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Virginia Woolf/Nelson Mail
Ownership of the Seafarers Memorial Jetty is to transfer to the Nelson City Council. (File photo)
Ownership of a memorial dedicated to those lost at sea is to be transferred to the Nelson City Council.
The Seafarers Memorial Jetty, on Nelson’s waterfront, has been in place since 2000, when the Seafarers Memorial Trust funded its design and construction, costing $500,000.
But now, trust members feel it is time to hand over the responsibility of maintaining the memorial, a report to the council in February said.
“The trust has continued to maintain the jetty, but feels that as the trustees grow older, they are no longer able to fund and manage it.”
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The report noted that the value of the jetty was now about $1 million.
“The trust’s vision was to create a memorial to seafarers lost at sea by way of a community facility available to all to enjoy. The memorial was intended to reflect not just Nelson seafarers but wider, on a national basis,” the report said.
At the February meeting, councillors agreed to accept ownership of the memorial, but that the $20,000 cost of a new consent would be split between the council and the trust. If the consent was not granted, the council would not take on ownership, the report said.
Tim Cuff
The Seafarers Memorial Jetty pays tribute to those lost at sea. (File photo)
The cost of maintaining the jetty would be between $152,000 and $337,000, over 10 years.
Speaking at the meeting, councillor Pete Rainey said the jetty was an asset to the city.
Bringing the asset under council control was an opportunity to look at the whole “Haven Precinct” and for the council to develop a plan for the area, he said.
“I would like to suggest that we would take time as a new council to get our heads around those assets, realise the amazing potential that lies with those assets … we need to refresh our thinking, get an overall picture as a council about what’s happening with those assets and formulate a really good plan for the future.”
Those comments were backed up by Mayor Nick Smith, who said the memorial was an asset to the city, but there were wider challenges in the area.
“It certainly fits within my vision of this city making more of its marine linkages.”
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