Progress at the island's first marina is shown here. Photo / Kennedy Point Marina
Progress at the island's first marina is shown here. Photo / Kennedy Point Marina
Construction of Waiheke Island’s first marina is well underway with two big structures up at Pūtiki Bay and framing in place for a new floating services building.
Development business Kennedy Point Marina has issued an update showing how building work at the 181-berth marina was progressing.
The first two floatingattenuators are up, defining the marina basin’s scope.
Kororā or penguin monitoring last month showed the birds at 25 of 55 locations and five active burrows identified.
“Big progress” had been made, the business said of construction work in the bay.
“The footpath and vehicle crossing onto the wharf have been completed with the rest of the wharf to be finished in the New Year. The secondary internal attenuators or tee heads will start being installed in February, as will the first of 21 car park pontoons,” it said.
Off-site, pontoon casting works were underway for internal marina piers and berth fingers. Those structures are being made in Whangārei and Auckland.
Berth sales from $180,000 each have been strong. Berths are 10m, 12m, 14m and 16m. No total project cost has been released, but if berths sell for an average $400,000 each, the project could be worth $72 million.
In 2021, protestors tried to stop the project, violence broke out, construction work stopped and the police were called.
The developer claimed at that time that a 55-year-old site security guard was “repeatedly” kicked in the head by a protester, shoved into a narrow hole on a pontoon and could have drowned. Kitt Littlejohn, a director of Kennedy Point Marina, responded in July 2021 to media reports and video images showing that security guard face-kicking a protester.
Littlejohn said the company did not condone violence. In another anti-marina move, a protestor removed all her clothing on rocks at the foreshore.
Police made 14 arrests. Work stopped and the protest action resulted in extensive subsequent court action.
Later in 2021, interim injunction orders were granted barring 32 protesters from the marina site after fears of renewed action when Covid lockdown measures were relaxed.
Justice Ed Wylie in the High Court at Auckland granted Kennedy Point Boatharbour’s application for interim injunctions against the protesters, saying there was “an urgent need” to act because pandemic restrictions were being relaxed.
Affidavits were presented saying protesters were planning action so the developer wanted to head that off in advance.
The Protect Pūtiki Ngāti Poa-led group expressed strong dissatisfaction with the injunctions and vowed to overturn them because, they said, they were illegal. But they failed.
The marina was granted resource consent last decade. Berths were pre-sold from $180,000 according to developer Tony Mair.
New offices and a cafe at the marina. Photo / Kennedy Point Marina
Development of secure berth holder car parking will be on the floating structure, along with vehicle loading and unloading areas, bike racks, kayak storage, the marina office, a daytime-only cafe, small chandlery, meeting venue, toilets and showers, laundry facilities, boat maintenance berth and public pickup and dropoff areas.
Vehicle and pedestrian access to the marina is from Donald Bruce Rd via the new access wharf. The project was designed by Swedish marina company S F Marinas AB.
A kororā monitoring survey on December 14 gave more information about the penguins’ movements.
They were recorded at 25 of 55 monitored locations and five active burrows were identified with birds breeding or moulting.
“Our project ecologists believe that chicks are likely to have now fledged from two other burrows.
“Our ecologists have also confirmed that use of the breakwater by kororā has not been disrupted by construction works and that kororā have quickly re-established burrows in the area where most recent works were completed,” the business said.
Monitoring data collected during the past 18 months showed the number of kororā signs and active burrows recorded at the Kennedy Point breakwater were in general higher in 2022 months than in 2021.
“While this variation in timing of annual activity is more likely to be due to external factors, such as sea-surface temperatures and food supply variations over the past year, it is still pleasing to note that the Kennedy Point kororā do not appear to be impacted by the construction activities in the bay,” Kennedy Point Marina said.
The greatest threats to kororā are rodents and dogs so visitors to the area were being reminded to keep their dogs on leash at all times.
Protestors tried to stop the project but failed. Photo / Dean Purcell.
Mair is the project director. March Schmack is the marina operations and sales manager and Sarah Mair is leading sales and marketing.
Scott Fickling is leading construction and Littlejohn has led the legal and consenting aspects of the project.
Sarah Mair said today only 12 berths out of the 181 were left unsold “but we also have a few on hold”.
Construction will continue this year.
Tony Mair’s career has seen him develop or be closely involved with 18 marinas including Ōpua in the Bay of Islands, Ōrākei, Whangamata, Bayswater, Whangaparaoa’s Gulf Harbour, Bucklands Beach, Westharbour, Pine Harbour, Tutukaka, Whitianga, and Wellington’s Mana Marina.
He was also involved with Australia’s Shute Harbour in the Whitsundays, Townsville and Abell Point in Queensland, Fiji’s Musket Cove, at Canada’s Songees and Santosa Island and at Singapore’s Sentosa.
He has also personally funded marinas at Tutukaka, Ōpua and Ōrākei.
Kennedy Point is the 19th marina he has been involved in and by far the most contentious.
At Bayswater, another developer is proposing apartments beside an existing marina.
Simon and Paula Herbert’s scheme to develop 78 apartments on the landward area of the North Shore’s Bayswater Marina won consent last month.
