A RATHMINES man is convinced the time is right to revive a ferry service on Lake Macquarie.
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Alec Howard said the growing Lake Macquarie population, coupled with increasing traffic congestion on local roads, would make a ferry service viable today.
“Lake Macquarie is a city, and just about every city with a waterway has a ferry service,” Mr Howard said.
“I’ve had this idea in mind for years, but when I was in the car on Saturday, driving through Toronto and again got stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic backed up all the way to Woodrising, I thought there has got to be a better way of getting around the lake.”
By Mr Howard’s reckoning there are 19 public jetties around Lake Macquarie that are potential ferry stops.
The stops would ideally be integrated with bus and train serivices, and cycleways.
Key stops could be established at the Morisset peninsula, Toronto, Kilaben Bay, Marmong Point, Mannering Park, Wangi Wangi, Rathmines, Speers Point and Belmont.
“It’s not that difficult to work out,” he said.
“At the very least, let’s trial a ferry service for 18 months or two years.”
Mr Howard, who is an ex-serviceman with sailing experience, said ferries could immediately be sourced for a Lake Macquarie trial from Sydney.
“There are plenty of redundant ferries in Rose Bay in Sydney. Why couldn’t we lease some of those?”
Mr Howard said establishing a ferry service would require an initial outlay from the state government or Lake Macquarie City Council, but nothing like the $25 million council has pledged to repair local roads next financial year.
Mr Howard said he was not convinced council was the right organisation to operate a ferry service, but he said council had a clear role to play in helping to facilitate one.
In 2013, council outlined its support for a lake ferry service in its Lake Macquarie City Lifestyle 2030 Strategy.
“Links across the lake could be improved by a public water-based transport system,” the document said. “The establishment of such a network is encouraged when it is viable.”
Mr Howard believes that time has arrived.