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• A new Waitaria Bay jetty will cost $650,000, with construction starting mid-2025.
• The existing jetty was closed due to significant deterioration and safety concerns.
• Principal Tineke Giddy said the closure made the school feel “more isolated than ever”.

A new jetty for Waitaria Bay will cost about $650,000 and construction is expected to start mid-2025, reports show.

earlier this month announced the jetty, in Kenepuru,, has been closed because of safety concerns as it had “deteriorated significantly” since its last inspection mid-2023.

The move has made the remote Waitaria Bay school feel “more isolated than ever”, principal Tineke Giddy said.

The main road to the school, Kenepuru Rd, still had temporary closures for roadworks despite reopening to the public in December, currently including daytime closures at the Onahau Rd intersection.

Although no pupils were using the jetty to get to school at the moment, their relief teacher took a water taxi to school each day, and would need to be driven to and from the nearest jetty at Fish Bay, which Giddy said was about a 15-minute drive.

The new water taxi route could also add extra cost to the relief teacher’s commute, Giddy said.

The water taxi had been subsidised while Kenepuru Rd was only open to homeowners during repairs.

The jetty was damaged in the August 2022 storm and has deteriorated quickly since. Photo / Maia Hart / LDR

The Waitaria Bay jetty was damaged in the August 2022 storm after a landslide lifted the section of the jetty closest to land and shunted part of it forward.

Marlborough Roads transport recovery manager Steve Murrin said earlier this month the jetty was “well past its prime” and over the past 18 months its deterioration had “accelerated quickly”.

Defects included failed corbels (supports) and a loss of piles and bolted connections so the jetty was closed immediately.

“Unfortunately in certain conditions, such as rough seas, overloading or a vessel strike, these defects could cause a sudden collapse of the jetty,” Murrin said.

Waitaria Bay school is located near the jetty. Photo / Maia Hart / LDR

An update on the situation would go to the council’s assets and services committee on Tuesday.

The agenda for that meeting said an insurance claim was settled for damage from the storm in late 2024.

Because of the age and condition of the jetty, the insurance settlement totalled $229,000, less than half of the replacement cost, estimated at $650,000.

Marlborough Roads’ “jetties account” provided extra budget for the replacement.

Construction was expected to start mid-year, and take about three months, according to the report.

However, a resource consent was needed first, which was applied for in September last year.

The application said the new jetty would be 31m long.

The existing floating pontoon and connecting aluminium gangway would be retained and attached to the new fixed jetty.

The floating jetty would be fixed in place by four piles. Consent for 15 years of use was also sought.

The council expected to have the resource consent settled in late February, according to the assets and services agenda.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.