With the granting of long-awaited resource consents for a marina and industrial park, developer Chris Peterson is excited to start work on what he describes as “the final piece of the puzzle” for Ōpōtiki’s aquaculture and marine industry.

The Environment Court ordered the granting of resource consent for the development last week after a mediation process saw Ōpōtiki Marina and Industrial Park (OMAI) come to an agreement with Whakatōhea hapū groups that had contested the consents.

“This is really exciting news for the Ōpōtiki community. For Whakatōhea as well,” Mr Peterson said.

The agreement between OMAI and hapū groups included the formation of a tangata whenua liason group, Ngā Hapū o te Whakatōhea Engagement Group, to provide ongoing feedback on the development.

“There’s a lot of goodwill there and there’s going to be some good co-operation within the hapū engagement group, so we’re pretty positive about that going forward," he said.

“All six hapū of Whakatōhea will be involved with the group. It was great that we achieved this through a mediation with all parties and everybody agreed and signed off on it. So it hasn’t come through as a court order.”

He feels confident work will begin next year.

“The focus will be on getting the harbour basin open and functional for the aquaculture industry so we will have a place for the boats to berth safely out of the river. All going well, we are looking at a build time for the first stage of nearly 12 months.”

The project initially received $7 million equity funding through the Provincial Growth Fund and a loan of $1.8 million, but because of the resource consent delays, costs had increased. He said he was in the process of securing more funding to cover that.

“We are the last piece in the jigsaw. You’ve got the sea farm. You’ve got the mussel factory. You’ve got the boats. You’ve got the harbour entrance. What we will supply is the interface between the deep water and the land, so that the connection right through from the sea to the mussel factory is now one continuous Opotiki operation.”

At the seawall opening last week, former chairman of the Whakatōhea pre-settlement board Robert Edwards named the project as one of the next challenges for the district.

Ōpōtiki Marina and Industrial Park director Chris Peterson is hoping to begin work on the development in early 2025. Photo supplied.

Mr Peterson said while the main focus for the development was to support the aquaculture industry, there would be other benefits.

“Other spinoffs that are going to come from this are a marina for pleasure craft, but also opportunities for fishing and dive charters and other entrepreneurial endeavors that can make use of having out port facility.

“We will have the hard stand and the travel lift and a whole industry based around boat maintenance and boat building.

“There is a lack of facilities throughout New Zealand, so there are some good opportunities for some good industry to develop in Ōpōtiki. They’ll be high paying jobs. They are going to bring a whole lot of economic prosperity to the town.

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