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See the news item below about the crowds on Waiheke island, which is a half-hour ferry ride away from Auckland (New Zealand). I used to live there in 1995. At the time the population was 7,000, and rose to 8,000 in the summer. As the news item says, the summer population is now 20,000.
That suggests two challenges - to discourage over-crowding, and yet encourage more frequent / later ferries.
(-- I believe the notion of Lamma's hillsides as burial grounds is a deterrent to some, especially the Chinese, and the lack of 24-hr ferries and island transportation is a deterrent to others --)
I am aware, in Waiheke, there is a system for settlement, or a freeze - ie only X houses allowed for Y m of land - as a way to control the deforestation. I wonder if there are any restrictions in Lamma. I keep passing by the pile of gravel on the road from Taipeng to Pakkok, thinking someone is pbbly planning a row of houses here, and wondering about if any control systems are in place.
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Full ferry leaves 120 stuck on Waiheke
Email this storyPrint this story Monday February 05, 2007
By Martha McKenzie-Minifie
An estimated 120 people were stranded on Waiheke Island for the night. File
Photo / Dean Purcell
An estimated 120 people were stranded on Waiheke Island for the night. File
Photo / Dean Purcell
Some were dressed in their wedding best, others in jeans and trainers - but
none of the estimated 120 people stranded on Waiheke Island on Saturday
night were equipped for a night in the open.
They were left behind when the last Fullers ferry back to Auckland filled to
capacity.
Some of the unlucky ones were left on the wharf at Matiatia all night. One
of them, who gave her name only as Sara, was furious after spending almost
eight hours on the wharf.
She said several parents told babysitters they would be home at 1am, and
their children would have woken wondering where mum and dad were.
She said the abandoned passengers should get refunds at the very least.
A nearby building was apparently broken into and food taken. It is thought
accommodation on the island was fully booked. Some of the stranded attempted
to light bonfires.
Taxi driver Amanda Way said: "It would have been freezing. We took people to
different places, down to beaches. One lot I gave a blanket to."
Another taxi driver put up a pregnant wedding guest at his house for the
night. Events including a dance party, several weddings and a Vodafone New
Zealand Warriors appearance packed the island. Warriors ambassador Peter
Leitch, The Mad Butcher, said the stranding could deter future visitors.
An all-day dance party at Stonyridge Vineyard attracted about 1000 people on
Saturday. Vineyard owner Stephen White said: "The way to solve it is [for
Fullers] to just send another ferry back."
The island's population could swell by up to 20,000 on Saturday nights in
summer, he said.
Fullers Group operations manager Ian Greenslade estimated 60 to 120 people
were left on the wharf and, to his knowledge, it was the biggest incident of
its type.
"When most of the people choose to come back on the last sailing it makes it
a little difficult."
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