March 2005 - A quick update of a few of the current projects.

1. Mount Maunganui, NZ - We're extremely excited about this
project; just 2 hrs from the head office and almost ready to go! A lot
of effort is being directed at the Mount Reef at present, with the
construction team now selected and looking towards a May/June start;
once the tropical cyclone swells have finished their run. The past 6
months have seen the final computer modelled design replicated in the
wave basin to verify the design. Once the construction material and
methods were selected, further physical modelling was undertaken in
order to amalgamate the design with any limitations of the engineering.
With the design and engineering in house, modifications were made to
the reef shape to simplify the construction, while retaining the A-frame
barrel. Video footage of the physical modelling can be viewed on
http://www.mountreef.co.nz and more will soon be available on
www.asrltd.co.nz

2. 4th International Surfing Reef Conference - In mid-January the
4th International Surfing Reef Conference was held at Manhattan Beach,
Los Angeles, California. A diverse range of presentations were made on
aspects ranging from amalgamating engineering with detailed design to
the computer modelled fluid dynamics for optimizing fin design. A good
commentary of the goings on at the Conference is given on
http://www.surfline.com/home/SurfNews/2005_02_24_artificial.cfm and the
papers presented are currently being reviewed for publication in a
Special issue of the Journal of Coastal Research. Of note is the
announcement for the 5th International Surf Reef Symposium to be held in
Lombok in June/July 2006 - best time of the year for a trip to Indo; put
it in your diary!

3. Opunake, NZ - Resource Consent documentation was lodged for the
Opunake Reef late last year. There have been two pre-hearing meetings
and it is hoped that following the development of a management plan for
Opunake Bay, the Resource Consents will be granted without preceding to
a hearing. The detailed design work for the Resource Consent included
another whole suite of field work, which verified the reef location as
the best in the bay with respect to waves and winds, and also for
biological and engineering considerations. As with the Mount Reef,
final design was tested and verified in the wave basin at Raglan.

4. Costa Rica - continues to proceed on schedule with planning
meetings underway for the approvals.

5. Surf Pools - The surf pool front is still progressing at an
incredible rate with construction of the first one to commence
construction in the second half of this year in Orlando, Florida. Other
projects are also being developed in Australia, Europe, South East Asia
and South America. At present, after 5 years of development, a large
testing programme is underway for the VersaReef, the movable pool floor
that can be adjusted to create a range of different surfing waves. This
R&D will culminate in a full-scale proto-type for the Orlando project
(Festival Bay www.surfparks.com ). And who knows ... the Versareef is
being designed for rock ledges in the sea also. Maybe the world's first
adjustable surfing reef could happen. Are there any investors out there?

6. Oil Piers, California. Prior to the 4th International Surfing
Reef Conference, a permitting/construction meeting was held for the Oil
Piers project. It was hoped that Oil Piers Multi-Purpose Reef would be
under construction this year. However, a combination of getting all the
permits, fabrication times (currently up to 8 months from the order to
complete the ProTech Shield compartmentalised sand-filled containers)
and funding means at least another summer (northern hemisphere), before
construction commences. Even so, the team are all continuing to work on
the project and get everything in place as soon as possible.

7. Boscombe, Bournemouth, UK - the Council committee has approved
the next stage and it is hoped that the final detailed design work will
get underway soon. The first stage of produced a two layer reef,
designed to draw wave energy onto the break for the low wave climate at
Boscombe.

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Greetings Supporters

Time for a project update.

We are grafting away fund raising-lodging applications with every grant body we can tap. They take months to process as they meet at different times. We had to secure costings for the different parts of the project before we could apply for grants. Not all are in yet but we have some direction. We are negotiating ad sites from Wgtn Airport (WIAL now wild at heart) for the naming rights sponsor. WIAL have agreed to a number of sites around Lyall bay in principle and we are working through the terms of those and things like resource consent requirements. WIAL and it's shareholders Infratil and WCC have provided great practical support for our project. We have approached a couple of potential sponsors and they are considering but over $1m is a lot to swallow hence the need to leverage their exposure with ad sites. I am forming a relationship with Cato so we can present our ideas graphically to potential naming rights sponsors. They do the airport branding etc We are developing contacts with Centreport's new engineer and CEO to secure the sand from the harbour entrance when they dredge hopefully next June. This takes time as they have no institutional knowledge and those we dealt with in the past have all left. They are amenable but further negotiating is required. If we do not get sand from that source the cost of alternatives will not be feasible. It is not possible to put a time frame on when we will have funds. It might take 5yrs or it might take 6 months

We have approached organisations; we thought we had the running on like Quiksilver and it did not work out. So it's a process of elimination. As you can imagine this sort of ground work does not make good update material and is often commercially sensitive . We will not be able to announce anything about the naming rights sponsor until it is a done deal and then only on their terms. They like to control their marketing and they will own the rights to the PR.

The website is a private initiative and we do not fund it. For that reason it is not up to date currently. Every dollar we secure is spent on the project directly and the only part timer paid person is systematically making applications for funding so that they will be self funded as it were. All the rest of the inputs are gratis as we have nothing to sell and no money to spend on anything but construction. All grants made so far are only made available once we secure the remainder of the funding required i.e. $1.55m at least. We will see this through no matter how long it takes. There are thousands of surfers and others who want this to happen

All the best for the festive season

Kind regards

Tony Lines
Chairman
P O Box 10 246
Wellington, New Zealand
Ph: + 64 4 498 0805
Fax: +64 4 472 2291
Mob: + 64 274 490 945

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On 23 and 24 July, Commissioners for the Greater Wellington Regional Council heard a resource consent application by The Reef Trust for the proposed artificial reef in Lyall Bay. There were a lot of submitters on both sides and intense media interest with TV1, TV 3, Newstalk ZB and Dom Post all carrying stories.

The issues focused on the safety risks posed by the adjacent jet ski lane, the need for a safety plan, the lack of adequate resourcing for the Life Saving services, the ability of the trust to carry out monitoring and maintenance, the source of the sand for the salient that will build on the beach in front of the reef and the type of sand to be used to fill the geotextile bags that make up the reef.

The Trust is working on the closing submissions due 1 Aug and the decision should be available around end August. The Regional Council officer's report recommended consent be granted subject to a range of conditions. If consent is granted Trust Chair Tony Lines expects there to be an Appeal to the Environment Court.

Once consent is obtained the Trust plans to sell naming rights to the Reef to a commercial sponsor to help fund construction estimated to cost $1.1m with the balance from WCC ( $265,000) and Community Trusts/Lotteries Grants Board. Tony says there are already getting nibbles from beer brands and surf wear manufacturers. Law firm Kensington Swan supports the project which is being officially backed by the Wgtn Airport and WCC.

For more information:
Tony Lines
04 498 0805
025 490945
tony.lines@kensingtonswan.com

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It's been a while since the last update on the Lyall Bay Reef and some big milestones have passed. On Tuesday 15/4 the Trust lodged it's Resource Consent application with Greater Wellington. Members of the Trust and the ASR consortium undertook a large amount of final detailing work and are now looking forward to receiving confirmation of a hearing date from Greater Wellington and having a short but well earned rest.

Two new considerations came to light during the preparation of the consent application, namely the jet ski lane in Lyall Bay and an alternative reef core construction.

The position of the jet ski lane and the bylaw which defines it do not correlate. This was addressed in relation to the proposed reef position, mitigating any potential conflict.

Also, an additional construction option for the reef core was highlighted and added to the RC application. It entails the use of concrete caissons as a core with the Geotextile bags overlying these. The Caissons are large hollow concrete structures formed in the desired shape that are then floated into place and are ballasted with water (sunk) until they rest in the desired location. As with the bags they can be easily removed or repositioned if necessary (by re-floating), are stable in heavy seas and are inert and environment friendly. The caissons are then overlayed with the geotextile bags for a softer (and therefore safer), highly accurate top layer forming the Reef as deigned. The Trust has sent letters to all interested parties and user groups with whom they have been consulting informing them of the option and has included it in the RC application.

Glen McGovern of WCC has recently returned from Narrowneck on the Gold Coast where he spoke to a consultant and the engineer on the artificial reef project there, and to the Council officer in charge of it and learned of the successes they have experienced. They reported that the salient and associated sand dunes have stopped sand build-up on the road and that the reef is the top diving spot on the Gold Coast, and one of the best fishing spots. A life guard tower has been built opposite Narrowneck but there is no increase in rescues being reported. There are buoys warning boats not to anchor around the reef but in fact there is no longer any damage occurring from spears or anchors because of the layer of quality geotextile placed over the top of the reef structure.

The focus of the Narrowneck reef is principally coastal protection and although it doesn't produce quality surfing waves in all conditions it is said to do so in big swells.

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Dr Shaw Mead of reef designers ASR Ltd who lead a consortium seeking resource consent for the proposed Lyall Bay Reef said on 25 Feb:

This project is now in full-swing, with 3 computers running simultaneously to complete the final stages of the Assessment of Environmental Effects (sediment transport modelling) in order to lodge a resource consent application in early March.

Originally it was planned to have a double-sided reef with a 100 m right-hander and 100 m left-hander. The right-hander was to provide a fast and hollow wave for competent surfers similar to Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast. The left-hander was to provide a sectioning wave (variety of peel-speeds and wave steepness) for intermediate to competent surfers similar to Manu Bay at Raglan. However, the design modelling soon found that this criteria could not be met due to the wave height gradient across the bay - the second half of the left-hand break failed to break on many occasions due to dramatic height loss. To optimise the surfing on the reef, the second half of the left was removed and put onto the right. The result is a 135 m right-hander with the first 75-80 m fast and hollow (Burleigh Heads parameters - competent surfers), a short very fast and very hollow section (15 m) and an inside 45-50 m slower section for intermediate surfers. The 65 m long left-hander, will provide a fast and steep/hollow wave (barrelling in clean swell) for competent surfers.

One of the positive aspects to come out of the numerical modelling is that the changes in currents in Lyall Bay are restricted to the area around the reef, as had previously been demonstrated by the less sophisticated modelling undertaken for the feasibility study. While localised impacts have been demonstrated on open coast projects, Lyall Bay is a large pocket beach and impacts at either end of the bay had been an area of concern for several stakeholder - it's a great result, and the sediment transport modelling so far is showing the building of a salient(wide sand beach in front of the reef) that will protect the 'Bend' where erosion is a problem at Lyall Bay

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On Sat Nov 30th the Reef Trust-organised beach clean-up and public meeting were hugely successful and blessed with calm sunny conditions. Approximately 100 people including AIESEC youth leadership conference attendees took to the beach with rubbish bags and gloves and cleaned the beach of all manner of rubbish.

The meeting was also well attended. Four Reef Trustees (including Chairman Tony Lines), Shaw Mead of ASR, and Mark Bailey and Pauline Lyons of Boffa Miskell headed the meeting which provided information on the Resource Consent process and all design, construction and operational aspects of the Reef Project.

Thanks to Rob Goulden and Leonie Gill for all their help and manning the barbeque and David Major for participating in the beach clean.

In December the Trust met with local IWI and explained the project . Both Ngati Toa and the Tenths Trust expressed their support and desire for continuing information.
The next consultation date will be an open day on the 15th February at the Maranui Clubrooms on Lyall Bay. All are welcome and the final design of the proposed reef will be on display.

Meanwhile the beach surveys are progressing well and are providing good info on how and where the beach is used as well as traffic and parking trends. These will continue until February 18th.

Thank you to those who came to the meeting.
Attached is a summary of the issues raised at the meeting.
Please advise us if these comments are not a fair record of the meeting.

If you would like to make any comments regarding the reef, or put any questions to the Trust, please feel free to send any comments to:

Pauline Lyons, Boffa Miskell Ltd, PO Box 11 340 Wellington, paulinel@boffamiskell.com
or contact
Lyall Bay Reef Charitable Trust Chairman – Tony Lines on 04 498 0805 (after 6.00pm please).

MEETING SUMMARY

Tony Lines, the Reef Trust Chairman, introduced the Lyall Bay Reef Charitable Trust, gave an overview of the Trust and introduced the project team.
Marc Baily of Boffa Miskell Ltd outlined the consultation process and format of the meeting.
Shaw Mead of ASR Ltd provided a power point presentation detailing models used to design artificial reefs; other reef examples; the modeling undertaken in Lyall Bay; details and findings of the feasibility study undertaken in 2000 and 2001 including where in Lyall Bay the reef will be sited, benefits of surfing, effects on current users, construction methods, and the various assessments to be included in the resource consent application.

The following questions and issues were raised with responses provided by the Trust and project team:

Experience: How many reefs has ASR been involved with?
ASR has been involved with one reef to date which has been constructed. However, the company is presently involved in the feasibility and design of more than a dozen surf reefs worldwide (both for coastal protection and amenity enhancement). Newquay, England, where ASR has been undertaking a feasibility study, is similar to Lyall Bay. Individual directors of the firm have long established histories in the areas of coastal protection and processes and ASR’s 3DD suite of numerical models (currently leased to NIWA and the BTTP in Indonesia) have been used in hundreds of coastal development (ports, harbours, marinas, etc.) and process studies over the past 2 decades around Australasia.

What are the instances of shredding bags at Noosa, Australia? What are the bags made of? What consideration is given to the effects on the bags from anchors or spear fishing.
Geotextile bags which hold the sand, are non-woven bags developed for the marine environment. The bags are manufactured from polymer and although still a plastic derivative, are a different material from plastic bottles. A sample of the material was shown at the meeting. Shredding of Terrafix 2000 has not occurred in Queensland. However, during trials and early in construction, some bags split due to dropping at depths of over 10 m – one of these bags washed onshore one year later. Given the depth at Lyall Bay (4-5 metres) and controlled nature of installation, this would not be an issue.
The material is UV protected and guaranteed for 25 years by the Australian manufacturer. Bags used 40 years ago in a sub--tidal application are still intact- with a life expectancy of some 100-400 years. Projects using Terrafix 2000 have recently been undertaken in Katikati and Ohope Beach in the Bay of Plenty.
Although removing lodged anchors has resulted in cuts in the bags at Narrowneck, this has been resolved by patches in the first instance. To stop similar occurrences in the future the reef has been made off limits for boats fishing. There are no confirmed reports of bag damage due to spear-fishing.

Where will the sand to fill the bags come from?
The source of the sand has not yet been finalized. However one likely source is from the harbour entrance as part of CenterPort’s maintenance dredging programme. The Trust is presently in discussions with CentrePort regarding this. If this source is not available, the Trust may source suitable sand from the southwest coast. Any dredging requires resource consent and CentrePort is currently seeking that for a quantity 20 times that required to form the surfing reef. The sand used for the reef will be of the same sand size to that is on the beach at present.

If the bags were opened, what changes would be noticeable on the beach?
The natural processes of the beach are such that the sand would disperse if the bags were opened. If the reef was required to be deconstructed, it would take approximately three days to empty each group of bags. The bags would be anchored then opened and the sand would be dispersed by natural wave action. The bags would then be removed by pulling out with a powerful boat. The amount of sand from the bags distributed across the beach would be undetectable given similar type sand and the very large area of beach across which it would spread, and would have no significant ecological impact due to the adaptations of the organisms that already inhabit the mobile and abrasive sandy seabed in the area.

Would the reef sink from the weight, as occurred on the Gold Coast?
Lyall Bay has a good hard base less than 2 metres down. Suction dredging would remove the top layer and the bags would be placed on the base. Consequently it is not anticipated that any substantial settlement would occur.
The incident of sinking on the Gold Coast occurred as a result of the beach being replenished with sand prior to construction. This was a fine, loosely laid sand in a very high-energy environment over and around a mobile storm bar. The decision was made to carry on in expectation there would be settlement of at least 1.5m with a view to building in stages to accommodate. Although some important development with respect to construction processes were made at the Gold Coast, the sediments and processes at the Gold Coast are of little value as a comparison to Lyall Bay.

Will safety be an issue?
The reef will not change the energy coming into the bay (as it can’t make more swell) rather it will change the energy that reaches the beach (mostly reducing it by breaking waves). The feasibility study identified the optimal position for the reef as being 250 metres off shore, thereby ensuring a significant setback from swimmers in terms of the reef itself and installation. With respect to surfers and other water sports which may come in contact with the reef, the surface of the reef will be softer than rocks or concrete and as it is compacted sand, would be similar to the seabed at present.

What type of wave will be generated?
The types of waves generated can be modified to create any form wanted. This modeling is occurring at present. It is envisaged that the right break of 150m will be similar to that of Burleigh Heads in Australia and the left break will be 50m.

What happens to the corner? How will the reef affect the beach?
The existing corner will not be affected as the changes will be focused to the middle of the beach. The design of the reef is such that impacts are centrally focused and behind the reef, rather than the sides of the bay.

Jet skis: How will the reef impact on jet skis/wet bikes?
It was noted by those present that although not necessarily liked in the area, the Jet Ski lane is in existence. This lane allows recreational water craft such as jet skis to exceed the speed limit of 5 knots within either 200 metres of the shore and within 50 metres of another vessel or person in the water. The option of moving this lane to the east was raised. However specific discussion with jet ski users would be sought to discuss any issue from their point of view. It was noted Jetski reps were invited to the interest group meeting but did not attend.

Who ‘owns’ the reef, and will there be restrictions on its use? Will there be any monitoring?
Ownership of the reef is yet to be decided. As it is a public amenity it would desirably be owned by WRC or WCC.
It is likely that during competitions there may be restrictions on public use of the reef – as commonly occurs now on public beaches when competitions are held. At other times the reef will be available for use by the public. Monitoring of the reef may be a requirement imposed by the Regional Council as a condition of resource consent. It is likely it would be undertaken by a university student as part of a PHD study.

Who is paying for the reef?
The Trust received money from the WCC Grants Committee for the feasibility study and through the Annual Plan process. $135,000 was granted towards resource consent conditional on the Trust first raising the balance itself. That balance came from Wellington International Airport ($30,000) ,local pub charities($9,000) and public donations. Next year $265,000 is earmarked by WCC for construction conditional on the Trust raising at least $400,000 from other sources. The Trust is investigating the option of corporate sponsorship for the reef.

Could the project be tied in with that occurring at Oriental Bay?
No as Oriental Bay is underway and funded by WCC and the Plimmer Trust whereas the reef is a standalone project initiated by the Lyall Bay Reef Charitable Trust.

Will the reef attract more sharks to the bay?
It is possible since the reef will attract fish and other marine life. But the risk of attracting sharks is no greater than any natural reef or point break.

Everyone was thanked for coming and providing their comments. The comments received through the consultation process will feed into the assessment process, we welcome comments from everyone.

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All is going well with the Resource Consent application for permission to build the Reef. We are now 2 months into the 6 months it will take to assess and document the affects of the structure and liaise with user groups and interested parties before an application is made for consent.
The design process is underway and the concept is to have a right designed like the break at Burleigh Heads on the Queensland border with New South Wales and a slower sectioning left, both 100m in length. Construction factors are being worked through and there is a real possibility sand for the bags (15,000m3) will come from the harbour entrance when it is dredged in the future.

A public meeting to discuss all aspects of the Reef and a Reef Trust sponsored Beach clean-up will be held on Saturday November 30th.
The Lyall Bay Beach clean will start at 9am and the meeting will take place in the Maranui Surf and Lifesaving Clubrooms at 11am.

Bags will be provided for the clean-up, just turn up at 9am and help keep Lyall Bay a great place to surf, swim, walk, and enjoy.

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John Sheridan, Chief Executive of Wellington International Airport and KPMG Legal Partner, Tony Lines, Chairman of the Lyall Bay Reef Charitable Trust, advised today that the Airport company will provide funding of $30,000 toward the resource consent process for the surf reef development at Lyall Bay.

Mr Sheridan said that “the proposed surf reef is another positive initiative for the south coast, complementing the recently announced marine reserve, the planned Marine Conservation Centre at Te Raekaihau Point, and the proposed sinking of the frigate Wellington as a diving attraction.”

“Lyall Bay is recognised by many Wellingtonian’s as the best and largest beach in the city, but it's potential is very much unrealised” he added. “The reef will provide a valuable community asset which will help unlock the potential of the beach and surrounding area. It will be a great attraction to an area of Wellington which has seen very little development over the past decade.”

“As the largest and one of the nearest neighbours to the proposed surf reef, Wellington International Airport welcomes the opportunity to become involved at this early stage in a truly meaningful community project” concluded Mr Sheridan.

Mr Lines added “the Reef Trust is delighted with this generous offer from Wellington International Airport and as a result has now reached its funding goal of 25% of the expected costs of resource consent ($184,840) sufficient to call on a $100,000 contribution from WCC promised in the 2001/02 Annual Plan.”

“The Trust has applied to WCC for a further $35,000 in the 2002/03 Annual Plan now under consideration, and is seeking the remaining balance of funds from founder members of the public.”

A Consortium headed by reef designers ASR Ltd is expected to commence the resource consent process and finalising the reef design in July, targeting a notified hearing before the Wellington Regional Council early in 2003.

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The Lyall Bay Reef Charitable Trust completed the Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Resource Consent phase in October 2001. Glenn McGovern from WCC gave feedback on the draft and thought the final was very thorough. Invitations to respond to the RFP were sent to 14 interested firms (resource planning, engineering, reef design). Many of these attended the Questions and Answer session in November. Three responses were received by the due date in December.

A consortium of three companies was selected as being the most appropriate. The consortium can not be appointed until the Trust has raised $46,000, which will allow the Trust to collect the $100,000 from WCC. The final amount of $184,000 for the resource consent phase (including detailed reef design) was not known until the RFP process was completed.

This year the serious fund raising has commenced. Donations are coming in all the time, especially after 15,000 donations leaflets were distributed in December (advertising in the leaflet also brought in funds).

A huge list of companies have been approached for donations. Many applications have been sent to trusts (pub trusts and other trusts) for grant money. The total raised so far is in the double figures. Pub charities to date have given $5,400 (Bay 66, The Cutting, Kilbirnie Tavern). Other applications are still in the pipeline and some trusts meet only quarterly or six-monthly.

A couple of high profile fundraising events are being organised in the near future.

The Lotteries Commission has indicated it would be interested in contributing funds for construction but not for the resource consent phase. Other companies have also expressed interest in contributing to the construction costs.

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The Lyall Bay Reef Charitable Trust has been busy at work in the Lyall Bay community.

The Trust organised a beach clean at Lyall Bay beach on March 23and it was a huge success, with more than 100 people turning out at Maranui Surf Life Saving Club between 10am and 3pm on Lyall Bay beach to clean up what other people had left behind.

The beach clean was advertised on the radio, in the Cook Strait News, at libraries, bus shelters, city centre lampposts, 13 southern and eastern primary, intermediate and secondary schools and in Lyall Bay residential letter boxes. Several Scots College students who were interested in completing their Duke of Edinburgh award worked very hard for two hours helping with the beach clean.

Volunteers aged three to over 80 years old spent most of the morning filling bags provided by the council and about 100 were filled in total.

Lyall Bay resident Steph Tims stopped by with three toddlers and offered her support. She said she was disappointed at the amount of glass found on the beach: “Whenever we come down to the beach I’m always picking up broken glass. This is a great idea and anything community based like cleaning the beach you have to get involved because of the kids,” Tims said.

Other beach-cleaners thought it was “cool” that a beach clean had been organised and two offered to assist the Trust with future fund raising efforts to support the reef.

The workers were well fed throughout the day with a BBQ, which contributed to the Trust’s fund raising. The Trust also sold Lyall Bay reef car stickers and sold raffle tickets for a framed and signed Hurricanes jersey. McDonalds had kindly donated the jersey, and Pak n’ Save had subsidised the food.

Rubbish collected included dozens of soft drink and beer cans, plastic water bottles, a car tyre, furniture and part of a fence.

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An artificial reef at Lyall Bay would greatly improve surfing conditions and provide valuable erosion protection with no adverse effects on the environment, a Wellington City Council-funded study has found.

The Lyall Bay Surfing Reef Feasibility Study found that building a reef about 250 metres out from Kingsford Smith Street would potentially lift the number of quality surfing days from its present 27 days a year, up to between 118-142 days a year - an additional 91-115 days of quality surf.

"The findings show that a reef is viable, and would make Wellington one of the few capital cities in the world where quality waves are easily accessible. A reef would reinvigorate the south coast and boost tourism opportunities," said Lyall Bay Reef Trust spokesman Murray Mexted, speaking at the release of the feasibility study.

"Quality surfing at Lyall Bay is not just good news for surfers. Boogie boarders, windsurfers, body surfers of all ages and skill levels will benefit from the better conditions. There will be more people using the beach, and more beach users means more opportunity for economic development."

Cost estimates for a reef range from $700,000 to $1.3m depending on:

• the size of the reef;
• where the sand for it is sourced; and
• whether resource consent is notified or not.

The study suggests that a preliminary cost/benefit ratio would be in excess of 30:1.

The ASR study listed some of the benefits of the reef as:

• Enhanced erosion protection;
• Increased surf shop sales;
• Establishment of surf schools;
• A venue for local, national and international competitions; and
• Increased trade for local food and accommodation businesses.

"We are all extremely excited by the potential benefits this reef could bring to the Wellington region. We will be seeking a major sponsor for around half the total cost of the reef. We're hoping that one or more of our larger companies will see the opportunity the reef will provide in terms of naming rights and being associated with a venture that will still be benefiting the region in decades to come."

The Trust is aiming to have a request for partial funding for the reef submitted to Wellington City Council in time for it to be considered as part of the Draft Annual Plan.

"We are tremendously grateful to the Wellington City Council for funding the study and have been particularly heartened by the high level of support for the reef shown by Eastern Ward city councilors (particularly Rob Goulden and Leonie Gill) and the Mayor."

The study was undertaken by ASR Ltd, a company involved in pioneering the design and construction of artificial reefs. The company has designed an artificial reef at Narrowneck in Queensland, although that reef was primarily built to control sand movement and erosion.

ASR undertook preliminary consultation with the Tenths Trust, Ngati Toa, divers, the Harbour Master's Office, fishermen, jet ski riders, windsurfers, Lyall Bay Surf Lifesaving Club and the Maranui Surf Lifesaving Club.

Information for the study was drawn from data supplied by NIWA, Tranzrail and analysis undertaken by ASR directly.

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The study was undertaken by Tourism Resource Consultants on behalf of the Opunake Artificial Reef Committee, and funded by the South Taranaki District Council. The study assesses the economic and social impact of two proposed artificial surfing reefs in Opunake Bay, South Taranaki.

The scope of the study was to assess the economic and social impact of a proposal to construct two artificial reefs and associated infrastructure on land. The estimated cost of the first or North Reef is $800,000 with additional associated infrastructure of $350,000. The second or South Reef is estimated to cost approximately $2.2 million, with approximately $100,000 worth of infrastructure. Total costs could be in the order of $3.45 million.

The study concludes that the reef project would create positive economic and social benefits for Opunake, for South Taranaki District and for the Taranaki region. In the next five years, the reef project would do much in the way of strengthening the tourism, sport and recreation base of Taranaki. It is highly likely to help build up existing local businesses and may lead to new small businesses in Opunake over the next five years. This type of economic and social development is ideally suited to Opunake as it would be reasonably small scale and sustainable in the long term.

Specifically, the reef project will strengthen the ‘Surf Highway 45’ brand and the image of Taranaki as a desirable coastal and surf destination. With improvements to infrastructure on land, the Opunake Bay headlands will become one of the best coastal attractions in Taranaki. Currently, there is a risk that Surf Highway 45 will become a concept that does not live up to its name unless further opportunities are developed to experience the Taranaki coastline. If managed well, the reef project will help stimulate growth of new small businesses including accommodation, surf retail and board making, surf instruction and cafes.

While the possibility of constructing two reefs has been put forward, this study strongly recommends that construction of the North Reef and associated infrastructure on the northern and southern headlands is undertaken first, and the South Reef deferred until the North Reef is operating successfully. The cost of this option is in the order of $1.35 million. As the benefits would accrue at both regional and district levels, there is a strong argument in favour of joint Regional and District funding of the project. Sponsorship is likely to be possible with events and other activities associated with reef. Joint marketing with Destination Taranaki and with Raglan will provide the best ways to position and promote the reef for both Opunake and Taranaki.

Based on estimated additional expenditure of $200,000 in Year 1 and $350,000 in Year 5, the reef project is expected to generate the equivalent of three additional fulltime jobs in Year 1 and six in Year 5. These jobs could be spread across a variety of businesses including dairies, accommodation, other food outlets and so on. Added value expenditure may be possible through advertising royalties, new businesses, media coverage and special events, but these are not quantified in this study as such ventures are largely unpredictable and can sometimes over-estimate potential economic benefits. Ultimately, the success of these added-value businesses is up to the motivation, innovation and drive of the local community.

The Opunake community has generally reacted positively toward the reef although there is some valid concern about possible environmental impacts, conflict between surf and beach users and crowding on waves. There are also mixed reactions on the project’s impact on property values. Some view it as an opportunity to speculate on increases to property values, while others fear that Opunake will become too expensive to live in. It is unlikely that the reef will lead, in itself, to any substantial increase in property values in the short-term.

The creation of between three and six jobs over the first five years can be considered as a modest yet important contribution to the town’s sense of well-being. This should be seen in the context that over the last 15–20 years, Opunake has lost between 200-300 jobs.

Installation of the North Reef will signal to potential investors that Opunake has a future. There has already been growth in the number of small businesses, including cafes and a small surf repair and hire shop. Due to the lack of accommodation over summer, Easter, during events and at other busy times of the year, it is very likely that new accommodation would be built.

The proposed Opunake artificial reefs are expected to be surfable one day in three or approximately 100 days every year. It is estimated that the North Reef could receive around 3,700 user days in Year 1 doubling to 6,400 user days in Year 5 with an estimated 3% annual growth rate after that. The bulk of this use would occur over a five month period between November and March. In Year 1 this equates to about 37 surfers per day using the reef as an annual average, increasing to 64 per surfable day in Year 5. Events and other popular holidays or weekends would exceed that average while on other days the reef may receive little or no use at all. Typically though, 30–50 surfers per day have been observed in the water at any one time at Taranaki’s best breaks and it is suggested, that because Taranaki has so many good breaks, that a similar number will use the reefs at Opunake.

The study has not assessed environmental impacts, but based on experience of other artificial reef projects there is reason to ensure that these are carefully assessed prior to construction and monitored regularly, should the project proceed. It should be noted that artificial reef technology is new, there has been mixed performance to date from those reefs that have been constructed, and the expertise in Australasia is centered primarily on only one consulting firm.

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