A word from Mayor David

LAST week, we welcomed dignitaries and guests including Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones to open the harbour seawalls.

The ministers, MPs and guests showed me two things clearly – a sign of how important this is, not just to us locally but nationally, and also the level of partnership that has been required between central, regional and local government, iwi, private industry and the community.  

The rain held off long enough for some excellent speeches, which acknowledged the many people and organisations over decades which have led us to this point.

Former mayor John Forbes walked us through just part of the long and special history of the project.

I captured a few photos of the faces sitting on both sides of the pōwhiri – many great leaders (not all who are still with us) who wouldn’t take “no” for an answer.

There are just too many people to thank without missing names from the list.

Thanks to the council staff who have worked on this project through all its many stages, over so many years.  

I particularly want to acknowledge our community here in Ōpōtiki who have been waiting patiently for all these various projects and activities to come together.

The district really has backed this project for 20 years or more and it is amazing to finally see it get to this point.

Although the seawalls are open to the public, I know the road to access the eastern wall is still closed to finish some safety and improvement works for cars, bikes and pedestrians.

In a perfect world, all the work streams would have aligned and we’d be open, but it didn’t quite happen that way. It still looks on track for opening this weekend for people who haven’t yet seen the huge walls in real life.

Of course, the work doesn’t end here. There is still dredging under way, upgrade works at the wharf as an interim measure for mussel boats, physical works can now get under way on the private marina on the western side of Pākihikura, native plants and dune works on both sides, and of course on the continued growth of both the mussel farm and factory.

We are already seeing the very real benefits, but these will grow and continue for many decades to come.