Ferries Are Returning To Balmain West – What About Birkenhead Point & Callan Park?

Monday 18 August sees the return of ferries to Balmain West wharf, nestled in a pleasant corner of the leafy suburb. This is good news for local commuters, who will benefit from a service twenty minutes faster than nearby buses to the city centre, and replete with glittering views of the harbour. Still, could more be done?

The Minns Government, and local Greens MP Kobi Shetty, are gleeful. “Every ferry passenger departing and returning here is one less car on the busy Inner West road network or one less person vying for a seat on a bus,” transport minister John Graham noted. Shetty, who advocated for the wharf’s reinstatement, said she had been approached at least weekly by a constituent wanting to know when ferries would return.

A few hundred metres across the water, the thriving Birkenhead Point shopping centre stands over its sprawling marina. Adjacent to both is the little-utilised Birkenhead wharf, a spot frequented by fishers and passers-by. It had regular service from 1994 until October 2010.

Standing there, one may catch a glimpse over the cove and, between the columns of the two intervening bridges, to Callan Park on the eastern shore. Beside this heritage-listed Inner West gem stands Leichhardt Oval, a locally-iconic sporting venue. Both are to be significantly renovated in the near future.

With most of the infrastructure already extant, it is reasonable to think that these prominent spots on the Balmain and Drummoyne peninsulas should be linked by a ferry service. It is an idea rooted in history, as there was once a route traversing the length of Iron Cove. For a short time in the 1900s, it reached Leichhardt and Haberfield by way of the Hawthorne Canal, before silt buildup and tramway competition caused its closure. It terminated close to where Hawthorne light rail station now stands.

Why should there not be ferries efficiently carrying people to and from the Birkenhead Point shops, Callan Park and Leichhardt Oval? The benefit for locals is obvious; Drummoyne commuters would save a similar amount of time to those in the western portion of Balmain. There would also be a new means by which to cross Iron Cove. What else, residents of Drummoyne and Rozelle could make the trip to Manly Beach just a little bit more easily.

That is not all. Consider the potential benefit for Sydneysiders at large. Exhausted office workers could retire to the pleasant scenery of Callan Park’s green hills and sandstone Victorian buildings. Day-trippers could hop from the pubs of The Rocks, the cafés of Circular Quay or the restaurants of Barangaroo to the shops at Birkenhead Point.

Ferry services need not be overly expensive to run and, in this hypothetical, the capital cost would be limited. For maximum economisation, the petite ‘MiniCat’ ferries, accommodating 43 passengers, could be used if larger vessels were thought to be unjustified.

If the government were not interested, other possibilities would remain. Perhaps the private operator Captain Cook Ferries could be enticed. Failing that, should a wharf be constructed at Callan Park, a community venture could spring up. Numerous exist in Sydney and on the Central Coast.

Any structure erected at Callan Park should be simple and non-intrusive, to respect the heritage around it. It could be added on to the proposed tidal baths, which will jut out from the foreshore in wharf-like fashion. A ferry stop would be a ideal revenue draw for an adjacently-located café, though for one to exist the Callan Park Act would need to be amended.

Drummoyne Liberal MP Stephanie Di Pasqua has previously advocated for the Government to consider reinstating Birkenhead wharf as a ferry stop. Then-minister Jo Haylen was subsequently advised by Transport for NSW that existing services across all modes had “sufficient capacity to accommodate projected population growth.”

With the wharf just across the water reopened, and with the hypothetical addition of a stop at Callan Park, perhaps the equation will change. Perhaps, the greatest and most reasoned argument against this envisioned service is that it would require us locals to share our parkland.