Marlborough Council Starts Consultation on $110M Port Marlborough Ferry Upgrade

The Marlborough District Council has today started its consultation programme to fund Port Marlborough’s $110 million capped contribution to revenue-earning port assets in Picton, Rail Minister Winston Peters welcomed today.

New Zealanders want two new ferries that serve road, rail and passengers long into the future with resilient infrastructure backing them up, and that is what we are delivering, Mr Peters says.

The consultation process is a required step under the Local Government Act, but it is also a progress milestone in the no-nonsense ferry replacement solution that is saving the taxpayer $2.3 billion.

We encourage locals to have their say about a vital port and ferry business where a third of all passengers stop in Picton and spend locally.

Picton has been the home to the Interislander for more than 60 years, and to Bluebridge since it started in the early 2000s. Earlier this year, Bluebridge extended its long-term agreement to 2064 with Port Marlborough. Today’s work sets the foundations for sixty-year port assets to serve the Interislander.

We have approved a $531 million budget for all Picton works of which the proposed $110 million from Port Marlborough will pay for assets it owns – in turn the origin of dividends to be paid to ratepayers.

The balance will be paid for by the taxpayer through Ferry Holdings, generating revenue that benefits the taxpayer long into the future.

Supporting this proposal would come at no cost to ratepayers and underpins value in their Port company, but we don’t need to explain commonsense to the good people of Marlborough, says Mr Peters.