About the Project
Coastal shipping used the Opotiki Harbour until the mid 1960s. Since the mid-1960s part of the harbour has been reclaimed.
It has been a long held aspiration of the Opotiki community to re-establish the town's harbour. The redevelopment of the harbour is a priority for the Council. It is considered that the harbour will provide a platform for sustained economic growth in the district by:
- Increasing the overall social, economic and cultural wellbeing of the Opotiki community and the Eastern Bay of Plenty.
- Enhancing recreation opportunities and public access to the coast
- Capitalising on opportunities arising from a proposed 3,800 hectare mussel farm offshore from Opotiki.
- Providing a platform for other Eastern Bay of Plenty aquaculture ventures
- Mitigating flooding of the Opotiki township and surrounding area
- Achieving a long-held community aspiration and a high priority Community Outcome
The development of a 3,800 hectare mussel farm venture off the coast from Opotiki, and other potential aquaculture developments which may follow, will benefit from having improved harbour access to processing and servicing facilities. The employment opportunities associated with those developments could then be captured within the Opotiki District.
Council has been actively pursuing the harbour development and has evaluated various options for the harbour entrance. A parallel groyne system has been selected as the preferred option. Engineering consultants have carried out detailed modeling of this system to identify the coastal and river processes which would result from the construction of the groynes.
Investigations of possible impacts on the environment, flora and fauna and heritage features have also been undertaken.
Resource Consent applications for the project were lodged in November 2008 and notified for public submissions. Those applications will be heard in early-2009. If consents are granted and the Minister of Conservation also approves the project, funding would then be sought with a view to undertaking construction between 2010 - 2012. However, in the event that funding takes longer to secure, a 15 year window is being sought for the consent to be exercised.
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