Waiheke residents have lodged five complaints over noise from the marina construction at Kennedy Point.
But Auckland Council says there have been no breaches of noise regulations.
Council general manager licensing and regulatory compliance James Hassall says construction noise is monitored in accordance with the consent conditions and the approved Construction Noise and Vibration Management Plan (CNVMP) for the project.
“If complaints are received, the monitoring officer can check and request results from the self-monitoring required by the CNVMP, carried out by the development company and held by the project manager. If there is ongoing doubt or concern, noise readings can also be carried out by the council’s Compliance Response Noise team,” Hassall says. Of the five complaints received, no breaches have been found, he says.
Since work resumed on the marina in January, the works that have been occurring are pile installation for the outer attenuators, he says.
“It is likely that the piling noise is what is being heard by the community. Although quite audible, as the noise is intermittent, total noise exposure is relatively low and unlikely to be more than the noise limits for the site.”
“No monitoring has been carried out in recent weeks. In the instances complained of, the noise was of short duration and had ceased when the complainant was contacted. However, random checks will be carried out in future if required.”
Hassall says adverse construction noise effects were assessed in the original Environment Court decision and more recently an assessment was made of effects of piling activities on kororā/little blue penguins, inhabiting the breakwater. However, that assessment did not address the effects of impact piling, the method used to install piles elsewhere for the marina. • Erin Johnson
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