Shelter while we wait

Hobsonville residents hope a ferry terminal and additional ferry service will make their travel to downtown Auckland easier and more affordable. Joanna Davies explains.
At first glance, it seems a strange place to be putting a ferry terminal.
For the most part, Hobsonville is still an area of fields and Air Force housing.
But, as construction starts on the new subdivision, the Hobsonville Land Company is planning a new ferry terminal to connect the suburb with downtown Auckland.
Hobsonville resident Gerard Crombie says a new ferry service will be good for the area.
"I've caught the West Harbour ferry a few times, and my wife used to catch it when she worked in town, and it is a very good service. It only takes half an hour, but it is quite
expensive.''
Mr Crombie, who has lived in Hobsonville for 20 years, hopes the new ferry service will be well priced and more convenient.
"You're paying nearly 50 per cent more to catch a ferry than catching the bus from here,'' he says. "And the services don't operate late into the evenings, and that's not always
convenient for people if they want to stay in town a bit later.''
Auckland Regional Council had a stated objective to get the Hobsonville ferry operating - via Beach Haven - by 2010. But this launch date, inexorably, has been pushed further out.
Hobsonville Land Company finally lodged coastal consents to build the ferry terminal with Waitakere City Council and the regional council two weeks ago. Chief executive Sean Bignall says the service will start in 2011.
"But the wharf designs are at an initial concept stage only, and the final costs will be determined and agreed over coming months,'' he says.
The ferry will start when the first residents move to the Hobsonville Point development partway through 2011.
"It is planned that ferry services will develop from a base-level commuter service to a comprehensive level over time,'' says Mr Bignall. "It is important that services introduced
are sustainable to build commuter confidence and offer true alternatives to car-based travel.''
As well as the ferry, new bus routes will connect the suburb to Westgate and other parts of West Auckland.
Auckland Regional Transport Authority spokeswoman Sharon Hunter says specifics like ferry times are yet to be decided.
"The project is in progress. The authority's contribution to the design and development of the ferry terminal is yet to be finalised at this point.''
Meanwhile, the West Harbour ferry service will keep operating, giving residents a choice of which ferry to catch.
A single adult fare from West Harbour to downtown Auckland costs $12, with ferries running at peak times.