Notice is hereby given that the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, under the provisions of section 23 of the Public Works Act 1981, proposes to take the land described in the Schedule hereto (“land”).

The land is required for the Kaituna River Re-diversion and Ongatoro/Maketu Estuary Enhancement Project (“project”) and for stopbanking purposes. It is intended to use the land for works associated with the project and for stopbanking.

The intended taking is considered reasonably necessary for the ongoing management and maintenance of stopbanks and to meet the objectives of the project and of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council Environmental Delivery Group (“Council”).

The key objective is to significantly increase the volume of water (particularly freshwater) flowing from the Kaituna River into Ongatoro/Maketu Estuary by 2018 in a way that maximises the ecological and cultural benefits (particularly wetlands and kaimoana) while limiting the economic cost and adverse effects to acceptable levels.

This key objective is derived from the objectives of the 2009 Kaituna River and Ongatoro/Maketu Estuary Strategy, adopted by the Council to address community concerns in relation to kaitiakitanga, water quality in the river, urban and industrial development, flood management, health of the estuary, wetlands and aquatic habitats, recreation, and other issues. Should the project not proceed and the status quo remain, the decline in the health of the Ongatoro/Maketu Estuary, which is currently highly degraded, will continue.

There have been calls from the community to re-divert the Kaituna River into the Estuary for decades. The Council has spent nearly 15 years considering over 15 options for a full re-diversion or partial re-diversion of the Kaituna River. By an iterative process, the Council decided that the project best met the objectives of the Kaituna River and Ongatoro/Maketu Estuary Strategy in respect of costs and scale of benefits derived, taking into account feedback from landowners, tangata whenua, stakeholders, and the community.

The land will be used:

1. for widening Fords Cut;
2. for environmental enhancement, including establishment of wetlands on low-lying lands;
3. for site establishment activities and services relocation, to allow for the removal of stopbanks around the land north of Fords Cut and the causeways in the upper estuary currently blocking flow in the estuary; and
4. to rationalise ownership of the existing stopbanks.

The land is required because the project actions will expose the land to high risk of flooding and the costs of protection of the low-lying land would far exceed the value of the land, and the land contributes to meeting the project’s enhancement objectives.

As the requiring authority for the project, the Council’s designations for the construction of boating facilities, enhancement works, earthworks and diversion works, and for the operation and maintenance of the project, including diversion, enhancement works and boating facilities, were confirmed by a panel of independent commissioners on 1 July 2015.

The owners of the land and those persons with a registered interest in it have been served with notice of the Council’s intention to take the land and advised of their right to object.

Any other person having the right to object may send a written objection to the Registrar, Environment Court, Level 2, 41 Federal Street, Auckland 1010, or by post to PO Box 7147 or DX CX10086, Auckland, within 20 working days after the date of publication of this notice.

If any objection is made in accordance with this notice, a public hearing will be held with the right of the objector to appear and be heard personally, unless the objector otherwise requires, and each objector will be informed of the time and place of the hearing.

Any person requiring further information in respect of this advice should contact Paul McLennan, Opus International Consultants Limited, Opus House, Princes Street (Private Bag 3057), Hamilton 3240. Telephone: (07) 834 1803.

South Auckland Land District—Western Bay of Plenty District

Schedule

The land is located at 74 Ford Road, Maketu.

Dated at Tauranga this 15th day of October 2015.

MARYANNE MACLEOD, Chief Executive, Bay of Plenty Regional Council.