Bay of Plenty Regional Council delays Tauranga-Mount Maunganui ferry decision

A ferry trip between Tauranga and Mount Maunganui could take 17 minutes. Photo / John Borren

A ferry service between Tauranga and Mount Maunganui is no closer to reality after a council-funding decision was deferred.

Auckland water taxi company Hauraki Express is prepared to build two ferries for the service if councils subsidise the fares.

The ferries would run from Salisbury Wharf in downtown Mount Maunganui to Tauranga city centre.

The company has asked Tauranga City Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council for $1.4 million each.

This would be the maximum cost the councils would pay over the two-year trial.

In May, Tauranga City Council’s commission agreed to fund their portion if the regional council paid the other half.

At a meeting last week, the regional council delayed its decision because two local councillors were absent, and staff wanted assurance from the city council that the newly elected members still wanted to fund the service.

Bay of Plenty Regional councillor Kat Macmillan said the community had been crying out for a ferry service for years. Photo / John Borren, SunLive

Councillor Kat Macmillan declared her “exasperation” with the delay.

“The community have been crying out for the service for years, there’s a huge appetite for it.”

The proposal was also endorsed by the joint Tauranga and regional council public transport committee and the regional council’s public transport committee.

“We need to have this vision for Tauranga as a harbour city, not just a port city.”

Tauranga had growing pains, with cones everywhere, roadworks and buses between the Mount and Tauranga getting held up in traffic, Macmillan said.

“We still are delayed in providing a solution and using this octopus harbour estuary environment to solve some of our transport issues.”

Hauraki Express director Peter Bourke and his daughter Amy attended the meeting.

Peter and Amy Bourke of Hauraki Express want to start a commuter ferry service in Tauranga. Photo / Alisha Evans, SunLive

Councillor Stuart Crosby said because the pair were there the council should decide one way or the other.

Speaking after the meeting, Peter Bourke said they understood the changing political environment in Tauranga with a new council elected in July, but the ferries offered a great opportunity for the city.

The company made a formal proposal to the council in April and needed a year to get the ferries operational, he said.

They had hoped to get the service running by Easter 2025, but it would be October now, Bourke said.

“We’re really concerned we’re just not going to hit the high point of the market.”

It was vital for the ferry trial to have two full summers to prove its success, he said.

Bourke said he hoped the service would become permanent and could expand to new routes in time.

The fare would cost about $6 each way and the trip between Tauranga and Mount Maunganui would take about 17 minutes.

The fully enclosed ferries would have seating for 30 people and space for 15 bikes.

An artist's concept of the interior of the proposed Tauranga ferry.

Special projects manager Amy Bourke said they had discussed the proposal with some of the new city councillors who were supportive.

The idea of a ferry service for Tauranga was first floated in 2020, when economic development agency Priority One did a feasibility study.

This was expanded on and in November 2023 a feasibility report by the regional council said there would be significant cost barriers with ferry operations.

The cost to the regional council if it were to buy and refit three vessels would have been $4.5m with an annual running cost of $700,000.

Peter Bourke said the smaller purpose-built ferries they were proposing would be better suited to Tauranga.

The regional council will consider the proposal again in September.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air

- SunLive