The Ōpōtiki Harbour Management Committee held its first meeting on Tuesday.

Ōpōtiki District Council set up the committee to oversee harbour operations and maintenance now that the Harbour Development Project had reached its completion.

The seven person committee includes representatives from the district and regional councils, funding agency Crown Regional Holdings, iwi authority Te Tāwharau o Te Whakatōhea and commercial and non-commercial harbour users.

All members were present for the first meeting, which will be held quarterly.

Chairman Barry Howe talked about his long involvement with the harbour project, including 20 years as a district councillor and prior to that.

“I was quite heavily involved with Whakatōhea when the kaumatua of the day had the vision of starting a mussel farm,” Howe said.

“To see what we have achieved, today, is absolutely amazing.

“This is a full transformation for our community. I see us leading the aquaculture sector in New Zealand in the next 10 to 20 years,” Howe said.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council Kōhī Māori councillor Mawera Karetai said she had requested to be on the committee.

“It was many years ago ... when I first met Peter (Vitasovich) and heard his vision for all of this. That really stuck with me and I’ve been a big fan in the background for a long time. It’s nice to be here and part of the change-making team.”

A report to the committee showed the programme of works for the coming year was allocated a budget of just over $1.558 million. The previous year $305,000 was spent.

The report noted some of this cost was for new contracts so only represented a six-month period rather than a full year, and no dredging had yet been required, which would be a significant driver of future costs.

Monthly bathymetry reports since December 2025 showed the harbour had reasonable depth, however, staff were seeking advice on latest surveys that indicated accretion within the channel.

Dredging could be expected to cost around $1.2 million in some years though council chief executive Stace Lewer said the council was investigating alternative dredging methods that could come at a lower cost.

Lewer also acknowledged and thanked the regional council for its recent committment to assist with the operation through $1 milllion each year for the next three years.

“It takes a lot of pressure off the local ratepayers to pick up the shortfall for what we see as a really significant piece of regional infrastructure with regional benefits that could flow on from that,” he said.

“Hopefully, once we get the users and marina in place, it will reduce that need for funding from rates.”

Service delivery manager Nathan Hughes updated the council on progress of the Ōpōtiki Marina and Industrial Park on behalf of developer Chris Peterson.

The project is on track, with the contractor having commenced preparatory work and excavation work is planned to start in spring.