Kōpū Marine Precinct official opening and our Representation Review
Published on 21 June 2024
Kōpū Marine Servicing and Business Precinct was officially opened by Deputy Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Winston Peters, and Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Development today.
The $15.3 million facility will provide a vital boost to the district’s marine servicing industry – likely to attract fleets from as far afield as Auckland, Whangārei, the Waikato and the Bay of Plenty for servicing or in-water maintenance.
The new facility will help the region achieve its goal to double the value of its aquaculture exports over the next 20 years to $180 million, the Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones told over 100 people gathered to launch the facility.
“Today we are here to celebrate a good news story,” Deputy Prime Minister Peters said. “This project is an example of what strategic government investment can do to support New Zealand’s regions to maximise their economic potential. The precinct is a piece of marine infrastructure that will support local industries, increase access to the Waikato’s natural resources and create enduring employment opportunities for the region. Currently 11% of aquaculture industry jobs in New Zealand are based in Thames-Coromandel. Activity generated here supports 800 jobs across New Zealand.” the Deputy PM said.
“Waikato has a vision to be world-class in sustainable and innovative aquaculture management, with a doubling of export growth by 2044,” Minister Shane Jones said. “This new precinct is an example of central and local government working together to support the regions to maximise their economic potential. We want to see a tremendous degree of growth and development in aquaculture. We made a commitment to upgrade the maritime infrastructure around the coastline of New Zealand. I look forward to working with you in the future in a very collaborative sense with the new $1.2 billion dollar Regional Infrastructure Fund with a focus on growing our economy. You’re pushing on an open door with good ideas.” The Regional Infrastructure Fund opens on 1 July.
Waikato Regional Council Chair Pamela Storey described the facility as “game changing”. Contributing $565,000 of Waikato Regional Council funding towards the project reflects “a tangible commitment to stimulating growth in our region’s aquaculture sector, promoting regional economic development and addressing marine biosecurity risks. Now that it’s complete, I’m sure you will agree, the region has a wonderful facility.”
“This is just the beginning,” Mayor Len Salt said. “We’re looking forward to this opening the door and being the gateway to exciting new opportunities. This Kōpū area has enormous potential to service marine and other industries. My plea to government is when we see a project that’s worth doing let’s work together. Let’s put aside the politics and make sure that we are focused on our visions for our community.”
The commercial part of the complex consists of:
• an 80-metre long commercial wharf and floating pontoon that enables in-water marine servicing and vessel loading
• an unsealed haul-out area
• an upgraded commercial slipway.
It’s estimated that the Kōpū Marine Precinct could bring economic returns of up to $58.5 million over the next 30 years. It brings fresh opportunities to the boat repair and maintenance, aquaculture, trade and transport industries.
It’s also expected to be the catalyst for up to 100 new jobs – in aquaculture, light engineering and secondary services.
For recreational fishers, the precinct offers a modern public boat ramp of outstanding quality with trailer parking for about 34 boats. It opens to the public on Saturday 22 June.
“We hear from boaties up and down the coast that they are very excited to use it,” says Thames Councillor Peter Revell, our Council’s elected representative on the Project Steering Group. Just like with most of our Council’s other boat ramps, you can either buy a one-off pass or a more cost-effective annual pass. Check out our website www.tcdc.govt.nz for all the details.
Most of the project cost was met through an $8.2 million grant from the government’s Crown Infrastructure Partners Fund and $4.05 million from the Three Waters Reform ‘better off’ funding from the Department of Internal Affairs. This was bolstered by $1.4 million from the Thames Community Board’s Thames Urban General-Purpose Reserve and further contributions from Waikato Regional Council’s Regional Fund and our Council’s roading budget for the access road at King Street.
From the start, it’s been a partnership of central and regional government supported by our Council, the Thames Community Board, and support from Thames Business Association, local businesses and the community.
It also has the backing of local iwi, Ngāti Maru who have acted as kaitiaki of the building process, ensuring the natural environment was protected. Ngāti Maru Runanga has provided artistic designs stencilled into the ramps, as well as two pou about to be unveiled at a separate dawn ceremony.
The project has been managed by Urban Solutions with contractors Fulton Hogan, Land + Sea Civil, and Heron Group. Local sub-contractors have been extensively involved.
Investing further in aquaculture
The investment in the Kōpū precinct is one of the key drivers set to facilitate a major growth in the aquaculture and marine servicing sectors in the Thames-Coromandel District.
With the newly consented space in development across the Hauraki Gulf, investment in this enabling infrastructure is set to unlock billons in economic benefits, while supplying the world with sustainable protein.
Find out more about the exciting investment potential in the district’s aquaculture here.
Watch the speeches:
Join us on Monday, June 24, to discuss design concepts for protecting Thames from sea-level rise. The plan to protect, confirmed during the Shoreline Management Pathways project, aims to safeguard $1 billion in assets from flooding and storm surges.
A governance group led by Mayor Len Salt and including Council, Ngāti Maru, and Waikato Regional Council representatives, is prioritising this project. Our consultant, Royal HaskoningDHV, will present staged design options for protection against one-in-100-year storm events, which are becoming more frequent.
Public feedback is needed on:
• Design options for each foreshore section
• Potential alignments
• Integration with existing facilities and features
Funding for design work is in the 2023-2024 Long Term Plan. Construction funding will require targeted rates and central agency contributions, pending further feedback.
Have a say on our Representation Review Initial Proposal
Following our Council's decision on 31 October 2023 to establish at least one Māori Ward, we began a review of representation for the 2025 local election. This process is called a Representation Review and it will come into effect for our October 2025 local body elections.
The preliminary feedback in March 2024 was the first part of a process seeking community input on representation. Our Council has considered the input received from that survey, explored options, and agreed to an initial proposal in June. We are keen to hear from our communities to understand how you feel about our initial proposal.
Public feedback is now open from Friday 21 June until Friday 2 August.
We're asking for your thoughts on our initial proposal for:
• An additional councillor to reflect the introduction of a Māori Ward; and
• a minor boundary change between the South East General Ward and Thames General Ward, and the Tairua-Pāuanui Community Board and Thames Community Board to better reflect communities of interest. The area of Neavesville is accessed via one road from the western side of the district. It's considered that the constituents of Neavesville better identify with the Thames General Ward and Thames Community Board area, than with the South East General Ward and Tairua-Pāuanui Community Board area.
What's next?
Read more and give your feedback here
Download a hard copy of the feedback form
Our Tracks and Trails Forum last Friday brought together key community groups and local stakeholders to build collaboration on the maintenance and development of the walking and cycling trails ecosystem across our district.
Community members, Council elected members and staff, Department of Conservation representatives, and community trail building groups who attended the forum discussed the current state and future of regional trails, how to foster community alignment and start developing a shared action plan to address priorities.
There was agreement that a masterplan to guide trail development and maintenance was needed for the district.
The masterplan would then serve as a foundational document that guides effective and sustainable development and maintenance of the district’s trail infrastructure offering numerous benefits for communities and the environment.
The next step is creating a governance structure and working groups for the different workstreams. We’ll be reaching out for more input as we move forward.
Our Council’s Economic Development team facilitated the forum, with mountaineer, cyclist and trail enthusiast Mark Inglis providing the keynote speech. Mark is the first double amputee to have reached the summit of Mount Everest and is a champion of accessibility to trails.
While there is no Council funding for track and trail development beyond what exists on Council reserves, our Economic Development team is working to bring elements of the community together to help foster track development. The benefits are tangible: enhanced tourism offerings, improved community and health outcomes, economic diversification, job growth.
In conjunction with the Trails Collective, our Council has developed a resource library for trail builders or community groups - Find out more.
Hauraki Coromandel Biking Strategy
MetService has issued a watch for heavy rain and thunderstorms between 3am and 6pm on Sunday 23 June.
Rain is expected to ease around mid-afternoon.
Please be safe on our roads.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) has put out some safety messages around the tradition of Matariki Mahuika Ahi (bonfires).
If it’s your first time lighting a fire to mark the appearance of Matariki, or you need a refresher, check out the FENZ advice at www.checkitsalright.nz/reduce-your-risk, where you can find out if you need a permit.
FENZ asks that you avoid setting off fireworks as part of Matariki celebrations. Matariki is a time of remembrance, reflection, and renewal. Let the stars of the Matariki cluster be the visual display in the skies.
Also:
• If the fire danger level is Very High or Extreme, consider postponing your fire.
• Make sure your Matariki Mahuika Ahi (bonfire) is well away from buildings, fences, and anything else that can catch fire, like driftwood.
• Use dry, untreated wood for the fire, never plastics, tyres, or other material.
• The fire should be no higher than two metres or wider than three metres.
• Keep a way to put out your fire within easy reach, such as a shovel, bucket of water, fire extinguisher, or hose.
• Never leave the fire unattended. Make sure at least one person stays with your fire at all times.
• Always extinguish your fire with lots of water. Push the embers around to make sure the fire is completely out before leaving as hot embers can burn other beach users.
For more information
On the Matariki public holiday, Friday 28 June, Rubbish and Recycling Transfer Stations (RTS) will remain open as usual (from 8.30am-4.30pm).
Red week kerbside collections of rubbish and food waste will take place on the usual days from Monday 24 June – Thursday 27 June.
The only area affected by the public holiday is Pāuanui. Pāuanui’s scheduled red week collections on Friday 28 June will be moved to Saturday 29 June.
The week after Matariki, the usual yellow week schedule for recycling bins, glass crates and food waste will resume.
Check out your calendars at www.tcdc.govt.nz/bindays or pick up a copy from your nearest Council office.
Over 230 volunteers attended our Council's Volunteer Week celebrations this week. John Armitt, Hato Hone St John Area Operations Manager and Guest speaker at the Thames event, expressed how vital volunteers are too many organisations and essential services. “If it wasn’t for volunteers, we wouldn’t survive.” He highlighted how the aftermath of the 2023 storm events demonstrated the need for voluntary self-help groups to support community members and bolster community resilience.
In Coromandel Town, members of the Coromandel-Colville Community Board dedicated several hours to weeding and clearing at the Coromandel Community Garden. Pāuanui enjoyed a delightful morning tea, while Whangamatā savoured a lovely hot lunch at the Whangamatā Club. Many expressed gratitude for the recognition from our Council.
In Tairua, volunteers gathered for a morning tea with Board Chair Warwick Brooks, where our Council's Community Partnerships Coordinator Helen Flynn provided updates on social recovery efforts following last year's cyclone events. Meanwhile, in Mercury Bay, a large turnout of community volunteers enjoyed a great lunch. Various groups came together to acknowledge individual contributions, presenting awards and tokens of appreciation. Special thanks were extended to the Coromandel Rescue Helicopter Trust for generously hosting the event in their hangar in Whitianga.
Thank you to all the volunteers in our community.
At a citizenship ceremony in our Council chambers this week, our Deputy Mayor Terry Walker welcomed 17 new ‘Kiwis’ from a diverse range of countries including Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, the Philippines and the UK.
Children from Parawai School performed a kapahaka to welcome the new citizens, and each one took home a native tree to help them ‘plant their roots’ in the district.
This week, our Economic Development team proudly hosted Mosaic Partners in the district to deliver workshops on Chat GPT for local organisations. Held in Whitianga, Thames, and Whangamatā, the sessions saw 50 small business owners and community leaders engage in two hours of interactive learning about ChatGPT.
During the workshops, participants:
• Discussed the language, limitations, and ethics of ChatGPT.
• Learned to craft effective prompts and apply them to business scenarios.
• Got creative with updating their LinkedIn profiles.
• Experienced live demonstrations of language translation, data analysis, and image creation using ChatGPT Plus – including the image in this article.
There were plenty of laughs as attendees discovered the surprising outputs ChatGPT can generate. The key takeaway? ChatGPT is like the world's smartest intern, but the quality of its responses depends on the prompts you provide. Take the time to think through a great prompt – be clear about what you’re asking ChatGPT, ask it to play a role, and to respond in a certain style and structure that reflect your needs.
We’ve already received some fantastic feedback on how valuable the workshops were:
As a daily user of multiple AI platforms, I thought the workshop was excellent.
As is often the case with technology, it is so accessible that you can start using it straight away, but often with disappointing results that may cause you to write it off.
The workshop with Mosaic Partners was super helpful in providing me with the knowledge and tools to level up my usage of AI programs as well as understanding their current limitations and an introduction into the ethical concerns. Thank you for making this happen. - AK
If you missed the workshops you might like to find out more about Chat GPT by subscribing to ‘3 Things from Mosaic Partners, Mosaic’s fortnightly newsletter.
We are delighted to have offered these workshops at a minimal cost to attendees, thanks to co-funding from Soda Inc. Soda Inc are the Waikato partners for the Regional Business Partner programme. They help businesses to grow, offering a range of services including one-on-one business capability training (businesses can register for these services directly via the RBPN website), group workshops, and speaker series.
For more opportunities from our Economic Development team, socio-economic insights on our district, and broader council updates, sign up for our email distribution list. For Economic Development-specific newsletters, select "Economic and social development" at tcdc.govt.nz/subscribe.
Celebrate excellence and creativity in the business sector by encouraging a local business to enter The Richardsons Hauraki Coromandel Business Awards.
The awards, run every two years jointly by our Council and Hauraki District Council, offer local businesses an opportunity to gain recognition, benchmark their practice and gain expert advice on how to continue to prosper.
Entries are open now until 16 August.
Award categories and entry information
The Environmental Initiatives Fund (EIF) opens soon for applications, offering up to $40,000 for projects that enhance the environment or provide environmental education. Managed by the Waikato Regional Council, this fund supports initiatives that protect and restore biodiversity.
Applications open Monday 24 June 2024 at 9am and close on Friday 19 July 2024 at3pm.
Eligible applicants include community groups, iwi/hapū, kaitiaki groups, incorporated societies, community trusts, and more. Successful projects may receive funding for up to two years, with a maximum grant of $40,000.
For application details and updates, subscribe to the mailing list by emailing eif@waikatoregion.govt.nz with the subject 'subscribe.'
More information on the EIF
Water meters have now been installed on almost all properties in Whitianga. From 1 July, Whitianga property-owners will have two water charges instead of the current one.
The set charge that property owners currently pay for water supply will drop by almost 50 per cent. In addition, after 1 July property owners will be charged for water depending on the volume that they use as measured by their meters.
Please note, we still have some properties which do not yet have water meters installed. In the meantime, these properties will continue to be charged the full 'water serviced' set charge ($803.90 in the 2023/24 year, due to rise slightly from 1 July).
tcdc.govt.nz/watermeters
Find out more about water rates
The Connector service finished on Tuesday 18 June. Since it started on December 18, 2023, over 1,090 people have used this service, with many finding it useful due to the high costs of driving and vehicle ownership. The Connector service was funded by a Central Government storm recovery grant, aiming to provide access to healthcare, education, jobs, appointments, and maintain whānau connections. Sharon from Coromandel Taxis said that through the service she could reunite families who were separated due to work reasons and help individuals regain their independence, whether due to medical conditions or inability to drive. “It has been incredibly rewarding to make such a positive impact on people's lives,” she said.
Coromandel Taxis has become aware over these past six months how vital the service is to our community and how much of a positive impact it has had on the people who regularly use it. This is why Coromandel Taxi has decided to continue this as a private service for the near future, with some other minor changes.
For more information
Find more information on pest plants
Thames Centennial pool will be closed all day for a private function on Saturday 22 June.
Normal hours will resume on Sunday 23 June.
Twilight in Grahamstown
Light up the longest night and come celebrate the Solstice in Grahamstown, Thames on Friday 21 June from 5-8pm.
Creative Conversations
Creative Coromandel/He Mana Toi Moehau Trust is putting on what promises to be a great event at Edisons events space on Wednesday 3 July. Join the korero to learn about your creative mahi and discover the initiatives that can help amplify your creative practice. Plus, it's an excellent opportunity to socialise, network, and connect with others.
Whether you're an artist, writer, musician, teacher, local businessperson, or love anything creative and want to support your creative community, this event is for you. Save the date and join in; this is not a sit-down, boring hui with pen and paper but an invitation to a great night out, good kai, and forging new connections.
Date: Wednesday 3 July
Time: 5.30-7.30PM
Venue: Edisons | Cinema Lane, 708 Port Road, Whanganmatā
RSVP to info@creativecoromandel@gmail.com
Whitianga phoenix palm pruning
Starting from Thursday 27 June, arborists will be undertaking maintenance on the Phoenix palm trees along Buffalo Beach Road and The Esplanade in Whitianga. Depending on the weather, this work is expected to take a few weeks.
Please note that signage, barriers, and traffic management will be in place as needed. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation during this specialized operation.
Repairs on the slips at Ruamahunga are nearing completion
Recovery work at the large slip-site at Ruamahunga is nearing completion. While there are still some minor changes to be done, the major work of clearing debris, installing soil nails and mesh netting is now largely complete. Contractors are also continuing to clear debris from a new slip, including large tree roots, after a large tree fell 30 metres down the bank blocking the road for most of Monday.
Find out more
SH25 Whangapoua – night works starting Sunday 23 June
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) is advising motorists that surface repairs are scheduled to take place overnight from this Sunday 23 June to Thursday 27 June from 8pm to 6am on State Highway 25 at Whangapoua Hill. There are multiple small worksites from north of the Maraetotara Reserve for approximately 2km.
The work is to repair patches of damaged pavement to improve the road surface and increase its longevity over the wetter winter months.
SH25 is too narrow to allow both traffic and the large machinery to safely operate at the same time. To ensure the safety of both the crew and traffic, this work needs to be completed under stop/stop traffic controls and traffic will be held for short periods.
Traffic may be held for up to 30 minutes at a time to allow work to take place, meaning there could be delays. There will also be a temporary speed limits in place of 30km/h and 50 km/h through the worksite.
Drivers are advised to allow extra time for their trips and stay up to date on our journey planner - journeys.nzta.govt.nz
NZTA thanks motorists for their patience.
At our Council we ensure work-life balance is not just a dream but a reality. We offer an array of staff benefits including flexible work arrangements, relocation allowance, sick leave on commencement of employment and more.
Our current job vacancies are:
• Chief Financial Officer
• Environmental Health Team Leader
If you're interested in working for us, and there are currently no vacancies that fit your skillset and knowledge, please complete the expression of interest application via the link below.
For more information or to apply
Looking for a loyal companion? Look no further than Scott the dog. Meet Scott, a one-year-old entire male Staffy mix. He's a sweet dog just looking for a calm environment to relax, gain trust, and feel safe in. He is waiting for a kind loving owner to show him how beautiful the world is.
If you are interested in adopting a dog, please contact us on 07 868 0200. Once your interest is known, a Dog Control Officer will be in contact with you to discuss the adoption and carry out the appropriate checks, this may include a visit to your property.
