KEY POINTS:
Mt Maunganui's $1.5 million artificial surf reef has had a major setback after the project ran out of money and the company building it pulled out.
Bay Underwater Services had been involved in the reef's construction since the beginning but has stopped work, claiming it is owed money. There are also issues regarding the management of the project.
Company owner Rob Campbell has revealed his firm will no longer be working on the reef, which is about 250m offshore at Tay St.
The reef, which has received $300,000 of public funds from Tauranga City Council, has been hampered by problems since work began in November 2005.
Of this latest setback, Mr Campbell said: "We refuse to have anything more to do with the reef. It is not in our best interest to continue with it."
The Bay of Plenty Times has also discovered that the trust behind the reef does not have enough money to complete the project, which is the first of its kind in New Zealand.
Despite the problems, Mount Reef Trust chief executive David Neilson said the project was not in trouble and he believed it would be a success.
"There is a very short, good barrel that proves the whole thing will work perfectly," said Mr Neilson.
Because of the withdrawal of Bay Underwater Services, Port of Tauranga will now supply divers and a barge to replace a bag on the reef's right side which was split while being filled with sand last year.
The repairs are expected to take place in the next few weeks and are being paid for with insurance money.
The port's property services manager, Maurice Hume, said repair work only would take place and there was no plan for any further work needed to complete the rest of the reef.
Another 20 per cent of the bags on the left-hand side of the structure still need to be filled before the reef is finished, but sand still covers a number of the bags and needs to be cleared before any filling takes place.
Mr Neilson could not put an exact figure on how much money was required to finish the reef but said about a week's work was needed after the repairs.
"We haven't got enough money to go out there and carry out four or five days' additional work," he said.
Mr Neilson refused to comment on why Bay Underwater Services had pulled out of the project. He hoped to get the rest of the money to complete the reef through fundraising but admitted that might be difficult.
"Until we actually get some results out there it's going to be pretty tricky."
Dr Kerry Black of Amalgamates Solutions and Research, the company that designed the reef, said he was in no position to comment on Bay Underwater's decision to pull out of the project.
Dr Black said he was still confident the reef would be a success.
Funding for the project has come from a host of sources, one of which was Bay Trust, which donated $80,000.
Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby said he was unaware of the situation with Bay Underwater Services and therefore could not comment directly.
Making waves
* Plan first proposed in the late 1990s.
* Construction started in November 2005.
* A large sandbar in front of the reef has stopped waves breaking where they were supposed to.
* In October 2006 the reef fired 50m rides on both the left and right-hand breaks.
* Funding has come from sources including Tauranga City Council ($300,000); Pub Charity ($200,000); Bay Trust ($80,000); Lion Foundation ($50,000) Perry Foundation ($15,000) and Southern Trust ($5000).
- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES
