TOP STORY: Jobs go as harbour link sinks slipway

The high-profile covered slipway alongside Tauranga Harbour Bridge is shutting down at the end of the year and will cost the city millions of dollars in lost business.
Tauranga City Council, which owns the waterfront land, wants to clear the slipway site in Den Place in preparation for the multi-million-dollar Harbour Link roading project.
The council is forming plans to establish a smaller slipway for boat repairs and painting further along Mirrielees Rd but local marine industry bosses are disappointed it has not come up with an alternative solution.
The slipway, built 40 years ago by the Bay of Plenty Harbour Board to service its tugs, has provided regular work for engineering firms, sandblasters and painters.
Many crews stayed in Tauranga, booking accommodation, spending money on hospitality and taking on supplies.
A spokesman for the company operating the slipway, TPC Group, said between $6-$10 million worth of business came into the city each year.
"It's work that's going out the door. If local boats, charter and fishing, suddenly need repairing or surveying they will have to limp to Auckland or Whangarei."
He said his company would probably be laying off some of its staff.
Don Mattson, who runs the nearby Hutcheson Boatbuilders, said the slipway should have been re-sited as part of the cost of building Harbour Link.
"Closing the slipway should never have been allowed to happen," he said.
Kevin O'Dea, owner of precision and marine engineering company Robert Page, said the slipway was built and paid for by ratepayers. That seemed to be forgotten, even though it was now owned by the council.
"A fatal mistake was not having a plan to relocate the slipway.
"All the existing customers will go to other North Island slipways and it will be hard to get them back."
Tauranga council has given an assurance that the Den Place site will be cleared by May next year when the contractor for the new viaduct and second harbour bridge will be known.
The buildings there will be demolished in February and March.
Hutcheson Boatbuilders will remain untouched but TPC Group and the neighbouring City Car Court will move to new premises at Mount Maunganui.
Two years ago the council paid Port of Tauranga nearly $10 million for the 3.8 ha commercial block along the harbour side of Mirrielees Rd from Dive Crescent roundabout to Cross Rd.
It created the path for the Harbour Link project but the council is still planning a marine park called Harbour Central, including a slipway, on the remaining land.
The council has teamed up with Priority One to produce a consultant's report on the opportunities for the site and the report is due any day now.
"Once we understand the report, we can have discussions with marine customers and make a decision," said council chief executive Stephen Town.
"We want to retain as much of the marine business as we can but the slipway has to be sustainable."
The council's information was that a 600 tonne slipway would not be a viable investment but a 100-200 tonne weight range would be manageable.