Porirua Harbour Survey

Residents living in the Porirua Harbour catchment will be surveyed beginning next week to get an understanding of what people know and do that has an impact on the health of the harbour.

Porirua City, Wellington City and Greater Wellington Regional councils are funding the research that will provide them with a baseline evaluation of the environmental knowledge, attitude and behaviour of residents in the Porirua Harbour catchment.

About 600 people in the catchment will be contacted for the telephone survey which will run from 13 March to 7 April 2014 and take about 15 minutes to complete.

“Porirua City Council is committed to the Porirua Harbour and Catchment Strategy and Action Plan. The plan is the result of a partnership between us, Ngati Toa Rangatira and the two other councils to work together to clean up and protect the harbour,” says Porirua Harbour Committee Chairperson Councillor Bronwyn Kropp.

“It's not all over to the councils though; we all share in this magnificent harbour. That is why we need the community to tell us what you think, how you use the harbour, and what you know about how to care for her and the streams that flow into her.”

The Porirua Harbour and Catchment Strategy and Action Plan was released in April 2012 and outlines the history, current condition and community and scientific aspirations relating to Porirua Harbour.

Regional Council Deputy Chair and Environment Management Portfolio Leader Councillor Barbara Donaldson says the three main strategy goals of controlling sedimentation rates, reducing contaminants and restoring the ecology around the harbour can be better achieved with the help of the community.

“This survey will help us understand where the community is at in their knowledge and understanding of the issues around the harbour health. Then we can help fill any gaps that exist to influence behaviour changes that will benefit the harbour.”

The results from this baseline will also help establish community goals for an education programme from which success can be measured.
The Porirua Harbour catchment runs 28km from Pukerua Bay in the north to Newlands in the south and has an approximate population of 90,000 people.

Porirua Harbour Trust member and Wellington City Councillor Malcolm Sparrow, says over 40,000 people in the catchment live in Johnsonville, Newlands, Grenada, Churton Park, Glenside and Tawa.

“Whilst we are some distance from the harbour itself, we can play our small part by taking care of the Porirua Stream and its various tributaries which flow through our suburbs and on into the harbour.”

Ngati Toa kaumatua Taku Parai says it will be helpful to discover what people living out of sight of the harbour think about it.

“This survey is a positive way to reach out to homes in the wider catchment area and include residents in assessing how we all relate and interact with the harbour environment, both as individuals and communities.”

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