Ownership of wharf disputed

The Southland District Council has conceptual designs for a new wharf at Golden Bay on Stewart Island but issues around ownership of the old wharf are yet to be resolved.

Council chief executive Steve Ruru said the conceptual designs sent to the Stewart Island Community Board and Jetties Subcommittee for their feedback were very rough sketches.

The council was looking to get feedback from members of the community on what they needed from the wharf.

South Port was the current owner of the wharf, and the council would have to work through issues around the ownership before changes could go ahead, he said.

In 2003, water taxi operator Rakiura Adventure Ltd built a pontoon linked to the end of the wharf, for which it obtained a rolling operational permit from wharf owners South Port.

But in 2013, Rakiura Adventure missed its annual payment for wharf pontoon access because of medical issues experienced by business director Manfred Herzhoff, leading to South Port cancelling its operational contract with the firm.

There would need to be a three-way conversation between Rakiura Adventure, the council and South Port to resolve the issues, Ruru said.

He was unable to provide a timeline of when the council might take ownership of the wharf.

It was likely that it would bundle the replacement of the wharf together with the upgrade of other infrastructure such as the Ulva Island jetty, Ruru said.

The council would look at applying to the regional tourism growth fund for funding to replace the wharves because the infrastructure was key to tourism activities, he said.

Stewart Island councillor Bruce Ford said no decisions had been made yet about the wharf replacement and there had not even been a meeting yet.

Upgrading the wharf was identified as a priority for the community in a report commissioned y the Ministry for Business, Employment, and Innovation.

Before any decision was made, the proposal would be put out to the community for public consultation, Ford said.