‘It’s come to a complete stop’: Why you’ll be waiting a while to see Circular Quay upgraded

A long-promised upgrade of the busy ferry wharves and promenade at Sydney’s Circular Quay has stalled due to the Minns government quietly deferring extra funding for the project, despite fears being raised for years about them reaching the end of their working lives.

Although the scale of the Circular Quay revamp has been scaled back from previous plans, a hold up to further funding is delaying the project proceeding to the next stage, which would involve seeking planning approval and, if granted, contractors to overhaul the wharves and promenade.

The NSW transport department had previously planned to release a detailed environmental assessment last year for the area, which serves as a major gateway to Sydney Harbour and the central city.

The latest state budget dropped references to the Circular Quay upgrade after the previous year’s detailed a “commitment to upgrading the promenade and ferry wharves” and $335 million in funding over four years to 2026-27. Until June last year, almost $171 million was estimated to have been spent on the project, which was primarily for planning.

Action for Transport ferry expert Graeme Taylor said the lack of extra funding showed that the project had stalled.

“It has just come to a complete stop. They would need to start work next week to have the project completed in time for the Brisbane Olympics, which will see increased visitor numbers to Sydney and a global focus,” he said.

Taylor said the wharves and promenade would be “extremely difficult” to upgrade due to the constrained site, the large number of people in the area at any one time and the need to keep ferries operating there.

“The promenade is in a really poor state of repair and needs regular ongoing maintenance until the time when it is replaced,” he said.

The promenade’s supporting structure is at the end of its working life, and vehicles over two tonnes are banned from it because of the safety risk, limiting access for emergency vehicles. The wharves do not comply with accessibility standards, and are also at the end of their working lives.

The Maritime Union of Australia, which represents ferry deck-hands, said there had been no progress on the project in the last 12 months. “The wharves are ageing. They are in need of repair and refreshing to the point of replacement. There are known safety risks on the wharves going back a few years,” union deputy secretary Paul Garrett said.

“The MUA is concerned that at some stage a wharf will collapse and staff and passengers will be injured. Good fortune lasts only for so long.”

Coalition transport spokeswoman Natalie Ward said Circular Quay was a gateway for tourists and commuters experiencing the best harbour in the world.

“This is becoming a pattern for transport infrastructure: announce, delay, obfuscate. We have seen it with Metro, trains, buses and now ferries. The people of Sydney deserve better,” she said.

Transport Minister John Graham said the Liberals in government made grandiose promises about Circular Quay with a regularity similar to departures of the Manly ferry.

“The truth is they didn’t do the work. We have $465 million allocated in state and federal funding for the renewal, but we are also doing the work now to keep these iconic wharves in safe and reliable condition,” he said.

The federal government allocated $220 million in its budget last year for Circular Quay, much of which is for upgrading the train station there. NSW budget papers state that federal funding is “for land transport assets only”.

Upgrading the ferry wharves and promenade was a Labor promise at the 2023 election, and calculations by the Parliamentary Budget Office at the time estimated it would cost $716 million.

After offsetting the capital cost with $315 million in savings from cancelling the previous Coalition government’s more extensive revamp plans, the budget office estimated the project would cost $401 million.

Transport for NSW did not answer specific questions about when the project would proceed or why the environmental assessment was not released last year, saying it was planning the renewal consistent with the government’s commitment to deliver transport infrastructure.

“Planning to date includes the preparation of a business case, detailed design, complex technical studies, procurement documentation and importantly, an environmental impact statement,” it said in a statement.

“Additionally, to understand the unique risks and challenges, Transport has worked with industry partners and undertaken site investigation work.”

A decade ago, the need to upgrade the historic ferry wharves spurred the then-Coalition government to pursue a broader redevelopment of Circular Quay. However, plans for construction to start were repeatedly delayed, and the proposed upgrade was scaled back in 2023 when Labor won the state election.

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