Congratulations from around the country for Opotiki’s $18million

For immediate release: 2 September 2013

Congratulations from around the country are pouring in following the August announcement of Ōpōtiki District Council’s successful application for Regional Infrastructure Funding.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council (BOPRC) committed $18million of Infrastructure Funding to the Ōpōtiki Harbour Redevelopment Project – a project to build twin groynes and associated works, creating a year-round navigable harbour entrance at Ōpōtiki.

Ōpōtiki District Council (ODC) Chief Executive, Aileen Lawrie said “it has been fantastic to see the congratulations flood in over the past week. It has given us a strong sense of the level of support and the number of people who are really behind this project. We will need this support as we take the project to the next stage and seek central government funding to match the Regional Council.”

Emails, phone calls, face-to-face congratulations and social media have been busy following the Regional Council’s announcement.

The acknowledgements have come from across the country – from members of the public, national, regional and local politicians, iwi, businesses and consultancies, science and development agencies, other councils, not for profit groups, and government departments.

“The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive as supporters can see the benefits for the Ōpōtiki community, but also for the wider Bay of Plenty and NZ industry as a whole. It is exciting to be part of this and to watch the proposal that has been worked on by Council and our partner Whakatōhea, for over ten years, have this solid, concrete show of support,” Ms Lawrie said.

“But there isn’t much time to enjoy the celebrations as we need to take a big breath and get started on the next steps for the project. There’s more work needed and further decisions to come!”
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