Sustainability sits at the heart of 6 Wharf
Napier Port is dedicated to ensuring the project is the best it can be for our community, economy and environment.
Building Sustainably
People and partnerships
Manaakitanga | Rangapū
Napier Port has been connecting Hawke’s Bay and the surrounding regions for nearly 150 years. We’re a proud member of the community and want the project to reflect the values of the people who live and work here.
We worked hard to understand community views before deciding on the final shape of the project. You can read about the consultation we did before applying for resource consents here.
Throughout the project, we’re also working in partnership with a range of stakeholders to protect community interests, including mana whenua, divers, and commercial and recreational fishers. Read more about how we are working in partnership to build 6 Wharf.
We’re committed to keeping the community informed throughout. Sign up to receive our 6 Wharf updates or contact our team with questions or feedback.
Prosperity
Ōhanga ora
The port is a vital piece of Hawke’s Bay’s infrastructure that enables our economy. We’re associated with around half of the region’s $8.1 billion annual economy* and support thousands of full and part-time jobs in our region**. Without 6 Wharf, we’re putting our economy and jobs in our communities at risk. Read the following reports to see how important 6 Wharf is:
Our 6 Wharf business case was also approved by the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council in April 2019. Read the media release here.
*StatsNZ; nominal gross regional product for the year ended March 2018.
** Economic Solutions Ltd – Hawke’s Bay Economic Impacts of Port of Napier Operations (2016)
Planet
Kaitiakitanga
Over the last three years, Napier Port has been dedicated to ensuring the project has minimal environmental impact and is committed to managing against any potential adverse effects throughout construction and dredging.
We invested in a large body of scientific research on Hawke’s Bay’s marine environment to ensure the project was the best it could be for the environment. Throughout the project we’re also working with key stakeholders and following comprehensive and best practice management plans to protect the environment, which you can read in our library.
Managing the impacts of construction and dredging
We’ve prepared management plans that build on the studies we completed to ensure we protect the environment and manage the following during construction and dredging:
We’ve prepared a Marine Wildlife Management Plan to ensure we avoid, mitigate or remedy the potential for adverse effects on marine mammals, which includes using trained Marine Mammal Observer/s throughout the project. Read it here.
We recognise the important cultural values, interests and associations that mana whenua have with the Ahuriri Port area. Prior to applying for resource consents, we engaged with mana whenua and commissioned a Cultural Impact Assessment to identify issues and propose strategies to mitigate against potential adverse effects. Read the assessment here.
Throughout the project, we’re working with mana whenua hapū on a Marine Cultural Health Programme to ensure the cultural health of the marine environment, in particular Pānia Reef, is surveyed, monitored, reported upon and preserved.
Find out more about the Marine Cultural Health Programme here.
We’ve prepared a noise management plan, a construction traffic management plan and a marine wildlife management plan which outline how we will mitigate against any potential adverse effects from additional noise and traffic as a result of construction.
Napier Port is home to kororā or little blue penguins that nest in and around the sea walls as well as other birds, such as black-billed gulls.
We’ve been doing a lot of work to understand and protect these species and their habitat, which includes preparing an Avian Management Plan with the Department of Conservation, mana whenua hapū and the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council to ensure we protect the kororā and other birdlife during construction.
This includes developing an on-port sanctuary for the kororā, which you can read about here.
We looked at the effect that the dredging works would have on the wave height, wave direction and coastal processes such as erosion. The report showed that the extent of the effects were negligible. You can read the report here.
We’ve produced the following management plans in partnership with the Fisheries Liaison Group and the Mana Whenua Steering Komiti to manage any potential adverse effects of dredging:
Throughout the dredging campaign, which we plan to start in mid-2020 we’ll be monitoring the water quality (turbidity) in real time and showing the results on our environmental dashboard. This information will allow us to constantly manage and adapt our planned dredging operations to ensure the water quality falls within expected levels.
Through a Marine Cultural Health Programme with mana whenua and a Fisheries Liaison Group, we’ll also monitor and report on water quality as well as other areas of interest.
We commissioned a report into the visual impact and the effects the new wharf would have on the area’s natural character and landscape values. The report showed that the proposed new wharf, associated lighting and crane structures, and any associated ships berthing will not generate more than a minor adverse visual effect or scale of the port in the landscape. Read the Landscape and visual assessment.
