Dear Editor
I would like to publicly congratulate the Auckland City Council and former Eke Panuku Developments for its systematic and continued shredding of the very social fabric that once proudly defined Auckland as the City of Sails.
As a lifetime boat owner and a marine industry participant, my heart breaks for the ordinary Auckland family that has been priced out of boating in our waterfront city through the unchecked greed of Auckland City and other marina operators.
As John Macfarlane writes in Boating NZ, Westhaven Marina was developed by Auckland boat owners as a community facility and a hub for marine-related facilities – none more important than the yacht clubs that promoted inclusion and participation for all, regardless of individual wealth.
That opportunity has been rapidly eroded by continual and excessive marina charges and a top-heavy bureaucracy focused solely on generating profit from a community facility built by the people for the people.
We need only look at the parlous financial state of our yacht and boating clubs and their dire memberships to see the very real and irreversible damage Auckland City’s profit-driven ethos has unleashed on Auckland’s recreational boating community.
Can you imagine the hue and cry if, for example, libraries, pools, public golf courses, walking tracks and the myriads of other Auckland City Council community facilities set fees and charges to not only recover operating costs but to generate profit – regardless of exclusion and participation?
Why then is it acceptable for a publicly-owned marina built by ordinary hard-working boat owners over generations to be priced out by grossly inflated fees imposed by a marina management apparently more focused on achieving seven-star marina status and winning marina operator accolades from its peers.
It is telling that Auckland City refuses to front foot or even acknowledge the irreparable damage its marina pricing structure is causing nor concede the true extent of empty 10m and 12m berths within the marina – the very berths once occupied by modest family-owned vessels that were the very heart and soul of Auckland boating.
It is abundantly clear from the very recent update on the Westhaven Marina website homepage what managements’ end-game is: The removal of existing 10m and 12m fingers and reconfiguration to accommodate multi-hulls.
Will current marina users have a say? I think not – just as users were not consulted on the recent marina re-branding at God knows what cost and at a time when Auckland City purports to be cutting costs across the board. This rebranding was economic folly and smacks of a management out of control.
The sad reality is that the Auckland and wider New Zealand boating sector lacks a voice and the silence emanating from Yachting New Zealand and the NZ Marine Industry Association is deafening. It would appear that high-performance sailing and export dollars is where the buck stops.
The writing is on the wall. Boating in Auckland is fast becoming the reserve of the wealthy and unless there is a collective pushback, change will be irrevocable. Is this the legacy we will hand on to our children and grandchildren? I sincerely hope it is not.
Steve Raea, Auckland, by email
