WYNDHAM residents could be swapping car trips for ferry rides to the city within two years.
Planning Minister Matthew Guy today announced an extension to the Wyndham Harbour development at Werribee South which he says will increase demand for a ferry service from Werribee to the CBD.
The government has been investigating the viability of the service, which will stop at Altona and Williamstown, since last year.
Two inner-city drop-off points are being considered, with Mr Guy saying the ferry was likely to stop in Docklands opposite the AFL headquarters and near the ANZ building at the intersection of Bourke and Collins streets.
The Wyndham Harbour expansion – the result of a government decision to rezone a little more than 10 hectares of land next to the development – will increase the marina community by about 40 per cent to 1400 residents. About 150 houses will be added.
Mr Guy said Wyndham Harbour was one of the most significant developments for the western suburbs since World War II and the expansion was a key part of a future ferry service.
“This will change the way of thinking about Melbourne’s western suburbs.
‘‘[The expansion] will increase critical mass for Wyndham Harbour and the population based here at the southern part of the Werribee growth corridor to make a ferry service viable.”
Mr Guy said while a yet to be released treasury analysis showed Wyndham’s current population was large enough to support a ferry, expanding Wyndham Harbour would increase the number of people set to immediately benefit from the service.
Mr Guy said regulations had to be changed in Port Phillip Bay to determine how ferries would interact with vessels near the port of Melbourne. He said agreements also needed to be reached on the speed the ferry could travel at along the Yarra River to keep travel times from Werribee to 50 minutes or less.
John Roysmith, chief executive of Lyons Capital, the company behind Wyndham Harbour, said the expansion would help provide much-needed infrastructure for Wyndham.
