Wave garden wiped out of council's 10-year plan

A wave garden like this for Napier's Marine Parade is no longer an option.

Plans to build an artificial wave garden in Napier will be officially sunk today when the city council approves a 10-year budget that no longer includes $2.6 million of funding for the proposed tourist attraction.

The idea of building a wave garden was first mooted by the council in 2012 as part of its "Big Picture" redevelopment vision for Marine Parade.

The facility would have included technology to form tubing waves that could peel for more than 220 metres without losing power or shape, giving the city an attraction that would have been the first of its type in the country.

But Napier Mayor Bill Dalton said yesterday a council review of the business case for the wave garden venture concluded it "simply didn't stack up" commercially.

For commercial projects such as the wave garden, "if we can't make a business case work we don't proceed," Mr Dalton said.

Councillors meet today to sign off the council's long-term plan, which sets spending priorities for the next 10 years.

Under the plan, total rates collected by the council will increase 2.9 per cent in the new financial year, beginning July 1.

Rate increases for individual property owners in the city will vary, depending on their circumstances.

While $2.6 million originally proposed for the wave garden in the draft version of the plan has now been removed, other new projects to be funded include a multi-use velodrome, which the council is planning to contribute $5.1 million to part-fund. It has also budgeted $5.1 million for a water sports project at Pandora Pond.

Mr Dalton said rising costs had forced the council to increase its rates take.

"I'd be much more comfortable with no increase but that's not the reality of the world," he said.

"Costs, especially around infrastructure and construction, have risen dramatically. Everybody tells us we've got a great-looking city that feels good. If we want to continue to have that, we've got to pay for it."

Last week, Hastings District Council approved a long-term plan that will see total rates increased by 3.1 per cent in the 2015-16 financial year.

Also last week, Hawke's Bay Regional Council adopted its long-term plan, confirming a total average rate increase of 5.9 per cent for the coming financial year. Central Hawke's Bay District Council's long-term plan, approved earlier in the month, will see total rates increase 1.4 per cent.

Wairoa District Council is still to finalise its plan, but the rates take increase is expected to be between 2.4 and 3 per cent.