Motu Trails Cycle Trail

The Motu Trails project is a joint initiative of the Opotiki District Council, Department of Conservation, Gisborne District Council, Whakatohea Maori Trust Board and The New Zealand Cycle Trail project.

A key objective of the new Motu Trails project is to create more jobs in the Eastern Bay of Plenty and Poverty Bay regions both during the construction phase and more importantly in the longer term by creating a sustainable, year-round tourism offering.

'The Opotiki District has the opportunity to develop a cycle trail that will stand out on a national level for its uniqueness and will become one of the truly great 'Great Rides' of New Zealand.' - Richard Balm, the national project manager for the New Zealand Cycle Trail.

Visit the Motu Trails website at www.motutrails.co.nz 
For all the latest on the Motu Trails including media and news releases see our News Releases page

Opotiki Harbour Development
The development of the Opotiki Harbour has been proposed for some time and an Eastern Seafarms proposal for the development of a mussel and / or marine farm off shore of Opotiki has highlighted the economic potential this resource has for the Easteran Bay of Plenty.

Opotiki District's vision of becoming the base for a world class aquaculture industry took an important step forward at the end of July 2009.

Independent Hearing Commissioners appointed by the Minister of Conservation, Environment Bay of Plenty and Opotiki District Council have granted a series of Coastal Permits and Land Use Consents to allow the development of the Opotiki Harbour entrance to provide safe access for vessels under most tide and weather conditions.  The Commission also recommended that the Minister of Conservation grants Coastal Permits covering the construction and use of river training walls and reclamation of 1.9 hectares of foreshore and seabed.

The marine farm is now fully consented and steps to commercialise the space are currently underway.  It is assumed that both projects will be implemented and the local impacts have been factored into the ten year plan. 

Council's role in relation to the Opotiki Harbour Development is planning and leading the project.  Whether Council ends up being the owner/manager of the groynes has yet to be determined.  Related projects include the Growth Management Strategy within the Environment Group activity.

The purpose of the activity is to create a reliable entrance to the Opotiki Harbour in order to

*  Increase the overall social, economic & cultural well-being of the community & the Eastern Bay of Plenty
*  Enhance recreation opportunities and public access to the coast
*  Capitalise on opportunities arising from the proposed offshore Opotiki marine farm
*  Mitigate flooding on the Opotiki Township and surrounding area
*  Achieve a long held community aspiration and a high priority Community Outcome

Visit the Opotiki Harbour website at www.opotikiharbour.co.nz
Read the latest Opotiki Harbour Update Newsletter - August 2011 (619 KB)
Read the Opotiki Harbour Strategy document - (5.66MB)

Library Upgrade
The Long Term Council Community Plan 2009-2019 proposed a $400,000 redevelopment of the Library building in 2009/10.  With the purchase of the neighbouring building in King Street, and the proposal to close the area between the two buildings and redevelop the library through both buildings costing an estimated $1,050,000 Council now proposes to investigate alternative proposals before making a final decision.

Old Administration Building
Council has developed a purpose built building at the council depot on Bridge Street to provide improved accommodation for the current lessee of the Council's old administration building on the corner of St John and Elliot streets.  The improvement will see greater revenue from the lease of both premises and a reduction in the loan servicing cost from the original proposal.

Recently staff moved into the new Opotiki i-Site building at 70 Bridge Street Opotiki.  The offices are the new home for Opotiki Department of Conservation staff, Regional Council staff, i-SI TE and some other Opotiki District Council staff.

I-site manager Tina Cornwell says it's great to have all the organisations working together under one roof.

"We will be a one-stop-shop for visitors to Opotiki and we expect to experience an increase in visitors due to the location.

The new site has toilets and showers for the public to use, has a new meeting room and a shed to house a range of equipment.

Ms Cornwell says the red, green and bark colour scheme was borrowed from the pohutakawa tree, which reflects the journey to Opotiki along the Waiotahi coast.

Water Supply
On 8 February 2011 Council staff switched the Opotiki township over to its new water supply source. The water is supplied from 2 new 300 mm diameter bores, located some 2 kilometres south of the town. Intensive testing has proven the water source has capacity to supply the township well into the future, and has quality well within Ministry of Health drinking water guidelines.

The previous source had high levels of manganese and iron minerals present which often caused sediments to settle in the reticulation which then flushed out from consumers' taps.

The new source has very low levels of these minerals present and the upgrade works project includes a refined treatment process which will remove these minerals before the supply enters the reticulation.

Memorial Park Pavilion
A new pavilion at Memorial Park is propsed in the Draft Annual Plan for construction in 2011/2012.  This will service tennis, netball and other sports and in particular will be a starting point for Motu Trails cycleway/walkway.

Sports and Events Centre
Previous plans have identified a sport and events centre at Memorial Park.  Following an independent review in 2008 it is now proposed to locate the centre at the Opotiki College in conjunction with the existing gymnasium and swimming pool.  However, due to other funding commitments the projects implementation has been delayed to 2014/15.