Port’s plan for green spaces on waterfront
A large area of former office land on Wellington’s waterfront will be opened up to new building developments and public spaces under a wide-ranging regeneration plan unveiled by CentrePort.
The plan outlines the company’s vision for the earthquakedamaged port, which finalised a $667 million insurance payout in October last year for claims made after the 2016 Kaiko¯ura quake.
CentrePort chief executive Derek Nind told key players at Wellington’s waterfront yesterday the “medium-term” vision would drastically transform the area around Waterloo Quay, with public access to new low-rise buildings and green spaces.
It also included a new multiuser ferry terminal at Kaiwharawhara and an upgraded commercial port with increased logging, container and cargo vehicle capacity.
Details on the Waterloo Quay development were still at a high level, but the plan was to create a public area similar to other parts of Wellington’s waterfront, Nind said. Any new builds would need to meet height and design regulations determined by local planning rules.
The proposed development area stretches from the Customhouse building to the PWC building on the port’s western boundary, encompassing Kings Wharf, Glasgow Wharf, Interisland Wharf and Waterloo Wharf.
Nind did not want to speculate on what would be built there, but residential, retail and office space
“We’ve got to work with stakeholders and the community there – because there are other people who live and work there – to get the right outcome.’’
Derek Nind
CentrePort chief executive
were all possibilities, he said.
“We’ve got to work with stakeholders and the community there – because there are other people who live and work there – to get the right outcome,” Nind told Stuff.
“But I suppose the key message is really about opening that part of the waterfront up to the public.”
The identified development area was dependent on a new ferry terminal being built at
Kaiwharawhara, rather than at the Kings Wharf site preferred by Interislander ferry operator KiwiRail.
If the Kings Wharf site was chosen, the development space would be situated between the Bluebridge ferry terminal and the PWC building.
That was because, in that case, Bluebridge would continue operating out of its current Waterloo Quay terminal.
All harbour users apart from KiwiRail favour the Kaiwharawhara site.
The expanded commercial port would increase annual container volumes from 94,000 to 400,000, and annual logging volumes from 1.7 million to 4 million.
No timeline has been attached to the regeneration plans, but they are likely to be at least 10 years away.
Last year, the Future Ports Forum – which comprises representatives from Greater Wellington Regional Council, Wellington City Council, CentrePort, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, and Bluebridge – said the new multiuser ferry terminal would take nine years to build.
KiwiRail is expecting to start operating two new mega-ferries by 2024 and would need the new, larger terminal to accommodate them. Nind would not be drawn on the disagreement between KiwiRail and the forum, saying the key consideration was ‘‘getting the right outcome for Wellington’’.
A spokesperson said CentrePort would put its $667.2m insurance payout towards the commercial port redevelopment.