Council clears way for more tour boats, water taxis on river

Water taxis and other new river services could soon operate in Brisbane after the lord mayor announced plans to open council pontoons and jetties to more tourism and hospitality businesses.

“It’s something that will be good for Brisbane and create more to see and do,” Adrian Schrinner told councillors in the City Hall chamber on Tuesday afternoon. “This is something exciting.”

Schrinner said the plan would attract water taxi operators, as well as new dining cruises, tour boats and adventure companies, in a move similar to the historic push to allow footpath dining.

The council said its changes would include “new infrastructure, where needed, and a licensing system that encourages investment and provides certainty, pending state government approval”.

Eight pontoons along the river are being considered for “activation”:

• Murarrie Recreation Hub
• Northshore Hamilton Recreation Hub
• Kingsford Smith Drive Recreation Hub
• New Farm Park River Hub
• City Botanic Gardens River Hub
• West End Recreation Hub (temporarily closed for repairs)
• Dutton Park Recreation Hub
• Riverhills Recreation Hub

Most are used for short-term recreation, such as kayaking or drop-offs, but a review into the best use of each – and the former Gardens Point marina moorings – will begin.

Schrinner said private water taxis could provide an “express service” up the Brisbane River to rival the slower CityCats, which stopped at almost two dozen terminals between UQ St Lucia and Northshore Hamilton.

“This is potentially an opportunity for someone to see a gap in the market and say, ‘maybe I can provide some express kind of services’,” he told 4BC on Wednesday morning.

“What we’re doing at the moment is saying we’re open to proposals ... It’ll come down to, is there an operator that wants to provide a water taxi service?”

Schrinner said the cost of a fare had not been determined, and previous proposals to use ferry terminals had been knocked back as they were already used by CityCats.

Tuesday’s announcement came a week after a jet-ski operator was told they would be evicted from the pontoon at the City Botanic Gardens.

A spokesperson for the lord mayor said the notice was given by an independent council officer, and would not be enforced while the planned rule changes were explored.

The opposition was unconvinced of the council plan’s merits.

“We welcome new opportunities to create local jobs and give people more options to enjoy the Brisbane River,” Labor leader Jared Cassidy said.

“However … this LNP council has a bad habit of pulling the trigger to boot people out before meeting with them and solving issues first.”

Greens councillor Trina Massey argued the plan equated to privatisation of a public asset, with the pontoons and jetties existing for community use.

“I’m telling you, it’s because they’ve run out of money,” she said.

This is not the first time the council has considered allowing private water taxis on the river.

In 2018, the council committed $8 million in the budget to deliver several river hubs, with the idea they could be used for water taxis and Moreton Bay and island cruises.

Water taxis also featured in the council’s River’s Edge strategy, released in 2013.

Yet, in 2016, the council poured cold water on a businessman’s water taxi plan, with Schrinner, then the deputy mayor, saying it was “far from being at a point to provide operational approval”.

In the 1990s, an operator ran water taxi services in Brisbane during the wharfies’ strike.

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