Local company awarded contract for next stages of lakefront development

Rotorua Lakefront Development. Photo / Andrew Warner.

Work on Rotorua's lakefront development has resumed with contracts awarded for the next sections of work.

Local company Campbell Infrastructure has been awarded contracts for Stages 2, 3, and 4.

Rotorua Lakes Council's group manager operations Jocelyn Mikaere said it was fantastic to see the project back on track and able to employ a local company to do the next stages.

"The past couple of months have been extremely challenging for many so it's fantastic to see these projects get back up and running again following the nation-wide closures during Covid-19 alert levels 4 and 3.

Rotorua Lakefront Development. Photo / Andrew Warner.

"Currently around 60 people are employed on the lakefront development project and this number will grow as these next stages get under way. We're really pleased to be able to award this contract to Campbell Infrastructure who are a local company with many years of experience in Rotorua," Mikaere said.

Central government's Provincial Growth Fund is contributing $19.9 million and the council will spend $20.1m between now and 2021 for the $40m development.

Campbell Infrastructure will initially start working on Stage 2 of the development, which will refurbish the Volcanic Playground.

Campbell Infrastructure's Project Manager Alister Campbell and Contract Manager Sanne van der Vliet said they were excited to be part of the Lakefront development project which would benefit local business and provide an amazing space.

The council said the work had been brought forward to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 response and to reduce delays to the overall project.

The council agreed to complete the work over winter, starting next month.

Rotorua Lakefront Development. Photo / Andrew Warner.

The original scheduling of the work was to ensure a playground would always be available at the lakefront. However the existing playground will now be under construction before the new playground is built.

Waiotahi Contractors were completing the enabling works in Stage 2 where the new playground will be constructed. Preload to stabilise the ground will remain in place until early next year.

Campbell Infrastructure will then begin the construction of the new playground.

Stage 3 involved landscaping, lawn terraces and the construction of a shared pathway between the lake edge and the playground. This work will begin next year.

Stage 4 involved transforming Memorial Drive into a plaza rather than a thoroughfare. It will provide more space for people to gather and for a larger variety of parking including mobility, motorcycle, and bicycle parking.

The space will also be used for other purposes such as events and parades.

This work is expected to be under way by late September. Memorial Drive will then no longer be accessible to vehicles.

A temporary thoroughfare across Memorial Drive, connecting to the current walkway between the lakefront and the spa development site, will be created for pedestrians and cyclists.

Work along the lake edge continues, with the foundation of the new boardwalk now being constructed. After the Covid-19 response and lockdown, all work programmes and budgets for this project were being assessed and reviewed.

The full impact on this project is unlikely to be known until later this year.