Residents push for return of Elliott Street ferry wharf in West Balmain

"It's shameful it was shut down in the first place," said one Balmain resident, Melissa Nethery.

"How is it that Mosman can have three wharves in that tiny bay yet we can't have wharves on different sides of the peninsula?"

Since the wharf's closure a number of major residential developments have also sprung up in the area, most recently in 2018 with the 121-unit Harbourfront Development on Elliott Street. Just up the road in Terry Street in Rozelle, the Union Balmain development added 199 dwellings in 2015 and the redevelopment of the old Bijou Theatre on Rowntree Street Balmain added 27 in 2016.

Member for Balmain Jamie Parker said the ferry was especially important for tenants in the 80-unit public housing estate on Laggan Avenue and Elliott Street - some of whom are elderly or disabled and can't make the hike up the steep road to Darling Street to get a bus.

"It's critical we serve everyone in our community, not just people who are able-bodied or who can drive a car. That's why this ferry is so important. With the recent development and the public housing community, there's a compelling case for the wharf to be reopened."

Chris Munro, who used to live in the Elliott Street public housing estate in the 1980s, remembers catching the ferry across to Birkenhead Point in Drummoyne to do his shopping.

"I caught the Cockatoo Island ferry daily to the city and most days back home. The Birkenhead Point ferry was a smaller one, it was a bit of a novelty but very convenient for myself and the old ladies in my block who used it for grocery shopping," he said.

The ferry stop is also the site of an abandoned seafood restaurant, Pellegrini's, which the council has plans to demolish and construct in its place, by April next year, a "relocatable" container-style kiosk.

With a state election under a year away, Mr Parker hopes both the Liberal and Labor parties will commit to reopening the ferry route and adding additional routes to Annandale and Glebe, should they be elected.

"We had a meeting with [transport minister] David Elliott earlier this month and we've asked for him to review ferry services and commit to a policy of reopening that ferry and expanding ferry services, rather than seeing them get closed," he said.

"One of the biggest challenges with public transport is bus congestion in the city. If we can reduce the amount of buses by getting more people into ferries ... that's a win for everybody."

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