A progress report on the district council's Coromandel Harbour Project has been received positively from the Waikato Regional Council.

Chief executive David Hammond, who presented the report to the regional council last week, says they are interested in working with the district council them to investigate inner-harbour opportunities.

A progress report from the Thames-Coromandel District Council on it's Coromandel Harbour Project has been received positive feedback from the Waikato Regional Council. Photo: TCDC

'The regional council appreciated us bringing them into conversation early in the piece and indicated they were prepared to put some resource into investigating options,” says David, who is also the project's sponsor.

There are two work strands that makes up the Coromandel Harbour Project, but in the short-term TCDC will look at the expansion and development of the Sugarloaf Wharf (Te Kouma).

While longer-term, the second strand of the project will look into the development of inner harbour facilities closer to Coromandel Town.

WRC chief executive Vaughan Payne says while the project is not yet at the stage where the regional council is being asked to make decisions, they are pleased to be kept in the loop.

'[WRC] staff are happy to work together to investigate options," says Vaughan. 'There will be technical, environmental and other challenges to overcome, but it's good to see TCDC looking for opportunities to work with others to build upon the Coromandel's natural strengths for the benefit of communities.”

SUGARLOAF WHARF

Sugar Loaf Wharf (Te Kouma) Photo: TCDC

The development of Sugarloaf Wharf is to ensure it is fit-for-purpose for aquaculture industry expansion, along with suiting the needs of other users including recreational fishers.

The wharf is currently used by the commercial aquaculture sector which includes the Coromandel Marine Farmers Association (CoroMFA), plus recreational fishers.

The district council has sent a revised draft Memorandum of Understanding to the CoroMFA, which is being considered by its executive sub-committee.

'We expect a response by the end of October,” says David. 'Once an MOU is signed that will open up the doors to then formalising a contract with the CoroMFA, the consent process and licence arrangement negotiations.”

David adds that parallel to this work, the TCDC also needs to resolve land ownership title for reclaimed land and that will need iwi input and consultation.

Both the district council and iwi have stated positions to the reclaimed land at the Sugarloaf, which is currently vested in the Crown as a result of the passing of the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act in 2011.

'Our Council owns infrastructure upon the reclamation while iwi have signalled their proprietary interests in the foreshore and seabed, and therein the footprint upon which the reclamation sits, via various Treaty settlement-related processes including the current Hauraki Claims,” says David.

THE INNER-HARBOUR CONCEPT.

The Coromandel Harbour as seen from Te Kouma. Photo: Google Maps

The ‘Inner-Harbour' concept relates to investigating longer-term option of development around Coromandel Wharf which could accommodate a commercial area, space for charter boats, recreational and ferry usage.

Potentially a model of marina and on-shore activity to help offset development costs if there was demand.

David says the district council knows that longer-term the Inner Harbour concept would be better but the price tag on that could be up to $50 - $60 million.

'We know we can't fund that ourselves and so we're gearing up to take a ‘Partnership Proposal' to central government, regional government and the private sector to see if there's investor interest.

'So our next step in this project is finalising the Partnership Proposal which will be a means by which we will engage with potential funding partners in conversations about the Coromandel (inner) harbour development project.”

This Partnership Proposal is an investor-styled document the district council can send to potential investors, which will be presented to Council at its meeting in late October.

The Coromandel Harbour Stakeholders Group will be meeting to discuss the Coromandel Harbour Project today.

The meeting has been scheduled to take place at the Coromandel Community Board Room this afternoon, from 5pm.

The stakeholder group is made up of members from the community, iwi, businesses, local and regional government, recreational fishers, aquaculture and environmental groups.

Its role is to give feedback on the various options and make recommendations and direction on the project.

HANNAFORDS WHARF AND SUGARLOAF PARKING

Coromandel's Sugarloaf wharf. The yellow areas show times are indicated by signage/markings, while red indicates a permit is required. Photo: TCDC

There is currently no park and ride service at the Te Kouma wharf facilities(Sugarloaf) and nearby Hannaford's Wharf in the Coromandel Harbour.

The district council is currently in discussions with the Coromandel Charter Boat Association about how it can reduce the impact this activity has on Te Kouma Rd.

There are several sites that council is investigating as potential ‘park and ride' parking areas, but it also need commitment from the Coromandel Charter Boat Association to finalise this.

At its September 22 meeting, the Coromandel-Colville Community Board recommended that the district council set short timeframes to work with the Charter Boat industry on achieving this.

'Right now we are asking all users to use appropriate and legal safe parking areas, and consider courtesy and safety of traffic and pedestrians, when using either the Sugarloaf or Te Kouma wharf facilities.

'Council intends to proactively enforce no-parking areas throughout the summer to ensure public safety in these areas.”

New signage is also being put in place as part of the amended no-parking areas, which was signed-off during our recent bylaw review.