Mythbusters - Clifford Bay edition

It is too windy

Source: Facebook comment (sic)

Oh 4 God sake how absolutely ridiculous  fancy putting extra railway stuff up in Clifford Bay......what's going 2 happen about all the big swells that's going come in .....then what's going 2 happen when there’s no protection against the southerly winds.

Response

The rail decision is a Government policy choice and Clifford Bay Port will support any infrastructure required by the new ships currently being purchased as well as other ferry operators.

The “big swells” are rigorously studied as part of a full hydrographic study completed in 1996 and will be reinvestigated as part of the fast-track consenting process. Cape Campbell provides a natural shield from the southerly swells and winds protecting the causeway and breakwater as designed. In contrast, a recent safety survey identified the risk to Picton-bound ferries when they cross the Cook Strait must sail abeam the wind and swell waves. This results in heavy rolling (principally during southerly conditions). There have been many incidents involving vehicle toppling or shifting with significant damage due to heavy rolling over the years. Several vehicles have been lost to the sea.

The route between the Wellington Harbour entrance and Clifford Bay negates the need to place a ferry beam-on to the waves. The route involves no deviation in course once a ferry leaves Wellington Harbour or Clifford Bay. Southerly waves would be coming from either almost directly ahead or almost directly astern depending on whether outbound or returning. For these reasons it is likely that there would be a reduced number of weather-related cancelled sailings on the Clifford Bay route.

The land has been sold already

Source: Facebook comment (sic)

KiwiRail sold the land years ago.

Response

KiwiRail sold the land to Peter Yealands in 2014 who sadly passed away in 2024. The land is now owned by Aaron Yealands. Clifford Bay Port Limited has entered into a contract with Aaron for the exclusive right to acquire the land to build a ferry terminal at Clifford Bay.

KiwiRail offloads Clifford Bay land | Stuff

It is not viable

Source: Stuff article

Quote from Stuff Article, KiwiRail offloads Clifford Bay land | Stuff

After a 2 -year study, Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee ruled out the shift of the South Island terminal from Picton to Clifford Bay, saying it was not commercially viable as a fully funded project.

Response

The 2013 Investigation found that the port was viable with a BCR of 1.3 which is a strongly positive economic assessment. This was largely based on the assumption at the time that Picton could be upgraded for $80M and it could service ferries for another 30 years. That assumption was clearly wrong and any conclusions based on it have been superseded by a recently updated report. NSX asked the author of the 2013 study, Cooper & Associates, to update the BCR calculations given the new information.

The updated report is available from our website and shows a conservative BCR of 1.7. This calculation includes recent value engineering of the new plans, constructor costings and updated assumptions.

Further the study did not adequately factor in the external benefits of Clifford Bay – including the large benefits of increasing the competitiveness of the national rail system.

It is Earthquake prone

Source: Facebook comment (sic)

Right where the epicenter of the Seddon Earthquake struck and a location where the seabed lifted by several metres during the Kaikoura earthquake. Not very clever really. Stick with the proven, natural and sheltered deep water port at Picton.

Response

The Clifford Bay the area is very seismically active and this is well documented.

Picton is a site of equal seismic risk. Both sites are while risky are less risky compared to Wellington where the infrastructure is built directly on top of the fault line.

To address the seismic risk, Clifford Bay has a simple causeway and breakwater design. In the event of a major earthquake the design allows for a rapid recovery of the infrastructure. The second ferry terminal in the South Island will add to the resilience of connectivity between our two major islands. The greater risk for Picton and Clifford Bay is the risk of Tsunami. Tsunami risk is included in the active management plan for the site.

It is too expensive

Source: Facebook comment (sic)

It would cost too much.

Response

The Market Led Proposal submitted by NSX to National Infrastructure Funding and Finance has offered to privately fund the development of the Port itself. Under the proposal the taxpayers would not have to fund the development of the Port and the rate payers of Marlborough would not have to provide debt of $110M to redevelop Picton for the arrival of the new ferries.

It would kill freight

Source: external email

Would destroy freight to the north and Nelson.

Response

Freight logistics in the main benefit from Clifford Bay. Whilst it is true that it slightly further by road from Clifford Bay to Nelson, the West Coast or Blenheim than from Picton the difference is not huge and is more than offset by the time savings in sailing time between the two options of Cliford Bay and Picton. The sailing time from Wellington is up to 90 minutes faster. There are net benefits in freight transit time from/to the North Island and upper South Island destinations like Nelson of up to about 45 minutes.

The time savings to the rest of the South Island are much greater for both rail and road freight – between 2.5 to 3 hours. This is where the vast majority of freight moves. All freights flows to/from the North Island to the South Island will benefit from faster transit times