Garden Island cruise ship plan savaged
Image: Garden Island
Plans to allow cruise ships to utilise the naval base at Garden Island have been roundly condemned by the Potts Point & Kings Cross Heritage Conservation Society.
The society issued a stinging attack on the proposal this week, in the wake of a “special breakfast reception” for Carnival Cruises CEO Ann Sherry last Wednesday.
Hosted by the Potts Point Partnership as part of the Kings Cross Festival, the breakfast heard Ms Sherry promote the benefits of hosting cruise ships at Garden Island, which is occupied by the Royal Australian Navy and adjacent to Potts Point.
“Think of cruise ships as mobile assets with long value chains, which I believe represent a rolled in gold opportunity for this part of Sydney,” Ms Sherry told the audience at the Tilbury Hotel, Woolloomooloo.
“Think of the potential opportunity in this way: each ship carries the equivalent of four or more fully loaded A380 passenger jets filled with people eager to spend.”
Ms Sherry said the plan to have cruise ships regularly share Garden Island with naval warships – first announced by Prime Minister Julia Gillard in July – was not only a boon to Potts Point and Woolloomooloo but vital for the cruise ship industry.
“By 2015, a third of cruise ships visiting Sydney will be too big to pass under the Harbour Bridge,” she said.
“By 2020, nearly 60 per cent of ships will be unable to get under the bridge yet we currently have only one commercial cruise shipping berth east of the Harbour Bridge.”
But Potts Point & Kings Cross Heritage Conservation Society President Andrew Woodhouse slammed the proposal in the strongest possible terms.
“We’re not excited about having farting funnels in our backyards at all hours,” he railed.
“Passengers will not be shopping in Potts Point or Kings Cross; this is a myth. They go to Taronga Zoo, The Rocks, the Blue Mountains and Centrepoint Tower, then quickly onto the next port, all within 36 hours.
“There will be noise impacts … traffic gridlock, heritage losses such as the Garden Island Hammerhead crane [and] a new five-storey terminal blocking views. Carnival Cruise ships are like Vikings: they come into an area, trash it, and leave with the loot.”
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore took a more positive view.
“The cruise ship industry contributes an estimated $3 billion to the Australian economy and supports local jobs in tourism, hospitality and retail,” she maintained.
“I believe Garden Island presents the best option for expanding deepwater berths for cruise ships east of the Harbour Bridge. Commercial docking for large cruise ships at Garden Island … is viable if congestion impacts on densely populated neighbourhoods are managed properly.”
Ms Moore added that she wanted the northern tip of Garden Island opened up as public space to benefit the residents of Potts Point, Elizabeth Bay and Kings Cross, who live in Australia’s most densely populated area.
Potts Point Partnership President Adrian Bartels did not respond to requests for comment.
