The Mercury Bay Boating Club is facing a true nautical nightmare. Their shoreline is literally vanishing, and The Informer had a conversation with Club Commodore, Philip Hart, to find out how the Club was progressing with its battle to locate their home.
Where the Boat Club building once sat, with a flagpole, concrete plinth and strong deck, now there is ocean at high tide. Once they could set up a marquee, but that land is now submerged, due to the encroaching sea. This shrinking coast saga is a common challenge across New Zealand, but for this small, volunteer-supported club, it has meant mounting bills and endless discussions about solutions.
Commodore Philip Hart provided a summary of the club’s options, emphasizing a resilient, albeit humorous, outlook for the future.
“We can sail without a building,” he chuckled, highlighting their determination to keep the spirit of sailing alive despite the encroaching tides and disappointments regarding options.
Mercury Bay Boating Club – established 1948 – challenger, with Sir Michael Fay’s backing, for the 1988 America’s Cup. The very first time NZ for a short time had its hands on the America’s Cup and the name Mercury Bay Boating Club remains inscribed as challenger. This was when the current building, now on stilts and in a waiting bay, was erected. The Boating Club is made up of cruising and racing sailors young and old. They have a very successful young sailors training programme. The passion for the sea, the challenge of ocean racing is the lifeblood of the club.
ORIGINAL OPTION – PERHAPS A SEAWALL?
“The Boating Club’s lease on Buffalo Beach was with the Council. It was the generous rent for a community non-profit club, but the terms of the lease included the Boating Club being responsible for any damage including the possibility of rising seas. TCDC, two years before Cyclones Hale and Gabriel TCDC had prepared a quote for the cost of putting a rock wall in front of the club – $650,000. The Resource Consent and preparation would have been $300,000, and building the actual wall was estimated at another $300,000. This option would have financially capsized the club.”
On two occasions the residents who were preparing their Resource Consent to build a wall (across 18 homes) had offered for the Boating Club to join them in their building of a protective. rock wall. This would have meant a sharing of costs but still significant cost. Previously there was another option presented for the Club, to move further up the beach, but this option had disappeared.
CYCLONES, SANDBAGS, AND A SUDDEN RELOCATION
“Cyclone Hale, a true party pooper, took our deck away. And Cyclone Gabriel was hot on its heels. The community rallied like a fleet of tiny tugboats. We sandbagged, we hauled blocks, and at the eleventh hour, just before Gabriel hit, we organized a truck to pick up the entire clubhouse and move it back 50 meters! And mischievous Gabriel promptly washed away some of the very spot where the boating club used to be.”
OPTION – A SHUFFLE BACKWARDS
“After that little adventure, we applied to move it back even further, to future-proof the Club on Buffalo Beach. The Club stirred up the neighbourhood with individuals channelling their inner not in my backyard vibe. The local iwi had considered the new venue 50 metres further back of the Boating Club building but there are heritage factors making for lengthy wait times. We were looking a bit like a deflated spinnaker. Then, like a beacon in the storm, Grant McDonald, club member, surveyor and guru of kids’ sailing, pointed out a little strip of land near the marina, conveniently zoned for marine activity. A glimmer of hope.
“Public meetings were held; people and some organisations voiced their objections. There was a Hearing at which we needed to defend our case. This process was exhausting. The Boating Club was in rough seas. But throughout, there was also a lot of support from the community”
OPTION – THE MARINA ESTUARY & DOC MANAGED STRIP OF LAND
“Welcome to bureaucratic negotiations. The Club has paid, so far, nearly $30,000 for hearings, drawings, consents, surveyors, lawyers. The good news? DOC has apparently spent the same amount, in their efforts and have discussed making our contribution to that a very small amount.”
THE PRICE OF PARADISE (and Our Impending Doom)
“Finally, DOC came back with a Yes! You can have your consent! But here’s the kicker: the fee is $10,000 a year, climbing to $20,000 in three years’ time.”
That is the DOC price for Paradise, but Philip Hart understands if the council owned the land, it would be a mere $350 a year. There are other conditions to the lease as well The Club needs to renegotiate with DOC, or we’ll be selling off the club’s treasured collection of slightly used life rafts.
“Yes, we have permission, but no, we absolutely cannot afford it. And the clubhouse, bless its salty heart, means we must maintain a publicly accessible booking system. That means we can’t deny bookings, which is great for the community, but we’re a volunteer group! We barely have enough manpower to remember where we parked the rescue boat, let alone manage a public booking system. It’s almost as if we have been given consent knowing full well it was fiscally unacceptable.”
The question for the Club is, how can they pay for this? Even if DOC lowered the lease to $2,000, the costs of insurance, utilities and maintenance will put the annual cost of the clubhouse at over $10,000. Previously the Club had hall hire revenue of $5,000 a year to help offset this cost but that was largely made up of weddings which can’t be held at the Dundas site. The open accessibility booking system is a beast the Club is not equipped to tame.
“And the biggest problem of all, the one that makes my hair stand on end more than a rogue wave: the insurance company has refused to cover us. So, even if we put it back where it was, or where it used to be, it would simply be swept into the sea.”
NEXT STEPS: THE CLUB
The Club is an important community asset providing sailing programs of all levels and a Club House facility that is used by other community groups. So what steps do the now take in their battles? Phil Hart reports.;
We are
• holding a special general meeting to discuss the next steps following the lease agreement.
• working on fundraising to support the relocation process, although we recognise the enormity of raising $400,000 in a depressed economy with many other worthy causes competing for funds
• actively engaging with the community to address concerns and ensure a smooth transition.
• also working with various entities, including the Waikato Regional Council and Ngāti Hei, on the project.
