PLANS to develop a new cruise terminal at Sydney’s Port Botany are facing a political backlash, with local government and the NSW Opposition voicing objections to the proposal.

The local Randwick Council last week voted to oppose the government’s Cruise Development Plan, in which additional cruise facilities within Sydney Harbour have been rejected in favour of two potential sites in Port Botany – Yarra Bay and Molineaux Point (CW 31 Jul).

“Our community has made it clear to us that they do not want this terminal built in Port Botany,” said Mayor Lindsay Shurey.

“It’s vital that we protect the beaches, green spaces and open areas at Yarra Bay so that they remain available to our community,” she said.

“The introduction of a cruise ship terminal places these assets at serious risk of degradation and would introduce further issues of traffic congestion, environmental destruction and land-use pressures.”

The council has said it will seek to place Yarra Bay and Molineaux Point on the NSW heritage list in a bid to halt any development.

NSW Labor has launched a petition opposing any cruise development at Yarra Bay, saying it is one of the few undeveloped beaches remaining on the north side of Botany Bay and that a terminal would cause congestion.

The government’s plan involves developing a strategic business case for a third cruise terminal at Port Botany, pictured, to help relieve capacity constraints at the existing Overseas Passenger Terminal and White Bay Cruise Terminal within Sydney Harbour.