'We cannot lose more lives': Councillor wants safer waterfront after ninth Wellington Harbour death
Monday, 24 April 2023
A new Wellington City councillor has broken ranks and is calling for action to make the waterfront safer after the ninth body since 2006 was found in the capital city’s harbour.
“We cannot lose more lives on our waterfront,” councillor Nureddin Abdurahman said on Sunday, despite an email from Mayor Tory Whanau asking all councillors to “hold off communication until I have received advice”. She later revoked the gag request after being asked about it by Stuff.
Teacher Isaac Levings’ body was found in Wellington Harbour on Friday. He was last seen at a concert at TSB Arena on Wednesday evening. A coroner will investigate how he died and police refuse to say where he ended up in the water.
Abdurahman said the string of waterfront deaths was “heartbreaking” and he had taken it on as his responsibility to ensure the waterfront was better fenced and safer.
“I have contacted the council chief executive stating my support for her action to make the waterfront safer and asking for a briefing on what options officers are considering.”
They are thoughts echoed by Iona Pannett, one of the longer serving councillors, who pointed out that action could be taken to improve safety while respecting the coronial process.
Roger Calkin’s son Sandy Calkin was found dead in the same area of Wellington Harbour in July 2021. He has gathered news clippings to present to the coroner for Sandy’s inquest and found nine harbour deaths in the area with at least some similarities with his son’s.
They were Daniel Hansman in 2006, Olivia Rutherford in 2010, Renee Hudson in 2013, Finbarr Clabby in 2015, Cory Pearson in 2016, an at-the-time-unidentified woman in 2017, Sarah Mayne in 2019, Sandy Calkin in 2021, and now Levings. There have also been many rescues of people who ended up in the harbour accidentally.
The council has made some improvements includinglighting, edge identification and protection, installation of life rings and illuminated ladders but did not go as far as 2016 recommendations in a council safety audit to install some safety barriers.
Whanau on Sunday said there was “no intention to fence the entirety of the waterfront”.
“But we are currently investigating enhanced edge definition and further fencing to deter people from accessing the wharf edge”. The council also highlighted that it put in fencing during some waterfront events.
Roger Calkin pointed out that, except Levings, who had been at the TSB Arena on Queen’s Wharf on Wednesday, the deaths were not thought to be linked to events.
“When there is a big event shouldn’t come into it – it is a falling hazard,” he said.
“The people who have died, have died when they were there by themselves.”
He has repeatedly pointed out that the council made people put fences around backyard pools but the public waterfront was essentially unguarded and far deeper.
Council rules state that any pool deeper than 40cm must be enclosed in a fence at least 120cm high, with nothing on the outside a child could use to climb over, and childproof gates must close automatically.
“Lighting and edge identification does not stop people falling in,” Calkin said.
“Otherwise you could light up your backyard and paint a fluorescent strip around your swimming pool, and council couldn't say anything.”
Wellington’s dangerous waterfront
August 17, 2006: The body of missing student Daniel Hansman is found in Wellington Harbour.
February 16, 2010. Missing teenager Olivia Rutherford’s body is found near Chaffers Marina. Her bag and wallet are earlier found on the City to Sea Bridge by Whairepo Lagoon.
November 5, 2011: A pensioner is rescued alive from Wellington Harbour after slipping from Taranaki Wharf while waiting to see fireworks display. She is saved by a senior constable, hypothermic, in shock and near death.
April 6, 2012: A man is found clinging to Queens Wharf, believed to be minutes from death.
December 2, 2013: The body of Renee Anne Hudson, 35, is found floating in Wellington Harbour, by the East by West Ferry terminal.
July 5, 2015: Irishman Finbarr Clabby, 39, is found dead, fully clothed, under a footbridge in the Queen’s Wharf area.
Sept 26/27, 2016: Cory Ian Pearson, 26, drowns in Wellington Harbour by Queens Wharf. The inquest report cannot determine how he ended up in the water.
April 21, 2017: Police find a middle-aged woman's body in the water near Queens Wharf.
February 2019: Sarah Pauline Louise Mayne, 48, is found by Whairepo Lagoon, near Frank Kitts Park. The coroner rules her death was most likely due to falling in the water while intoxicated.
November 2020: Courtney Beck, 21, is rescued alive after falling into the water after a night out and hitting her head on a beam.
July 10, 2021: Sandy Calkin, 30, dies having fallen into the water near the East by West Ferry terminal. His body is recovered six days later. An autopsy rules he drowned.
April 21, 2023: Missing man Isaac Levings’ body is found two days after he was last seen after a concert.