It's no surprise that calls to redevelop Hamilton's waterfront are of great interest to new Corporation of Hamilton common councillor Bruce Lines.

The Stevedoring Services president, who joined up to have input, has bad news for those hoping for the freight docks to be removed.

He said most freight dropped at an alternative site would still end up being trucked back to Hamilton on crowded roads.

This would make it difficult to pick Southside for a new container port, while a dock at Morgan's Point would put similar strains on traffic and he believes that area has already been earmarked for other projects, Mr. Lines said.

Most freight stayed within a mile of the capital where the warehouses were, said Mr. Lines, who has spent 22 years at Stevedoring Services.

While putting a dock on North Shore would hamper unloading during winter gales, he added.

"I am not saying nothing will happen, but people need to think these things through carefully before acting."

He said the docks were getting close to capacity already and needed levelling to allow new equipment to extract containers from the middle of a pile.

"That requires a re-grading of the docks to make them flatter. The docks are quite uneven, they undulate."

He said renovation of the docks would not make it prettier but would not make it look any worse.

Mr. Lines is also interested in plans to upgrade ferry facilities.

"It's obvious there are some real challenges on the waterfront, and we are part of it so, I felt it necessary to get involved. The redevelopment of the cruise ship section of the docks needs to be dealt with rather rapidly."

But he questioned whether consultants' suggestions to back in cruise ships on to new jetties in a high wind would work.

He said an angled dock opposite The Beach pub on Front Street running northeast to southwest had been suggested.

He believes an angled jetty running from the corner of the freight dock going northwest to southeast would be better. It would have a ship on either side with a new terminal between them, suggested Mr. Lines.

"It needs real careful thought before we make a big mistake."

He said Government as well as the Corporation would have to be involved.

Like most of the new councillors, he listed parking as a problem and said Hamilton would soon need another multi-storey car park, with a City Hall car park being a possibility.

He said multi-storeys were expensive, but added: "I don't think there is any way around it in the end."

He regretted public transport was not yet up to scratch and said he would love to use the ferry for his commute from Warwick but there was no ferry stop nearby with an adequate car park.

The environment is another concern for the 52-year-old family man, who said the Corporation had a first-class parks staff.

"I'm a tree-hugger," he joked and revealed his first degree was in geology and biology.

He said it was time the Corporation invested in machinery to separate oil from rainwater before it all ended up in the harbour and harmed marine life. Similar equipment is used on the docks, Mr. Lines said.