An outcry at a heated public meeting over plans for more moorings and a possible expansion of Opua Marina has prompted the Northland Regional Council to extend the submissions deadline by two more months.
Growing pressure on mooring and marina space around Northland's coast, especially in the Bay of Islands, prompted the council to come up with a Draft Mooring and Marinas Strategy setting out its ideas for coping with expected demand from boaties over the next 50 years. The strategy proposes new mooring areas and a "marina zone" allowing future expansion of Opua Marina.
The public's chance to have their say was to have closed on December 16 but has now been extended to February 28 following an apparent postal error which kept many Opua residents in the dark.
A public meeting at the Opua Cruising Club earlier this month was to have been a chance for locals to ask questions and get more information, but for some it was the first they had heard of the proposal. An Opua resident described the meeting as "farcical, volatile and hilarious".
Coastal policy specialist Ben Lee said the council had arranged to mail the draft strategy to all mooring holders in Northland as well as a leaflet drop to Bay of Islands residents.