Business North October 2021

12 | New Zealand Marina Operators Association Growing demand for marina facilities Richard Loader Opua Marina: With more and bigger boats joining the existing pleasure craft fleet, marinas around New Zealand are under pressure. MARINA INDUSTRY “People are ordering these newer and bigger boats and that will mean the boats they currently own will go on the market at some point in the near future. The new luxury boats coming in will create additional demand for water space.” A lways a favoured Kiwi past time, recreational boating has taken on a whole new lease of life in the wake of Covid and travel abroad becoming a distant memory. Many Kiwis are taking the opportunity to invest discretionary spend on boating, with the wider marine industry including marinas, boating and the servicing sectors all benefit - ing from the growth in demand. That demand spreads right the way through from recreational paddleboards, jet skis and kayaks through to smaller recreational trailer boats and watercraft permanently based on the water. Chris Calbraith, New Zealand Marina Op- erators Association (NZMOA) Chairman says that as demand transfers into the marinas the industry has seen occupancy rise and demand increase for water space. Associated with that demand has been an increase in the value of marina water space. “There are marina berth licenses that are owned and they have held their values or in most cases increased value considerably. “The other mechanism to access water space is to pay rental for a berth. That’s where marinas are experiencing excessive demand and in most cases there are very long wait lists for marina rental space.” As well as people buying their first craft, Chris says there has been significant growth in people upgrading vessels. “That’s evidenced in the bookings that have been placed with major Australian luxury boat manufactures like Maritimo and Riviera where there are bookings scheduled with delivery dates two years away. “People are ordering these newer and bigger boats and that will mean the boats they currently own will go on the market at some point in the near future. The new luxury boats coming in will create additional demand for water space.” With more and bigger boats joining the existing pleasure craft fleet, marinas around New Zealand are under pressure, responding by adding new berths and increasing berth sizes or redeveloping existing infrastructure to accommodate the influx of new luxury craft. “Going forward the challenge for marinas is in the ability to develop water space in or around their marinas or in new sites. “That challenge is faced due to the regula- tory regime that we have across the country in relation to government policy around water space use that has evolved over the last 10 years, mainly in context of the RMA. “It also goes to the environmental standards that need to be met and standards around water quality. “We also face challenges in regard to marine biosecurity and managing processes to ensure invasive pests aren’t harboured by our ma- rinas. And there are the competing uses for water space; for example commercial ports versus marinas versus public amenity use.” All these issues present a challenging water- scape for marinas and the days where there was quite prescriptive referencing for where marinas could go in and around coastal areas have been replaced with a regime where it has been up to private developers or investors to choose a space and navigate the RMA process, taking on the risk. “My guess is that there will be less and less private equity injected into marina devel- opment because the scale of the risks are enormous. “Going forward you will see existing marinas look to develop existing uses. “You will also see greater local government involvement in marinas, with more and more owned and operated by local body authori- ties.” Founded in 1999, NZMOA’s membership includes 46 marinas — essentially every marina in New Zealand — ranging from 80 berths right up to 1800 berths and averaging 250 berths. Complementing the marinas, which include a number of independent boat yards, are over 40 industry suppliers and providers as associ- ate members. “As a trade organisation we’re pretty blessed to have that level of participation and support. “NZMOA has a role to lobby Government more to address some of these challenges and look to influence national policy develop - ment so better use of water space can be a focus. “We can look to where we can develop marinas and make that transition from a high- risk investment or development opportunity to something that is more considered and readily accessed. “We can engage with the associated government ministries on key issues around water quality and regulation on behalf of our members. I think it’s about influencing public planning for water space allocation.”