there, why not start it now? They don’t have to participate or aggravate the traffic snarl-up that goes on morning and night and we’re quite proud of that, it makes sense.”
Diggers and machines have been busy at Shelly Bay after a land occupation by those who opposed the controversial development came to an end.
“There’s been a huge amount of work done out there, a lot of groundwork, clearing away contaminated soils, and working with what is essentially an incredibly neglected site,” Cassels said.
“There’s no real infrastructure, the sea walls are decrepit.”
Cassels said he was relieved to get spades in the ground after facing what he called entrenched opposition to the development.
“It’s fair to say that most of that has retreated and there’s a general understanding that the thing’s going to go ahead.”
Cassels said there was no question that costs had increased over the time the development had been stalled, but could not provide the most recent estimates.
Developer Ian Cassels says the plan is to eventually make the Shelly Bay stop permanent and available to the public. Photo / Mark Mitchell
East by West Ferries general manager Mat Jonsson said the Shelly Bay stop could be up and running as soon as the end of the year.
“That will be the only drop-off we do at Shelly Bay in the first instance - just the construction workforce and just the Scots College students, until such time as Shelly Bay starts being sold and occupied.
“Then what I would call stage two of going to Shelly Bay would be it has a ferry service of its own that’s eight minutes to town versus a 35-minute drive.”
Jonsson said this could require an additional electric ferry for the East by West fleet.
The ferry company was also working through a business case for a wider service into Evans Bay between Queens Wharf, Shelly Bay, and Miramar cutting, Jonsson said.
Scots College headmaster Graeme Yule said he has not had any communication with East By West Ferries about the Shelly Bay proposal.
“But it sounds better than what we’ve got at the moment,” he said.
Scots College is a private school in Strathmore Park, which is within walking distance of Seatoun. Students living in Eastbourne used to take a ferry service between Days Bay and Seatoun to get to school, which was by far the quickest option considering the two locations are on opposite sides of the harbour.
The service was put on hold last year while Wellington City Council undertook substantial repairs to Seatoun Wharf at a cost of $2.8 million.
After the council repairs were completed, East by West Ferries said the service would not be resuming partly because only one of its boats could work with the refurbished wharf across all tides.
East by West Ferries' new electric ferry. Photo / Supplied
“People were just a bit gobsmacked to be honest”, he said.
Since then, the school has worked through two options for students in Eastbourne - taking the bus or taking the ferry to Queens Wharf and then getting a shuttle.
If students could take a ferry to Shelly Bay, which is much closer to the school, a shuttle could pick them up from there instead, Yule said.
“I think that would be popular with them simply because it’s going to save them probably half an hour.”
