Remote d'Urville island's 'rural bus stop' set to get a makeover

Friday, 23 August 2019

The worn-out wharf shed at d'Urville Island in the Marlborough Sounds will be upgraded.

A 'rusted out' wharf shed acting as an island's 'rural bus stop' has been given the green light for an upgrade.

The shed serves a community of about 50 residents on the isolated d'Urville Island, in the Marlborough Sounds, sheltering both people and goods from bad weather.

The shed is the only public shelter near the Kapowai wharf and ramp, which is the main road access point for locals and visitors to the island.

D'Urville Island Residents and Ratepayers Association secretary Jeanette Aplin said the shed and wharf were built at the same time, about 50 years ago.

The isolated d'Urville island has a population of about 50 residents.

* D'urville Island delivers a rich heritage**

She said the island's mail was dropped at the shed along with other goods.

With the island being very isolated, limited phone reception and no public facilities, the wharf shed was a crucial link in getting people to and from the island, Aplin said.

A vehicle coming of the barge at Kapowai, d'Urville Island.

'People converge on that spot to go on boats and barges, but there's nothing else to shelter them or their goods.

'It can be very grim over there if you get dropped in stormy weather and there's no one to pick you up.

'Sometimes old people or people with babies are coming ashore and they need shelter while waiting to get picked up,' she said.

The new shelter was planned to be constructed in September.

'You can get stranded there waiting for boats, and sometimes boats don't come,' Aplin said.

'It's a bit like a bus stop really.'

When residents took trips to the mainland, they sometimes returned with too many supplies to fit in their vehicle for one trip, Aplin said.

In those cases, they could store goods at the shelter and return to fetch them.

But there were a couple of issues with the existing shed, including one end being 'rusted out', she said.

'For years the run off from the road has been running through the shed.'

The runoff ran between the concrete base and flooring, which was put down in an attempt to fix the problem, Aplin said.

'We have a shovel there for people to dig the ditch out to try to direct the water elsewhere, but you're sort of fighting against nature.'

Marlborough District Council small townships community advisor Adi James said the d'Urville Island Residents and Ratepayers Association applied to council's Small Townships Community Projects Fund in 2018.

'Over that time we've just been doing some planning to get that project organised.

'We haven't got to the the last stages yet of arranging a contractor.'

James said the next steps were to complete the approvals process, arrange contractors and organise the dates for construction and the community planting day.

An indicative budget of $55,000 had been allocated for the project, James said.

They sought funding to assist their Kapowai beautification project, replacing the wharf shed and landscaping, she said.

They had been on site and talked with the community about what they wanted in the design and functionality of the building, James said.

Residents were keen to assist with a community planting day, she said.