Additional changes to the reserve’s conditions will allow specified "existing or future activities", including wastewater treatment outfalls, within the reserve, the Department of Conservation (Doc) says.
Doc office of regulatory services director Sarah Owen said a minor boundary change made to the 29sq km Ōrau Marine Reserve, which extends from Sandfly Bay on the Otago Peninsula coast southwest to White Island, off St Clair Beach.
It was to allow the existing commercial sand extraction and flood mitigation work at Tomahawk Beach to continue.
"The boundary was moved seaward at this location [the Tomahawk Creek river mouth] to accommodate these activities without compromising the integrity of the marine reserve," Ms Owen said.
Changes to the marine reserve also included an associated condition allowing disturbance of the foreshore to allow the "necessary" operation to continue, she said.
Further, she said to reduce interfering with some uses of the marine reserve area, order-in-council conditions would allow for "a number of specified existing or future activities to occur within this site".
Within certain specified limits, this would allow for "current and future Dunedin City Council structures, municipal wastewater and stormwater services and coastal erosion protection works", Ms Owen said.
It would also allow for some vehicle access on the foreshore.
"These changes strike the right balance between avoiding undue interference with those existing uses while ensuring the marine reserves maintain value individually and what they add to the proposed marine protected area network as a whole."
Documents provided by the Otago Regional Council show during consultation in 2016 and again in 2020 the council raised the issue of existing consented activities and structures within the reserves.
Tahuna wastewater treatment plant outfall struc-
tures and discharge permits were included in a list of resource consents relevant to the reserves.
The Doc website said marine reserves provided the highest level of marine protection in New Zealand, providing a useful comparison for scientific study and allowing ecosystems to recover to a more natural state.
The six Otago marine reserves announced this month are the first in the southeastern South Island and bring the total in New Zealand to 50.
The new marine reserves from the Waitaki River mouth to Milton increased mainland reserves by 67% and were established to protect habitats of the yellow-eyed penguin, northern royal albatross and New Zealand sea lion, as well as brittle stars, squat lobster, kōura, shrimps, crabs, sponges, sea squirts, reef fishes and many other species, a statement at the time said.
The 98sq km Te Umu Kōau Marine Reserve near the mouth of Pleasant River was reduced after consultation by 8sq km to allow the rock lobster industry access to an area known as "the church", important to the sector.
The six marine reserves will come into force following an order in council and gazettal process, likely to be completed by the middle of next year.
Marine reserve boundaries would be surveyed and confirmed as part of the gazettal process, Doc said.
