00:00Well, we're here on the Almara Southgate Ferry for what is ultimately its last day of service
00:08after 74 years.
00:11There's been ferries on the Clarence River just outside of Grafton where we are now since
00:151890, but this particular ferry has been running since 1950.
00:25New South Wales Transport has given a number of reasons why the ferry will no longer be
00:29operational from the end of the day.
00:32One reason is ultimately a lack of service.
00:36The New South Wales Government says that the ferry has an average of one vehicle per trip.
00:41Each trip costs $22 to the New South Wales taxpayer and effectively what the New South
00:47Wales Government is saying is that it's just simply not worth keeping the ferry running.
00:52But there are a lot of locals who really do disagree with that perspective.
00:56One of them is Susan Carney.
00:59So Susan, just tell me, how important is the ferry to the town?
01:04It's extremely important.
01:05This is our bus route across the Clarence River, our public service.
01:09So it gets us across here, school children come across to the Almara School from the
01:15other side.
01:16Now they've got a big 38 kilometre or 76 round trip.
01:21Children will have to start going to Grafton schools or Maclean schools.
01:24Rathgar is our retirement village.
01:26People come across to visit the older people.
01:28It's huge.
01:29This is a very important part of our history as well.
01:34And also we use it all the time and we understand this ferry.
01:38So it's only a 14 minute wait if we happen to miss it.
01:43It's no big deal.
01:44And it's terribly important for tourism.
01:45We're a farming community and a tourist community.
01:49And the tourists love to go across on this ferry because it's a beautiful slow way to
01:53see this magnificent Clarence River.
01:57One of the reasons that the ferry will no longer be running is the amount of silt build
02:02up on the Clarence River where we are now.
02:05The government says that often the ferry just simply cannot make its way across the river
02:10from one terminal to the other.
02:12Another important reason the ferry will no longer be running is that it's just simply
02:16getting old.
02:17The New South Wales government says it would effectively cost $5 million and take 18 months
02:22to get a new ferry or at the very least upgrade the one that we have now.
02:27So as it stands, this is the last day of the Ulmurra ferry here on the north coast of New
02:33South Wales and it's due to make its last journey at about 10.40pm, weather permitting.
Comments