What’s got your goat? Petone Wharf in line for demolition

Tuesday, 12 March 2024

Petone Wharf has been closed to the public since January 2021.

What’s the issue?

The Petone Wharf, which has stood since 1909, has been closed to the public since January 2021 after suffering earthquake damage that compromised the structure.

The piles that hold up the wharf are also being eaten by marine worms, The Post reports.

Hutt City Council previously agreed to rebuild the wharf and budgeted $23 million for the project.

However, in November 2023 councillors voted to spend $6 million to demolish it instead.

A petition to “Save Petone Wharf” on Change.org has over 3000 signatures.

This story is part of Stuff’s What’s got your goat, NZ? series, which examines the issues on the minds of our communities. You can contribute here.

Why do locals care?

Sandra Pickering was born and raised in Petone and is dismayed with the state of the Petone Wharf.

She said the wharf used to be a great recreational space for the community.

“Kids used to fish off it, people used to sit on it, at one stage it was a transport hub – you used to be able to get ferries from it.”

Successive councils had not had a long term maintenance plan for the wharf, Pickering said.

“I think it’s a travesty. Petone was one of the first settlements in New Zealand and that wharf has been there for a hell of a long time and they have just failed to maintain it.

“Pulling it down will just leave a huge hole in the landscape of Petone.”

Pickering is not alone in her opposition to the wharf being demolished. A petition to Save Petone Wharf on Change.org has over 3000 signatures.

A cross section of the a pile from Lower Hutt's Petone wharf. The piles are being eaten by marine worms.

Members from the Save Petone Wharf group recently told the council they believed there was a realistic and affordable alternative to demolition, according to The Post.

The group had been in talks with a local business that was licensed to use PileMedic, a technology that had been used to fix wharves overseas.

What has the council said?

Hutt City Council’s neighbourhoods and communities director Andrea Blackshaw said the council had budgeted $23 million to rebuild the wharf, but recent costings showed it couldn’t be done within that budget.

“In the Draft Long-Term Plan we’ve decided not to fund a rebuild of the wharf and instead focus on investing in critical water and transport infrastructure and resilience projects.

“That includes a $10 million redevelopment of the Petone Library so it can be a resilient building that can and continue to provide critical services into the future.”

Blackshaw acknowledged the wharf was an iconic Petone landmark and the community valued it for recreational activities like walking and fishing.

Blackshaw agreed decades of under-investment had led to the wharf being in this condition.

“This situation reinforces the need for council to take a serious approach to asset management and we’ve recently adopted a new policy which will make sure this happens.”

She said council officers had met with a local company about the use of PileMedic to fix the wharf and provided them with information on the project.

If there was a cost-effective way to refurbish the wharf, then the council would look at it, Blackshaw said.

“However, this won't change the options we are consulting on but people can provide any feedback they want to regarding the wharf as part of the LTP consultation process.”

After public submissions on the Long-Term Plan closed on 3 May, elected members would assess feedback and vote on the plan which takes effect on 1 July 2024.