Mayor's Message: Lifting our marine facilities

The official opening last Friday of Port Nelson’s Calwell redevelopment means our city now boasts a nationally significant marine servicing facility.

This $29 million project includes a 550-tonne Cimolai boat lift and 7000m2 of hardstand space, which will enable the expansion of our heavy marine engineering industry. Calwell also includes the existing slipway and launch capabilities for vessels ranging from 50 tonnes to 2,400 tonnes. This facility will help us attract national and international boat maintenance work to our city.

It comes after Regional Development Minister Shane Jones in late January announced financial support of $2.4 million for the development of a 6000m2 boat hardstand and 110-tonne Cimolai boat lift at the Council-owned Nelson Marina, as well as $10.5 million for a planned Marine Service Centre. This was followed last month by Governor-General, Dame Cindy Kiro officially opening the Blue House at Port Nelson – a three-year, three-way partnership between Westpac NZ, Council’s Regional Development Agency and Kernohan Engineering to boost our Blue Economy.

These three projects combined put us in a great position to grow our marine industries and regional economy. The Blue Economy already contributes $366 million (5%) of our region’s GDP. This comes from more than 400 maritime businesses providing more than 3000 jobs but there’s potential for more.

Westpac’s economics team last year published a report that estimated that marine activity currently contributes at least $10 billion to the NZ economy but has the potential to rise to $14 billion by 2035. Nelson is now perfectly placed to snag a healthy share of that increase.

The Calwell project faced several challenges including cost increases following the Covid-19 pandemic. Government provided $9.8 million in funding support and Nelson City Council contributed another $700,000 with Port Nelson Ltd funding the rest. This is a significant investment in our marine infrastructure at the port, which is owned 50/50 by the Nelson and Tasman councils. Since the 2015-16 financial year, Port Nelson has provided Council with $24 million in dividends (TDC has received the same). It is also the largest fishing port in the country, reinforcing the importance of our city’s links with the sea.

We are setting up our port and marina for growth with the completion of the Calwell project and the expansion of facilities at the marina. These enhance Nelson’s status as the hub for NZ’s Blue Economy and make us the go-to place for marine engineering.

Mayor
Nick Smith