Councillor's Comment - Tim Skinner
As a Councillor and elected guardian of ratepayer’s hard-earned money, I have a responsibility to run the city and achieve good community outcomes.
I try to avoid the popular adage 'good things take time'. Instead, I adopt my own experienced strategy to ensure the best possible outcomes.
And that is, to thoroughly engage, listen, understand, plan, consult, listen again, adapt and finally persevere. Or, summed up in two words - persevered patience - even if it takes another council term to see it through.
And my journey with the Community and Council-developed Nelson Marina Masterplan is no exception.
I first grabbed this bull by the horns to fix back in 2016 as Chair of the then newly formed Sports and Recreation Committee. I then progressed it further in the 2019 Council term, and am now gratefully involved in seeing the Masterplan begin to come to life this term as Chair of the Marina Facilities Taskforce.
In my view, the Marina is one of our community’s most important, yet easily overlooked, regional assets, it is literally on our city doorstep. A keystone piece of land nestled between the Port, the City, and State Highway, which connects us to the ocean, economically, recreationally, and environmentally.
On July 1 we transfer the Marina to a Council Controlled Organisation (CCO), with an independent board, guided by the Marina Masterplan strategy and much needed investment over next 15 years.
Our vision is to provide leading marina infrastructure and services to support recreational and commercial needs in a safe environment for our community.
Our mission is to create an internationally-recognised maritime hub of community activities and thriving businesses, delivering exceptional experience for all.
New features we aim to provide include a waterfront promenade, a reconfigured public boat ramp area, a café and food/beverage premises, a sea sports facility, a dedicated fuel pier, an upgraded marina hardstand and boat hoist, wider marina berths to meet demand, plans for a marina extension to the north.
There are bound to be headwinds to navigate over the budgeted 10-year timeline of the Marina upgrades. We will be drawing on a new board with a prudent governance hand on the tiller, independent of Council, to successfully achieve the much needed improvements to our City’s much-loved Marina.
Thus, I have faith that a new chapter of perseverance and patience will begin with July’s transition. And I’ll be forced to say it out loud: "good things do take time".
