Editorial: Petition fails but demand is there

The world has moved on since the glory days of Marineland and, later, Leisure Island.

Nostalgia seems to have played a part in the unsuccessful and ultimately misguided bid to build a water fun park on Moturiki Island at Mount Maunganui.

The effort to turn back the clock on the island, also known as Leisure Island, was soundly defeated by Tauranga City Council on Tuesday.

The petition, signed by nearly 1700 people, harked back to the days when Moturiki was home to a marine attraction and water park.

However, the council unanimously agreed to not support the petition, with Mayor Stuart Crosby saying that Moturiki was no longer an appropriate site for this type of activity.

He's right.

It is easy to view the past with rose-tinted glasses - especially when reflecting on childhood memories of summer days spent at a fun park.

But the world has moved on since the glory days of Marineland and, later, Leisure Island. Society now places a greater value on the natural environment. This is a good thing.

And that's why the petition was doomed to fail. The island has been deemed a conservation zone and special ecological area in the council's City Plan, with outstanding natural features and landscape values.

There was little chance the project would have got through an Environment Court appeal process if the council had supported it.

In making the decision, councillors expressed concern the petition showed there was a lack of understanding in the community of the constraints on the council.

Although a fun park was not a flyer for Moturiki, there could be a home for such a project elsewhere.

The sheer number of people who signed the failed petition suggests there is more than enough demand for a water fun park in in the Western Bay.