An image of how the waka hub in the inner harbour between the Napier Sailing Club and the city end of Pandora Bridge will appear in the evening.
An image of how the waka hub in the inner harbour between the Napier Sailing Club and the city end of Pandora Bridge will appear in the evening.
Ātea A Rangi Educational Trust is confident of the future of a so-called waka hub as a northern gateway to Napier despite a two-thirds cut in council funding.
Trust chair Piripi Smith said the trust appreciates the position the Napier City Council is in, in being unable to continue witha $3.3 million 2024-2027 commitment to the Ahuriri Inner Harbour Hub in economic hard times.
With work already underway to establish a permanent mooring for ocean-going trust Ngati Kahungunu waka Te Matau-a-Māui, between the Napier Sailing Club and the city end of Pandora Bridge - financed by external grants from Government and other funding sources – the trust is pleased the council has agreed to a $1.1 million co-funded alternative.
It also enhances applications for funding from other sources, to achieve the goal of land-based education and visitor facilities the trust believes could elevate the hub to the status of international attraction.
“It means we’re able to hold those funds,” said Smith, who has been with the waka kaupapa since 2011.
Without that support, he said, shore facilities would be limited to shipping containers for storage and the dream of the other facilities would be “dead in the water”.
“Nothing is guaranteed,” he said, in relation to further funding, but added with the support from the council, schools, the Ministry of Education and businesses it means the trust can “at least build the marina”.
The $1.1 million proposal was presented at a council meeting on Thursday as “Option 2”, also approving a detailed design package gifted along with all associated construction drawings of the hub to the trust, and approval in principle to reclassify the land to dedicate it for the purpose.
An impression of the on-land facilities proposed as an education and visitor centre in the Ahuririri Inner Harbour Hub.
“Option 1” proposing the previous funding model was axed at a previous workshop stage.
A third option would have seen all council funding removed.
A move made by councillor Nigel Simpson to have the fuller-funding Option 1 considered again was unsuccessful, and, after a debate of more than an hour, he and two others abstained, and Option 2 was supported in a 6-3 show of hands.
Ahuriri Inner Harbour Hub work underway, with waka Te Matau-a-Māui at left and poles in place to the right for the new pontoon. Photo / Doug Laing.
Smith told Hawke’s Bay Today: “It is for the community. An economic assessment shows year on year $1.5m to $2m in funds coming in from outside the region.”
“It will be huge for education and tourism,” he said.
Deputy Mayor Graeme Taylor said in a social media review that the council had to continue supporting the project, albeit on the reduced co-funding basis, to enable the trust to “lead the next stage of delivery”.
“The Ahuriri Inner Harbour Hub is an exciting project for Ahuriri Napier, and for Hawke’s Bay,” he said. “It’s about celebrating our maritime and voyaging history, creating opportunities for education and cultural connection and helping create a vibrant destination in the inner harbour for residents and visitors alike.”
The decision meant design work already completed could continue to be used and give the trust the opportunity to keep seeking external funding to “progress the project in stages”.
