Truck park gets the green light
A truck park on green space in Picton has got the green light from locals, but it must look pretty.
Community consultation revealed more than 75 per cent of 119 residents wanted the truck park at Waitohi Domain, in order to rid nearby streets of parked trucks waiting for ferries.
The Marlborough District Council was divided over whether to rush through the project to get extra funding, or to stop and ask residents their opinion when the truck park was first floated in September.
Council assets and services committee manager Richard Coningham said the North Canterbury Transport Infrastructure Recovery (NCTIR) alliance would contribute a third of the cost, but only if the park opened by January 31.
However, Marlborough Sounds and Picton ward counsellors convinced the council to consult the public first.
Despite the highway reopening in December, it was still one-lane and unsealed in parts, and prone to closing in bad weather, so many truckies were still using the more reliable alternate highway, and still clogging the streets of Picton waiting for ferries.
Marlborough construction company TC Nicholls would start tarsealing nearly a quarter of the reserve on Dublin St, formerly the Waitohi Rugby Club pitch, on Monday. Crafar Crouch was already leasing 19 per cent of the land. The final cost of construction would be $341,000.
Despite the delay, NCTIR would still pay a third of the cost. Port Marlborough would pay market rent for the truck park which would allow the council to recoup the other two thirds. Construction would start on Monday, and the park was expected to open by the end of April.
Marlborough Sounds ward councillor Nadine Taylor said most people responded to the survey online, but she also took many submissions by phone and ‘‘what I call supermarket conversation correspondence’’.
‘‘It was great to see such enthusiasm and interest. We had ideas ranging from opening a dog park there, to a space for the New Zealand Motor Caravan Association’s self-contained vehicles to park there, and there was a lot of talk about keeping some green space in the remaining flood basin.’’
Many people had suggested bringing the Link Pathway into Picton through the domain, Taylor said.
While opening the truck park was the first priority, developing a landscaping plan to beautify the domain and Dublin St would be a ‘‘fast follower’’, Taylor said.
She was grateful to NCTIR for agreeing to help fund the construction, she said.
‘‘As a council and as a community, we’re really grateful the highway is open. It has made a huge difference financially and economically. But the highway is still a fragile piece of road, and with the weather events we’ve had since it’s opened it has become clear we will need to support it more through the winter.
‘‘So there is still quite a need for this management of trucks in Picton.’’
There was also much discussion around the shortage of industrial-zoned land in Picton, Taylor said.
‘‘It’s a constant conversation, about where the industrial growth is going to happen. It’s talked about locally all the time. If the port ever wants to expand, for example, it’s such a necessity for us in terms of employment. But it’s a conversation that I think will have to be elevated to council, and it will probably have to happen through the planning process.’’