St Leonards man floats hovercraft plan

A ST LEONARDS hovercraft would take passengers to Mornington in under half an hour and put the coastal community on the map under an ambitious plan from a local resident.

Former tourism operator John Anderson has dreams for a 20-seat, solar-powered, amphibious hovercraft that he says would attract tourists and infrastructure investment for both sides of Port Phillip Bay.

The vehicle would cruise between peninsulas at about 60 kilometres an hour at maximum speed and complete the trip from St Leonards to Mornington in about 27 minutes.

Mr Anderson is seeking expressions of interest from investors and community groups to join the project and will lobby government to help make the proposal a reality.

If successful, the veteran tourism provider’s brainchild would draw significant government investment in solar infrastructure, encourage private investment such as for service stations and create tourism jobs.

Mr Anderson has decades of experience as a tour operator across Australia and in Europe before settling at the Bellarine about three years ago.

He said he formed the hovercraft idea from his personal experiences travelling across the bay and out of a desire to provide a point-of-difference attraction at his new home.

“I was taking out a girl in Frankston and it was taking me three hours to get there, but I could look across the bay and could just about see her,” he said.

“I’ve been to Sydney and you can see ferries running there every minute. It’s the sort of thing that makes the city.”

Mr Anderson estimates the project would cost around $3 million to launch at St Leonards – about half each for a hovercraft and its associated infrastructure.

He’s seeking a consortium of private investors to help bankroll the project and has begun discussions with local community groups about facilitating plans.

Mr Anderson hoped upcoming federal and state elections next year would open up funding opportunities for Bellarine electorates that could kickstart the project.

St Leonards community members have broadly supported the proposal during informal discussions, but Mr Anderson acknowledged

the need to address concerns such as noise at beachfront properties and the failure of similar projects in recent decades.

To find out more about this exciting tourism venture phone John: 0437 523 131.