Yachting New Zealand

There have been seven years spent in Yachting New Zealand trying to build a sailing facility on the beach at Takapuna. The process begins anew as an application has been made for acquiring 1000 square meters of land that is reserved.

The application is for a consent lease by the landowner which needs to be acquired from the Takapuna Devonport local boar. A portion of the land is part of the Takapuna Beach Holiday Park. The yachting company would apply for 580 square meters of the reserve land which should be cordoned by December. The land would then be handed over to Whatua waka ama club.

However, the club members themselves are in the dark about the proposal and what are the implications for the same. The club authorities state that they had applied for a site with the Auckland Council about 12 years back and they had received an agreement for the reserve land stating that they had the right to occupy. It would include 580 square meters of the camp ground site that is leased to the park authorities at present.

The Auckland council partially funds the marine hub (though with advertising money from UK yacht charters companies, etc) but there had been community protests initially. The survey that was conducted in 2015 showcased about 7800 responses that showed that the public wanted the holiday park to be retained and the removal of the same to build a marine hub was only supported by a few.

Hence, the club authorities are not sure what the final decision is. The local board is looking to make the best use of the public space. There was a meeting conducted this month when it was decided that the land owner consent would be granted to the YNZ facility. It remains to be seen if the yacht club gets the ground space that it needs.