Whakatāne District Council is looking to reallocate funding for its town centre and riverfront development into its Te Rāhui Herenga Waka Boat Harbour project. Artist Impression / Supplied
Whakatāne District Council is looking to reallocate funding for its town centre and riverfront development into its Te Rāhui Herenga Waka Boat Harbour project. Artist Impression / Supplied
The potential for contamination of soil at the site of Te Rāhui Herenga Waka boat harbour development is the reason no action has been seen there in over a year.
In August last year, during a visit by then Minister of Economic and Regional Development Stuart Nash, the first sods were turned on the project and it seemed as though diggers may soon begin work. No further activity has been apparent on the site since that time.
The explanation from Whakatāne mayor Victor Luca was that the project was waiting for sign-off on a management plan for disposal of potentially contaminated soil on the site from Bay of Plenty Regional Council.
The joint project between Whakatāne District Council, Ngāti Awa, landowners Te Rāhui Lands Trust and central government received $19.6 million in funding from Kānoa, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s regional economic development and investment unit, with another $9.8m from the council’s harbour fund.
The council has since asked the Government if Provincial Growth Fund funding for its Te Ara Hou project to revitalise the Whakatāne riverfront and town centre can be reallocated to the boat harbour.
It has yet to hear whether the request has been granted.
Local Democracy Reporting was initially told by project manager Phil Wardale in January 2022 that, subject to consent, work might start on the harbour project in the second half of last year.
Consent was granted in June that same year through a fast-tracked consenting process the Government temporarily put in force to get projects moving, to boost employment and economic recovery in response to Covid-19. Among the conditions of the consent was the need for a site and soil contaminant management plan.
Other sites in the Keepa Rd area had been found to be contaminated with toxic chemicals associated with the processing of wood at the nearby mill.
The land had previously had wood waste from the Whakatāne Mill deposited in it, which would have to be removed and relocated as the excavation of the harbour took place.
Wardale had previously told Local Democracy Reporting he was confident the wood waste at the site did not contain any harmful contaminants.
As part of the consent application, a report was submitted on some preliminary investigation of the site by Hale Environmental which did not find any significant contamination but could not rule out that there could potentially be hot spots of contamination.
“Were that to be the case, action would need to be taken,” Luca said.
“Nothing significant has been found so far but that doesn’t preclude that something might pop up unexpectedly. A plan needs to be in place before anything can happen.”
Regional council chief executive Fiona McTavish said the project’s site and soil contaminant management plan had taken time to complete to ensure appropriate and safe protection was managed and maintained at all times.
“The regional council has a statutory responsibility to ensure compliance with the consent conditions and the project has responsibility to deliver a safe plan. All parties have agreed to the importance of this plan.”
Whakatāne District Council chief executive Steph O’Sullivan said the current focus of the boat harbour project was to ensure the highest standards were met through the consent conditions.
“All project partners are committed to best practice through the seven management plans required by the Environmental Protection Agency, and on a project as complex as this, not surprisingly, this is taking some time.
“We want to ensure all associated soil and water issues at the boat harbour site are well prepared for and managed throughout the project life.”
Te Ara Hou project on pause
Whakatāne District Council has made a request to central government to reallocate funding for its town centre riverfront development to the boat harbour.
Both are joint projects being done in conjunction with Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa and partially funded by the Government.
The council had $9.6m in funding approved in 2020 from the Provincial Growth Fund for its Te Ara Hou project to revitalise the Whakatāne riverfront and town centre.
The first part of this project, the remediation of the 100-year-old Whakatāne town wharf, was completed and officially opened by then Minister Nash last year.
Further stages were to include the development of a riverfront promenade and a plan for the central business district that would draw people into the heart of the town.
Whakatāne mayor Victor Luca told Local Democracy Reporting the reason no further progress had been made on the Te Ara Hou project was due to uncertainty around Bay of Plenty Regional Council plans to raise the stopbanks along the Whakatāne town riverfront by around 80 millimetres, called Project Future Proof.
A concept image of the proposed marina expansion has been created by a club member. Photo / Whakatāne Yacht Club
“We’re not really sure what shape it’s going to take yet so we’re not really in a position to advance with the Te Ara Hou project,” he said.
“We’re waiting for definitive descriptions of what form that future-proofing will take because without that we won’t really be able to design exactly what that waterfront looks like.”
He said the regional council had “quite complicated science and modelling” that needed to be done around predicting sea levels and storm surges.
“Also, in terms of modelling, what impact the fuse in the sand spit would be. We have not had the definitive on that either. They’re the ones holding all the cards at the moment,” Luca said.
He said that over the past year, costs had gone up on everything, as most people had experienced through an increased cost of living.
“The boat harbour is not immune to it. We are looking at potential cost overruns,” he said.
A risk management report to the council’s risk and assurance committee on August 4 said the council had made a request to Kānoa, the MBIE’s regional economic development and investment unit, jointly with Ngāti Awa, in May, to reallocate Te Ara Hou funding into the Te Rāhui Herenga Waka Boat Harbour.
The first sods were turned on this project in August last year but there had been no further activity because of the potential for contamination of soil at the site.
Luca confirmed the council had given approval for its chief executive to go ahead and explore options.
Chief executive Steph O’Sullivan said since 2019, the council and communities had experienced unanticipated events, including the eruption of Whakaari/White Island, the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting global economic shock and 30-year-high inflationary pressure.
“These circumstances, along with community feedback on the wider Te Ara Hou project, plus other contextual changes, including the Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s Future Proof Project to strengthen our Whakatāne town centre flood defences, means council needs to reconsider options.
“To that end, particularly to ensure we protect this significant PGF investment into our district, we have been working with our Crown funding partners to consider the use of the investment across the broader Whakatāne regeneration programme outcomes.
“However, no decision has yet been made regarding the PGF funding.”
McTavish said the regional council acknowledged the importance of the riverfront promenade and community feedback on the riverfront revitalisation project.
“We are working with Whakatāne District Council and Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa to ensure greater community safety as part of this riverfront revitalisation project.
“In collaboration, stage one of Project Future Proof is now under way.”
