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Water Addressing for the Marlborough Sounds

We are currently experiencing delays in allocating water addresses due to a high number of applications. Council’s Road Naming and Addressing Coordinator is working closely with Land Information New Zealand, who are providing additional support. Thank you for your patience while we work through this.

A water address is assigned to an address site that is accessible only by boat and has no road access.

Water Addressing uses a distance‑based method similar to rural RAPID numbering distance from datum point to the address site being measured along the shoreline of the water body.

It will ensure properties are more easily located by emergency services, couriers, contractors, and visitors.

The Marlborough Sounds has one of the most complex coastlines in New Zealand, many bays share the same name, some appear up to five times across different parts of the Sounds.

For this reason, your locality is a vital part of your official address. It ensures your property can be uniquely identified for emergency services, deliveries, council records, and national mapping systems.

Your address will be assigned (example below)

Address: 200 Nikau Bay

Locality: Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere

Including your locality is essential because:

  • It removes ambiguity where identical bay names exist in multiple locations.
  • Emergency services rely on locality information to reach the correct place quickly.
  • NZ Post, couriers, and transport operators require the locality so they can route parcels correctly.
  • Mapping systems such as LINZ, GPS devices, and online navigation tools use the locality to pinpoint your exact location.

Water Addresses are calculated using a distance‑based method, similar to rural RAPID numbering. Instead of measuring along a road, the distance is measured along the shoreline from a designated datum point to the property.

The Water Address location for each property will be assigned to one of the following, depending on the site:

  • The dwelling
  • The jetty
  • The midpoint of the property
    These locations ensure the address accurately represents the property’s primary point of access or occupation

Within each bay, Water Addresses are allocated clockwise, and once the first property is assigned an odd or even number, the entire bay follows that same numbering pattern to maintain consistency.

If a property has road access then a RAPID address is required however if there is road access issues then a water address can be allowed.

If you have more than one dwelling/ access, then you can apply for more than one address.

With our new GIS system we can allocate addressing quickly and accurate. We hope to get the address out within 10 business days.

Once your new address is assigned, Council sends it to Land Information New Zealand (LINZ), NZ Post, and other national address data providers. These agencies update their official databases, which are then used by government services, emergency responders, and many delivery companies.

Google Maps and Apple Maps operate their own global mapping systems.
They do not receive direct updates from LINZ and they update their datasets on their own internal schedules.
Because of this, it can take up to 12–18 months for a new address in the Marlborough Sounds to appear in these apps.

You are welcome to submit the new address yourself via either Google or Apple Map. Submitting the update may help these platforms recognise your address sooner, but the final timing depends on Google/Apple processes.

Complete the online Water Addressing application

For any assistance or queries please email MDCAddressing@marlborough.govt.nz .

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