Jetty update meeting March 2023
This is a summary the meeting held at Ōtoromiro Hotel on 10 March 2023
Presenters - Prue Miller (Chair) and Louisa Eades (Secretary)
For questions asked and our answers, scroll down this page.
End platform design changes
After listening to members of the local community (who raised concerns about the size of the end platform) and discovering that (due to the tidal range) the planned pontoon off the end of the jetty connected by a ramp will have to be very large (and thus very expensive), we are changing the design of the seaward platform. The engineers submitted the design to the contractors yesterday.
We do not have budget for the pontoon to be installed before the jetty opens and because the main purpose of the pontoon was to allow access for kayaks, paddleboards, dinghies, etc, the Trust decided to incorporate a 3-metre-wide ramp in the end platform (along the south side). This means there will be access to the water from the end of the jetty from day one.
If there is demand, need, and funding for a pontoon at the end as well, it can be added after the rebuild.
Here’s the first draft of the working drawing for the redesigned platform. It shows the added ramp with adjoining steps (the yellow part) on the south side of the jetty.
Progress
Work is progressing well. They are over halfway with the piling and sub-structure and have built the deck up to the end of the landward platform.
The original work programme had an expected completion date of around Easter 2023 (early April). However, the contractors have issued a revised programme and it is now mid-June. This is partly due to timber supply delays and issues. Please note that it is a fixed-price contract, so the delay doesn’t mean increase in cost other than for variations.
Boat house project
For those who weren’t aware, there is an historic building in Lyttelton that was built by the Canterbury Yacht and Motor Boat Association in 1923, on piles over the water at what is now Te Ana Marina. The building was used by a club building for association, and later as Lyttelton Sea Scouts Den and as a training room for the Dampier Bay Maritime Association.
It was moved into storage by Lyttelton Port Company when Te Ana Marina was developed, but they can’t store it indefinitely. The custodians of the building agreed to gift the building to Governors Bay Jetty Restoration Trust on the understanding it is relocated to piles above the water near the jetty, on the site where Lionel Jefcoate’s boatbuilding shed once stood. They would also like a plaque on the building honouring the 4 men who saved the building years ago.
It has taken 9 months, but last week we received resource consent, which means this project can now go ahead. Next steps are getting input from the community on their ideas and purposes for the building (our plan is a training room, kayak and dinghy storage, possible artist’s studio and display area). We also need to fundraise, get a detailed design, and get pricing for the project.
Watch this space
Fundraising
We have raised $3,119,000 of the $3,600,000 project cost so far, including a large amount of pro bono professional services gifted to the jetty and recognised by the Council in dollar matching. We still have $531,000 to raise. We have ways of raising it, but we need your help!
Buy a limited edition Red Herring game, invented by our patron Simon Mortlock, designed by local artist Russ Harris, and made by the volunteers at Ferrymead Print Society.
Sponsor a bench - donations of $10,000 or more are recognised by the donor’s name on a bench on the new jetty (11 are spoken for and 9 are available, as at 10 March 2023).
Sponsor a plank for $600 or spread the word to anyone who might want their name or short message on the new jetty.
Now that completion is in sight, we will get the first batch of plaques etched, ready to put on the jetty. If you want your plaque to be on the jetty when it opens, sponsor a plank by 30 April 2023.
There are other, less expensive ways you can help, but these three things are our “big rocks”.
Questions and our answers
Here are some of the questions we were asked during the update. There were quite a few, so if I’ve forgotten yours, please email savethejetty@gmail.com and I will add it.
Why are the ramps on the south side when it would be better, for boating, for them to be on the north side due to the prevailing winds?
The new design reflects the location on the stairs on the original jetty and the designers were not told about this preference until now! The first two ramps have already been built, but we will check with the designers if the ramp on the platform can be on the opposite side. This would mean there are ramps on both sides (2 on the south and 1 on the north), which would give more options depending on the wind.
Have you approached the Lotteries Commission for a grant?
Yes - we applied 4 times. On the last time (in December 2022) we were successful and the Lotteries Grant Board has gifted $250,000 to the jetty rebuild.
Is there somewhere on your website where I can see the design of the new jetty?
Yes - it’s not every page of the drawings, but there are a few images that open as a PDF of some of the interesting features on The Jetty > The Project. These are the design before we made changes to the seaward platform.
If it comes to the end of the rebuild and you haven’t raised $531,000, how will you pay for it?
We have arranged a loan through Council if needed. However, we are committed to raising the money before the jetty reopens so that we don’t have to borrow money and pay interest. We don’t want to be doing sausage sizzles for the next 10 years!
Could you put a diving board at the end of the jetty so that children and less agile people don’t have to climb over the handrails to jump off?
We don’t currently have any plans for this. There is a risk that people would jump at low tide and it is a 2 metre drop into the mud. By providing the diving board, would we be liable?
[Not mentioned in our answer on the day but of relevance, there will be one or two ladders on the seaward platform to allow people to climb onto the jetty from the sea. The gaps in the rails where the ladder(s) are might be suitable for jumping from, so long as nobody is climbing up the ladder!