A sea change may be in store for Otago Harbour after the first significant meeting about it is held since the early 1990s.
Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull, Otakou runanga kaumatua Edward Ellison and Port Otago marine and infrastructure general manager Sean Bolt will be among six panelists at a 2017 Heritage Festival forum to discuss how the harbour can best be used.
Forum chairman Neville Peat said people often overlooked the uniqueness of the harbour.
''It is such an important feature of Dunedin ...
''There is no harbour as long and as narrow in parts as this one is.''
Port Otago did its best to maximise the use of the harbour as a commercial port, but some people wondered if its recreational potential had been reached, Mr Peat said.
The diversity of speakers at the forum - at the Dunedin Public Library next Monday evening - would enable a good discussion about how the harbour could be used better.
''It's all very nice to celebrate and remember the past, but we often put more effort into valuing the history than we do into thinking about the future.''
Erosion, transport, environmental protection, fisheries and tourism were all topics likely to be raised at the forum.
Public transport on the harbour had been slow to make happen.
''Why has it taken us so long to get a ferry connection across?
''You would think that there would be a connection between Careys Bay and Portobello with a drop-off for people at Quarantine Island.
''It is a good idea that is waiting to happen.''
In the second half of the forum audience members would be able to ask questions and start discussions with the panelists.
He hoped the forum would be the start of decision-making about the future of the harbour, Mr Peat said.
The last time a group with such diverse interests gathered to discuss the harbour was in the early 1990s, he said.
