The New Zealand Herald

Proper marina strategy must precede land sales

- Richard Steel comment Richard Steel is chairman of the Auckland Marina Users Associatio­n Inc and immediate past chairman of Pine Harbour Berth Holders Associatio­n Inc.

Media reports of the Auckland Council’s planned sales of waterfront land at Hobsonvill­e and Gulf Harbour marinas, and Empire Capital’s planned residentia­l developmen­ts at Pine Harbour, Bayswater and Hobsonvill­e marinas warrant some clarificat­ion to help explain the concern of marina users and community groups.

Marinas are recreation­al community amenities. Local communitie­s and marina users are not averse to well-thought-out ownership models and developmen­t plans for community assets if they’re based on community expectatio­ns.

Panuku has acknowledg­ed in a letter to marina users at Gulf Harbour that marina land is of strategic importance. However, in response to questions from David Fisher for the Herald, David Rankin (Panuku) said “there was no overarchin­g council marina strategy”. It is staggering the council is thinking of selling waterfront land without having a strategy for the long-term future of our marinas.

When the majority of our marinas were developed the typical approach was that the Crown and the council provided access to the seabed and land and the developers contribute­d their expertise to build and then operate the marinas.

Seabed material excavated to create the marina basins generally became “reclaimed” waterfront and the land was subsequent­ly vested in the council. The model of community ownership of both the marina basin and reclaimed land has generally enabled integrated management and control of our marinas.

The proposed land transactio­ns at Hobsonvill­e and Gulf Harbour will separate ownership of reclaimed marina land (private ownership) and the seabed (Crown). Integrated management and control of the land will then be reliant on the council’s marina precinct plans and planning controls. The underlying problem is that the precinct plans are inconsiste­nt with marina zone objectives and policies, and the legislatio­n that establishe­d the marinas.

Local communitie­s and marina users see Pine Harbour Marina as a compelling example of inappropri­ate precinct plans and questionab­le applicatio­n of planning controls, resulting in an irreversib­le loss of open space and a developmen­t which conflicts with marina activities.

The recently consented apartment developmen­t at Pine Harbour will result in four 9m-high flat-roof buildings, immediatel­y abutting four piers of the marina basin, sandwiched between the narrow 3.5m-wide marina esplanade and the marina access road. With prices from $1.6 million to $2.5m, this waterfront developmen­t cannot be justified as providing much needed “affordable housing”.

Attractive perspectiv­es of walkways, cafes and restaurant­s and assurances that marina users’ amenities will be improved and protected do not convince.

The reassuranc­es are in stark contrast to Simon Herbert’s (Empire Capital) evidence at the Unitary Plan hearing for Bayswater Marina: “In summary this land is now privately owned, and other than the access strip covenants requiring public access to the access strip, there should be no requiremen­t that the land be solely or predominan­tly used for public purposes.”

Panuku’s lack of respect for public opinion is also alarming. Panuku has been pursuing its sales strategy at Hobsonvill­e and Gulf Harbour for some years but only entered into limited public engagement shortly before seeking council endorsemen­t. When the council and Panuku started contemplat­ing the negotiated sale of council-owned land on the waterfront of two of the city’s largest marinas, the moral compass should have immediatel­y pointed to full public consultati­on. However, in a letter to marina users at Gulf Harbour, Panuku justified the limited engagement based on a legal opinion.

Local communitie­s and marina users opposing current plans would like to see an immediate halt to the proposed land sales and a long term-strategy for the ownership and developmen­t of marinas that truly reflects the interests of the community and marina users.

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