May 23, 2018
Opotiki port plan too expensive
Whakatohea may have to delay plans to build a mussel processing as Opotiki looks for another way to upgrade its port.
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones told the iwi and civic leaders the proposed $145 million harbour upgrade had failed to pass muster with his independent advisers, and the Government would not fund it out of the Provincial Grown Fund.
He left the door open if a lower priced scheme can be developed, and offered help with engineering advice..
Deputy mayor, Lyn Riesterer, says estimates of the cost were higher than expected because of the need to address the flooding potential of the rivers, earthquake strengthening and minimising maintenance costs.
Whakatohea Maori Trust Board chair, Robert Edwards, says the tribe’s offshore mussel farm is going from strength to strength.
He says the real benefits will come when they are processed in the town, but that will require a suitable harbour.
The mussels are currently landed at Whakatane.
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