The contentious car ferry project has been given a new lease of life, with the state government committing to a $200,000 feasibility study of Cowes jetty as the site for the Phillip Island terminal of the Cowes to Stony Point Car Ferry. An artist’s impression of the Cowes to Stony Point car ferry in the 2018 business case.
Like Lazarus, the car ferry has been resurrected.
The contentious project has been given a new lease of life, with the state government committing to a $200,000 feasibility study of Cowes jetty as the site for the Phillip Island terminal of the Cowes to Stony Point Car Ferry.
A car ferry to run between Phillip Island and Stony Point was investigated as far back as 1985, then 1995, 2009 and 2018.
Over the years, various locations have been considered, and rejected, in the face of strong community opposition.
The Cowes jetty was not considered in the most recent business case in 2018 because it was rejected in 2010, because the community was vehemently opposed to “industrialising” the area, and were angry “no alternative potential location for a car ferry terminus was allowed”.
In April 2018 councillors voted “in principle” to support the business case, but after considerable opposition from residents deferred full consideration until a $200,000 investigation was made of the Cowes jetty as a location.
In 2019, the Bass Coast Shire allocated $120,000 towards the study on the proviso the state government allocated $80,000.
When the government did not come to the party, the $120,000 was redirected to the council’s coronavirus response.
In February last year councillors unanimously voted to remove four sites – including Osbourne beach and the Cowes Yacht Club – as a possible location for the car ferry terminal.
The decision brought “peace of mind” to residents – who for more than two years had opposed Cowes west as a terminal location – and posed the Cowes jetty as the only potential future terminal site.
