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How About a Car Ferry?

Tales of Two Islands: Mainland Parking

Roy Baker

One of two car ferries that ply between the mainland and Coochiemudlo Island, Moreton Bay, nr Brisbane.

In the last PON I promised a series comparing our offshore community with that on Coochiemudlo, an island just off Brisbane. Coochie, as it’s often called, is accessible only by water. That can lead to mainland car parking issues, so we start by asking whether they have problems similar to our own.

There’s comfort to be had in discovering human universals. Take, for instance, the unspoken rule that at every meeting about Church Point parking someone has to suggest a car ferry so that islanders can take their vehicles home. If it’s ridicule you’re after, you could only do better by mentioning a bridge.

How consoling, then, that the idea of a bridge is raised from time to time as a possible solution to Coochie’s parking woes, only to be met with similar derision. And how comfortingly familiar to hear Coochie residents complain about Council taking away their mainland parking spots. Take heart, for we are not the only offshore community circling car parks looking for a space. 

At a rough estimate, Church Point has around 480 parking places. Coochie’s equivalent to Church Point is Victoria Point. Almost all parking at Victoria Point is free, whereas a Church Point sticker costs $619 pa ($309.50 concession). What’s more, judging by Google Earth, Victoria Point offers more spots, even though Coochie has just 850 full-time residents, compared to 940 living offshore on southern Pittwater. Let’s not get into the fact that we compete for spaces with the guests of two large restaurants. Victoria Point has one small café.

Above: Victoria Point, the closest mainland to Coochiemudlo Island. Below: Church Point, Pittwater

So far things sound peachy for Coochiemudlo. But Victoria Point’s capacity is deceptive. While most Church Point spots permit long term parking, much of Victoria Point limits stays to just a few hours. Dare I risk unpopularity by suggesting that the Church Point sticker is our saving grace? Victoria Point has no similar scheme, meaning that no favours are granted to offshore residents needing to park overnight.

In fact Victoria Point offers just two areas appropriate for overnight parking. One is a gated car park, which you’ll see towards the top right of the aerial photo above, running alongside some buildings. That car park guarantees its users a spot, so it’s equivalent to the leased spaces on the upper level of our two-storey. The annual fee for the Victoria Point car park is $1,200, compared with $6,108 for a leased spot at Church Point. Sound good?

Some of the publicly available parking at Victoria Point. Most of the spots shown here are restricted to 12 hours' parking weekdays, and are reserved for cars with trailers at weekends and on public holidays.

The catch is that the Victoria Point car park has just 89 places, all of which are taken. What’s more, there’s a further 86 on the waiting list.

The fact that the car park is thoroughly oversubscribed must say something about how dire parking is on the rest of Victoria Point. In contrast, there are spaces at Church Point currently available for lease.

The only other area where cars can be left overnight on Victoria Point is in the treed area you'll see in the above photo. But there vehicles are particularly prone to vandalism and theft. The old joke about Church Point Spares would work just as well up there.

Anecdotally, finding a park at Victoria Point sounds harder than at Church Point. According to Coochie resident Angela Hoskins, weekdays are OK between 9 am and 3 pm, but weekends are always problematic. ‘Unless I absolutely have to, I don’t leave the island Fridays to Sundays’, she says. ‘Holiday times are difficult for parking seven days a week.’

So far, so much shared suffering. But there’s one important difference. Whereas Pittwater residents can’t take their cars home, this is a viable option for some Coochie residents. They have not just one car ferry but two, with the largest capable of carrying 13 cars. These ferries ply between the island and Victoria Point daily, running from early morning until late afternoon. There’s a departure every 40 minutes or so and the crossing takes 10 minutes.

A return trip for a car costs $70. If that sounds a lot, remember that a return trip for two adults and two children over five years travelling on the Church Point ferry costs $20.46. If we had a car ferry similar to Coochie then it would be cheaper for a family of four living on Scotland Island to take their car across to Church Point twice a week than it would to leave it at the Point in a leased spot and then use the ferry.
 

Colburn Ave's gated car park on Victoria Point contains 89 places, compared with 290 in Church Point's main car park

Suddenly the idea of a car ferry between Church Point and Scotland Island might not seem so daft. In fact during the 1980s a number of islanders viewed a commercial service, running between the Church Point ramp and Carol’s Wharf, as a viable option. During the 1990s even Council looked into the idea as a serious proposition.  

But before you risk your reputation by suggesting a car ferry, remember that the island’s population has more than doubled since the 1980s. Once we’ve brought everyone’s car across to Carol’s Wharf, where would they all go? Coochie’s housing density is around half ours, and their island is flat.

What’s more, how many Scotland Islanders can limit themselves to two weekly forays to the mainland? This brings us to an important demographic distinction between Coochie and Scotland Islanders: the latter are far more likely to commute regularly to work. While just 18% of Scotland Islanders are aged 65 or above, over 40% of Coochie’s population is of retirement age. On Scotland Island 65% of adults are in the labour force. On Coochie the proportion is 39%. Retirees might manage with just the occasional mainland excursion, but for working families that’s unlikely to be an option.

We don’t have a car ferry. But at least those with a Church Point sticker are afforded certain privileges over occasional visitors to the Point. Personally, I think we get a better deal than offshore residents parking at Victoria Point. But whatever your views, you might find solace in the fact that we are not the only community with seemingly intractable parking woes.

Thanks to Angela Hoskins and Bill Gye for their help with this article. Angela's research comparing parking for our two communities can be found here.

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