13. Use of the Coastal Environment Volume One Coastal structures, reclamations and disturbance to the foreshore and seabed Marlborough’s coastal marine area is characterised by a number of activities that involve the erection of structures and/or disturbance of the foreshore or seabed. Due to their extensive and sheltered nature, the Marlborough Sounds are obviously a major focus for recreational and commercial activities and it is here that the issues surrounding how to provide for activities and allocate coastal space are most apparent. The Sounds contain a large number of permanent physical structures and occupations; for example, nearly 1,600 jetties, slipways, boatsheds and other structures (retaining walls, pipelines, sub-aqueous cables, boat ramps) are located throughout the Sounds. Some reclamations have occurred to enable port or marina operations to take place, while in certain remote locations reclamations assist in forestry harvesting activities by providing barge sites. Other activities occurring in the coastal marine area that involve some disturbance of the foreshore and seabed include (but are not limited to) dredging navigational channels, the cleaning of blocked pipes (e.g. stormwater outfalls), beach tidying and grooming, the deposition of material on the seabed and foreshore burial of dead marine mammals. Coastal structures, reclamations or disturbance activities provide private benefit to the person undertaking them but in some cases there is also wider community benefit. It is important therefore that the uses and forms of development appropriate for Marlborough’s coastal marine area are identified and that adverse effects are addressed, while at the same time maintaining the social, economic and cultural wellbeing of the community. Issue 13F – There continues to be significant pressure for the development and/or redevelopment of a variety of coastal structures, including providing for boat access to properties within the Marlborough Sounds. As a result of difficult topography and the subsequent financial and physical difficulties in establishing roads in steep terrain, the Marlborough Sounds roading network is limited. Many property owners therefore rely upon boats to gain access to their properties. This has necessitated: • the construction of jetties to enable the safe and efficient set down and loading of passengers and associated cargo; and • the construction of boat sheds (and slipways/ramps) for the storage of boats and boating related equipment that cannot be easily stored elsewhere on the property. Even in cases where road access is available, property owners still expect to be able to enhance their access to the Sounds through having jetties and boatsheds. It is important to recognise the significance of these coastal structures in providing property owners and visitors access to existing residential properties. However, this must be weighed against the potential for coastal structures to visually intrude into the landscape/seascape, as well as create impacts on other values such as ecology, natural character, recreation, navigation and amenity. Significantly, the size of jetties and boatsheds has lately increased, partly in response to the increasing size of boats. Retaining walls and associated abutments (effectively a small reclamation) are often built in and around jetties and boatsheds. This may be to provide an anchoring point for a structure, to protect the structure from coastal processes or to enhance access to the foreshore. Retaining walls can be built from a range of materials and if not sympathetically designed, can appear visually intrusive within the natural environment and physically or perceptually hinder public access to and along the foreshore. Landscaping and development of reclaimed areas can also 13 – 24