Emotions high at launch of plan to protect Lyttelton Harbour for decades to come

Wednesday, 7 March 2018

A blueprint to safeguard the future of Lyttelton Harbour was launched amid hugs and tears at Rāpaki Marae.

There were hugs and tears as a blueprint to protect the environmental and cultural health of Christchurch's Lyttelton Harbour was unveiled during a moving ceremony at Rāpaki Marae.

Iwi and local Māori elders were joined by politicians and representatives of Environment Canterbury (ECan) and the Christchurch City Council as they launched a vision for how the harbour should be nourished and protected for generations to come.

Over the next two decades efforts will be made to tackle erosion, sedimentation and pollution of waterways, as well as improving the biodiversity of native land and marine species, from shellfish and sea grass to dolphins, penguins and birds.

A 20-year plan has been unveiled to ensure the environmental prosperity of Lyttelton Harbour.

The plan has been built around the idea of mahinga kai – a Māori term that refers to traditional harvesting practices, but also engenders how people interact with the space around them, their natural resources and the environment itself.

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Emotions ran high as Yvette Couch-Lewis, chairwoman of the Whaka-Ora/Healthy Harbour plan, unveiled the project during its launch at Rāpaki Marae.

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Authorities, including Environment Canterbury councillors Peter Skelton and Elizabeth Cunningham, are deeply aware the plan marks the beginning of years of hard work.

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A korowai offers a protective cloak to the planning document - a metaphor for the way in which the plan will safeguard the harbour's environmental future.

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Following a pōwhiri Yvette Couch-Lewis, chair of the Whaka-Ora/Healthy Harbour project, said it was an 'aspirational and inspirational plan to restore and regenerate the ecological and cultural health' of the harbour.

The plan is built around of mahinga kai - a Māori term that in part defines the idea of how people interact with the space around them.

'It is my vision that this plan will be the beginning of a legacy for future generations,' she said.

Raewyn Miller, right, who wove the korowai, shares an emotional hongi with her daughter Maria Hutty following the launch of the initiative.

'It is my dream that in 100 years we will still see whānau playing on the beaches and undertaking mahinga kai with a flourishing catchment.'

In an emotional moment, the plan's document was signed and physically wrapped in a korowai, a hand-woven cloak, to protect it – a symbol of how the community hope to care for the harbour.

Couch-Lewis said it would be held in turn by the organisations involved as a reminder of their responsibilities.

Speaking during the ceremony, deputy Mayor and Banks Peninsula councillor Andrew Turner said it was a 'good day' for the health of the harbour, but that the plan marked the beginning of a journey.

'All of the partners have a responsibility to make sure that we deliver on the promise that this plan represents.'

The plan will face challenges from the outset, not least working out how to juggle the Lyttelton Port Company's (LPC) harbour dredging, plans for new cruise ship berths and environmental concerns around Hector's dolphins.

LPC director Bill Dwyer said the company intended to be a 'significant contributor to the health of the harbour, both now and long into the future' as it was a significant feature of the harbour.

ECan councillor Peter Skelton conceded there would be a fine line to walk between commercial and environmental and cultural demands to ensure the plan came to fruition.

'At the end of the day we've got to try to achieve a balance of all those interests for a positive environmental outcome.

'But the big players are all in agreement that the aspirations in this plan should be pursued and achieved wherever that is possible.'