Otago Peninsula Community Board

A range of issues at Tomahawk Lagoon means the regional council is planning a wide-ranging assessment before future plans. Photo: Stephen Jaquiery

Sam Henderson looks at highlights from the Otago Peninsula Community Board’s recent meeting.

Acknowledgement of service

On behalf of the board, chairman Paul Pope thanked long-serving board members Edna Stevenson and Lox Kellas.

In a humorous acknowledgement that roads had been a major issue during their terms, Mr Pope provided them with mock street signs saying "Lox Kellas Drive" and "Stevenson Way".

At the end of the meeting, Dunedin City Council chief executive Sandy Graham, who sat in on the meeting, thanked Mr Kellas and Mrs Stevenson on behalf of the council staff.

"I just want to acknowledge that and wish you both well in whatever the next phase of your life in the local community is."

Funds for garden

The board has granted funds of $1000 to the Anna and John Caselberg Charitable Trust to help stabilise a slip at its Broad Bay residence.

Founding trustee Lesley Hirst said the front garden at the residence had slipped significantly.

There had been anxiety during heavy rain events that the issue might get worse and they hoped to reduce the risk by building a retaining wall.

The trust was in its 20th year and provided residencies for artists such as writers, musicians and other creators.

Science first reset

Otago Regional Council engineering manager Brett Paterson and programme support Josh von Pein provided updates on the rivers flood recovery programme at Tomahawk Lagoon.

Mr von Pein said the initial brief was to investigate some of the flooding risks at the lagoon, looking at engineering solutions to drain more water from the upper to the lower lagoon.

However, this was not going to fix all the flooding risks and looking at the range of projects taking place at the lagoon, the plan was to cease engineering planning and instead do a larger hydrological and ecological assessment of both the lagoons to inform next stages and what the strategic intent for Tomahawk Lagoon was.

There were ecological, engineering and amenity aspects to the lagoon that needed to align and so the aim was to do further research before going back to the community to ask what they wanted.

New road name

The board has supported the name of "Greenwich Way" for a private way at 336 Portobello Rd to a new subdivision.

The name has a connection to the area due to settlers George and Jane Challis who arrived in Otago from Tasmania in 1863 and maintained a large market garden nearby called Greenwich Park.

Response to 9-year plan

The Otago Peninsula Community Board has received a Dunedin City Council reply to its draft nine-year plan submission outlining wins and deferrals for local projects.

The council confirmed funding remains in the 2025–34 plan to finish the three outstanding Te Awa Ōtākou Peninsula Connection sections.

The board’s push to turn the long-promised Tomahawk school site into a community recreation hub with courts, a pump track and landscaping did not secure money. The council said there was no funding in the nine-year plan, but staff would work with local groups on a detailed proposal for the 2026/27 annual plan.

A new toilet at Macandrew Bay Beach was declined. The council said new toilet funding had been removed and was not in the 2025–34 plan. Instead it would maintain the city’s existing 77 facilities.

Calls for reticulated water and sewage east of Portobello would be assessed. A servicing assessment would be completed in 2025, followed by an options assessment by the water services provider in the short term. Any upgrades were likely in the medium term.

On resilience, the board sought funded works for slips, flooding and sea level rise, including back bays protection and repairs to Harwood’s Tidewater Drive seawall. The council said its infrastructure strategy would review peninsula needs over the next three years and noted sea walls were in poor condition and would require future investment.