Marina proposal sails onwards

MarineWorx’s Garry Phillips is progressing with his plan to build a new marina in Nelson.

He says the plan, currently called Blue Haven Marina, was born from the simple fact that there aren’t enough berths in the existing marina to meet future demand.

“Nelson’s a well sought-after location to have a boat,” Garry says. “We have clients from as far north as Whangārei, Taupō, and south to Dunedin.”

Garry’s proposal is independent to the marina masterplan being developed for Nelson City Council, which is expected to be released for consultation in early April.

The Blue Haven Marina development would add about 200 marina berths, a drystack facility, 30 waterside apartments and five floating homes, along with a fuel dock for diesel and petrol.

The idea has been developed slowly over the past three years but now Garry’s beginning to pick up speed.

He’s opened a new office on Akersten St in Port Nelson and is putting together a team of experts to give the project some real weight and support.

“As a small company, the way for the project to succeed is to bring in the right people with experience and that’s the process we’re at now,” Garry says.

He says he’s also entered a period of consultation with relevant interest groups, stakeholders, and the public which had provided a lot of encouragement.

Garry’s vision would see the marina extend from the end of Akersten St with the berths protected by a publicly accessible, floating seawall.

Included in the proposal is a beach for windsurfers, a café/restaurant, and a suggested site for a non-powered water sports facility. Garry says he wants the location to be an attraction for all instead of just boaties.

“We aim not to take away what the site’s giving the public now, instead saying what can we add to that site to improve the public’s use and recreational benefits?”

The new marina’s additional parking spaces and apartments would be located on floating structures or on pile-driven platforms, rather than on reclaimed land and Garry says the site would be subject to limited dredging compared to other locations suggested in the past. He believes the proposal would bring about real economic benefits to Nelson businesses, especially those in the marine services sector.

“We expect the project will generate over 60 construction jobs over three years and will result in approximately 30 full-time jobs once completed.”

He is aiming to have the application for resource consent submitted by early 2024.

“At the end of the day, it’ll come down to a well-planned project that consults well and takes peoples’ views to heart and looks to create positive outcomes, and I think we can do that.”