Local residents are strongly objecting to plans to raise the price of using the ferry between Studland and Sandbanks in Dorset, saying it will be detrimental to Purbeck and are holding a public meeting to discuss the issue.
In a renewed bid, the ferry company is asking for more money from passengers, just three years after a public inquiry fixed annual increases at around three percent up until 2031.
The ferry company is proposing to charge a road toll, effectively charging drivers to use and park on Ferry Road
New road toll
The ferry company is now claiming that if it doesn’t get its way to increase tolls now, then it won’t have the money to replace the ferry with a new one in 2034.
In addition, the company is asking to charge a road toll which can only effectively be achieved by moving the Ferry Road toll booths further back towards Studland village, resulting in charging any driver to use or park on the approach road to the ferry.
The toll for pedestrians would increase by 75 percent
“Utterly ridiculous”
However Studland Parish Council is calling on the ferry company to withdraw the application. In a strongly worded objection, chair of the parish council Nick Boulter said:
“This application is very detrimental and an act of hostility on the residents of Studland, Swanage and other areas in the Isle of Purbeck.
“The road toll proposal is utterly ridiculous. It seeks to charge drivers £6.26 for access to large areas of Studland that are within our parish boundary including Shell Bay, Shell Bay restaurant, Poole Harbour and the heathland.
“This will affect use of the National Trust car park at Shell Bay, have a detrimental impact on Shell Bay restaurant, and charge residents exorbitant sums to park along the Studland peninsula.
“The company also seeks to greatly reduce the discounts for bulk users – local people who are dependent on the ferry for work, for medical access, and for shopping etc.
“The proposed tolls represent a huge inflationary increase: a 75 percent increase immediately for foot passengers and cyclists from £1 to £1.75, a 18 percent increase for cars from £5.30 to £6.26, and a 18 percent increase for larger passenger and good vehicles from £10.60 to £12.52.”
The freeze in tolls for cyclists would end
Proposed toll increases
- Pedestrian (one way toll from Sandbanks): Current toll £1. Immediate increase to £1.75 followed by annual CPI inflation increase
- Pedestrian (one way from Shell Bay, Studland): No current toll charge and no proposed future toll
- Pedal or motorcycle (bikes): Current toll £1. Immediate increase to £1.75 followed by annual CPI inflation increase
- Passenger vehicle less than 16 persons (cars): Current toll £5.30. Immediate increase to £6.26 followed by annual CPI inflation increase
- Passenger vehicle more than 16 persons (coaches): Current toll £10.60. Immediate increase to £12.52 followed by annual CPI inflation increase
- Goods vehicle less than 3,500 kg (vans): Current toll £5.30. Immediate increase to £6.26 followed by annual CPI inflation increase
- Goods vehicle 3,501 kg to 20,000 kg (trucks): Current toll £10.60. Immediate increase to £12.52 followed by annual CPI inflation increase
Queues to pay for the ferry could cause a traffic jam through the village if the toll booths were moved back to just after Knoll Beach car park
Secretary of state for transport to make decision
The Sandbanks Ferry is licensed to operate under an Act of Parliament so any toll changes must be approved by the UK government’s secretary of state for transport, currently a position held by Louise Haigh MP.
In 2021, a public inquiry was held to decide toll increases for the next 10 years. The ferry company asked for increases linked to RPI inflation, which it estimated to be around three percent.
The planning inspector effectively agreed but said that for certainty, an annual increase of three percent should be fixed and not inflation linked.
At the time it was viewed as generous but subsequently a high spike of annual RPI inflation in 2022 of 13.8 percent meant the ferry company felt it had been hard done by, although the ferry itself was not operational for many months over winter 2022 / 2023.
The ferry company is now asking for tolls to increase in line with RPI inflation in the first year and then by January’s CPI inflation rate for subsequent years. It also wants to unfreeze the toll for pedestrians, cycles and motorbikes.
Discounts for bulk purchase of tickets are available but they are set to become less beneficial
“New increases are not necessary”
Nick Boulter added:
“Financially these new increases are not necessary. The application shows, based on current tolls, a shortfall of only £350,000 in the Ferry Reserve Fund by 2034.
“The ferry company has borrowing limits of £4.965 million set by a 1986 Act of Parliament. This is the equivalent of £19 million if adjusted for inflation by 2034. Rather than trying to extort higher tolls from ferry users, the company should lobby to increase its borrowing requirement.”
The ferry crossing the mouth of Poole Harbour towards Sandbanks with its millionaire mansions
Payment of dividends
In a previous ferry toll public inquiry in 2018, the inspector Kenneth Stone found that the ferry company had put the payment of dividends before putting money into the Ferry Replacement Reserve (FRR). The inspector was critical of this finding.
The current ferry came into service in 1994 and in the 30 years to 2024 approximately £4.5 million has been transferred into the FRR. This averages out at £150,000 a year.
In order to buy a new ferry in 2034, the company is looking to find an additional £8.5 million over the next 10 years, or in other words, to put £850,000 a year into the FRR. If more had been put into the reserve in previous years, then this larger amount would not be necessary..
Any proposal to charge a road toll or move the toll booths is beset with legal complexity – it’s been suggested that it’s more of a calculated bargaining chip to ensure inflation linked toll increases
Objections
Studland Parish Council is calling on Dorset Council, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, neighbouring parish and town councils, the National Trust, the Purbeck Transport Action Group and all representative bodies, plus residents and employers, to object to the application.
Objections to the ferry company’s application must be submitted by Thursday 12th September 2024 via email to nationalcasework@dft.gov.uk or by letter to the Secretary of State, Department for Transport, Tyneside House, Skinnerburn Road, Newcastle Business Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 7AR, marked for the attention of Sandra Zamenzadeh (Casework manager, National Transport Casework Team).
A public meeting organised by the parish council is being held at 7.30 pm on Wednesday 4th September 2024 at Studland Village Hall, Heath Green Road, Studland BH19 3BT. All are welcome to attend.
Further information
- Letter to the Secretary of State from the ferry company requesting to revise the maximum toll charges
- Ferry company’s revised explanatory report
- Advert of revised tolls
- Ferry company’s news release
