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Bay of Plenty regional councillor Kat Macmillan said the local community had been crying out for a ferry service for years.
photo: LDR / Sunlive / John Bolen
A ferry service between Tauranga and Mount Maunganui has yet to materialise due to a delay in a council funding decision.
Auckland water taxi company Hauraki Express is prepared to build two ferries for the service if local councils are willing to subsidize fares.
Ferries will run from Salisbury Quay in the heart of Mount Maunganui to Tauranga city centre.
The company has applied for $1.4 million each from Tauranga City Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council.
This will be the highest amount paid by the council during the two-year trial.
In May, Tauranga City Council Committee Agree to fund their part If the regional council pays the other half.
At a meeting last week, the district council delayed a decision because two local councillors were absent and staff wanted assurances from the city council that newly elected members were still willing to fund the service.
MP Kat Macmillan said she was “angry” about the delay.
“The community has been hungry for this service for years and there is a huge demand for it.”
The proposal has also been endorsed by the Tauranga and District Councils’ Joint Public Transport Committee and the District Council’s Public Transport Committee.
“We need to make Tauranga a port city, not just a port city.”
Peter and Amy Bourke of Hauraki Express want to start a commuter ferry service in Tauranga.
photo: LDR/Sunlive/Alyssa Evans
Mr McMillan said Tauranga had its share of growing pains, with cones everywhere, roadworks and buses experiencing traffic jams between the Mount and Tauranga.
“We are still failing to provide solutions and utilize this Octopus Harbor estuary environment to solve some of our transportation problems.”
Hauraki Express director Peter Bourke and his daughter Amy attended the meeting.
Councillor Stuart Crosby said because the two men were present, the council should have made that decision.
After the meeting, Peter Burke said they understood the changed political environment following Tauranga’s election of a new city council in July, but the ferry presented a great opportunity for the city.
He said the company made a formal proposal to the council in April and it would take a year to get the ferry operational.
Burke said they had hoped to have the service up and running by Easter 2025, but it is already October.
“We do have concerns that we may not reach the top of the market.”
He said the ferry trials would have to last two full summers to prove their success.
Burke said he hopes the service will continue permanently and expand to new routes in time.
One-way fares are around $6 and the journey between Tauranga and Mount Maunganui takes about 17 minutes.
The fully enclosed ferry can accommodate 30 people and 15 bicycles.
Special Projects Manager Amy Bourke said they have discussed the proposal with some of the new city councillors who support it.
The idea of a ferry service to Tauranga was first mooted in 2020 when economic development agency Priority One conducted a feasibility study.
The ferry journey between Tauranga and Mount Maunganui takes 17 minutes.
photo: LDR / Sunlive / John Bolen
The range was expanded in November 2023, with a feasibility report released by the regional council stating that operating the ferry would face significant cost barriers.
If the regional council were to purchase and refit three vessels, it would cost $4.5 million, with annual operating costs of $700,000.
If ridership is lower, a one-way fare on one of the proposed routes could be as high as $404.
Peter Bourke said the smaller purpose-built ferries they were proposing would be more suitable for Tauranga.
The regional council will consider the proposal again in September.
– LDR is a local news organisation co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
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