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The Hibiscus and Bays Local Board is advocating for Fullers360 to relinquish its contract for the Gulf Harbour ferry run.
At its meeting on October 24, the local board provided feedback to Auckland Transport (AT) on its draft Regional Public Transport Plan.
Members sent a clear message to AT that the Gulf Harbour ferry service must be retained, noting the unprecedented level of submissions on this topic, the growth in the area, and transport needs of the peninsula with one road in and out.
It also requested that AT review the current contract with Fullers, with the aim of seeking other service providers to provide a more reliable service.
The Gulf Harbour service had experienced cancellations of up to 50 percent and, at the start of this month, the timetable was drastically reduced again to around 16 percent, while deckhands or skippers are trained.
Currently there are only two return trips between Gulf Harbour and the city in the morning and two in the evening, and this could continue for around 18 months.
“Fullers are clearly not meeting their obligations under that contract,” deputy chair Julia Parfitt said at the meeting.
She said later that the local board has been told it may be able to access a copy of the contract, but that has not yet happened.
Local board members have also recently raised a range of local transport issues, including the ferry, with AT chief executive, Dean Kimpton and will make a formal presentation to the AT board on October 31.
In addition, at the Transport and Infrastructure Committee on October 19, Hibiscus and Bays Local Board chair Gary Brown and deputy chair Julia Parfitt made a presentation. Members Victoria Short, Alexis Poppelbaum and Gregg Walden were also in attendance.
Cr Wayne Walker asked whether they would advocate for Fullers to relinquish the Gulf Harbour ferry run.
He pointed out that Explore Group had taken over the Birkenhead, Northcote Point and Bayswater ferry routes and a similar thing could happen for the Gulf Harbour route.
In response, Parfitt confirmed that the board would be calling for Fullers to relinquish their contract but said that other operators do not want to subcontract.
“We believe that they [Fullers] have not been able to meet their service obligations,” Parfitt said. “We have asked a number of significant questions about their contract. We know that other operators have expressed interest, but they do not want to come in as subcontractors to Fullers.”
Local board chair Gary Brown said he had spoken with Fullers directly, advocating for better working conditions and treatment of staff.
“I have a good friend who works on the ferries and they [Fullers] have a major administration problem with the way they roster their staff and that’s why they are losing staff – I believe that the way they are doing this is different to the other ferry services,” Brown said.
