Clifford Bay is a bay in the northeast of the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, in the

Marlborough Region Marlborough District or the Marlborough Region (, or ''Tauihu''), commonly known simply as Marlborough, is one of the 16 regions of New Zealand, located on the northeast of the South Island. It is administered by Marlborough District Counci ...

. It lies between Te Koko-o-Kupe / Cloudy Bay to the northwest, and Cape Campbell to the southeast. The bay's shoreline is dominated by extensive solar

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

extraction works at Lake Grassmere / Kapara Te Hau, close to the southern end of the bay. The area has also regularly been explored as a potential location for an interisland

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

terminal connected to Wellington, but this has never progressed to construction.

Inter-island ferry terminal

Since the 1920s, there have been various proposals for an inter-island port and ferry terminal to replace Picton. Plans have never proceeded beyond an investigation stage, often due to the capital costs.

1990s proposal

In 1997, the then operator of the

Interisland Line Interislander is a road and rail ferry service across New Zealand's Cook Strait, between Wellington in the North Island and Picton in the South Island. It is owned and operated by state-owned rail operator KiwiRail. Three roll-on roll-off ...

Tranz Rail Tranz Rail, formally Tranz Rail Holdings Limited (New Zealand Rail Limited until 1995), was the main Rail transport in New Zealand, rail operator in New Zealand from 1991 until it was purchased by Toll Holdings in 2003. History The New Zealand ...

, proposed a new ferry terminal be built at Clifford Bay.

2010s proposal

In May 2011, plans were announced to revisit the development of a port at Clifford Bay, using a mix of private and public funding. Such a port would reduce both sailing time across the Cook Strait from

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

and the surface distance to

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

. It would also allow ferries to operate at higher speeds than they can in the ecologically sensitive

Marlborough Sounds The Marlborough Sounds (Māori language, te reo Māori: ''Te Tauihu-o-te-Waka'') are an extensive network of ria, sea-drowned valleys at the northern end of the South Island of New Zealand. The Marlborough Sounds were created by a combination ...

and remove the steep grades on the Main North Line between Blenheim and Picton. While a new port at Clifford Bay would have affected the economy of Picton, there were positive options to refocus Picton as a tourist centre, and the gateway to the Marlborough Sounds. In November 2013, then-

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

Gerry Brownlee Gerard Anthony Brownlee (born 4 February 1956) is a New Zealand politician and the 32nd speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives. He was first elected as a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for Ilam (New Zealand elec ...

announced that the Government would not be building a new port at Clifford Bay, putting an end to two years of speculation.

References

{{Marlborough Region, state=collapsed Bays of the Marlborough District Cook Strait