West Harbour Community Board
A passionate public presentation kicked off the West Harbour Community Board meeting last week, setting the scene for a contentious meeting at Port Chalmers Town Hall.
Public Forum
West Harbour resident Kris Nicolau addressed the board’s public forum, highlighting difficulties providing feedback to Port Otago on noise, the environment, and the recent construction of fencing and carparking near the port that was encroaching on a public footpath.
She also highlighted concerns about the placement of a bus stop at the site.
After questions from board members, chairwoman Angela McErlane undertook to discuss the situation with Port Otago chief executive Kevin Winders.
Ms Nicolau also complained that there were moves towards more reclamation, establishing a sandy beach and a new marina near Port Chalmers, without community consultation.
"They are planning to do this without looking at upgrading what we already have in Careys Bay and Deborah Bay," she said.
Another issue of concern was the aftermath of the end of manufacturing at the Ravensdown fertiliser works site in Ravensbourne, and the need to clean up any contamination from the site, Ms Nicolau said.
West Harbour Community Board member Jarrod Hodson said he had spoken with Ravensdown officials, who had committed to cleaning up the site in stages over three to six months.
Mr Hodson planned to closely follow progress on the work.
Stuart Neill, a 60-year resident of Port Chalmers, told the board about difficulties he had experienced with Dunedin City Council contractors patching the road outside his property and causing damage to the footpath, as well as blocking a leaky pipe, which then "blew up" under his grass.
"I asked if they could connect it to the stormwater system and was told by an engineer that they would keep me in the loop — I haven’t heard a word since then," Mr Neill said.
Senior council officer present at the West Harbour Community Board meeting, customer and regulatory acting general manager Paul Henderson, noted the issues raised by Mr Neill and offered to look into it.
Three Waters update
The West Harbour Community Board heard a presentation from council Three Waters and transition general manager Dave Ward and Three Waters group manager John McAndrew, with an update on current and future water supply in West Harbour.
The pair gave a overview of the current water supply and issues, including that the existing pipeline could barely cover demand, poor water quality from the Cedar Farm and Rossville dams, and the impact of the heavy rain event in October, 2024.
They also highlighted that construction of a new, larger pipeline from the city water supply had begun, and was due for completion in mid-2027.
This pipeline would more than double the volume of water able to be supplied to Port Chalmers and West Harbour to about 2000-3000 cubic metres per day.
The future of the dams had not yet been decided, other than the council would not need them for water supply purposes, Mr McAndrew said.
Mr Ward and Mr McAndrew asked the board for feedback on how often the community visited the dams, and what types of activities they did there.
General business
Moving on to general business, the board discussed the proposal to name a private right of way at Long Beach either Settlers Lane or Knowles Lane.
After voting to support the title Knowles Lane, the board discussed concerns raised by Cr Mandy Mayhem that, while the developer had proposed the name in reference to early resident Elizabeth (Molly) Knowles, the name did not actually reflect her identity.
After discussion, the board resolved to contribute to consultation around a review of council road naming policy.
The board then looked at the governance support officer’s report, a previous funding application from the Purakaunui Amenities Society, Anzac Day preparations, and the need to workshop the board’s community plan.
During this phase, the meeting included several tense exchanges between board member Barbara Anderson and others.
