In a report to next week’s council meeting on Tuesday, it is being recommended the council should ultimately cede control to the Otago Regional Council, if the existing 35 Oamaru Harbour mooring owners decline to assume liability from the district council.
Waitaki holds a 35-year coastal consent granted by the regional council in 2014, to manage the historic harbour moorings.
But ongoing problems — including boats breaking adrift — have been weighing on the council. There have been 19 recorded mooring incidents since 2014.
They have included simple breaks, to a sunken vessel, a staff report for the meeting on Tuesday said.
In the last sinking, Black Crow came adrift in late June 2023.
It was retrieved after two attempts but later had to be broken up.
In the latest report, council staff are indicating a strong preference to put the mooring liability back to the 35 private owners.
Under this option, the council would relinquish ownership of the seven moorings it holds alongside the other 35.
Assets group property officer Janelle Bilcliffe said the district council had only recently become fully aware of its obligations around the moorings.
The council in "recent interactions" with the regional council had learned it had not been meeting its obligations as the consent holder, she said.
Council had also been warned of "various other" responsibilities it was obliged to meet.
If the council was to retain the moorings administration, it would entail "significant liabilities" going forward, she said.
Among the issues was that only seven of the 35 moorings were compliant with the consent requirements for the compulsory annual and 10-year safety checks.
Another was that the Otago Regional Council intended to move on a compulsory annual audit for the first time in 10 years, and at a cost to Waitaki of about $144,000.
Further complications were:
■The quality and construction of many historic moorings being unknown.
■Tracing mooring owners was difficult and "some parties refuse to engage".
■The council had "little to no basis" to act on shirkers.
Ms Bilcliffe said council’s ability to recover costs incurred by mooring administration was "very limited".
Mooring fees to fund the harbour operations and the related consent was only generating about $23,000 a year.
This was often "very difficult to collect".
The status quo was the private moorings now operated under the primary coastal consent held by the council.
Yet it shouldered all "responsibility and liability" for any inaction or lack of responsibility by mooring owners.
If council was to hold on, it faced a projected $270,000 operational budget it would have to fund additionally in the near future.
The preferred option was to transfer parts of the consent to the mooring owners to remove any liability from the council.
North Otago Yacht and Powerboat Club commodore Kevin Murdoch said the club had seven club members who owned moorings under the current setup.
They were watching the council move closely.
"We’ve had discussions on where to go with this," he said.
However, it would be deferring further comment until the council had made a decision either way next Tuesday as it wanted to "see which way it’s going to go", Mr Murdoch said.
Ms Bilcliffe said the management set-up at Oamaru seemed extraordinary.
"This is the only mooring arrangement of this type in New Zealand ... The current situation is unique."
- By Brendon McMahon
