No swimming at Spring Creek this summer

With work underway on upgrading flood protection for Spring Creek, a popular section of the river near the Ferry Bridge is now off limits for swimming.

Council’s Group Manager Infrastructure and Services Richard Cuningham said the river and the area immediately below the bridge will be hazardous for all swimming, recreating and bathing activities during the construction of the new stop banks.

“With the commencement of works on the Peninsula Road stop bank at Spring Creek, the river is going to be hazardous to swim in due to large machinery operating in and on both sides of the river, and at times work will disturb the river silts, therefore Council has made the decision to prohibit this.

“This is not a decision taken lightly. It is for the safety of the public and to allow us to progress this important flood control work for the protection of the Spring Creek community. The closure will extend through until the completion of the stop bank works in June 2027.

“At this stage, the restrictions will be in place for the full contract duration, however if a window does present itself where the swimming restriction can be temporarily lifted then a notice will be issued in advance. We cannot however make any promises about that as this is a major construction site.

“Council apologises for any inconvenience as we know how popular this area is. However, we are lucky in Marlborough that we do have plenty of rivers and seaside destinations and we encourage regular users of the river and the wider public to take this opportunity to explore some new places,” Mr Coningham said.

The upgrade to two primary sections of stop bank along Peninsula Road near the township is needed to prevent the banks failing. If this happened it would compromise the safety of Spring Creek township and State Highway 1.

The stop banks were damaged in the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake and 2021 and 2022 floods. While repairs have been carried out, they remain vulnerable.

The repair and resilience work in Spring Creek will be funded by Council and the Government’s Kānoa regional development fund. The project cost is $22.5M with $13.8M funded by Kānoa and the remainder by Council.

The contract for the project was awarded in early November to Taylors Contracting Co Ltd and is on track for completion in June 2027.

For information about the stop bank project go to: www.marlborough.govt.nz/services/river-management/current-projects/spring-creek-stopbank-project

For information on the swim spots that Council monitors go to: www.marlborough.govt.nz/recreation/swimming-and-boating/recreational-water-quality

For other places to visit in Marlborough go to: www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/marlborough/