Business leaders have “wholeheartedly” welcomed confirmation land at Sulphur Point can be used for a marine research and education facility estimated to add $30 million to the city’s economy.
A tender process is expected to start in January for leasing the 7000sq m site, with applications invited from entities that can show they are capable of establishing and operating such a facility.
The approved tenderer would have to obtain the necessary consents required to build the facility.
The University of Waikato, which proposed a marine research and education facility at Sulphur Point in 2017, has said it will join the tender process.
The council’s first attempt to get the facility over the line ended when the Conservation Minister rejected its application to revoke the reserve status of a piece of land at Sulphur Point in 2018.
This year the council proposed instead to reclassify the site - about 6 per cent of Marine Park - from recreation reserve to local purpose (marine research and education facility) reserve.
It said the idea was supported by two-thirds - 66.3 per cent - of submitters during consultation. The council approved it, and the reclassification has now been confirmed.
The council’s chief financial officer Paul Davidson said in a media statement that the facility will offer economic, education and environmental benefits and support important marine environment and climate change research.
“As New Zealand looks for innovative and sustainable responses to protect our marine environment and work towards a low carbon future, the research opportunities flowing from the facility are immense.
“Once it’s fully developed, Tauranga will be in a unique position to attract students to learn more about this increasingly important subject.
“It is also intended that the community will have access to enjoy a range of educational and recreational activities at the facility.”
The statement said the facility will open the doors to at least 25 new jobs in Tauranga, contributing an economic boost of about $30m to the city.
Davidson told the Bay of Plenty Times the figure was based on the estimated economic impact of the jobs, saying it was a “high-level estimate of the monetary impact of this outcome over the next decade”.
“The tenderers will provide their calculations and projected staffing with their tender documents, which will then enable council to identify the economic value and jobs more accurately.”
Davidson said the confirmation of the land reclassification came from the Minister of Conversation’s delegate within the council.
“Under the Reserves Act, the power to reclassify a reserve lies with the Minister of Conservation, but the Minister has delegated this decision-making power to the council.
“Council has sent all of the submissions and [the] council’s deliberation report to the Department of Conservation as well.”
Davidson said the rules of a lease under the Public Bodies Act were that the process must be open to any party that wishes to tender for the lease and was able to demonstrate the capability of establishing and operating such a facility.
Tauranga City Council senior strategic adviser Gert van Staden said the council was at the “very early stages” of this process and planned to seek tenders for the work to design the facility in January.
During the lease tender process, the council will receive design proposals for assessment from the lease tender applicants, van Staden said.
The council would assess applications received by taking into account design principles like “sufficient internal linkages, marine-coastal access requirements, reserve-sympathetic design, and activation of the green space surrounding the proposed facility”.
He said the 25 jobs expected to be created would include academic staff, tutors, technicians and general operations on-site, and excluded construction and planning workers.
University of Waikato’s senior deputy vice-chancellor Professor Alister Jones said the university welcomed the reclassification and lease tender process.
“The University of Waikato has been alongside the communities of Tauranga Moana and the Bay of Plenty for many years in relation to coastal marine education and research and has championed a coastal marine research facility for more than a decade.
“We support the aspiration and vision for a new marine research and education facility for the city and the region and we look forward to being actively involved in the tender process and to engaging with council, the community and the wider region to pursue this opportunity.”
Chief executive of Western Bay of Plenty economic development agency Priority One, Nigel Tutt said he “wholeheartedly” supported the reclassification of the land.
Tutt said it would benefit existing local businesses and others to be formed in the future.
He also said marine biotech was “strategically important” for the region, representing “huge opportunity for future exports and food production”.
“Tauranga has a strong track record of marine research, attracting several multi-million dollar research contracts to the region through the University of Waikato – a new facility would place us in an even stronger position in future.”
Tauranga Business Chamber chief executive Matt Cowley. Photo / Mead Norton
Tauranga Business Chamber chief executive Matt Cowley said it was important for the Western Bay to explore the sustainable development the marine environment - particularly as land resources were already competed over.
He believed the commercial potential of scientific research into the unique properties of Tauranga Moana marine life was “massive”.
He said building the centre aligned with the “Western Bay’s economic brand to discover the sustainable potential of our resources to benefit our wider communities”.
