Marlborough District Council, with funding support from the Marlborough Mayoral Relief Fund, will subsidise water taxi services for residents, workers and visitors from Havelock out to the Kenepuru Sound, as part of its July storm recovery support programme.

Recovery Manager Dean Heiford said he hoped to also expand the service from Picton to Torea and Mistletoe bays in the not too distant future.

“The subsidy is $25 per passenger per trip for scheduled and pre-booked services through the Kenepuru to and from Havelock. Bookings can be made directly with water taxi service providers and also through the Marlborough i-SITE, which is open 7 days, or call 0800 777 181.”

“The service will launch through Havelock first, and open up to Picton as roading through Torea and Mistletoe bays allows. We will keep the subsidy in place until the end of March 2022, subject to roads reopening and the level of use.”

“I encourage residents to coordinate times with neighbours to travel together if possible. Please be mindful that this is a new service for everyone, there will be some niggles as it rolls out, so bear with us as our teams do their best to assist.”

Mayor John Leggett welcomed the news.

“It’s been hard for Kenepuru locals since the mid-July storm. I hope this subsidy will help people reconnect and make it easier for them to access essential services in town, until we get the roads reopened.”

Promo codes will be provided for the water taxi service providers that are part of the programme. Contact the Marlborough i-SITEs to align with transport options out of Havelock, kindly provided by Havelock Lions, and to book multi services/providers.

See attached flyer for further details.

Sounds residents wanting overnight accommodation should go directly through the Temporary Accommodation Service (tel. 0508 754 163) or Rural Women NZ (Operation Isolate – call Ellen Orchard on 021 141 3235).

The new water taxi subsidy is separate to the existing barge service subsidy.

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