A Napier businessman's sandy beach lagoon plan for Marine Parade seems to be gathering a groundswell of support. Simon Hendery reports.
Take Will van Asch's "road train" city tour around Napier and you'll be treated to a detailed commentary that includes economic facts and figures about the region.
The founder of the eye-catching Hawke's Bay Express tour service says visitors are fascinated by details such as the average house price in the city, the number of containers that pass the port each year and an outline of our main exports and business activities.
"The whole idea is that when they leave here they really understand what makes Hawke's Bay tick - what we do and how we do it," he says.
Knowing what makes us tick - and looking at ways to up the tempo - is something that interests Mr van Asch, who worked as a market and financial analyst before becoming a tourism entrepreneur.
He is behind a campaign to persuade Napier City Council to embrace a new tourism and recreation idea: a sandy beach lagoon on Marine Parade.
The facility, estimated to cost about $2 million, would add a valuable tourism asset to the city, he says, providing a family friendly activity and a recreational spot within walking distance of all the city's other amenities.
"We've got this beautiful, cute town, but it's only small - it's easy to walk around. We've got the same climate as California and 60 per cent of their tourists interact with the beach," he says.
"When you look at the other beaches around [the region] they're not developed like Napier. You can't go to Waimarama, have a nice restaurant meal, sit in the jacuzzi and then walk back to your hotel. When you look down this coast you have to basically go all the way to Wellington to find the same thing."
He cites the success of a lagoon development at Airlie Beach in the Whitsunday region of Queensland which has reportedly been drawing tourists away from competing destinations as far as 750km away along Australia's eastern coast.
"Over that 750km there are probably 300 beaches that are beautiful to sit on but they don't have accommodation, cafes, shopping, movie theatres and all the other things that go with a family holiday. So that's why I'm saying let's make a Napier equivalent."
After presenting the concept to councillors during Napier City's annual plan hearings last week, he convinced them to at least have staff investigate the feasibility of the project.
But how would the lagoon idea work in with well-developed plans by the council for a "wave garden" - an artificial surfing park that would be first of its kind in the country.
The council is already working on plans for the wave garden which was first mooted in 2012.
"The business plan is well underway for that at the moment," says Napier Mayor Bill Dalton.
"It's early days yet but we're looking at the possibility of turning it into a water sports park and maybe putting courts in for canoe polo, things like that."
The wave garden would likely cost about $15 million.
"We'd be looking at that as either private enterprise or a private-public partnership; we wouldn't be doing that as a council project on its own," Mr Dalton says.
"I think it's potentially a huge attraction for Hawke's Bay and Napier in particular. If [through the business case process] it comes up as well as we hope we'll simply hand it over to private enterprise to pick it up - and we've had several expressions of interest in it. But if in fact it needs a little help over the line, we certainly wouldn't be against helping if that was required, but we'll wait to see the business case."
At the same time, while the council will investigate Mr van Asch's idea, the mayor still needs to be convinced.
"One of the things with this plan is that where it does work around the world is where it's got a tropical climate or a subtropical climate. In Hawke's Bay we've got a temperate climate and it's not quite the same thing," he says.
"We're certainly not discounting it at this stage but we are going to do some preliminary work and speak to Brisbane and Cairns [where there are similar facilities] and then we'll make a decision on whether we'll take it further or not."
Napier City Council chief executive Wayne Jack has similar concerns about the Hawke's Bay climate not being right for the concept and also wonders about the economics behind it.
"There's the cost of building it, and the cost of operating it and maintaining it - bearing in mind that this is a free-entry facility," he says.
"So it would place a significant cost on the council - and ultimately the ratepayers - in terms of its operation, but if it is something which does provide an environment that people want to enjoy, absolutely we can look at it, we just need to be aware of the cost of it."
Mr van Asch says water temperatures at the lagoon would be similar to Northland, and while he accepts it would not be a year-round attraction, it would be a huge draw-card over the summer.
He also believes it would provide a large economic boost through increased tourism.
Hawke's Bay Tourism's general manager, Annie Dundas, says the project would need to be considered carefully in the context of what is best for Marine Parade.
"One of our nicest assets is our waterfront and our view out to the cape but I would say that with any development of that area, every piece of it needs to fit together into a master plan so that from one end to the other it's a seamless transition in terms of activities and attractions for families, et cetera," she says.
"If the lagoon slots into that and it's affordable and works then that could be an option but there are obviously other things on the table as well."
Marine Parade has undergone significant redevelopment over the past two years and further changes are planned, including redevelopment options for the Marineland site.
"Noticeably, in the last year with the developments on Marine Parade we have seen an increase in families travelling [to Napier] again after those nasty recession years where family visitors weren't coming so much," says Ms Dundas.
"Those new developments have had quite an impact and more will increase numbers."
Mr van Asch says he does not have a firm view on exactly where along Marine Parade he would like the 250m to 300m-long lagoon beach located. One option is the green-fields site just south of the National Aquarium. Another is the carpark next to the skatepark.
Hawke's Bay Regional Council's consents manager, Malcolm Miller, says the taking and use of sea water for such a project would probably be permitted providing the developer meet any relevant conditions.
"Consent is likely to be required for the discharge of the water. And the structure and disturbance required for the taking and discharge of the sea water would require resource consent," he says.
"From a hazards point of view HBRC would be interested in the effect of any of the works on the integrity of the gravel barrier and on the beach. Works which weakened the protection afforded by the gravel barrier would be of concern."
Mr Jack says developing a tourism strategy is currently a key priority for the council and the City Development Industry Working Group is currently working on options for Marine Parade.
The group is a mix of council staff and politicians, plus outside community leaders including Ms Dundas and businessman Red Drury.
"We're currently working on a revitalised Napier brand which encapsulates art deco but also reflects the way Napier is changing to being very much a family-friendly place," he says. "We're working on continuing to build the Napier brand, because that's very important for Hawke's Bay. The Napier brand needs to be strong; people need to understand the value and benefits of coming to Napier and Hawke's Bay. We're working on some key projects that will be announced shortly which will have some significant community benefit but at the same time will have some fantastic opportunities around tourism and events."
Ms Dundas agrees that a "master plan" for Marine Parade was a key element of Napier's tourism strategy.
"There are a lot of beach cities around the world that have adapted their beachfront environments to suit landscapes and water frontage and beaches, et cetera, and I think there are places we can learn from that have done it well."
