New ferry terminal talks

Port Marlborough and Strait Shipping are discussing a new ferry terminal in Picton for the Bluebridge Cook Strait Ferry Service.

Port Marlborough chief executive Sean Bolt said the port was looking at building a dedicated terminal for Strait Shipping similar to the one the ferry company had in Wellington.

Negotiations with Toll for use of the Picton Ferry Terminal were going satisfactorily, Bolt said, but they had been put on hold until a hearing at the Marlborough District Council next month into a variation in shipping activity in the sounds relating to ferry speeds.

Toll is believed to have shelved a proposal to move its interisland ferries from Picton to Clifford Bay, 44km south of Blenheim.

- NZPA