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The Howick Local Board fears pest species could reach the Tamaki Estuary as boat-cleaning capacity shrinks across Auckland.
Hardstands allow boats to be taken out of the water and cleaned, removing unwanted pests such as the invasive seaweed species caulerpa from their hull.
Six hardstands have reduced their hull-cleaning capacity with three closing entirely over the past year.
The Auckland Yachting and Boating Association says the reduction means only 33 per cent of the city’s recreational boats can be cleaned annually when they’re supposed to be cleaned every six months.
Local boards oversee facilities in their area including some marinas.
In February the Orakei Local Board voted to put its marina, The Landing, up for sale.
At the council’s planning, environment and parks committee meeting on March 2, the Howick Local Board asked the council to take a regional approach to the issue as local boards look to sell assets.
Board chairperson Damian Light told the committee the reduction in hardstands meant more boats would have to enter the Tamaki Estuary for cleaning, increasing the biosecurity risks.
“We need to make sure we have hardstands and haul-out facilities around the region so when someone does have an issue they can go to somewhere that is local,” he said.
Light said if boats couldn’t be cleaned locally, they could be dragging pests across the Hauraki Gulf while going to another cleaning facility.
Board member Bruce Kendall said there were neglected boats across Auckland that were growing their own ecosystems.
“Some of those things are fine, like mussels are great, mussels filter the water and all the rest of it but there are also bad things,” he said.
“It’s going to be much easier to retain and upgrade the existing haul-out facilities than it will be to build new ones.”
Kendall said it wasn’t just a matter of finding the land to build a new haul-out facility but water depths, weather conditions and tides for a location also had to be considered.
Councillor Lotu Fuli asked Light and Kendall if they’d consider a targeted rate to upgrade the haul-out facilities at Half Moon Bay if they believed it was important to protect the area.
Kendall replied he wasn’t sure how much Howick’s general community outside of the boating community would appreciate having a targeted rate.
“They may because it is a part of looking after the general environment,” he said.
Light said if there was an appetite for further environmental protections in the community, a targeted rate was something his board would consider.
“If we want to do more to protect the environment in our area maybe we need to think about a targeted right,” he said.
Committee chair Richard Hills said it wouldn’t be possible for council to step in on a local board’s decision to sell or shut their hardstand facilities.
“It would be a very significant precedent for the [council’s] governing body to request at this stage for local boards to stop or reverse a decision. We do not have that power,” Hills said.
The Auckland Yachting and Boating Association has indicated if council won’t step in to take a regional approach they will appeal to local boards across the region.
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