Inaction the latest threat to landmark Petone wharf
Wednesday, 21 December 2022
It is under attack from worms and suffered significant earthquake damage, and now the Petone Wharf is facing a new threat – council inaction.
The future of the 393 metre Wellington harbour landmark has been under discussion for a decade and in 2021 it was closed after receiving significant earthquake damage.
On Tuesday, the Hutt City Council deferred repairing or rebuilding it until 2029, as it seeks more information on the historic wharf.
Off the record those who take an interest in the wharf agree that it had probably reached a state where rebuilding or repairing it is simply not economic. The problem, however, is that the wharf has long been a favourite with fishers and wharf jumpers.
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**
The local community has strong emotional ties to the wharf.
In 2018 then list Labour MP Ginny Andersen organised a petition calling on the council to save the wharf.
“Petone Wharf is part of the fabric that makes our city a great place to live. For generations, we've fished, swum, walked and cherished its historic value,” she said.
“We can't afford to lose such an iconic piece of our city. We need your help to keep it and return it to its former glory.”
In 2021, when councillors were told it would cost $21m to refurbish the wharf, there was considerable scepticism.
Councillor Leigh Sutton said while she had previously supported the project, she was no longer convinced. “The costs are just astronomical.”
Councillor Simon Edwards said the wharf repair was “the big question mark' hanging over the council. He wondered whether the council should demolish it and instead spend the $21m on a bus hub.
That was in May 2021 and since then the wharf has been buffeted by more storms and continues to be attacked by marine worms that have left some of the piles swinging in the wind.
A May 2021 report by Calibre consultants said the wharf was in poor condition and was continuing to deteriorate.
“The 2021 dive inspection noted the piles on the wharf head to be in poor condition while the piles located along the western edge and outer half of the wharf head are generally in poor or very poor condition.”
Nine piles that had failed were found to have “severe damage due to Teredo worm” and the rest were likely to have suffered similar damage.
The outer stringers were showing “widespread degradation, many of the beams along the western side of the wharf have lost structural integrity” and rainwater was rotting large parts of the wharf, Calibre said.
The wharf had also received significant earthquake damage and was at risk of more.
Calibre favoured repairing the wharf, rather than rebuilding but gave no cost estimates. “From a heritage perspective, a repair is preferable so that as much of the original fabric as possible remains in place.”
The consultants noted, however, that repairing the wharf contained a number of risks.
“The selective harvesting of timber from South American sources contributes to destruction of the rainforest. A careful balance must be found between minimising the environmental impact of sourcing hardwood timber and the heritage impact of using modern materials.” Covid had also increased the cost of such timber.
On Tuesday, officers said more information would be available in February and politicians could then take another look at the future of the wharf. Work is now scheduled to begin in 2029.
The first Petone Wharf was built in 1883 for the Gear Meat Company, to enable the refrigerated ship Jubilee to berth safely and load frozen meat for Europe. By 1901 the wharf was dangerously rotten and had to be demolished. The current wharf was built in 1907 from Australian hardwood.