SOUTHERN Moreton Bay Island residents are set to benefit from major improvements to their daily commute thanks to a new SMBI Parking Relief Package unveiled in the State Budget.
State Member for Redlands Rebecca Young confirmed the package includes a 50 per cent subsidy on vehicle ferry fares – a key measure to provide relief to foreshore parking that is currently bursting at the seams.
“It’s such an exciting package for our Redlands residents living on the Southern Moreton Bay Islands,” Mrs Young said.
“That area – Weinam Creek – has been neglected for the past 10 years.
“So, when I started the campaign before I was elected, I really looked at that area and spoke to a lot of locals about some of the short-term measures we could look at.”
The package will deliver a new car park at Weinam Creek to ease congestion and improve access to the Redland Bay ferry terminals.
It also includes a subsidy for Bay Island Car Share, giving residents more flexible and affordable transport options once they reach the mainland.
In addition, SMBI commuters will continue to benefit from 50-cent public transport fares, with the Government making this previously time-limited initiative permanent.
Mrs Young said the State Budget included $7.2 million for vehicle ferry subsidies and around $500,000 for the car share initiative.
“When we looked at it, we had a cohort of weekly and monthly users of that car park, as well as daily users,” she said.
“This whole package is about taking pressure off parking at Weinam Creek.”
She said making the 50-cent ferry-to-bus connection permanent was another crucial move.
“You get on a ferry on the islands; you come off at Weinam Creek and onto a bus — all for 50 cents,” she said.
“That was going to end. Now, this week we made that permanent.”
The vehicle ferry subsidy will operate as a two-year trial, after which it will be reviewed to assess its effectiveness in reducing parking pressure and improving island-mainland connectivity.
Registrations for the vehicle ferry subsidy are now open, and Mrs Young encouraged island residents to ensure they had a Sealink resident account in place.
“If you are a resident of the islands and you haven’t got an account for the vehicle ferry with Sealink, now’s the time to do it,” she said.
“We don’t want you delayed because you haven’t got your account open.
“So that’s key number one: get a resident account.”
Mrs Young said the various elements of the package were designed to work together to maximise benefits for the community.
“If we look at barge subsidies in isolation, car share in isolation, it doesn’t really work unless we pull it all together,” she said.
“These are all solutions to take the pressure off while we get that car park built.”
She said the aim was to free up hundreds of car spaces each week at Weinam Creek by encouraging people to bring their vehicles across on the barge or rely on car share.
“If we can pull out, say, 500 cars a week – because those weekly and monthly users put their car on a vehicle ferry – that’s a win.”
