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Chloe Ranford Local Democracy Reporter09:01, May 10 2021 Brya Ingram The Villa Backpackers Lodge owner Rob Burn outside his hostel, which he is willing to sell to house new ferry terminal workers. The owner of a backpacker hostel in Picton has offered to sell his property to help house the 200 workers needed to build a new multimillion-dollar ferry terminal. The project – a partnership between Port Marlborough, the Marlborough District Council, KiwiRail and Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency – was approved last week and is needed to accommodate KiwiRail’s new larger ferries. The council s long-term plan, which is open for feedback, said the ferry terminal was one of two projects set to “stretch” Marlborough’s “already very tight housing supply”. ....
Large trucks are parking in the streets of a portside town and not in the stop built for them, and authorities want to know why. Photo: CHLOE RANFORD/LDR Representatives from New Zealand s two largest trucking associations say the culprit could be Port Marlborough s parking fees, but the port suspects truckies like being near their accommodation in Picton. Whatever the reason, residents in the port town are divided on whether a solution should be worked into its redevelopment project, needed to make way for KiwiRail s new, larger Cook Strait ferries. Residents have already given up part of an old rugby pitch for a truck stop after roads damaged by the Kaikōura earthquake left trucks arriving out of sync with ferries, and waiting around town. ....
CHLOE RANFORD/LDR Truck driver Peter Griffin is one of several Nelson Square residents unbothered by large freight trucks parking nearby. Large trucks are parking in the streets of a portside town and not in the stop built for them, and authorities want to know why. Representatives from New Zealand s two largest trucking associations says the culprit could be Port Marlborough s parking fees, but the port suspects truckies like being near their accommodation in Picton. Whatever the reason, residents in the port town are divided on whether a solution should be worked into its redevelopment project, needed to make way for KiwiRail’s new, larger Cook Strait ferries. ....
BRYA INGRAM/STUFF Marine operations manager and Pilot for Port Marlborough Matt Conyers, left, and Port Marlborough Tug Master Mike Beech were among the first in Marlborough to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine. Many breathed a sigh of relief on Wednesday as the first of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccines began to roll out to port workers and their families at Port Marlborough. Some 35 frontline port workers at Port Marlborough were under the needle on Wednesday, and the DHB expects to vaccinate approximately 70 more, plus around 300 household contacts in this first round. Among the first to receive their jabs were marine operations manager and Pilot for Port Marlborough Matt Conyers and Port Marlborough Tug Master Mike Beech. ....
“Our frontline port workers, such as pilots and stevedores, can potentially come into direct contact with crew on international vessels. “This makes them some of the most vulnerable members of our community in terms of their exposure to the virus.” Braden Fastier/Stuff Nelson Marlborough Health chief medical officer Dr Nick Baker says the vaccination of port workers is a “significant milestone” in New Zealand’s fight against Covid-19. About 400 workers from the Nelson/Tasman region and 1000 people they lived with would be offered the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. In Marlborough, about 100 workers and 300 people they lived with would be offered the vaccine. ....