Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
As Wellington City Council mulls spending more than $11 million to prevent waterfront drownings, locals say it'll be tough to balance cost, safety and aesthetics.
A coroner has urged it to install permanent waterfront balustrades, after finding 30-year-old Sandy Calkin might not have died if they were in place.
Calkin accidentally drowned after falling off Queens Wharf in July 2021. He is one of seven people who have drowned in the capital's harbour since 2006 - including Isaac Levings who died in 2023, two years after Calkin.
After Levings' death the council installed temporary fencing and improved lighting.
It proposed spending $11.1m on permanent protection, pending a business case to be delivered in May, followed by public consultation.
Gavin Walker from Water Safety NZ said some protection was needed, but the council did not need barriers throughout the entire area.
"Just those areas that are key high traffic areas, and in and around bars," he said.
That had made a big difference in the risk of drowning near Auckland's Princes Wharf and the viaduct, said Walker.
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
There had been 10 drownings between 2000 and 2010 - and four in the 14 years since, he said.
"After a number of upgrades and improvements, the installation of barriers in some locations and changing pedestrian flows around those areas, improving lighting, the risk of drowning dramatically reduced."
A spokesperson from Auckland Council's development agency Eke Panuku said further measures were put in place since the death of Tim Rogers, who fell from a railing to a floating concrete pontoon in 2020.
That included upgrading and adding balustrades and installing safety ladders, life rings, new signage and better lighting.
"It is important to note that the harbour's edge is vastly different in both cities, so what might work in one may not work in the other," they said.
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Wellingtonians weigh in
Local bar owner Jeremy Smith said it made sense to put barriers only in the highest risk areas, rather than altering the beauty of the entire waterfront.
It was a balancing act, he said.
"Yes, council has some responsibility, but they can't protect people from themselves.
"In hospitality, there does need to be a degree of personal accountability."
Robert Baldock owns a waterfront shop near Whairepo Lagoon, and lives on a boat moored near Fergs Kayaks.
He said permanent waterfront protection was an "unnecessary expense".
"Wellington needs other infrastructure before they need fencing," he said.
The temporary fencing could be retained, but may not make a difference, considering the behaviour of people on the waterfront at night.
"They do some really silly things at times ... jumping into the water from all sorts of crazy angles," he said.
"I think if these people are going to be silly around water, it doesn't really matter where you put the fences."
On the waterfront on Tuesday afternoon, most locals RNZ spoke to thought there should be some sort of protection, especially in the more dangerous areas where there is a bigger drop down to the water. Some, though, questioned the $11.1m price tag.
Others said it was a matter of personal responsibility, and the council should not pay for it.
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