FAQs
Who is leading the work?
Following the initial investigations, local engineering firm Burbury Consulting was engaged by the Councils to undertake a detailed assessment of each locality to identify the specific site, develop concept plans and costings of the proposed infrastructure.
Burbury Consulting has also been engaged by the Tasmanian Government to undertake the design development of the upgraded ferry terminal at Bellerive.
Local Architectural firm Raum Studio (Martin Schmidt) has been engaged by the Councils to undertake design work. Mr Schmidt has also been engaged by the Tasmanian Government to undertake the design of the new terminal proposed at Bellerive.
The use of these local firms provides the benefit of extensive local knowledge and consistency of the design for all terminals.
Financial considerations
In April 2022, in the lead up to the Federal Election, the Labor Party announced a funding commitment of $20M to develop infrastructure that would facilitate the expansion of a ferry service on the Derwent River. After winning the election, the Labor Government confirmed the availability of the capital funding in the October 2022 Federal budget.
The Tasmanian Government also made a commitment to the enhancement of the existing ferry service (from the CBD to Bellerive) with a commitment of $19.5M to upgrade facilities at Bellerive and operate the service.
More recently (during the Tasmanian Election campaign) the Liberal Party committed an additional investment of $20M to help develop infrastructure to support an expanded ferry service.
The work undertaken to date has confirmed that the available budget will be adequate to develop the terminals in each location as proposed. This will be validated following the development of concept designs and the associated identification of cost estimates.