Setting sail yet again for Clifford Bay

Nelson Mail editorial, May 10, 2011
With roughly the same sort of predictability as the ebb and flow of the tides, so talk of shifting the South Island ferry terminal from Picton to Clifford Bay comes and goes. That the idea is such a hardy annual reflects both its logical appeal, but also the dubious economics which have dashed previous proposals.

What's different – and surprising – this time is that it's the Government reviving the debate. Transport Minister Stephen Joyce has asked officials to look at the "high level" issues around a Clifford Bay terminal, to build on work done by the state-owned rail and ferry operator, KiwiRail. Mr Joyce points to the argument which has been heard ad infinitum down the years: that Clifford Bay offers shorter travel times, both on the water and on the road from Christchurch. Crucially, it would also allow the ferries to avoid the Marlborough Sounds and their speed restrictions which have severely hampered ferry operators in recent times.

As appealing as such benefits might seem, they have not necessarily stacked up for investors before now. The last two private operators of the ferries, TranzRail and Toll, walked away from the Clifford Bay option, TranzRail despite spending millions on the possibility. It's not just that the costs and scale of the work needed to turn an arid bay into a major freight and passenger terminus are significant. Many of the advantages of reduced travel times would accrue elsewhere in the economy than on the operator's balance sheet. The advantage the established port at Picton enjoys should not be under-estimated either, however constrained its facilities might be. Port Marlborough has clearly been adept at putting up compelling cases against the Clifford Bay option, and will surely seek to do so again.

But if a private operator has not been able to make the sums work at Clifford Bay, the involvement of the Government changes the perspective. It obviously has to be fiscally responsible, but it can also justify bringing wider considerations into the mix – the benefits of shortening the journey from Christchurch to Wellington, for instance. Then again, its talk of involving a private sector partner – a politically contentious idea, given the chequered history of private-public ventures – underlines the full scale of the project, one which the Government (or KiwiRail) is patently not in a position to carry alone.

The uncertainty a revival of the debate causes in Picton – and the huge disruption which would follow if a shift to Clifford Bay ever did happen – will trouble many in the Marlborough community. Mr Joyce promises they will be part of the consideration. Yet as time goes on, it is hard to see that Picton's interests will continue to withstand the logic of a better-sited hub for the South Island's vital inter-island link. Future efficiencies surely lie in shortening the distance and providing for larger, faster vessels than Picton and the Sounds can handle.