Windsor Landing boat ramp to go ahead
The Far North District Council has promised a much needed boat ramp at Windsor Landing that’s been in the pipeline since 2007.
Nearly ten years after Northland Regional Council granted consent to occupy the space in the coastal area to develop a causeway and carpark and FNDC granted land use consent nothing has been done.
This is despite a number of submissions from ratepayers for a boat ramp facility on the southern side of the Kerikeri Inlet.
That consent expired in December 2012.
Council spokesperson Richard Edmondson says a new resource consent has been applied for this year.
According to a report from a FNDC meeting dated November 29, 2012, Far North Holdings Limited was asked on behalf of council to investigate the options to put a ramp in place in the area.
Community policy manager Sue Thomas says in the report that Windsor Landing was evaluated as the best option.
Funding of $185,000 for the project was included in year one of the 2009/2010 Long Term Plan but it was cancelled in 2010 due to the global financial crisis.
Edmondson says the council has revisited the project and prioritised it for funding in the 2015-25 Long Term Plan.
This includes $59,000 in 2017/18 and $548,000 in 2018/2019 to buy land and develop road access to the ramp, he says.
After story ‘Ramp rage at Doves Bay Marina’ a number of people suggested another boat ramp in the area would ease pressure on existing facilities.
Resident Wattie Bigwood says he would welcome boat ramp access at Windsor Land- ing.
‘‘The only moorings available are in Windsor Landing, but there is no access to get to your boats, they have been talking about putting one in for years.
‘‘I think it would be a very good service to that side of the inlet and release pressure from Doves Bay because a lot of people who live on that side of Kerikeri wouldn’t then need to use that facility.’’
Funds originally allocated for the development in the first resource consent were put back into a consolidated fund, Edmondson says.
There are seven public boat ramps in the Bay of Islands.