 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
||
Doing things differently
Regional councils from time to time are faced with the need to manage conflicting land and water uses. The fast ferry service between the North and South Islands moves people more quickly between Wellington and Picton – but high-speed movement creates waves which cause problems when they wash too vigorously.
In Wellington, the main problem was that large ships berthed at Aotea Quay and the Container Terminal rolled violently at their berths. This broke mooring lines, damaged ship gangways, and stevedores were endangered by moving cargo.
After some trial and error, the Wellington Harbourmaster, who acts under the authority of the Greater Wellington Regional Council, resolved the problem by imposing speed restrictions on the fast ferries in Lambton Harbour. He issued Harbourmaster’s directives under ‘General Harbour Regulations’ because the wash affected vessel safety, and thus avoided a lengthy process of creating bylaws.
In Marlborough, the situation was different. The 18-mile run through
Tory Channel to Picton created waves that eroded the relatively soft
clay shoreline. Attempts
were unsuccessfully made to use the Resource Management Act to make the fast
ferries operate at slower speed. It took the Marlborough District Council about
six years to introduce control measures that set an acceptable speed – increasing
travel time by half an hour when the ferry travelled at only 18 knots through
Tory Channel.
Controls have been fine-tuned as different ferries come on the Wellington-Picton
run.