Proposed upgrade of Port Tarakohe in Golden Bay could cost up to $35m

A proposed upgrade and reconfiguration Golden Bay's Port Tarakohe comes with an estimated price tag of between $28 million and $35 million.
The figures are contained in a draft business case for the proposed development that Tasman district councillors on Thursday approved for public consultation.
Set to run from Saturday to July 30, the consultation is due to culminate in a hearing of submissions at Takaka on August 7.
The preparation of the draft business case has been largely funded by the Government's Provincial Growth Fund, which is also set to be tapped for a chunk of the capital funding for the proposed upgrade of the council-owned and operated port.
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In its Long Term Plan 2018-28, the council has capital funding of just under $6m earmarked for Port Tarakohe.
The expected growth of the mussel industry is the focus of the draft business case. A council staff report says that with recent regulatory approval of aquaculture management areas, mussel produce through the port is expected to "increase exponentially over the next decade".
"To accommodate this growth, the port cannot continue to operate in its current state," the report says. "The facility has reached a point where the imminent growth of aquaculture, health and safety risks, food safety risks, operational inefficiencies, and lack of resilience to climate change threaten the ability for the port to remain functional."
Deputy mayor Tim King, who was chairman of a steering group for the business case project, said that although there had been a lot of focus on marine farming, the port had "significant other users", particularly those shipping dolomite and rock.
"It's a lot more cyclical but if you look at the years where the port has been financially better off, it is largely due to those activities," King said. "Some of the challenges designing the port and coming up with the structures ... and the choosing what to take out of the $35m and coming back to the $28m have involved compromises for a number of those other users so I think that is likely to come through the consultation and submission process."
Council strategic policy manager Sharon Flood said there had been early consultation with a number of stakeholders.
"They were wanting, in particular, that we provided for the penguins," Flood said. "We have provided for a number of penguin boxes along the arm."
The proposal also included an extension to the waka ama ramp as requested along with provision of a ramp on the outside wall.
"They are really happy that we are separating the commercial area from the recreational area [and] very happy that we're keeping within the current footprint of the port and not going outside," Flood said.
The design includes a reconfigu