Big Bertha: South Island's largest marina wants a wider berth

Tuesday, 30 January 2018

The South Island's largest marina has plans to become even bigger.

Port Marlborough has drawn up plans to expand the floating marina at Waikawa, the largest marina in New Zealand outside of Auckland.

The port planned to add another 240 berths to the existing 628 at Waikawa Marina, beside Picton. The extension would be on the western coastline of Waikawa Bay and would bring the total number of berths at the marina to 868. 

Port Marlborough chief executive Rhys Welbourn said building the marina could cost about $20 million, but it was too early to be certain.

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Port Marlborough owned two other floating marinas in the region, the Picton Marina and Havelock Marina, and Welbourn said they were keeping up with the latest technology.

'We've been through quite a long consultation period. We are at the point of making a resource consent submission in the next couple of months. So there will be further opportunities for the public [to have a say],' Welbourn said.

He said the demand for marina berths in the Queen Charlotte Sound was high.

'Picton Marina is operating at a 100 per cent occupancy, and Waikawa is just under 100 per cent. There are a couple of the smaller 8-metre berths but usually the berths are fully occupied,' Welbourn said. 

The depth of the water meant the port could not install breakwaters made from rocks, such as the ones already at Waikawa Marina.

The port instead planned to install six fixed-panel concrete breakwaters to absorb energy from waves, he said.

'The marina structures will include breakwaters which will form the northern and eastern boundaries of the marina. The breakwaters will be located in significantly deeper water than the existing marina rock breakwaters, thus requiring different construction technology.'

Welbourn could not give a construction date as it depended on the resource consent process and continuing demand for berths.

The plan for an extension was more than two years in the making.

'This has been going on for several years and I'd say it's been a bit of a journey for the port and lately we've started developing really strong relationships with stakeholders. 

'We've got to the point where we're confident where we've got a proposal that's both in the right area but also sets the needs of future recreational boating,' Welbourn said. 

The berths would be similar in appearance to those at Picton Marina, he said.

There would be three buildings to provide toilets, showers and laundry facilities for berth holders. 

Port Marlborough finished a public consultation process on December 15 and Welbourn said they met with key stakeholders including Te Ātiawa.

Waikawa Ratepayers and Residents Association president Hiram Taylor said residents in the area were open to the idea of a marina extension.

'Most members that I've spoken to are very supportive of it. They see the future need for it.

'They're certainly pleased that the east side [of Waikawa Bay] has been given away so the west side development is the one that's going to happen. Because there were concerns around sediment build-up [on the east side],' Taylor said. 

He said the only concerns raised were around the noise in the bay when it was being built and how Port Marlborough would manage construction traffic.

'Port Marlborough have certainly said they're looking around that traffic management to have a plan in place and around the noise, they said they are looking at the hours of operation and said they would update us on that going forward,' Taylor said.