A second public briefing for the Coromandel Harbour project is being held on September 11 from 5.30pm at the Coromandel Town Hall.

Thames-Coromandel District Council has signed off on the process towards lodging a resource consent application, which will see the extension of the Sugarloaf Wharf using a modest reclamation and three concrete piers.

A second public briefing for the Coromandel Harbour project is being held on September 11. Photo: Thames-Coromandel District Council.

According to council, improvements at Sugarloaf Wharf will help solve health and safety and congestions issues between mussel industry and recreational fishers and may also enable a faster commuter ferry to come in from Auckland.

'The establishment of a park and ride service is also being investigated to resolve parking and road congestion problems in the short-term, between Hannaford's Jetty and Sugarloaf, and promote the 10-minute commute to and from Coromandel Town.”

Council says another piece of the project will be a detailed business case looking at dredging a half a metre channel at Furey's Creek for recreational and shallow draft charter boats and a dredged basin at Coromandel Wharf to accommodate charter boats, ferry, recreational boats, marine servicing and potentially a marina in the long term.

The proposed all-tide access is closer to Coromandel Town, which enables local businesses to benefit.

TCDC Coromandel Harbour facilities project manager Greg Hampton says both the resource consent process and the business case plan are still very much in the very early stages of development.

'Both the resource consent application at Sugarloaf and a Business Case for the Furey's Creek area will be done in consultation with our Stakeholders Working Group and the wider community,” says Greg.

'We still have a long way to go before we see any works happen. This includes sediment and ecological modelling, environmental effects and the feasibility of any financial model.

'When work begins it will also be a staged approach as funding dictates. But right now it's heartening to see the community support already behind the project,” says Barry.

Earlier this year a Stakeholders Working Group was established following a public meeting in Coromandel Town attended by more than 150 people.

The working group is made up of council staff, three elected members – from council and Coromandel/Colville community boards – Waikato Regional Ccouncil , the Department of Conservation, iwi and 17 other representatives from the business, environment, aquaculture, public and private sectors.

The group is the forum through which community and stakeholder views and issues can be tabled and included in the project for consultation – and council says while it doesn't have delegated authority to make decisions it is relied upon for recommendations and direction on the project.

'Local knowledge is really important with the development of any facilities.”

Ongoing consultation will be undertaken with the project stakeholder working group, and future public meetings planned as part of a wider consultation process.

The project will also be put out for district consultation as part of next year's TCDC Long Term Plan.

The Coromandel Harbour Project is one of TCDC's prioritised top three projects in the current Economic Development Action Plan.