Island 'better Blake memorial'

By ANNE BESTON

A Hauraki Gulf island is a better way to honour Sir Peter Blake than a $10 million glass-case memorial, says former world champion sailor Tony Bouzaid.

Mr Bouzaid, two-time world titleholder in the half-tonne yacht class and the man who gave Sir Peter his first job out of university, said Sir Peter deserved a "living memorial".

"It's a shame. I knew Peter well and I just know that with everything he did and was doing for the environment, he would have wanted a living legacy," the 61-year-old Great Barrier Island resident said.

Support has continued to mount for the Hauraki Gulf's Kaikoura Island to be bought as a tribute to Sir Peter's environmental work rather than the planned glass-case exhibit.

The exhibit project is being led by Te Papa, which was given America's Cup-winner NZL32.

The museum is raising $5 million to house the yacht next to the Maritime Museum on Auckland's waterfront.

Auckland City Council and the Government are chipping in with $2 million and $2.5 million respectively.

Mr Bouzaid said Sir Peter had once made a video of his favourite places in the Hauraki Gulf and Great Barrier Island had featured prominently. He had regularly visited the island.


Mr Bouzaid said he suggested the island be bought to honour Sir Peter when he heard some months ago that it was being put up for sale by its New Zealand owner.

Kaikoura Island lies off the coast of Great Barrier, near the entrance to beautiful Port Fitzroy Harbour, and is on the market for about $10 million.

Photos going back to 1948 show native forest has been slowly regenerating.

Mr Bouzaid, who owns a guest house at Fitzroy Harbour and is a member of the Great Barrier Island community board, said there was nothing in the district plan to stop Kaikoura from being subdivided.

"To me that would be a tragedy," he said.

READERS' VIEWS:

What a fitting tribute to a man who loved the sea and the natural environment. It could be an ongoing project for so many people to be involved with, a living memorial.

Mary Lane-Dodd

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Had Lady Pippa been offered a choice I believe Kaikoura would have had her support. A place of peace and tranquillity being used to further everything Sir Peter believed in, and a place that she, the children, and all Sir Peter's extended family can visit, support, and an island that will live on with real meaning for future generations.

Adrienne Ewen

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Take the lead from the man himself. Sir Peter turned his back on yachting at the very time he could be most influential. He chose a greater calling; to work for and promote environmental issues. Where do you really think his values were? Buy the island.

Bruce Alvey

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Let us all get behind this appeal and show that as New Zealanders we are prepared to contribute to this proposal. Come on, mayors and ministers, show us that you support what really makes New Zealand unique in the world - our endemic wildlife.

Mary McEwen

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That Kaikoura Island needs restoration and predator eradication creates a challenge, but is also part of what makes the project so suitable. It is not just to be bought and locked up. There will need to be active community involvement into the future.

Tim Oliver

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Remove the credit card image of the Viaduct Basin, rename it Blake Harbour and place a conventional statue of the great man on the "island" with plaques detailing his achievements. An open-air and boating environment which seems entirely appropriate.

D.W. Handley

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I believe the Great Barrier Island area is too far away for the public to see or remember Sir Peter and suggest the following: Rename the Bean Rock Lighthouse right in the Auckland Harbour either: The Peter Blake Lighthouse or The Blake Bean Lighthouse or The Peter Blake Bean Lighthouse. Many of our Auckland yacht races start right there, and all the ships and yachts in the harbour pass the lighthouse and it is seen from a large part of Auckland. A large statue of Sir Peter might be appropriate, but it could be the subject of an architectural or sculptural competition.

Ron Grant, Takapuna

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I'm sure Peter Blake himself would regard a $10 million memorial to be an obscene waste of money. By all means, commemorate his life and achievements in a suitable way at the Maritime Museum. Certainly, spend an appropriate amount of money doing so. But surely a Blake Foundation to sponsor at-risk youth or an environmental project would be a lasting legacy that contributes to the future of New Zealand instead of looking backwards.

Phil Parker, Auckland