Reimagining Wellington: Restoring the mana of the Petone Esplanade

Tuesday, 16 November 2021

Wellington has Oriental Bay, Sydney has Bondi, California has Laguna Beach, and then there is Lower Hutt’s Petone waterfront.

Cut off from Petone by one of the busiest roads in Wellington, it gets smashed during southerlies, is dotted with rubbish bins that always seem to overflow, and has an earthquake damaged wharf that is closed and being eaten from the inside out by marine worms.

There have been all sorts of ideas to rejuvenate and develop Petone beach and esplanade. They’ve included hotels, a fun park, a base for freedom campers, housing for Māori, and apartments – but none have come to fruition.

Despite its many handicaps, the beach is a regional destination – particularly popular with walkers – and if local Māori have their way, the beach will one day have its mana restored.

**READ MORE:

* Petone Settlers Museum deemed earthquake prone following report

* Petone wharf repair millions 'could be used to build water-based sports hub'

* Petone traffic gridlock not just confined to commuter peak times and weekdays

* Richard Cole: Council needs to step up on Petone traffic woes

**

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency recently accepted a business case from the Hutt City Council for what it is calling Cross Valley Transport Connections.

Known locally as the Cross Valley Link, the new road, linking Seaview with State Highway Two, would divert traffic off th Petone Esplanade, allowing for the area to be developed.

One thing that just about everybody agrees with is that apartments and hotels will never happen.

Geotechnical issues and the exposed nature of the site, make that impossible. Instead, its future involves being a key part of the Great Harbour Way – a cycle way from the airport to Eastbourne – and as an area recognised for its cultural, ecological and historical importance, especially the links to early Māori.

It has long celebrated as the birthplace of European settlement in Wellington, but Liz Mellish​ from the Tenths Trust and Palmerston North Māori Reserve Trust​ said the area was already hugely important to Māori. Removing the traffic would be a game changer and allow for developments that more accurately reflect their link to the area, she says.

“It would allow us to recognise the Māori history, which is currently absent. It is like Wellington City, you don’t really know Māori once lived there,” she said.

Before 1840, there were a number of pā sites along the foreshore and Māori hunted on the harbour, using waka, and going back and forth to Matiu Somes Island.

Māori occupied the area because it gave them a clear view of Wellington Heads, enabling them to watch for hostile parties approaching on the water.

Mellish said that although there has been talk about building apartments and cafés, that is simply unrealistic.

The impact of climate change and the huge southerly storms that blast Petone make other uses much more realistic.

The trust occupies a site on the eastern end of the beach and its headquarters were designed to be shifted to avoid rising sea levels caused by climate change.

Mellish would like to see more work done to restore the natural environment that once existed.

A hub for water-based sports at the western end of the beach could see waka returning to the harbour in big numbers. Mellish also supported more recognition of pā sites and the telling of stories about pre-European Māori.

She has an ally in long-term Petone resident and deputy mayor Tui Lewis​, who says the sheer volume of traffic has ruined the area for many users.

“The view up the harbour is just amazing on a good day, and on a bad day, you can see the whole harbour but the weather does play a role of course,” she said.

Covid-19 had resulted in walkers, cyclists, and swimmers “coming out in droves” – and with so much traffic on the Esplanade, the area is under pressure.

Although that could create an argument for cafés and coffee carts, Lewis is not keen. Her vision involves a design to separate cyclists from the walkers, doing further work to improve the sand dunes and recognising the early Māori settlement.

The most significant building is the Petone Settlers Museum, built by the Labour Government in 1940 to recognise the arrival of the first European settlers in 1840.

Council events in the past, have glorified the arrival of Europeans, tending to ignore the impact their arrival had on Māori who were already here.

Lewis said the issue of the museum and how it presented history needed to be addressed.

“The Settlers Museum needs a name change to more accurately reflect and recognise those who were already here,” she said.

Petone is a “vital cog” in the Great Harbour Way, Lewis said, and she hoped that future developments would make cycling more attractive.

Cycling advocate Patrick Morgan is heartened by talk of improving cycling facilities and getting cars of the esplanade. He is predicting a “boom” in cycling numbers once the $190 million Petone to Ngauranga cycleway is finished.

Petone is the “key” to linking up all the cycling routes in the Hutt Valley and Wellington, Morgan said, adding that it was vital that the council start planning now for a design that separates cyclists from walkers.

He would like to see “pocket parks” on the Esplanade that create a destination and break up the vista.

Longtime Petone resident Graeme Lyon has been part of a group replanting the sand dunes since 2009.

He would welcome a greater emphasis on environmental projects and said work done on the dunes had gone well. Planting natives had seen the return of skinks and the restored dunes have reduced the amount of sand and debris blown into nearby houses, he said.

Getting traffic of the Esplanade is the key to making better use of the beach, Lyon said. “When we were at level four there were a lot more people because you could cross the road without worrying about the traffic.”