A new $1.3 million pontoon will soon grace the Whitianga shoreline, but it’s all the upgrades the waterfront will get in the near future.

The anticipated Esplanade redevelopment project, which included a new public pier, was recently cancelled by the Mercury Bay Community Board and Thames-Coromandel District Council after concerns were raised over the $12.5m bill to ratepayers.

Whitianga Ferry owner Jeremy Lomas said it “would’ve been nice” to have a new pier separating commercial and recreational users,but council’s position to ease the burden on ratepayers was understandable.

He added that council still needs to manage the risks surrounding commercial and recreational users on the wharf, referencing kids coming down to jump off the wharf “the Kiwi way”.

“We’ve always supported it because I did it when I was a kid too ... I think this new pontoon will certainly help tidy up what we’ve got there.”

The current pontoon had reached its end-of-life stage at 19 years according to council engineer and project lead Jodie Kocian, who said overall degradation and sinkage meant it was “time to go”.

The improvement, built and transported from Whangārei, is largely like for like, Kocian says, with a handful of defining features bumping it to upgrade status.

Work is underway removing the old pontoon, with specialised underwater engineers sawing through concrete pillars, finding trolleys and bicycles in the process.

The pontoon will get the ferry back to a ‘roll on-roll off’ service, owner Jeremy Lomas said. Photo / Mark Taylor, Waikato Times

New additions of motion sensor marine grade lights complement a higher free-board to aid bikers, prams and wheelchair users coming on and off the Whitianga-Cooks Beach ferry. Six steel pillars will also replace the dozen concrete ones to improve stability and strength.

“It was there originally but now because the pontoon’s starting to sink there’s a bit of a gap, so we’ve had to jimmy up some ramps to make that safe for people,“ Kocian said.

Lomas said the current no-lights set-up on the Whitianga side creates a large health and safety issue, but passengers will now “feel safe rather than standing in the dark”.

“We’re pretty excited ... from what I understand the new gangway is quite wide [so] it’ll make our customers boarding or disembarking the ferry feel a lot better,” Lomas added.

Asked for specific details on the Esplanade project cancellation, Mayor Peter Revell said a more streamlined approach was needed to solely focus on health and safety concerns.

“There was this big plan worth millions of dollars ... the community is saying, ‘don’t do this and please don’t spend all this money’ and we get that, understand that and we support that.“

Thames-Coromandel District Council Mayor Peter Revell says council listened to community feedback to halt the Esplanade upgrade. Photo / Mark Taylor, Waikato Times

Funding was provided for the Esplanade project in council’s 2024-2034 Long-term Plan, Revell said, adding that the pontoon addresses the sinkage and accessibility issues.

“It’s a significantly improved facility that can take more people, it’s more stable and got the lighting.

“Obviously we’re a district which does have an older demographic than many others so having this facility means it’s accessible across different people.”

Having the project ready as the town braces for the summer tourism deluge was critical, Revell added, with the first tester likely to be Labour Weekend.

“A lot of adventure and water-based stuff comes out of Whitianga so as a facility for tourists it’s just going to be fantastic.”

The pontoon is set to be completed by the end of September.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.