Local iwi and hapū Ngāti Kuta, Patukeha and Ngāti Hine are against a fast-tracked Waipiro Marina Project. Photo / RNZ
By Emma Andrews of RNZ
The Bay of Islands community is shocked that a fast-tracked marina proposal will progress to the next stage.
The approval on Monday by Minister of Infrastructure Chris Bishop comes with no support from local iwi and hapū Ngāti Kuta, Patukeha, and Ngāti Hine.
“We are deeply concerned and do not understand how the minister could disregard the united opposition to this proposal from across the district,” Kohu Hakaraia of Patukeha hapū said.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Bishop said: “The Minister referred the Waipiro Bay Marina project into the Fast-track process as he is satisfied the project would have significant regional or national benefits”.
Hakaraia said they rejected the claim the marina was regionally or nationally significant.
The proposed build of a commercial marina will offer berthage for 200-250 recreational boating vessels with 14 spaces for 50m superyachts.
The cost of each berth depends on the vessel size – a 10-20m slot would cost between $80,000 – $640,000 while a 20-30m berth could be priced up to $1.2 million.
A public boat ramp, a parking lot, fuelling services, and hospitality and retail venues would also be constructed on reclaimed seabed with sand dredging used during construction and for maintenance.
It is estimated to bring an economic impact of $177.9 to $218.8 million in value-added GDP and generate just under 150 fulltime jobs in construction, operations, and boat maintenance over a 30-year period.
Those opposing the Waipiro Marina Project have called for transparency and accountability from the two companies – Hopper Developments and Azuma Property – and hoped the decision would go back to a Resource Management Act process.
“As hapū and community, we feel that our voices have not been adequately heard,” Hakaraia said.
Both companies did not respond to requests for comment.
An online petition has rallied 14,600 signatures disagreeing with the use of fast-track legislation for the site and Far North Mayor Moko Tepania had also pledged to write a personal letter.
There has also been a stern ‘no’ from boaties.
Russell Boating Club members voted at their AGM in June to oppose use of the Fast Track Approvals Act 2024 with regards to the Bay of Islands project.
Life member and former commodore of the club Jay Howell said the area was a quiet, treasured destination for locals to “anchor up and enjoy getting away from the hustle and bustle of Russell and the western flank of the Bay of Islands”.
The proposed marina and boat ramp would overwhelm the waterways with boat traffic, he said.
Plus, the Ōpua-Okiato Vehicle Ferry crossing already brought long lines of cars that worsened in the summertime, Howell said.
“That ferry is going to get overwhelmed by traffic. There aren’t any alternatives really. They can’t add more ferries and more ferry capacity, they’re already at capacity.
“There’s infrastructure issues that Fast-Track just overlooks all of that and allows somebody [who isn’t local] to make a decision that it has big ramifications locally.”
Boating and tourism businesses in Ōpua and Paihia were already struggling, he noted, and the marina could take business away from existing commercial centres making businesses less economically viable.
Environmental benefits stated in the application included the creation of new marine environments, and improved ability to monitor and manage international and domestic boats that could be carrying foreign invasive species, like seaweed pest exotic caulerpa.
Howell was also a member of the Eastern Bay of Islands Preservation Society. He was concerned that the influx of a couple of hundred extra boats would cause further decline of the whale and dolphin populations – something he had noticed in the last 15 years of living there.
“Private boats just follow them around and don’t leave them alone, and the marina will just exacerbate that situation out here.”
In addition, scallop beds and mussels in the area had already been decimated because of overharvesting. Te Rāwhiti residents would lose one of their main pipi beds.
“There’s all these impacts that the human activities are having on the marine environment in the area, and the marina will certainly put a lot more burden on all of that,” Howell said.
Another member of the Preservation Society, Sandra Scowen, said the area should be protected from large-scale commercial development and preserved for future generations.
- RNZ