Season’s greetings, Thames protection project progress & more updates
Published on 13 December 2024
Council meeting highlights
Our Council met on Tuesday 10 December to deliberate on several important matters concerning infrastructure, service delivery, and community facilities. Key decisions and updates included:
Thames-Coromandel District Council confirms options for future water services delivery
After a thorough and independent assessment process, our Council has narrowed down the following two options for future water services delivery for our community.
- An internal business unit or division within TCDC, and
- A regional/sub-regional asset-owning water organisation.
In its meeting this week, Council also confirmed that Thames-Coromandel District Council won’t be signing the Waikato Waters Done Well (WWDW) Heads of Agreement at this time. Council also confirmed its willingness to keep our options open regarding potential partnerships with other local government entities to provide water services – as long as it’s of mutual benefit and complies with the relevant legislation. WWDW is a group of Councils in the Waikato District (except Hamilton City Council which exited recently) that have been exploring future water service delivery through an aggregated Council Controlled Organisation (CCO) service delivery model. Our Council has been participating in these discussions.
Our Council currently provides drinking water, wastewater and stormwater services to our community through an asset base of approximately $0.55 billion dollars.
Earlier this year the government introduced new Local Water Done Well (LWDW) legislative requirements and set higher expectations for councils to ensure their water services are financially sustainable and compliant over the long term. This new legislation replaced the previous government’s Three Waters Reform.
The new legislation requires councils to identify at least two options (status quo and joint water services delivery) for future water services delivery to take to public consultation. Thereafter, every council across the country is to develop and submit Water Services Delivery Plans (WSDPs) by September 2025, based on their preferred option. The WSDP requires councils to design the structure, delivery method and funding and financing arrangements for their future water services delivery.
“It’s important to note that no final decisions have been made on how we will deliver water services in the future,” says Mayor Len Salt.
“Final decisions won’t be made until after we’ve consulted with the community, probably around April next year,” says Mayor Len. “For now, we’ve opted not to sign the Waikato Waters Done Well Heads of Agreement. Our independent review shows us we are in a relatively good position with reasonable assets and lower relative debt compared to some other councils in New Zealand. This means we are able to meet the government’s immediate new requirements in the short to medium term. So, we’ve decided to maintain a ‘keep options open’ position and not to fully commit to Waikato Waters Done Well at this stage, while keeping it a viable option for the future.”
“In the longer term we may face affordability constraints, so we need to keep exploring regional and sub-regional partnerships to see if they are likely to deliver better overall value,” says Mayor Len. “That’s what Council’s decision this week puts us in a good position to do.”
Staff will now explore opportunities for working arrangements, where possible, with Hauraki District Council as well as opportunities with Hamilton City Council and Tauranga City Council for a potential joint council-controlled organisation (CCO) with either in the longer term. The outcomes of these discussions will be factored into the preferred option selection process.
Tōtara Valley Road services extension
Council approved the Tōtara Valley Road services extension project should resume after a pause to review it, which has resulted in a 20% reduction in the total Long Term Plan LTP budget while maintaining the project's core objectives and benefits of enabling more housing for the district. The total estimated project budget has been reduced to $11.388 million. The road (just south of Thames, off Ngāti Maru Highway/SH25) will be widened and improved, and stormwater, drinking water and wastewater infrastructure will also be improved and extended up the length of the road, in two stages. This will enable development of much-needed housing for the Thames area to be developed. Cost recovery for this project is likely to be spread over 20-30 years, based on the rate of new developments. Recent interactions with local landowners indicate a significant level of interest in pursuing residential development.
Future of the main Thames Council building
Our Council also decided to progress investigations into the refurbishment and upgrade of our main Council office building in Thames, at 515 Mackay Street, instead of leasing a new building. The building and the adjacent Council building fall short of health and safety, and seismic, standards.
As part of our 2024-2034 Long Term Plan public consultation earlier this year, we asked for feedback on options which included:
- refurbishing and upgrading the main building at an estimated cost of $8.9 million,
- constructing a new building on the current site,
- constructing a new building on a different Council-owned site in central Thames, or
- constructing a new building on a new Council-owned site with opportunities for additional community and urban facilities.
A majority of respondents supported option 1, but we also received suggestions to investigate the possibility of a leasehold arrangement, where the cost of the building would be shouldered by a third party and the premises leased back to Council.
We asked for expressions of interest and there was limited interest expressed with proposals received from three companies/consortia. The rough order costs for the lease ranged from $330 per square metre to $675 per square metre for a leased option. For a 2,000 square metre building, this equates to an annual lease of approximately $660,000 to $1.35 million per annum. An analysis was carried out of all long-term costs for the leased option and the upgrade option.
This information was reported back to Council at this week’s meeting and Council confirmed it was not a reasonably practicable option and that refurbishing and upgrading the existing main Council building was still the preferred course of action. Staff will now progress investigations into refurbishing and upgrading the building and report back on budget requirements and a timeline to completion.
Kōpū Wharf decision
Councillors also agreed that the new Kōpū Wharf remain as an exclusively commercial facility, instead of allowing the general public on to it for fishing, watching the sunset and similar recreational activities. The Kōpū marine precinct was funded for its commercial outcomes, and the recreational component (the adjacent boat ramp and pontoon) was added later to provide for wider community benefit. The funding from government was given on the basis of long-term commercial outcomes. Like many sectors, the marine industry faces head winds with economic conditions and loss of spat in the aquaculture industry, but the infrastructure is designed for the long term.
Progress update on Thames Protection and Resilience
Work on the Thames Protection and Resilience project continues to progress, with work to understand flooding risks from Thames’ streams now close to completion.
Final modelling reports on the river risk component of the project are expected in February. The results will then be presented at a public meeting, along with a wider project update.
The Protection and Resilience project aims to manage the risks to the Thames area from coastal hazards such as flooding and storms, which are expected to worsen as a result of climate change and sea-level rise. The initiative is part of the Shoreline Management Pathways (SMP) planning project, launched in 2019 to address risks along Coromandel’s 400 km coastline.
Through the SMP, 138 unique adaptation pathways were developed, with Thames identified as a high-priority area due to $1 billion worth of assets at risk. The proposed design for Thames protection includes the construction of barriers, such as stopbanks and vertical walls. These will be adapted over time to accommodate a projected sea-level rise of one meter over the next century.
The project is a collaboration between Thames-Coromandel District Council, Ngāti Maru, and the Waikato Regional Council, alongside local communities and other iwi.
The proposed protection design looks to integrate nature-based solutions, such as a chenier ridge, to boost resilience and create habitats. The project team has also recently undertaken preliminary catchment modelling to assess the flooding risks of Thames’ streams.
“We need robust, effective and long-lasting solutions so one of our challenges is ensure we thoroughly understand all the intersecting risks. These include fluvial flooding risks and the likely effectiveness of pumping stations and related mitigation proposals,” said project lead Amon Martin.
Other notable progress over the past few months includes a better understanding of the coastal protection design parameters, and community feedback on how protection might blend with existing amenities (such as the walkway and small gauge railway). In addition, fact-finding has been completed to guide roles and responsibility discussions with Waikato Regional Council, including a review of the Waihou Valley Scheme’s objectives and rating system.
The final modelling report on Thames streams is expected in February, and a public meeting will be scheduled to update the community on these findings and other relevant details.
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Christmas/New Year info
Some rules, regulations and schedules may change.
Traffic management for Pepe Bridge, Tairua
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi has informed our Council that they will have traffic management on Pepe Bridge on State Highway 25 in Tairua for a total of 10 days over the peak period. This will smooth traffic flow over the one-lane bridge on the state highway and also allow swift passage of our contractor’s kerbside collection vehicles.
Traffic is still anticipated to be heavy throughout the Coromandel, and the usual bottleneck at Tairua will likely delay drivers, so we’re encouraging locals and visitors to plan their travel to allow for potentially long delays.
Traffic management on Pepe Bridge will be in place on from Monday 23 December to Sunday 5 January with the exception of Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, when there will be no traffic management.
Kerbside rubbish and recycling collections
Check out our kerbside rubbish and recycling collection calendars for our 2024/25 summer peak period and 2025 on our website.
Printed calendars are available from our Council offices, many of our PAYT (Pay as you throw) tag retailers and at our Refuse and Recycling Transfer Stations (RTS).
Contact our friendly Customer Service team if you need help getting access to these calendars – printed or online.
Our RTS are closed on Christmas and New Year’s days, and open daily from8.30am–5.30pm until 5 April.
Know your local dog rules
Follow our traffic light signs to understand our dog rules. These rules help to protect dogs, people, and wildlife during peak periods and nesting times.
Our default rule is that dogs are to be kept on lead; so when in doubt, keep your dog on a lead.
Green signs denote exercise areas: You can have your dog off lead, but it must be under control at all times.
Orange signs denote on lead areas: Your dog must remain on lead for times noted on the sign.
Red signs denote prohibited areas: This means no dogs at all. Most beach area prohibitions are either during the dotterel nesting season from Labour weekend to 1 March, or over the summer period and holiday weekends. Please take note of these areas from next Friday 20 December to 31 January during certain times - usually before 9am and after 6pm.
We also have areas that are prohibited all year round.
Dogs around playgrounds: Dogs should never be within a children's playground. This rule was put in place to protect children and other users, as well as the assets and equipment.
Dog poo: Please remember that it is your responsibility to clean up your dog's poo. Take a few bags with you on walks or take advantage of our free poo bag dispensers in some of our district's most popular dog walking areas.
Dog rules specific to your area
We have summaries of our dog rules by Community Board area below or you can check out the full Dog Control Bylaw for all our dog rules.
• Coromandel-Colville Community Board area
• Mercury Bay Community Board area
• Tairua-Pāuanui Community Board area
• Thames Community Board area
• Whangamatā Community Board area
For information on dog access to public conservation land check www.doc.govt.nz.
You’ve only got until 11:59pm Sunday to enter our dog rules quiz and be in to win a $100 Prezzy card
Enter now
Alcohol bans
Alcohol bans are in force from 4pm on Monday 23 December until 4pm on Monday 6 January, and over Anniversary weekend from 4pm Friday to 4pm Monday 27 January.
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Our customer services over summer
Our Customer Services front desk and the AA service in Thames will close a little bit earlier today, Friday 13 December – at 4pm instead of the usual 4:30pm.
Our offices (and AA services) are closed from noon on Tuesday 24 December, resuming normal hours on Friday 3 January 2025. Our offices will also close on Anniversary Day Monday 27 January. You can still contact us 24/7 on 07 868 0200 or email customer.services@tcdc.govt.nz.
The latest updates on projects and initiatives
After hours drop-off changes at Whangamatā, Pāuanui and Matarangi transfer stations
We’re changing the after-hours drop-off system at the Whangamatā Refuse and Recycling Transfer Station (RTS) from Monday 16 December.
The current system where you place $5 (per bag) into the honesty box, and the bag of rubbish through the drop-off slot is being stopped. Instead, we’re going to provide a portable rubbish compactor that has payment options on the machine.
Why the change?
The honesty system is being misused.
- Site trespassers are using the existing after-hours rubbish area to gain access to the site.
- Honesty boxes are frequently targeted by thieves.
- Not all customers are placing the required money into the honesty box when using the system.
The portable compactor is just like the ones we have already at Matarangi and Pāuanui after-hours drop-off stations.
The great news is that in addition to the coin payment option, the compactor will have PayWave too.
We’re also altering the machines at Pāuanui and Matarangi to have PayWave as well, and those machines will have that in place by Wednesday 18 December.
In addition, we’ve completed alterations to the bag hatch on the portable compactors. This is to prevent misuse such as overloading, which results in a machine breakdown and then call-outs which are a cost to our ratepayers.
Whitianga Wharf made safer
A new barrier arm has been installed at Whitianga Wharf to help keep the general public safe and separated from commercial activities keep the area safe for commercial users.
From Monday 16 December, access to the wharf to vehicles will only be available to approved wharf operators using programmed entry cards.
Non-approved users will not be able to gain access.
It is hoped the reduced traffic flow on and off the wharf will make access easier and safer for approved users.
Anyone wanting an access card can approach Whitianga or Thames Council offices for an approval application.
Pedestrian access to the ferry and other tour boat operations on the pontoon is unaffected.
Second planned outage to test Coromandel Town emergency generators
Powerco has installed two backup generators in Coromandel Town to power the township and surrounding areas in the event of an outage and help support its electricity supply during busy holiday periods.
In early November, there was a two-hour planned outage to test the generators. There is a further test required to ensure that their control room operators in New Plymouth are able to turn them on remotely and safely carry out the electricity switching needed to the local power lines.
This test is to prove that all customers are able to be transferred to the generator electricity supply. To undertake this, another planned outage is scheduled for 17 December between 1pm and 3pm (backup date of 18 December).
During this time, the power is likely to go off and come back on several times as Powerco tests the generators’ operation through various scenarios. Disconnecting the electricity supply in this way will enable Powerco to check the generators start up and restore supply as they should.
Customers should receive notification from their electricity retailer (the company they pay their power bill to) of the planned outage for their property. Customers can also check their address for planned outages on Powerco’s webpage here.
It’s important to know that, following testing, the Coromandel Town generators are not currently designed to turn on automatically when there is an outage. A loss of power at the Coromandel Town substation will show up on the computer screens in Powerco’s Network Operations Centre in New Plymouth and their network controllers will work through a process to safely turn the generators on remotely. Please note that this process will take time. Thank you in advance for your patience when Powerco needs to safely turn the generators on remotely.
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Celebrating new citizens
A huge welcome to the 20 individuals who have come from across the globe to make New Zealand, and specifically Thames-Coromandel, their new home. They officially became Kiwis at Thursday's citizenship ceremony. Coming all the way from France, Malaysia, the USA, England, the UK, Zimbabwe, Germany, Cambodia, and Colombia. We're thrilled to have you as part of our community.
Mayor’s Taskforce for Jobs (MTFJ)
Our Council’s involvement in the Mayors Taskforce For Jobs (MTFJ) programme continues to place young people in our district into employment.
Alex Pere and Dyadre Toko-Watene have signed on as apprentices with Good Ground Tattoo in Thames.
Owner Jayme Watene moved back to Thames four years ago, working from a small private studio. When the chance to open Good Ground Tattoo on Pollen Street came about, Jayme worked in it on his own for the first year. “Things were going well, and I realised I had enough space and capacity to take on apprentices,” he explained.
For Jayme, the goal is to prepare his apprentices with skills that will not only help them succeed but also equip them to pass on their knowledge to others in the future.
Alex, one of these apprentices, reflects “this experience is helping me grow by learning the different styles that Jayme has, his knowledge, and improving myself with that.” She adds, "this is the best place I have ever worked; it's such a nice environment to be in."
About Mayors Taskforce for Jobs
MTFJ is a movement of mayors around Aotearoa who advocate for a bottom-up approach to employment solutions to deliver the Community Employment Programme (CEP) along with broader initiatives. CEP is a nationwide partnership between Local Government New Zealand and the Ministry of Social Development that’s delivering great outcomes in our rural and provincial communities. It’s championed by mayors who are working together towards the vision of all young people 16-25 engaged in employment, education or training in their communities.
Keep an eye out for our new chorus cabinets
The first Chorus cabinet is now complete in Tairua, painted by Joel Nicholl. It’s wonderful to see this project finished just in time to welcome the holiday visitors and spread some festivities.
Coastguard's Old4New is back this summer
Old4New is one of Coastguard’s hero water safety initiatives, allowing people to trade in old, damaged, or ill-fitting lifejackets for new, fit-for-purpose, discounted Hutchwilco lifejackets.
Find out when the Old4New van will be visiting your neighborhood:
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Whangamatā Boat Ramp, Beach Road, Whangamatā
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28 December 2024, 8am to 11am
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Mercury Bay Marine Whitianga, 14 Moewai Road, Whitianga
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28 December 2024, 1pm to 5pm
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Pauanui supervalue store, Jubilee Drive, Pauanui
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29 December 2024, 9am to 3pm
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PAK'nSave Thames, 100 Mary Street, Thames
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30 December 2024, 9am to 1pm
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Coromandel Keltic Fair
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2 January 2025, 9am to 3pm
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View the full schedule
Get ready to kōrero with Creative Conversations
Hey, Coromandel-Colville… don’t miss your chance to meet with Creative Coromandel on Friday 17 January at their Creative Conversations event. Creative Coromandel is excited to collaborate with the Art – Is Identity exhibition by hosting its opening as part of their Creative Conversations series. The exhibition will run from January 17 - January 22, 10 am to 4 pm at Hauraki House Gallery.
Find out more Creative Coromandel’s December pānui
