The council said McConnell Dowell and their design partners were now working on the first stage of the design, which would separate recreational and commercial activities and increase the wharf’s commercial capacity.
Current design work included the full scope for future development and applications for further investment to develop land-side aquaculture activities.
Roading infrastructure would be prepared using the design and cost outputs later this year, the council said.
The upgrade would see the wharf platform extended and raised to account for rising sea levels.
There would be new berths for increased commercial mussel activity and a separate facility for launching recreational boats.
The existing carpark footprint would remain.
ATSWL is jointly owned by Thames-Coromandel District Council, Coromandel Marine Farmers Association, and the Crown.
Following the judicial review in which an independent panel approved the application to upgrade wharf facilities, Thames-Coromandel mayor Len Salt said he was pleased there had been a final resolution with the focus now be directed to building the facility.
“It’s a positive opportunity to develop our aquaculture industry and will have some real benefits for our local economy. Green-lipped mussel volumes are set to increase significantly, potentially doubling by 2040.”
He said the Government’s aquaculture strategy noted the wharf investment would allow the local industry to develop to $100m in value.
“Aquaculture produces low cost, low emissions protein, which works in well with the environmental aspirations of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park Act, which seeks clean, productive water.
“Mussel extracts have anti-inflammatory health properties, and added value products, such as pharmaceuticals to support joint heath and function for people and pets, are rapidly growing markets.
“Iwi are a key shareholder in our aquaculture industry, who are thinking intergenerationally, holistically and for the benefit of wider whānau.
“This aligns with well council and government wellbeing aspirations, and our desire to see wider socio-economic improvement supported.”
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters announced the expansion in June 2020, saying the expansion would increase mussel farming capacity by almost 20,000 tonnes, bringing additional jobs to the region.
Construction would generate around 25 new jobs and long-term, the new wharf would enable an estimated 170 new jobs in the marine farming sector, while supporting the employment of over 800 people in the North Island’s aquaculture industry, Peters said at the time.
A proposal on the site of the development goes back more than 10 years when Thames-Coromandel District Council officers recommended council members choose the Sugarloaf Wharf, at Te Kouma Harbour, south of Coromandel town, as the site for a multimillion-dollar, industry-funded wharf extension in 2012.
