Tauranga's proposed Harbour Central Marine Precinct is slowly tracking toward becoming a reality.
A long line of resource consents from both Environment Bay of Plenty and Tauranga City Council must be obtained for the five hectare project at Sulphur Point to go ahead.

The first consent was recently applied for; ‘building within a flood hazard area'.
The driving force behind the project is economic development agency Priority One, whose business development manager Richard Kinzett says the flood protection consent is needed, 'in the case of a one in 100 year flood event”.
Richard says to receive consent the site plans have to indicate flood paths which can manage water overflow.
The consent process is likely to take a long time as there are many to obtain, but Richard says the product is well worth the process.

A design plan for the Tauranga Harbour Central Marine Precinct.

'We had a marine industry here prior to the removal of the original 600 tonne slipway. 'Marine activity is now going out of Tauranga so we need to return that and get that business back and get significant business investment here.”
For Richard, the marine precinct investment is about 'replacing the lost infrastructure”.
The estimated initial investment cost for the project is $80 million. It is unlikely this amount will come from one investor so a collective is being sought and this approach seems to be working.
'There are people that have shown a certain degree of interest in it,” says Richard.
The site's land is Tauranga City Council owned which could be seen as a drawback for investment as an investor would not be able to buy it and benefit from capital gains.
Richard does not see this as a problem, however, as the project has high profit potential in other ways.
The council is offering long term leases on the land to provide long term protection for industry investment.
The search for investors is not an easy one and Priority One has looked beyond New Zealand for interest. The project was recently exhibited at the Monaco Boat Show and at the end of October will be marketed at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show.