Whakatāne Councillor Lesley Immink asked that naysayers of the boat harbour, to be built on Keepa Road, to 'change their mindset” about Te Rahui Herenga Waka.

At a meet the mayoral candidates event organised by Grey Power Whakatāne on Tuesday, Mrs Immink was asked whether there were enough commercial boats to warrant the 60-berth harbour, and likened it to The Hub.

'Like any major development, there's going to have to be a bit of good faith and good will, just like when The Hub was developed. People said it was going to be the ruin of the town. It's changed the town, it's changed the way we shop, but it hasn't been the ruin. I am keeping everything crossed that this is not going to be the white elephant that everyone keeps saying it will.”

An audience member asked, 'Seeing as it's going to be a commercial entity, how many boats do you have in it to make it so it's going to pay its way?”

Mrs Immink said that, from looking at the business plan, it would need to have 50 percent occupancy.

'But just like any project, you don't go from zero to 100 percent occupancy, so as we're going through, there will be the opportunity for recreational boats to use it. The number of boats that are currently parked on the river is 32 and they tell us that they have got wait lists for another 20. And this is not even including the people that come in from out of the district to park their boats there."

She also addressed concerns she had heard that the mussel boats that currently moor at the Whakatāne Wharf will be moving to Ōpōtiki when that harbour is finished.

"The two skippers of the current boats live in Whakatāne. They want to continue parking their boats here and they want to spread their risk. I've heard it with my own ears,” she said.

'I want to ask you to change your mindset. What if it is an amazing success, what if all the employment and the world class training school deliver for our community right across the spectrum of Māori and Pakeha, so we all do better?”

Councillor Victor Luca was less positive about the project but said he was unconcerned about the business aspect.

He said that he had never been a fan of the project but from his understanding, the boat harbour had been set up as a stand-alone business.

'Council has a limited partnership, and I have been given assurances that council and the community is not bankrolling it. It's just a for-profit business. So it's up to us to hold them to account.”

The questioner, who said he had been on boats out of Whakatāne for 30 years, said the river bar had a poor reputation with other boaties.

'They say, ‘oh s***, I wouldn't use that bar'. I only use it because I've lived here most of my life. The questioner also stated that having to travel four kilometres up the river would be a waste of diesel and bad for the environment.

Mr Luca said he agreed with that concern. 'That's wasting fuel. That's producing emissions. There are lots of things I could say against it. It was a gift from central government who are basically paying two thirds. It was a done deal before I got on to council,” he said.

-Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.