NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Budget 2025
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Business / Companies / Tourism

Covid 19 coronavirus: Auckland Council's 'silver lining' - Darby predicts mooring dolphins scrapped

Anne Gibson
By Anne Gibson
Property Editor·NZ Herald·
17 Apr, 2020 05:00 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest on $10m plan to build 90.3m long concrete extension off Queens Wharf.

Coronavirus has a "silver lining", says an Auckland councillor: a $30 million plan to extend cruise ship mooring capacity into the city's harbour can be scrapped.

The council has announced that the project, planned by its Panuku Development Auckland, has been put on hold.

But council planning committee chairman Chris Darby said there was no doubt about the scrapping of the docking extensions for big cruise liners -- known as "dolphins" -- in the midst of the pandemic.

"The tide has gone out on international tourism with, one category hit harder than any other," said Darby. "Now referred to as floating petri-dishes of disease, the attraction of taking a cruise ship in your golden years has hit lowest astronomical tide."

READ MORE:
• Premium - Auckland's controversial mooring dolphin for large cruise ships unlikely to proceed
• Premium - Auckland's controversial mooring dolphin now 'way north' of $16.9 million and won't be built for 2021 America's Cup
• Auckland Council approves plan for mooring dolphins to let big ships berth
• Independent commissioners grant consent for Queens Wharf upgrade, controversial moorings to go ahead

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"The silver lining is Auckland Council can now extinguish the controversial idea of a Queens Wharf mooring dolphin and bank the estimated $30m cost in favour of ratepayers."

Barry Potter, the council's director of infrastructure and environmental services, said that pause was pushed on the scheme in early December.

"Auckland Council made a request to the Environment Court on December 6 to place the next hearing of appeals on the mooring dolphin resource consent on hold. This request was agreed to by all parties in light of the broader strategic planning discussions around the future of Auckland's waterfront," Potter said.

All the parties accepted that more time was needed for discussions and consideration of "credible alternatives before hearings continue".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Everything is now on hold until June 12 - time needed for everyone to deal with the impacts of Covid-19, he said.

Opponents of plans for the 90.3m-long concrete structure into Auckland's harbour filed 283 submissions but backers made 44 submissions in support, many saying the concrete extensions were crucial to the city's infrastructure.

Discover more

New Zealand

They're home: Kiwis evacuated from cruise ship arrive in NZ

12 Apr 02:49 AM
New Zealand|politics

18 new coronavirus cases, 847 lockdown breaches

12 Apr 02:09 AM
World

Fears of a second wave: Cases surge in Singapore

12 Apr 08:58 AM
Travel

Stay at home with these demotivational travel movies

12 Apr 09:32 PM

Julie Stout, chair of Urban Auckland which strongly opposed the project, said: "We would be very pleased if there was no extension into the harbour, as we've been arguing against it for three years. We've been working with the Ports of Auckland, the cruise ship industry and Mayor Phil Goff to try to find alternative solutions."

Concept visual for a mooring dolphin at the end of Queens Wharf. Photo / supplied
Concept visual for a mooring dolphin at the end of Queens Wharf. Photo / supplied

The pressure to accommodate big ships with such a scheme may well have reduced given the pandemic, she said, and cases such as the Ruby Princess.

"But a long-term solution might possibly still be required. In five years' time, might people return to cruise ships?" she asked.

Stout paid tribute to the cruise ship industry, saying it had been helpful to hold discussions about alternative solutions and the industry's future might not be as dire as Darby suggested.

NeedToKnow3
NeedToKnow3

"Who knows what will happen?" said Stout.

Last April, independent commissioners granted resource consent for Queens Wharf to be extended for huge cruise ships by building the mooring dolphins.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Submissions in support cited the need to accommodate the increased berth requirements for larger cruise ships and to improve facilities for passengers, as well as pointing to the economic benefits from the new infrastructure. Opponents decried adverse cultural, heritage, navigation, operational and visual effects, and disagreed with the applicant's economic case.

Paul Glass, of Devon Funds Management, said last year that Auckland's harbour was the city's most precious resource and needed to be protected.

"There has been too much infill already, which is turning our inner harbour into a tidal river. It is environmental vandalism, as are the port's new 82m high cranes which block views out to the islands, and the proposed multi-story carpark," Glass said.

The structure was not needed, he said. "On the few occasions that these very large cruise ships visit, they can continue to ferry passengers to shore as they do elsewhere in the world," Glass said.

Goff has supported the project, disappointing a range of community and urban design groups, who want him to step back from increasing the industrialisation of Queens Wharf. Ferry company Fullers opposed the project on the basis that the harbour would be narrowed, the dolphins would affect tidal flow, extend the 5-knot speed limit into the harbour and be a navigation hazard.

The report on the proposal noted claims that the project was planned for a "highly modified area of the waterfront" and the extent of the project would be minimised by the design and use of materials in keeping with the area's character.

"The proposal is needed to safely berth extra-large cruise ships and avoid the need to tender passengers ashore which introduces risk to the health and safety of passengers," the report said.


• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Tourism

Premium
Tourism

How Christchurch's new stadium is redefining event hospitality

17 May 01:00 AM
Premium
Tourism

Glimmer of hope for Chateau Tongariro restoration as former lessee accounts for $5m provision

16 May 01:00 AM
Premium
Property

Fast-tracking $200m film hub planned for Ayrburn

14 May 04:00 AM

The Hire A Hubby hero turning handyman stereotypes on their head

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Tourism

Premium
How Christchurch's new stadium is redefining event hospitality

How Christchurch's new stadium is redefining event hospitality

17 May 01:00 AM

Interest submissions for the stadium's offerings closed Friday and were ‘oversubscribed’.

Premium
Glimmer of hope for Chateau Tongariro restoration as former lessee accounts for $5m provision

Glimmer of hope for Chateau Tongariro restoration as former lessee accounts for $5m provision

16 May 01:00 AM
Premium
Fast-tracking $200m film hub planned for Ayrburn

Fast-tracking $200m film hub planned for Ayrburn

14 May 04:00 AM
Premium
First look at controversial Bay of Islands marina plans

First look at controversial Bay of Islands marina plans

13 May 09:30 PM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP