A packed Projects and Services Committee agenda saw Whakatāne District Councillors updated on a wide range of key projects this week. Matters considered by the committee ranged from reports on the Museum Research Centre redevelopment to harbour projects, a review of Visitor Information Centre operations and updates on The Warehouse expansion, the Piripai/Bennetts Block development and a proposed greenwaste processing facility.

Harbour Projects
The need for additional berthage space in the Whakatāne Harbour will see a number of investigation initiatives undertaken in the 2013/14 year, with a view to carrying out wharf expansion projects over the succeeding three years.

The Committee heard that the demand for wharf berths in Whakatāne has consistently exceeded supply in recent years and with additional capacity required when Ōpōtiki’s major aquaculture economic development project gets underway, the need for new berths was becoming pressing. Recommendations adopted by the Committee included:

• That feasibility, design and cost estimates be obtained during the current year for an extension of the Quay Street Wharf in 2014/15;
• That an investigation be undertaken, in conjunction with the Whakatāne Yacht Club, to look at the feasibility of extending the club’s existing marina facility; and
• That structural renewal works and timing requirements be investigated for the Whakatāne Main Wharf and Port Ōhope Wharf, with the intention of beginning work on those projects in 2015/16.

All of those projects would be funded by Harbour Fund reserves, with no impact on rates costs.

River Access
The Projects and Services Committee also endorsed a move to refine the options for Whakatāne River mouth access improvements, in consultation with the Bay of Plenty Regional Council and iwi, to allow detailed hydrological modelling to proceed.

Historically, problems with the shallowing of the river entrance occur every few years, usually in the months following drier winters, where there have been few high river flow events to flush accumulated sand away from the river bar.

A Bay of Plenty Regional Council resource consent for a western spit wall was issued in 2009, which requires the Whakatāne District Council to undertake detailed monitoring and investigations to determine a long-term solution for the management of the river entrance. A progress report on that work is due by 31 December this year.

Work by consultants DHI completed in late-2011 identified a number of improvement options, which now need to be considered in the light of cultural, aesthetic and environmental factors before determining which potential solutions should be subject to modelling. $50,000 has been set aside in the Council’s 2013/14 Annual Plan for that work, again supported by the Harbour Fund.

The Warehouse
Council elected members were updated on progress with the planned expansion of The Warehouse’s Whakatāne store. A resource consent application is expected to be lodged for the project by the end of July, with construction planned to begin by January 2014 and the expansion completed by October 2014.

The project will see the store’s floorspace increase by 2,000 square metres to a total of 5,300 square metres. A road stopping process has been progressed for the road immediately to the east of the building, to allow the expansion to proceed. Other projects required as part of the Town Vision concept for the area include the demolition of two Council-owned buildings on the Strand to create a new pedestrian walkway and a visual link to the riverside area and the redevelopment of the Kakahoroa Drive Car Park. That work has an estimated cost of $2.5 million and will also be undertaken next year, subject to the completion of a special consultative procedure. The cost of the Town Vision projects will be met from parking reserves, development contributions and Harbour funds and will not impact on District rates costs.

Museum Research Centre Project
The planned redevelopment of the Whakatāne Museum took a step forward with the adoption of recommendations to proceed with a design brief for improvements to safely house the Museum’s collection and archives and cater for future growth, research needs and any other activities required by community stakeholders.

Funding to begin the redevelopment is included in the 2013/14 Annual Plan, but additional subsidy funding will be sought once the project details have been fully developed. In the meantime, staff will continue with activities required to advance the project brief and design and will report back to the Committee in August with a project plan to address the archiving, digitisation and storage requirements for the Council’s records.

Visitor Information Centre Review
A steady decline in the use of Whakatāne’s Visitor Information Centre in recent years has sparked a new focus on the future activities provided in this iconic, riverbank building. A recent workshop attended by some 20 representatives from the local business community has resulted in a number of proposals, which aim to bring a more innovative approach to sales provision and facility usage. The changes envisaged would encourage the development of a more vibrant, technology-supported destination and greater use by both the community and visitors of a range of relevant information services and experiences.

The Visitor Information Centre is part of Tourism New Zealand’s national i-SITE organisation. Most i-SITES around the country are dealing with similar usage issues, which have seen some 10 percent of the national network closed in the past year. The Council intends to work with Tourism New Zealand to achieve greater efficiency in the local operation and a rebranding to reinforce its changing role. Amongst the initiatives under consideration is a reconfiguration of the interior space to accommodate interactive technology and create a facility suitable for a range of community uses and events.

Proposed Masterplan Development – Piripai and Bennett Block landholdings
An update report on the proposed masterplan approach to developing a residential subdivision, retirement village and marine precinct facilities on the Council’s Piripai and Bennett Block landholdings has foreshadowed a public launch event in September to share the project vision with the community.

The Council signed a ‘heads of agreement’ with Hopper Developments and Whakatāne Marina Limited in June, allowing the project partners to explore the feasibility of the proposal. That will see the development of a draft concept plan for discussion with Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa and other key stakeholders. Discussions are also underway with the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, with a view to ensuring that the proposed development is not in conflict with the draft Regional Coastal Environment Plan.

Greenwaste Processing Facility
The proposed development of a greenwaste processing operation on Council-owned land adjacent to the Whakatāne sewerage treatment facility has also been reported back to the Projects and Services Committee. Progress to date has involved the preparation of a project plan covering the design, community consultation and resource consent application aspects of the proposal.

A provisional agreement has also been reached with the Council’s current greenwaste processor, Ecocast Limited, to provide technical support and funding for the design of the facility and be involved in its commissioning and operation. Greenwaste will continue to be processed at the Ecocast site in Kawerau until December this year. A funding application has been lodged with the Ministry for the Environment for the project. If successful, the cost (to ratepayers) of developing the facility would be similar to the current cost of carting and processing greenwaste during the six-month start-up period.

The site is the preferred location for greenwaste processing because it is on appropriately zoned rural land, already owned by the Council, at least 300 metres from the nearest building, and adjacent to an existing waste processing facility – Whakatāne’s sewerage treatment (oxidation) ponds.