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Two new breakwater walls at Pākihikura (Ōpōtiki) Harbour will provide boats with safe harbour access to support the continued growth of aquaculture in Bay of Plenty, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Regional Development Minister Sane Jones say.

The Ministers and leaders from Tē Tāwharau o Te Whakatōhea and other local leaders officially marked the completion of the new harbour structures with a karakia (blessing) at an event attended by more than 100 guests, local groups and residents.

As well as the two 450m breakwaters extending out to sea, the $115.3 million harbour redevelopment includes continuing dredging of a channel to enable larger vessels to use the facility in most sea and tide conditions.

The Government supported the project with combined funding of $95.3m from the and NZ Upgrade Programme, the largest single project investment managed by Kānoa, the Regional Economic Development and Investment Agency. Bay of Plenty Regional Council provided co-funding of $20m.

The harbour work is a crucial part of the cluster of government co-investments in Ōpōtiki that are supporting a positive future for the town.

“This is the first major harbour built in New Zealand in decades, and it is a big day for everyone involved in years of hard work to bring a new future for Ōpōtiki to life,” Mr Peters says.

“This success has been underpinned by a strong commitment from local community leaders including iwi and councils, to create new jobs, increase household incomes, and add millions to the economy.

“It is these collaborative investments and projects that are going to lift regional New Zealand off its knees and back into prosperity and pride.”

Mr Jones says the harbour redevelopment paves the way for the development of a commercial marina and other businesses, supporting the future growth of the aquaculture sector in Bay of Plenty.

“These harbour walls represent the protection and strengthening of investments by iwi, central, local and regional government in Ōpōtiki. In 2018, we discussed this vision and now, six years on, our commitments together total $176.9m in the harbour and a number of other associated infrastructure projects.”

The Ōpōtiki town wharf has been upgraded to accommodate mussel boats as an interim measure while the private marina and commercial wharf work progresses. A new marina will safely berth boats and enable produce to be easily transferred to the Whakatōhea mussel-proccessing factory in Ōpōtiki rather than by road from Whakatāne.

As well as the direct jobs created through the harbour development itself, three new rock quarries have been accelerated through construction of the sea walls. A local cement contractor also substantially scaled up, creating more jobs and training to local people.

HEB Construction, the project’s lead contractor, trained 40 locals into a crew to support construction of the harbour walls, with support from the Ministry of Social Development.

“All this work is building on other successes delivering positive impacts for Ōpōtiki, including the Whakatōhea mussel-processing factory.