Aquacom confident

The man behind the wakeboard park planned for Aotea Lagoon is scoffing at talk the project will be held up in the resource consent process and ‘‘never become a reality’’.

Aquacom, fronted locally by Titahi Bay man Paul Marlow, is close to putting in consent applications for the wakeboard park. Mr Marlow says he is waiting for confirmation of the land swap between Porirua City Council and New Zealand Transport Agency.

Realistically, he expects the park to be open for summer 2013/14.

‘‘It could be six months or six weeks before everything [ the land swap] is sorted, it’s just about being patient. We have the applications ready, we’re checking all the boxes.’’

He says any suggestion the park won’t happen are ‘‘ presumptuous. . . Sure, there are people who are saying ‘ this will never become a reality’, but the process is dictating how fast we go.’’

Paremata Residents’ Association chairperson Terry Knight says a group of those opposed to the wakeboard park are preparing themselves for a fight in the Environment Court.

First, however, he says the resource consent ‘‘must be notified’’, to give the public a chance to make submissions.

‘‘We will keep reminding the council, wherever we can, that this should be a notified consent. It will enable us to gather together and show, again, that most people in Porirua do not want this on Aotea Lagoon. It is a quiet place that will be ruined by noise, deterring people from visiting.’’

A public meeting hosted by Friends of Aotea will be held at 2pm at Aotea College’s auditorium on November 17 to discuss the project. Mr Marlow says it is valuable to give residents the opportunity to ask questions and allay any fears.