Tide turns against $20m marina

By MELISSA MOXON

COROMANDEL - Environmentalists were celebrating in Coromandel township last night after authorities turned down an application to build a $20 million marina and ferry terminal in Coromandel Harbour.

The joint hearing committee of Environment Waikato and Thames Coromandel District Council ruled that the project was within a significant conservation area and would result in the loss of a valuable intertidal area.

Lee Sutherland, the self-taught environmental planner who led the campaign against the project, celebrated the news yesterday with a round of golf and a bottle of wine.

"I always knew it wasn't sustainable or in the right place. It's good to see common sense prevail."

Coromandel township would eventually get a world-class marina "in the right place," he said.

Coromandel Waterways and Coromandel Marina Society had applied to construct a 31ha, 350-berth marina and two-storey ferry terminal, with residential and commercial subdivision next door, over two-and-a-half years.

The society chairman, Gilbert James, said an appeal was possible, but he also said it was unlikely that anyone else would attempt to build a marina in the harbour "in the next generation."

Mr James said more than $500,000 had been spent on the proposal and he still believed the planners had got everything right and proposed the best place for the development.

"We wouldn't have applied if we thought a little bit of mudflat in front of town was of national significance."

The proposal involved dredging 450,000 cu m of sediment for a 1.5km channel and the destruction of 3.5ha of mangroves.

The Department of Conservation, residents and iwi made submissions against the proposal, expressing concerns about damage to wildlife habitats, erosion, and the potential for heavy metals from old gold workings to be released into the harbour.

Those in favour of the proposal said it would bring economic and social benefits to the town, and relieve pressure on roads.

The marina society has more than 300 members, who had planned to buy berths. Mr James said a meeting would be called to tell them of the decision.