HILLARYS MARINA WESTERN AUSTRALIA CASE STUDY - TEN YEARS ON

Transcription

1 HILLARYS MARINA WESTERN AUSTRALIA CASE STUDY - TEN YEARS ON W.S ANDREW P. DUFFIELD J. SCOTT Bill Andrew is a civil engineer, now retired from the Western Australian Public service, who planned the initial harbour at Hillarys in the mid 1980's and coordinated it's development and evolution. Peter Duffield is a private industry property manager, commissioned by the State Government in 1988 to manage the commercial development of the harbour land. Jim Scott is the Harbour Manager and has been involved with the Harbour since construction in He has had the responsibility for guiding the development to commercial respectability and adapting and expanding the various components of the marina to cater for the evolving needs of its owners and users. Department of Transport, Western Australia Maritime Division 1 Essex St FREMANTLE WA 6160 Phone: Fax:

2 HILLARYS MARINA WESTERN AUSTRALIA CASE STUDY - TEN YEARS ON PART 1 PLANNING, DEVELOPING & REVIEWING W. S. ANDREW BE(Hons) PhD DIC MIE(Aust) W.S.Andrew 49 Ord Street NEDLANDS WA 6009 Phone: Fax:

3 HILLARYS MARINA REVISITED - TEN YEARS ON The Hillarys Marina is located on the Indian Ocean shore of Perth, Western Australia. It was built with the initial task of serving the Americas Cup Challenge in 1987 as well as the ongoing task of providing for the recreational boating needs of a small but rapidly expanding urban community. It now serves an urban community of perhaps 200,000 people. The relationship with the Americas Cup Challenge imposed many abnormal pressures and demands when compared with normal marina developments, but it did create a development environment, which opened out the visions of the financial and regulatory community from their previously restrictive and cautious views. The local (to Hillarys) community had been seeking a sheltered recreational boating harbour for at least ten years, but had been unable to obtain public or private funding for a project which could not be financially viable (at the interest rates of the early 1980's) in its early years. While the Cup caused Governments to offer adequate funds for the harbour itself, it also imposed a severe time constraint in that the harbour had to be authorised, designed and built at a technically unknown site in only three years. Fortunately, the State Government engineers had significant local knowledge in the building of small craft harbours, the local availability of breakwater rock. and the construction of mooring pens and jetties. They were also able to liaise with urban planners and environmental experts, who again had relevant local knowledge, so that the site selection and harbour planning process could be rapidly advanced. Haven Marina Systems - MARINAS 5 2 The harbour site was favourable to the development of a large recreational harbour in that: It adjoined ocean waters suited to small boat recreation in that they were partially sheltered by an offshore reef chain. They were also deep enough, at 3.5 metres or more, for the larger yachts and launches which associate with Americas Cup events; The main breakwater could be constructed on an arc of shallow reef, giving low cost and a stable foundation. The harbour waters themselves, at up to 5 metres

4 deep, were adequate for the larger boats but were not excessive in volume for tidal water exchange; The immediately adjacent land was undeveloped, alleviating the resistance to the harbour from residents with an established viewscape and proximity to a natural beach; A planned junction of primary major roads adjoined the site, ensuring that the harbour traffic would not be imposed on a domestic road network. Initial detailed planning, because of time constraints, concentrated on the harbour itself rather than the internal facilities to be built. Circumstances encouraged it to be large and a nominal 1000 boat capacity was chosen because it was judged to be the upper limit (together with some launched trailer craft) which could be handled by a single entrance channel. At this stage the internal facilities were conceptually proposed to comprise four parcels of land and water, to be leased out as competing private marinas. A public jetty to serve ferries and charter boats was also included. A maximum length of boat, a ferry, was set at 35 metres. In review, the above factors were all-important and beneficial. The marina now sits compatibly with the surrounding urban development which followed it. Some changes will be discussed later. Haven Marina Systems - MARINAS 5 3 The first task was to gather environmental data, both for structural design and for environmental impact assessment. The latter involved both biological baseline and shoreline stability information. The wave climate and sandy shoreline response were generally known because some shore stabilisation works had been required on this coast, but some six months documentation and analysis were needed to show that the sandy shore was "dynamically stable", requiring stabilisation works only to protect assets which had been built too close to the "active" shore zone. The biological study showed firstly that there were no rare or endangered species in the area and secondly that the marine life would not be put under an excessive threat by the marina or its user population. In this 10-year review, we now know that there has been no significant environmental damage. The harbour itself, with shelter from storms and with the local shelter for marine life which the rock breakwaters and revetments provide, seems to be more productive of wildlife than the surrounding natural waters. Early concerns about water quality, which stemmed from a low apparent tidal turnover (daily tide of 0.3 metres, average depth 4.5 metres) have been abated. Monitoring showed a turnover of about 5 days, with the tidal forces supplemented by a gravity circulation caused by freshwater input from

5 the adjoining permeable landmass. Littoral sand drift has not been a problem, with no bypassing having yet been needed and none now anticipated. In a three-month "public comment" phase a small group of local residents organised a significant protest which argued that the change would be excessive and detrimental to their community lifestyle. This protest did involve both local and national "party politics" and challenged the scientific studies where they disagreed with the opinions of uninformed (i.e.unbriefed) experts from afar. Haven Marina Systems - MARINAS 5 4 While the authorities and the government of the day finally accepted that the project should proceed, they also impose many constraints on the development as a consequence of the politics of the site which became revealed in the public discussion phase. These influenced both the project finances and the nature of its internal development. The Americas Cup demands, which are another story not appropriate to this paper, also imposed constraints on the nature of the Hillarys development and its finances. Briefly, space was reserved on the north of the harbour to serve up to ten challenge syndicates and the northern reclamation was thus completed first. The community demanded at least four trailer-boat launching ramps for the Cup period (despite there being a launching harbour with eight ramps, capable of serving the launching community for many years, only a few kilometres away) and this was also included on the north side. Fortunately it was possible to place the trailer parking area in land which did not have a water frontage. The eastern shore of the harbour was deliberately left shallow with a sandy beach, as a spending beach to absorb wave action inside the harbour and so avoid the resonance which is possible on the Western Australian coastline. This was also backed by parkland, in recognition of a land reserve for passive recreation which had been in this location. To serve the beach swimming community the project paid for a large beach car park about one kilometre further north of Hillarys Harbour. At this time, it was thought by some planners to be too dangerous to swim within the Harbour, because of boating activity and pollution. In review, the internal swimming beach is a highly favoured facility which attracts large crowds throughout the summer. No pollution problems have yet been revealed. This beach, together with the accessible breakwaters which provide ocean access for shore anglers, are seen by the nonboating

6 community as prime recreational features which they have gained from the development of the shore. Haven Marina Systems - MARINAS 5 5 The southern shore of the harbour had the task of serving the Americas Cup spectator fleet, including ferries and charter boats. It was said that this fleet would include a large number of large yachts and launches, so the brief for pens included a higher than "normal" number of pens for 15m and 20m craft. The latter were therefore designed so that most of the pairs of single slips could house four 8m boats after the Cup challenge, but the overall design still required fairways for 20m craft and thus made uneconomic use of the sheltered water area. At the time when commitments had to be made for construction it was clear that the Government would have to develop both the initial mooring pen set and a public jetty for charter and ferry use. To facilitate speedy construction, the jetty was designed and constructed by the Government workforce who were also building facilities for challenging syndicates at the only other public oceanfront harbour near the racing circuit, while the pens were planned to be let out on a design and construct contract. An associated control building containing offices for management, ablutions for on-board residents and meeting space for community groups was also required in this early phase. Concurrently, a private venture offered to lease some of the land and the water of the southeast leasehold site, to develop a commercial pier. This offer required a large parking area and some commercial buildings to be developed by the Government, and was conditional on some Government pens and the ferry terminal being attached to the pier. This development, Sorrento Quay, was attractive to the Government but met some resistance from other commercial centres in the region who sought (and obtained) limitations to the services it could offer. These included no residential components, no liquor stores, no food stores. Haven Marina Systems - MARINAS 5 6 At this juncture, with the land reclamation and southside land developments in progress, space was urgently sought for large craft of metre length which were reputed to be coming to the challenge series. This required the entrance breakwaters, which were nearing completion and which had been planned for craft up to 35 metres, to be opened out so as to give a larger radius channel. Large pens for 40 metre craft were built, at significant cost, at the southwest corner of the harbour. Also, the Underwater World aquarium project sought

7 space on the southwest land lease area, taking over land space which had been planned to provide parking and support for the public jetty and pens along the western breakwater as well as a possible future boat repair development. The opening of the entrance contributed to excessive wave penetration to one group of floating pens. These had been designed for 20 metre boats, which could have coped with the strains of the penetrating waves, but the "standard" set of floating pens were unable to survive the excessive movement. The end of the pen group was converted to a floating wave-breaker, which has been quite successful, while the pen row has had strengthened connections as well as some flexible joints added to limit the transmission of a structural wave along the walkway. Use can now be made of these pens for most of the year. With the popularity of the many features of the marina complex, parking space is now a problem even though the full potential for boat moorings has not been reached. The various parties associated with the commercial and recreational activities at and adjacent to the harbour are now having to consider options for expanding the vehicle parking capacity. With the southside space being largely committed, the northside was seen to have to provide the "industrial" elements which were essential to the effective operation of the harbour. The main items were fuel supply, which was located near the entrance so that minor spillages could be dispersed with the least impact to the harbour environment, and the boat repair site. Haven Marina Systems - MARINAS 5 7 While the fishing industry was not given a special preference, it was known that it could be attractive for some of the Fremantle rock lobster fleet to use Hillarys as its operating base so a section near the fuel wharf was left available should a large group of fishermen seek to be specially moored. Strong representations were also made for a community yacht dub to have a northside site under favourable commercial terms, so space was nominally reserved for this group. In the initial development phase only the fuel outlet was able to become operational, with some Government assistance in the provision of its jetty. The remaining groups came later, with site layouts and services being modified on several occasions as the users developed firm proposals.

8 The completion of a boat repair facility proved to be an important factor for people taking up permanent pen leases. It was a "chicken -and- egg" problem, the repair complex needing larger boat numbers, while the larger boat numbers awaited the availability of repair work. Both came together when there were about 400 permanents in the harbour. The fishing industry has not expanded (The local lobster industry is highly controlled and is operating at maximum feasible yield, so can not expand. Other fisheries can operate from other commercial harbours.) So that it's reserved space is now to be used for expansion of the Yacht Club marina. This harbour development had to provide its own services. Power, water and sewerage were available at a single point on the property boundary and limited road connections (a southern traffic link was not permitted because of a perceived disadvantage to existing housing to the south) were available to the adjoining major road network. Parking for all the intended users had to be provided. Planning for all of these had its difficulties, since there was (and still is) little data regarding the appropriate size for each service. Every effort was made to use systems which could be expanded or adapted as the actual demand evolved. One major advantage of the diverse character of the many different activities at Hillarys is that a diversity factor exists which allows sharing of the services. As examples, boating and ferries tend to use parking both early and late in the day, while tourism has a midday and evening peak. Haven Marina Systems - MARINAS 5 8 Unfortunately, during summer holidays with fine weather, all activities are attractive and the traffic and parking system is overstretched at Hillarys, as it is at most popular seaside places in the western world. Further, we did not expect, and thus did not plan for, the large crowds of swimmers who use the harbour beaches or who park in the harbour to use adjoining beaches. Apart from that parking problem and a related slow traffic access to the southside development, the service provisions appear to be working well as the harbour moves towards full development. A limited (entry only) traffic link has now been permitted at the southern boundary, but a full connection from early days when space was available would have been much more effective. Major harbour and marina developments such as Hillarys do not happen often. In part this is because suitable sites are rare, even if the shelter is provided by artificial breakwaters. Commonly, finances are limited. Commonly, the financial returns from the provision of boat moorings is insufficient to cover the operating costs much less defray

9 the capital expenditure. Without its commercial premises and tourist facilities Hillarys would be difficult to maintain. It would also serve the recreational needs of a much less proportion of the local community. If it had been attempted at a smaller scale with limited capital it would not be the successful composite facility it is today. We were fortunate to have the circumstances (the Americas Cup challenge) which allowed a large scale development. It is now, after ten years, giving good service to both the boating community and the wider community. It has the capacity to expand further to serve the next decade of boating growth, perhaps with some reorganisation of the present floating pens. It is clear, however, that it was the correct course for the planning of a public boat harbour of this type, to look well into the future and to provide for the longer term needs of an expanding community, even though financial planners with their "net present value" evaluations will say that money spent for needs more than ten years ahead is money wasted. Economists need to develop other ways of valuing community expenditure so that it is possible to create an enduring community resource. A sheltered water area is a long-lived community asset which keeps its real value. A large number of people can now be seen to receive both tangible and intangible benefits from Hillarys. They visit it with pleasure, and go away refreshed in mind and spirit. Those with boats are well and safely served. It is a "good place" to have in our community. Haven Marina Systems - MARINAS 5 9