Council Blows Cold On Sauna-by-the-sea

Friday, 11 October 2024, 7:26 pm
Article: Maia Hart - Local Democracy Reporter

Despite being "really entrepreneurial", a mobile sauna that started operating in Picton before it had consent will no longer be able to operate from its beachside spot.

It is a move that one Blenheim resident says is a shame for the area.

The moveable sauna parked up in Picton in July, when it opened with a "soft launch", but by August it had to close as it did not have consent.

At a council committee meeting on Tuesday, reserves and amenities officer Grahame Smail and parks and open spaces manager Linda Craighead talked councillors through a proposal to park the sauna at Picton's Shelly Beach.

The owners of the mobile sauna wanted to operate from 4pm to 8pm, year round, on Shelly Beach next to the yacht club, and would need two car parks.

The car parks were on land covered by the Victoria Domain Reserves Management Plan, which the council adopted in 2021. An "initial staff assessment", according to a report prepared by Smail, said the sauna proposal did not fit within the plan's policy framework.

It meant councillors were being asked to make a decision about whether the sauna business could continue. If they decided it could, the owners would still need to apply for a resource consent.

A consent was needed because commercial activity on the site was not permitted under the rules of the Proposed Marlborough Environment Plan (PMEP).

When the floor opened for debate at the assets and services meeting, deputy mayor David Croad asked for more detail on the consent process.

Craighead said they did not know whether it would be publicly notified or not, as the regulatory team at the council made that "determination".

She clarified that the proposal was specifically for Shelly Beach and the merits of the sauna had not been tested against the management plan for Picton Foreshore, although the sauna had operated on both areas before it closed.

Marlborough Sounds ward councillor Barbara Faulls said families had been using Shelly Beach for years and thought the community would be divided on the idea.

"It's almost like people feel that it's their own private piece of land, because they're so emotionally connected to it," she said.

"That would have to be tested if there was a hearing."

Marlborough Sounds ward councillor Ben Minehan said he would "have to say no" to Shelly Beach but was "more open" to the Picton foreshore.

Assets and services chairperson Brian Dawson asked staff if they were concerned it would set a precedent if they allowed the idea to continue to a resource consent application.

Craighead said it was "exactly that".

"It is really important that we test these against the provisions of our management plans to see whether they fit or not."

She said one of the difficulties was that the sauna needed to be close to the sea as the business promoted the benefits of hot and cold immersion.

"So going from one to the other ... you are looking for a site that is adjacent to the sea somewhere.

"In Picton, that's pretty limited in terms of all the other activities that are going on there."

The committee moved to decline the proposal. Although in doing so, Croad thought the council should continue to work with the sauna owner to make sure the community was on board and to see if they could find somewhere suitable.

After the meeting, Local Democracy Reporting contacted Blenheim's Alyssa Dalley who had tried the sauna, combined with a dip in the sea.

"I'm all for it. I think it's sad for them. It [sauna] had been hand built.

"They're just trying to spread wellness, I guess I liked it because of that. The hot to cold shocks your body in a way, it makes you feel calm and your mental fog is gone."

She said it was full when she tried it and everyone apart from her was from Picton.

"It is a reserve area ... [but] I don't really see it as a big deal, these saunas are popping up all around the country."

Declining the proposal was subject to full council sign-off on 31 October. The owner of the sauna was approached for comment.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

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