Moorings and Marinas Strategy

Council Decisions

The Moorings and Marinas Strategy hearings committee presented their recommendations to council at their meeting in Dargaville on 15 July 2014.

The committee's recommendations and Moorings and Marinas Strategy document adopted by council are available in the council meeting agenda - Item 7.3.

Find the 15 July 2015 council meeting agenda

What is the Moorings and Marinas Strategy?

Over the past few years we have been working on resolving some outstanding issues for mooring management across the region. To a large extent those issues have been resolved through some changes to the Regional Coastal Plan for Northland and the Navigation Safety bylaw.

With many of those issues out of the way, we needed to plan for the future. The moorings and marinas strategy plans how we will provide for mooring and marina space over the next 20 years.

As the population increases, demand for mooring and marina space in Northland is expected to increase into the future. However, our coastal waters have many uses and values beyond simply storing boats – so how do we deal with growing demand in a way that's consistent, sustainable and fair?

The Moorings and Marinas Strategy provides:

• A set of universal principles to ensure a regionally consistent approach to the allocation of marine space for boat storage;
• A 'decision making guide' to apply to determine the best the best way to manage future growth in discrete areas like the Bay of Islands;
• A policy to ensure fair allocation of marine space – including compensation – where intensification (for instance a new marina) is proposed in an existing mooring area;
• A proposal to increase council-ownership of moorings to enable more effective management; and
• Where and how moorings and marinas will be provided for in the Bay of Islands, where regional demand for mooring space is currently highest.