In their own words, Marlburians look back on 2020, the year the world changed.
Marlborough student Isabella Lee Finally, 2020 is over. This year has gone both incredibly fast but also felt incredibly long. I would be lying if I said that 2020 was a breeze, that it was easy or even that it went as I thought it would go. I completed my final year of high school in the midst of a global pandemic, something that I never thought I would face. 2020 brought a unique set of challenges with it. From the distance placed between my family members and me, to online learning, 2020 was filled with constant change. Though, in all the challenging and stressful times that 2020 presented me with, I discovered new things about myself, found new ways to connect with others and found many opportunities from the comfort of my home. I never realised how much you can bond with new and old friends, through Zoom movie nights and Monopoly online, I learnt that we can always find a way to connect with oth
Freedom camping sites in and around Picton might be down, but not out.
Picton, with the ferry terminal pictured.
Photo: RNZ / Matt Chatterton
Talks will begin next year between the Marlborough District Council and Port Marlborough over an appropriate spot to put freedom campers looking to use the ferries.
This comes weeks after two proposed sites were tossed from the seaside town, following opposition from residents and businesses.
The council s freedom camping subcommittee said in their decision document last month that many of Marlborough s campers used Picton s ferries, and a place was needed for them.
The first version of the bylaw suggested opening two sites in Picton, one by the marina and one off High St but this drew the ire of residents - and Port Marlborough, which declared the marina site a health and safety and security risk.
Port Marlborough will look to borrow from its parent company, the Marlborough District Council, to build a new multimillion-dollar ferry terminal, to avoid going into a substantial amount of debt .
An artist s impression of what Picton s new Interislander terminal could look like.
Photo: Supplied / KiwiRail
The Picton ferry terminal upgrade was one of 11 projects fast-tracked by government in June to help stimulate the country s post-Covid economy.
The project - a partnership between Port Marlborough, the council, KiwiRail and Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency - was needed to accommodate KiwiRail s new larger ferries.
It was expected to create up to 200 jobs and take four years to complete.
While the project s four partners had not yet agreed who paid for what, the port expected to fork out for a new Interislander terminal building, wharf, and seawall, as these were on its land. Port Marlborough chair Keith Taylor told councillors at a meeting last month the port would need to enter into “a substantial amount of debt” to fund the proposed changes. “Port Marlborough will be looking to its shareholder the MDC [Marlborough District Council] to fund this debt for us,” he said. Taylor was speaking on the port s annual report, which declared the upgrades an “extremely significant investment”.