The Annual Meeting of the St. John’s Port Authority is happening today and disgruntled tour boat owner Charlie Anonsen plans to be there to air his grievances about the “mismanagement” of the harbourfront. Here’s the gist of what he has to say:
Shot and edited by Gavin Simms
SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS
RELATED ARTICLES
- AUDIO SLIDESHOW: Harbour Explorer
- AUDIO SLIDESHOW: Signs of the times
- AUDIO SLIDESHOW: Stephen Harper comes to town
CONNECT WITH THE INDY
How can u add a flash slide show to your blogspot?
Sad isn’t it ,…………………we have so much to offer those that come to the farthest corners of eastern north america, and they can’t sit by the water front. Says alot, that City Hall doesn’t here . Sad
!!!!
Jay,
Appreciate your comments however Halifax is a much larger geographic area than St. John’s. More space to put more facilities. St. John’s waterside property is split between privately held, DND and otehr federal intrests. The Harbour Authority generates operating capital for maintenance, and improvement of teh port through fees generated from ship activity. I think a balance can be struck between all users, and the inner harbour redeveloped with public spaces and facilties to improve teh look. I’ve been on the water for over 20 years and seen ports and port useage of all description. There still isn’t one quite like St. John’s.
I agree with everything this gentleman is saying. Actually, I said the exact same things myself while walking around the waterfront the other day. So sad…there’s so much potential in this area, if only it were managed properly. Our waterfront doesn’t compare to the bustling one in Halifax. Why can’t we have that?
For the record, the Harbour Authority refused any comment in light of the lawsuit. Also, this piece is part of an audio slideshow series titled Harbour Explorer… featuring different voices from different sectors around the port.
It would be nice if this piece had been an article considering this man’s views at the same time as those of the harbor authority, providing more context, and so on. I’d have preferred a written article to this audio, too. It would provide you an opportunity to actually analyze the issues he raises from several perspectives, instead of simply giving him a platform to air his views. I’ve no idea if he is right or wrong or somewhere in between – but IMHO the role of the journalist is to present all sides of the issue in an analytical and reflective way, not simply to provide a conduit for one opinion.
There needs to be a better way than legal action to have the voice of stakeholders in the port of St. John’s heard. Effective input from all parties taken seriously and weighed in the allocation of resources could be the basis of a comprehensive planning process so that entrepreneurs like Mr. Anonsen do not have to face and commit financial suicide to have a voice in how the port is managed.
The perception that Charlie Anonsen is “difficult to deal with” points more to the need for a more open and responsive process. Managing a port is fraught with difficulty. Marginalizing the players only means you are not doing your job well enough.
And yeah. Why not a bit of green. There is no reason a harbour has to be all lube oil rust and fish guts id there.Look around a lot of ports actually invite you to step off the boat.
Rick Austin
I agree with what this guy is saying, our waterfront is completely underutilized. After spending time in Halifax, I see their waterfront and the activity along there to be the most ideal, and port authority should consider using that model as their own for St. John’s. And to William: St. John’s may be a working port, but so is Halifax, which is even moreso a working port than here. Yet along the water there are parks and boardwalks.
My idea: re-route Water and Duckworth streets to one way each. It’ll improve traffic flow in the downtown area. At that point, eliminate the eastern half of Harbour drive and turn it in to green space. Leave the west end of harbour drive for access in to the port. A nice park space would be great to see coming in to the harbour, it’d beat the wall of concrete, glass and run-down warehouses that’s there now.
Joanne, i couldn’t agree with you more, it is a shame that people living in the downtown core do not feel the same way as well. We all know how difficult it is to deal with city hall on anything dealing with development and progression in that part of town.
Nice sentiments..
St. John’s is a working port and service base. Most consumer products for eastern Avalon come via Oceanex, the fuel via Irving and the growing supply and support for offshore operations. Theer is only so much waterside property and that is taken up. few places in teh world weher you can see ships alongside, much less get newar them. Small boats have a place here both on sputh side and near teh end of the harbour drive up by Oceanex property wher tour boats and fishign boats tie up. As for green belt along harbour side, thats ridiculious and would never work. its aport, not a park. You wat that go somehere where there little activity.
I couldn’t agree more with what Charlie has said in the video about the mismanagement of St. John’s Harbour re: tourism. When I compare our harbour to other cities that encourage locals and tourists to visit and enjoy what is being offered it saddens me. We have so very little to offer. Where are the restaurants, with decks, overlooking the water? Where are the seasonal vendors? Where are the Welcome signs and on and on? What is it that the Port Authority does not understand? Not only is tourism-oriented activity not encouraged it appears to be discouraged. I certainly disagree with a previous comment “SO we should enjoy what we have and make the best of it” as it reminds me of what Newfoundlanders have been told for decades and where did that get us?
Keep up the great work, Charlie, and good luck with your fight with complacent bureaucrats and the judicial system.
What I find entertaining about this piece, is that the owner of the vessel actually implied that the Halifax Harbor front (which by the way has more development on it than we do) is run better than our Harbor Front.
While we all would like to have all the goodies that other places have we do have remember that in this province, we really only have Jul,Aug & (most of) Sep to (really) enjoy Summer..Our weather is out biggest drawback..It’s like the car rental situation. To invest a lot of money in tourist things and only have a short season won’t go. SO we should enjoy what we have and make the best of it..
I think it would be cool if all industrial activity ( at least on the north side) could be moved to other places near St. John’s (Bay Bulls, Conception Bay). That way we could open up all the industrial space for recreational purposes or just create nice green/park space. Think of how nice it would be if Harbourside Park was extended down to take up the entire Harveys terminal.
i go down just 2 have a look at the boats and you cant get in there its a shame. i was up to Baultamore one time and the water front was one big happy place everything in the world was on the water front people by the thousands on a sunday.same way with the pond for the races st johns has no get up and go its all , the pond could b used all year round .some slack we are by no wonder they make fun of us all over the place…