Ōpōtiki District Council is still making adjustments to its Wharf Masterplan, with Mayor David Moore determined to include a jetty and public boat ramp to the south-west side of the Coastguard building.

The current long-term plan allocates more than $5 million for the Marine Precinct and Wharf redevelopment in the Bay of Plenty town.

At a meeting last week, the council agreed to allocate up to $190,000 for staff to apply for resource consents for a new boat ramp and jetty, as well as the already planned extension of the current jetty and relocation of the play area to Memorial Park.

The council first endorsed the Ōpōtiki Harbour-Wharf Masterplan in September 2022, but it was revoked in December that same year following the local body elections.

The new council wanted further public consultation as the plan did not provide space for three Whakatōhea Mussels boats.

The boats, used by Ōpōtiki’s burgeoning aquaculture industry, were intended to be accommodated at a new Ōpōtiki Marina and Industrial Park across the river, but opposition to the resource consent means this is unlikely to be finished for some years.

An updated plan was adopted in September last year, accommodating the mussel boats at the town wharf, which is soon to be upgraded.

The jetty at Ōpotiki Wharf will be extended to cater to recreational boat as well as wharf fishing. Photo: Diane McCarthy.

The new plan also included an extension to the current jetty to allow for recreational use and the relocation of the water slide and swing further downstream to Memorial Park.

At a meeting in December, the council agreed to allocate $40,000 to apply for resource consent for the two items but also directed staff to look at including a new boat ramp and jetty in the consent application.

At last week’s meeting, planning and regulatory manager Gerard McCormack recommended not including the two new items in the resource consent as it would be a more complex application.

There would be further unallocated costs involved, the application would take longer and there was a greater possibility it would not be granted. The delay would prevent work on the planned projects potentially being aligned with the upgrade to the existing wharf.

Mr McCormack said any savings from combining the projects into one application would be lost in the delays it caused.

Councillor Dean Peterson suggested the council negotiate a shared arrangement for public use as Coastguard Ōpōtiki already had resource consent for a new boat ramp.

Councillor Barry Howe said coastguard had already been asked and they had said no.

Mayor David Moore expressed concerns that the planned coastguard boat ramp would landlock the area to the south-west of its building, which was currently being used for overflow parking for boat trailers.

Mayor David Moore worried the planned Coastguard boat ramp would landlock the area to the south-west of its building.

Mr McCormack said he had a meeting planned with coastguard to discuss a lease of council land for their ramp and he would raise the issues.

“We need to have that meeting ASAP,” Mr Howe said. “We need to come to a common sense arrangement that is good for the public and good for the coastguard. If they’re going to go ahead and have a four-bay boat ramp that’s just for them, we should not agree to lease them the land.”

Mr Moore said the need to make adjustments to the plan was something that had been forced on council and that a shared facility would mean “everyone’s a winner”.

“We're having to juggle things around. It’s a lot different to how it was looking 12 months ago. I’m sure there’s room there for everyone.”

The council agreed to proceed with two separate resource consent applications - one for the extension to the existing jetty and relocation of the children’s play equipment and another for a new jetty and boat ramp to the southwest side of the coastguard building, pending an agreement being made with the coastguard.

The cost of building the boat ramp and jetty were to be estimated and included as part of the upcoming long-term plan.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.