Bay Harbour: June 21, 2023

Bay Harbour News Wednesday June 21 2023
8
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Second boatshed goes up for sale
• By Nikki Preston
A SECOND Akaroa boatshed is
to be sold under the hammer just
months after a boatshed on the
opposite side of the bay netted
an impressive $255,000 in a hotly
contested auction.
The boatshed at the end of a
group of 11 on the waterfront on
Onawe Flat Rd in Duvauchelle
Bay will be sold at auction next
Thursday, and is one of just a few
boatsheds that come up for sale
on the open market.
The current owners, who
bought the property in 2008,
now live in Auckland and have
not been back to the boatshed for
10 years.
Bayleys listing
agent Chris
Mangels said the
boatshed needs
some maintenance,
including
upgrading the
Chris
Mangels
deck and ramp,
adding it gives
the new buyer the
opportunity to
stamp their mark on it.
The boatshed is well-lined, has
a basic bench and storage areas
plus water collection via the roof
– but the new owners will have
to go offsite for a bathroom or
even a bedroom.
The current owners used the
• By Heidi Slade
SUCCESS DURING the past
eight months could see Lyttelton
Port Company’s predator control
programme expand to cover two
more sites – if it can get some
help from the public.
The programme has been
running 40 traps across the
company’s Port Saddle and
Battery Point sites.
Environmental advisor
Charlotte Jones said it could
expand over Gollans Bay Quarry
and LPC’s land near Sumner Rd.
She said the programme uses a
variety of different traps.
AVAILABLE: The boatshed for sale is at the end of a row of 11 in Duvauchelle Bay.
property as a base for waterskiing
and socialising.
But Mangels said it would be
a “valuable tack-on” for buyers
who already have an existing
holiday home in the area.
“You’ve got the cool bach and
then the advantage of having
your bach stored away safely on
the waterfront.”
It is in a quieter location than
a similar-sized boatshed on
Seafield Rd on the opposite side
of Duvauchelle Bay that was
auctioned in March this year
and had better access from the
road, he said.
Being at the end of the row of
boatsheds also means you only
have one neighbour.
“On the north side of the deck
you’ve got an unobstructed view
down the harbour. You are not
looking at anybody else, it’s
pretty cool.”
Onawe Flat Rd is the road
leading to Onawe Peninsula,
which is a historically significant
Maori pā area and is “really
special”.
The Seafield Rd boatshed
created a huge buzz when it went
PHOTOS: NZ HERALD
to auction with eight people
battling it out for the unique
offering, which eventually sold
under the hammer for $255,000.
The sale surpassed the owner’s
expectations after selling for at
least $85,000 more than what they
had been prepared to accept.
Mangels said it is difficult
to put a price on the property,
especially when the Seafield
Rd boatshed was the first to be
offered for sale in a long time.
However, he said the vendors are
motivated to sell.
“There was a little bit of mystique
about it, and now the price
has been set it will be interesting
to see who is around.”
There are not many boatsheds
available in Akaroa and they are
seldomly available publicly, he
said. The Seafield Rd and Onawe
Flat boatsheds are the only ones
he knows of that have been for
sale this year and are in the only
two clusters of boatsheds in
Duvauchelle Bay.
Most are either sold to friends,
neighbours or sometimes sold
with properties.
– NZ Herald
Community help with predator control sought
Charlotte
Jones
“We’ve seen
quite interesting
results,” said
Jones.
She said 15
possums had been
trapped, mainly
at the Port Saddle
site.
“The primary
impact of possums around
Lyttelton Harbour is the damage
they do to vegetation. Across
New Zealand, they eat around
21,000 tonnes of vegetation every
night,” she said.
“In addition to browsing,
possums are known to predate
on birds and nests when the
opportunity arises, which could
impact the establishment of
native bird populations around
the harbour.”
A “surprising” number of
weasels have also been found,
between January and May.
“We have caught three weasels
since the trapping started.
Whilst this does not sound like
many, weasels are only found in
low densities in New Zealand
habitats and are the rarest of the
three mustelid species we have in
New Zealand.”
Jones said weasels are
“notorious predators” and
predate on prey much larger
than themselves.
“They predate on native birds
and lizards, impacting the ability
for populations to establish
around the harbour.
“Given there are lizard and
gecko populations on LPC land,
it is important that weasels
and the other mustelids are
controlled,” she said.
Jones said it would be hard to
predict how many more weasels
the programme might find, but
she is interested to see if seasonal
changes effect the trend.
But, to expand the
programme, LPC would need
the community’s help.
“The community involvement
would be at the Port Saddle
site as it is publicly accessible
and would involve volunteers
checking, clearing and rebaiting
traps.
“We are hoping to get this
under way in the next couple of
months,” Jones said.
By the community doing what
it can at more accessible sites like
Port Saddle, the LPC team could
shift focus to less accessible
areas.
“It’s important. There’s so
much work in this space being
done,” Jones said.
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