Hundreds rally to save Petone Wharf

More than 1000 people have turned out at Petone Beach, north of Wellington, to protest plans to demolish the community's historic timber wharf.

As part of its draft Long Term Plan, Hutt City Council is proposing to demolish Petone Wharf, after it was damaged in a series of earthquakes and closed for urgent repairs in 2021.

The Save Petone Wharf group organised a community walk from Petone Settlers Museum to the beach, to encourage the public to make submissions on the proposal.

Save Petone Wharf spokesperson John Roper said its demolition would be heartbreaking.

"It's the second-longest timber wharf in New Zealand. It was built in 1890 and it was rebuilt in 1906, and has been the focal point of the community since then," he said.

"It has got an amazing history, and it was interesting today talking and walking down at the beach with people - everybody had a story about the wharf."

There were people who had memories of their children jumping off the wharf, of catching fish off it, and even someone who had been married on the wharf, he said.

Members of the community were baffled by the proposal to tear the wharf down, Roper said.

"In the Long Term Plan, there are two options to do with the wharf: the first option is to pull the wharf down and spend the capital cost of $6 million. The second one is to pull the wharf down for $6 million and then spend an extra $4 million for a memorial and a viewing platform.

"We have got a costing from an international repair company for $6 million to repair the wharf, to get it back to the state that it can be opened and reused again.

"So our logic, and what a lot of people are saying, is why would you spend that amount of money to pull it down, when you can spend the same amount of money and save it?"

Submissions on the Hutt City Council draft Long Term Plan close on 3 May.