Town Basin yacht loan to go ahead

An 11th hour bid to re-evaluate a $200,000 interest-free, ratepayer loan to put in more berths at Whangarei's Town Basin has failed.
Last month the Whangarei Harbour Marina Management Trust, which leases and manages the Town Basin marina on behalf of ratepayers, was granted a Whangarei District Council loan to extend a pontoon on the city side of the Town Basin by 48 metres.
The council's community funding and liaison committee granted the trust an eight-year interest-free loan of up to $200,000 to build an extra 12 berths at the marina to meet demand.
But yesterday, councillor Crichton Christie tried unsuccessfully to get the matter brought back to the full council for consideration.
Cr Christie said the trust was set up as a stand-alone operation separate from the council, just as the Tutukaka Marina Trust had been.
"The Tutukaka Trust has managed to put money aside for this sort of thing. If we adopt this we will be setting a precedent for others to come and apply for funding," he said.
Cr Christie said the money would have been better given to other community groups
"That's $30,00 a year that would otherwise go to community organisations. Are they undercharging for their marina services? Do they have enough reserves to deal with this kind of issue and if not why not?" he said.
Cr Kahu Sutherland, chairman of the community funding and liaison committee, said all the trust's finances were presented to the committee and he stood by the decision to grant the loan.
"In terms of comparing it to Tutukaka, they're totally different. The costings are different and there is far more dredging being done by this marina than there is at Tutukaka."
Marina manager Brian Caulton was delighted to have got the loan and said work on the new berths could start as early as May next year and would take about a month or two to complete.
Mr Caulton said independent studies showed that visiting yachties pumped about $20 million a year into Whangarei's economy and the marina was very popular with overseas boaties.
He said it was getting to the point where yachties could have to be turned away as the trust was having difficulty meeting the demand for berths.
The Town Basin has about 200 berths, with many taken up by permanent or semi-permanent yachties, and last season more than 125 yachties tied up at the marina. Whangarei is seen as the perfect spot to shelter from the Pacific storm season.
It is estimated that extending the pontoon would cost about $160,000, but up to $200,000 has granted to cover any cost overruns. The trust will also have to pay $37,260 to dredge the harbour around the site of the extension. The extra berths would have electrical and plumbing facilities.