Posted: 06 December 2005
Consents granted for $750,000 Paihia wharf re-development
Resource consent has been granted for a planned redevelopment of the Paihia Wharf worth about $750,000.
Applicant Far North Holdings had sought permission from the Northland Regional and Far North District Councils for the necessary consents needed to develop and improve existing facilities at the wharf.
A joint hearing of the two Councils was held in Paihia on 4 November with the three-member Joint Hearings Committee delivering its decision recently.
Committee Chairman Mark Farnsworth says the applicant had sought permission for a variety of work including consent to build two piled deck structures covering about 195 square metres.
It wants to build a two-storey building atop the deck structures to house charter and ferry operators, wharf management and the Coastguard.
The applicant also wants to remove an existing charter pier and replace it with four new floating pontoons and to dredge about 1500 cubic metres of the seabed where the new pontoons will be.
Far North Holdings had also asked for a new coastal permit (structures and occupation) for most of the existing wharf facilities, as the majority of the current consents expired recently.
In granting consents for 35 years, the Committee noted the existing structure is a well-established and accepted part of the local landscape and that rearranging the layout of the pontoons and ramps would have “negligible adverse environmental affects”.
It says of all the proposed work, construction of the two-story building “is likely to have the greatest perceptible impact”.
“However, the Committee concurs with the applicant’s assessment that the adverse effects upon the visual amenities can be considered to be minor, if the colour of the building is appropriate.”
Mr Farnsworth says the wharf provides access to the Bay of Islands and is necessary because a smaller facility like a launching ramp would be inadequate.
He says the wharf and associated facilities are also relatively compact.
“Concentration of commercial ferry and charter boat facilities in a few places in the Bay of Islands reduces the risk of environmental effects as compared with a situation where there are many locations for such facilities.”