The planned boardwalk walkway along Pilot Bay has been approved for construction with building expected to start next autumn.
Councillors at the Projects and Monitoring Committee on Monday agreed to a proposal that follows the public intent as expressed in the submissions process.
Construction on a new boardwalk along Pilot Bay will begin next April.
The large grass area at the Salisbury Wharf end of the bay used for many events is being retained with the walkway passing between the road and the Norfolk Pine trees.
The boardwalk starts from Port of Tauranga gates and passes in front of the carpark, cantilevered over the seawall on piles.
A combination of treatments will be used with brushed concrete at intersections or connections. The bulk of the walkway will be timber.
Tauranga City Council has committed $295,000, and the Port of Tauranga has pledged $200,000 for the project, which is expected to begin construction next April.
The width of the boardwalk will vary with a maximum of three metres. Councillor Catherine Stewart’s motion to reduce the maximum width to 2.5 metres failed.
During the committee meeting today park rangers team leader Warren Aitken produced a 3metre and 2.4metre length of timber and Tony Christiansen demonstrated with his wheelchair that a boardwalk any narrower would not leave much room for a pushchair.
Two of the sticking points from an earlier report, the future of the dinghies and the waka ama are being resolved.
The dinghies are going onto beach side racks near where they are currently tied, and the waka ama are moving to a new home, probably nearer the northern end of the bay.
See the Pilot Bay walkway plan here.
http://econtent.tauranga.govt.nz/data/documents/committee_meetings/2012/September/AGEN%20ProjMon%2010.9.12%20-%20DC287.pdf