Overwhelming public support has helped drive the first round of decisions to spend $3.2 million to develop a place where people can get their feet wet on Tauranga's downtown waterfront.
City councillors yesterday agreed to press ahead with preparing detailed designs on the plan to build tidal steps down tothe harbour's edge in front of the children's playground and Hairy Maclary statues.
The design concept incorporated a pier and pontoon.
Project manager Richard Konning said the project could be finished by next Christmas if the council agreed to call tenders for the design phase this year.
A report to the meeting included 220 email and Facebook feedbacks received directly or indirectly by the council, plus comments from visitors to the recent boat show.
A recurring theme was that it was a great idea and should have been done much earlier.
"It is great to see more people using the area already, and much more can be achieved. Hopefully the development at the old Coronation Pier site will bring activity to the end of Red Square again. Please commit to the whole concept and do not scale it down half-way through, as has often been the case," a resident wrote on Have Your Say.
Another resident said it was a great idea. "What I would really like to see is council working with local developers in a joint venture to have multiple piers." The piers could have shops and restaurants and would reinvigorate the downtown, the submitter said
One idea was a kiosk near the Hairy Maclary statues selling books by New Zealand authors. Another regular theme was the need for a replacement for the Coronation Pier, or increasing the size of the pier beside the steps so it was big enough to hold water-based tourist operators.
Some people were concerned about the safety of toddlers on the steps and the need for the steps to be regularly waterblasted to remove slime.
Summing up the big picture, a resident wrote that the CBD was in difficulty as it searched for a new identity with the loss of retailing to the suburbs. "It needs a point of difference to create purpose and meaning ... a pier is a must."
The design concept to access the water was prepared after the council decided earlier this year to spend $8 million over the next 10 years on the downtown's streetscape, parks and waterfront.
Consultants LandLAB identified the tidal steps, pier and pontoon as the first priority, followed by the redevelopment of a new Town Wharf.
The review of the design concept by engineering consultants Tonkin and Taylor led to indicative costs of of $2.6 million to $3.2 million.
Several councillors were concerned people could be swept away from the steps by harbour currents. The report to the meeting said Attwood Consulting would provide specialist safety review services for the project.
Kelvin Clout
Monitoring committee chairman Kelvin Clout (pictured) strongly supported the tidal steps, saying people wanted to get their feet wet. Councillor Steve Morris said he would like to see Coronation Pier rebuilt, saying nothing would restore confidence in the council more than rebuilding the pier after the debacle eight years ago.
A final decision will be made once detailed designs were completed and approved.
