Our Town Basin is a safe haven for boats from cyclones and crime, it’s clean, we have friendly English-speaking people, it is close to ships chandlers, there are supermarkets, cafes and night-life close by, and it has built a strong reputation. We have a quality product – why are we selling it so cheaply? So cheaply that the rate-payers are asked to pay for the dredging of the Hatea Channel, to keep the Basin open.
The case for subsidising these marinas to attract overseas yachts and the money they spend on refits does not stack up. With demand out-stripping supply, (both Whangarei and Tutukaka marinas have large waiting lists) market forces not affect patronage, but rather improve it due to better conditions afforded by the increased fees.
Ratepayers do enjoy and take benefit from the picturesque scene at the Town Basin, but surely we pay for this by forgoing financial profit from this valuable asset. The Whangarei Harbour Marina Management Trust is run as a charitable trust, so any surpluses are reinvested into the marinas.
One would wonder how the Whangarei District Council can justify spending ratepayer money on dredging the channel when neither boaties nor the Marina Trust, who manage the Town Basin and Kissing Point, contribute by paying rates on their berths to the District.
The Northland Regional Council’s Draft annual plan states: “Likely options to fund the dredging of the Hatea Channel include a combination of fees charged to users such as mooring and berth holders, and rates levied over the area of benefit.” This to me is a far more equitable and fair solution.