A petition titled 'Bring back the fun to Leisure Island” has been unanimously rejected by Tauranga City Council, as efforts to bring back a water park on the Mount Maunganui site were sunk.

The petition, brought about by Mount resident Catherine Hunt and signed by almost 1700 people, suggested returning Moturiki (Leisure) Island to its former glory as a water fun park.

Moturiki Island - also known as Leisure Island - housed a water park until 1990. Photo: File.

Her bid, however, hit the rocks when details of a number of acts that now protect the former venue were revealed.

The former fun park was returned to its natural state in 1990, and is now legally untouchable because of the Resource Management Act 1991, the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014 and the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement 2010.

Moturiki is also identified within the Tauranga City Plan as a Conservation Zone and a Special Ecological Area, as well as being an Outstanding Natural Feature and Landscape.

Council's direction on the future management of Moturiki is set out in the Coastal Reserves Management Plan 2013, which focuses on maintaining the high level of natural character and the natural state of the site.

Mayor Stuart Crosby says while they are not against the concept of a private development on an alternative site, it will not happen on Moturiki.

Leisure Island was deemed a failed business and spent much of the 1980s in a derelict sate before being demolished at the ratepayer's expense.

It was originally a defended Maori Pa site, with terraces clearly visible until 1940. In 1910, a quarry took rock from the southern edge of the Moturiki Pa for construction of the Tauranga to Taneatua and Tauranga to Waihi railway lines. The quarry was then closed in 1926.

The old quarry site was leased out for the purpose of a Marineland Park in 1966, but six burials were discovered during construction that were considered to be about 150 years old at the time.

Marineland finally closed in 1981 – the same year that Leisure Island was established. The original attraction included bumper boats, a variety of hot and cold pools and a waterslide. Leisure Island closed in 1990 and the pools have since been filled in.

Moturiki is now recognised as an area of high natural character and features a number of archaeological sites.

With the exception of an open grassed area on the site of the old Marineland and a number of walkways, the reserve is maintained in a natural state in keeping with the natural character of the area.

Both the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Institute (NIWA) and the Port of Tauranga have monitoring stations located on Moturiki.