Our Harbour and beaches
Our harbour must be one of our greatest assets, it is more beautiful that most other harbours, if not all other harbours throughout NZ. It is our second gateway and what everyone aspires to be a part of and everyone wants to see. It is our Bay of Islands and we need to use it.
- Our harbour is under-utilised when compared to harbours throughout NZ, there is poor access, poor parking, insufficient boat ramps and a lack of tourism ventures to utilise this amazing environment.
- Why don’t we have an old ferry offering fishing trips for our youth? Activities such as harbour cruises, fishing charters and water sports must be encouraged and supported.
- These should be based at the Town Basin if that is to remain our entertainment and tourism hub.
- The rapid growth of mangroves, unless controlled, will continue to silt up and choke our harbour restricting water flows, views and accessibility to the water’s edge.
- A policy needs to be created that allows for the effective management of mangroves such as has been done very successfully in the Firth of Thames. Increase the water flows and our harbour will flush itself which will enhance fish life, decrease pollution and provide clearer waters.
- We are loosing the use of and the visual contact with our harbour. Local Iwi should be concerned about this and we shall sit and discuss this important issue with them.
Coastal Areas and beaches:
- Council bureaucracy needs to be set aside in favour of better access, better parking and better facilities in all coastal areas to support our communities and to support tourism.
- The coastal beaches of Mount Maunganui are an excellent example of proactive councils working together, who have landscaped and created better access, better parking, better utilisation and better visual amenities without undue restrictions or being overly concerned about the tide coming in.
- These coastal areas are ‘our’ assets and must be accessible to everyone; there should be more events, more family fun and a greater emphasis on encouraging their use.
- We will actively fund and support community initiatives that increase public use of this resource.
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