Think big! Grand ideas that never happened . . .
Read more: Opportunities lost or a city saved?
1. Lyall Bay reef
The project to build an artificial V-shaped reef at Lyall Bay, on Wellington’s south coast, was given conditional resource consent in 2003. It was hoped the reef would boost quality surfing days from 27 to more than 100. Wellington City Council had approved $265,000 for the project but withheld the funding after Lyall Bay Reef Charitable Trust asked the council for loans totalling $850,000.
2. Remutaka tunnel
A road tunnel connecting the region’s rural heartland with its metropolitan centres has been a long-held dream for many Wairarapa leaders. In 1968, a newspaper headline proclaimed it had been given the ‘‘green light’’. In 2008, a consulting firm estimated it would cost about $800 million to construct a 3kmlong tunnel, including roads. That figure would inevitably be upwards of $1 billion today.
3. Wakeboard park
Paul Marlow’s dream of a wakeboard park at Porirua City’s Aotea Lagoon were sunk in 2018 when the city’s council ended the right-to-lease he’d held for seven years. Mooted in 2008, his plans boasted a cafe, pro-shop and office, all based around the lagoon where wakeboarders would connect to a cable and ski around a course. Marlow spent $200,000 trying to get a resource consent.
4. Ka¯ piti paua
The idea of a floating, iridescent tourist attraction in the shape of a paua shell wasn’t far-fetched for Marco Zeeman. Zeeman unveiled plans in 2017 for a Ka¯piti Island visitors’ centre shaped like an enormous abalone. The building, which would have created a much-needed biosecurity checkpoint, would have been an attraction in its own right, he said. ‘‘Paua to the people, I say.’’
5. Rowing canal
Phil Stratford raised the idea in 2013, saying a course could be built for $6m by constructing a seawall to protect the railway line. The seawall would create a calm patch of water, blocking Wellington’s infamous southerly swell and creating a course for rowing. Plans for it were drawn up by Lud Brooker, who worked for New Zealand Railways. Over the years, it attracted support but was gradually forgotten.