Have Your Say on the Hobson Bay Walkway Extension and Wilson’s Beach and Jetty by 28 July 2019

Wilson’s Jetty is located on Wilson’s Beach at the northern end of Victoria Avenue. Extending north into Hobson Bay, the jetty (or pier) is a timber structure built on a series of piles, with a boardwalk edged by braced posts and rails. Currently the jetty is inaccessible from the beach.

The earliest reference to a jetty was found in an 1881 newspaper article documenting the request by the Remuera Land and Building Company for such a structure. It is unclear whether this work was ever implemented. The earliest ‘dated’ photograph showing a jetty in the current location is from 1918, followed by several others dating from the 1920s and 1930s. These photographs show the jetty extending north from Wilson’s Beach, up and over the sewer line, providing access into Hobson Bay. Some of these images also show people ‘promenading’ along the jetty and the sewer line. the jetty has long been considered a valuable public amenity.

Located at Wilson’s Beach, a place of local recreation since at least the 1880s, the jetty is strongly associated with Remuera’s social history. With a The jetty having existed on the site for over 100 years and with many of the earlier boat and bathing sheds now gone, the structure remains a tangible reminder of the area’s recreational past and positively contributes to its coastal landscape.

Submission on the proposal to extend the – Hobson Bay Walkway – Wilsons Beach to Shore Road Reserve

Remuera Heritage recognises that much of the structure of the jetty has had to change over the last 100+ years to keep it safe. We submit that the Council now take the opportunity to repair and restore the jetty for community use as part of the proposed development of the Hobson Bay walkway extension, so as to be accessible by residents, as it has been over the last 100+ years. We request that as much of the jetty as is feasible be kept. The development is an opportunity to keep what can be kept and build anew what can’t be kept. Wilson’s jetty is an important and tangible part of the social history of Remuera.

Submissions can be made here until Sunday 28th July 2019.

You can see and read more about the history of Wilson’s beach and jetty here.

The Orakei Local Board is holding a drop-in session on 22nd July where you can have your say on a walking connection from Wilson’s Beach to Shore Road Reserve in Ōrākei, covering about 600m along the water’s edge.

The drop in session is on 22nd July at 5.30-7pm at the Parnell Cricket Club. It’s an informal session with no set agenda. You can drop in at any time to speak with council staff about the consultation.

The walkway extension will include:

• extending the western end of Wilson’s Beach using imported sand
• building a rock wall to protect the beach from sand loss
• constructing a timber boardwalk
• 3m wide concrete path along the extended beach.

The concept design mentions that a “short section of the existing timber pier will also need to be removed to allow the path connection to boardwalk”. The timber pier is known as Wilson’s jetty on Wilson’s beach. It’s over 100 years old and has been a part of Remuera’s marine reserve and waterfront community for recreation since the 19th century.