Waiheke ferry row: Fullers boss to meet mayor in wake of 'spirited' ferry meeting

Wednesday, 12 June 2019

Fullers360 chief executive, Mike Horne, said he was 'deeply concerned' Fullers had not been meeting its customers' expectations.

A top-level meeting next week will discuss ways forward for the beleaguered Fullers360 Waiheke ferry service.

Fullers boss Mike Horne is set to meet Auckland Mayor Phil Goff, Auckland Councillor Chris Darby and former Waitakere Mayor Sir Bob Harvey at the talks, where Darby said he expected Horne to give an 'indication of a proposal' for Fullers' next move.

Fullers has a monopoly over the trip from Auckland city to Waiheke Island.

Tensions around the service came to a head on Sunday during a community meeting on the island, in which residents voiced their concerns and criticisms around the 40-minute boat trip, which Fullers has a monopoly on.

Users were concerned about Fullers' reduced winter timetable, high prices and recent track record of delays and cancellations.

Hundreds of Waiheke locals attended the meeting on Sunday.

Cath Handley said the meeting was very productive.

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Sir Bob Harvey, former Waitakere city mayor, chaired the meeting.

A fact sheet, provided by Fullers, showed there were 18 cancelled sailings in May, out a total of 1384 trips. The number of cancelled trips averaged at 3.9 per month for the previous 10 months.

During the community meeting, hundreds of locals crammed into the Island's Morra Hall to say their piece and hear what Fullers had to say.

Horne told residents he was 'deeply concerned' that the company had not met people's expectations.

He said 10 of the sailings in May were cancelled due to bad weather, the other eight were cancelled due to 'vessel and crew events'.

Waiheke local board chairwoman Cath Handley said the meeting was 'extremely valuable'.

'I think Waiheke and the political system has some momentum and I think as long as we keep the momentum up I think we'll get change.'

She said there were several clear take-away messages.

'It was Fullers' meeting and I'm expecting they came away with a full agenda of things they need to do.

'There was universal support for getting Waiheke into the national Passenger Transport Operating Model [PTOM] through the Minister [of Transport Phil Twyford].'

Current legislation allowed Fullers to keep full control of services to Waiheke Island and Devonport, by keeping them exempt from PTOM.

In May, it was announced PTOM would be reviewed, however, Waiheke locals said this process would take too long to provide any real solutions for them, and a fast-tracked approach was needed.

Horne confirmed after the meeting he had been given a 'range of issues' the locals wanted addressed, which he said was a priority.

'Fullers received a number of comments on our recent services, which we have captured and are taking action to ensure that we provide reliable services to Waiheke commuters.'

He then turned the spotlight to Auckland Council and AT, saying the wharf infrastructure needed upgrading.

'Infrastructure limitations are having an impact on our ability to operate our services to Waiheke.

'We will make it a priority to openly input into their process, and we await their proposal to do this.'

He welcomed the idea of the Waiheke ferry service come under AT's wing.

Darby, who started a petition to 'bring Fullers into line' on Saturday, also agreed the community meeting was a productive one.

'It was a meeting that had to happen and I acknowledge Fullers for fronting up - It was great to see a bit of foot stomping from the spirited audience.'

He, along with the Mayor and AT acting chief executive Rodger Murphy, had written to Twyford earlier this month expressing support for removing Fullers' 'exempt' status.

Horne, Goff and Darby, along with Harvey who chaired the community meeting, were due to meet for the first of several discussion around the topic on June 17.

Exactly when the public and Waiheke locals would receive an update was unclear but a spokesperson for Goff confirmed the meeting was in the diary for Monday morning.

Darby said he expected to see an 'indication of a proposal' about what could be done to improve the Waiheke service.

'It may not be an actual proposal, but it might be an indication of a proposal.'