Funding Challenges for Sugarloaf Wharf Upgrade

By John Freer

Completed design and the construction cost estimate for the upgrade of Coromandel’s Sugarloaf Wharf will be presented next month and the company behind the development is indicating potential overall budget challenges.

The project was originally estimated at $22 million, making it the biggest Provincial Growth Fund supported development in the Waikato.

There has been no update on the proposed development since August last year, the independent chairman of Ariki Tahi Sugarloaf Wharf Limited, Andrew Stevens, told CFM over the weekend, that the company was exploring additional funding options around the risk of a potential budget shortfall.

He said with the project having been originally estimated some seven years ago, the small delays experienced around consenting and the construction cost escalation impacts of the covid-19 period, have provided some potential challenges with overall budget.

Andrew said they will be in a better position to understand this aspect, and options for the scale or phasing of the upgraded facility, after the Board received the designs and options around cost outcomes scheduled for next month.

The upgrade of the Sugarloaf Wharf at Te Kouma on the southern side of the Coromandel Harbour, was first mooted in 2012. Since then, there have been challenges to the resource consent application and a High Court judicial review.

Once these hurdles were cleared the company which represents Thames Coromandel District Council, the Coromandel Marine Farmers, and the Crown, sort the design set and subsequent construction costs from the consortium selected to undertake the work.

Funding for the redevelopment came from $19.95 million through the provincial growth fund with a further $2 million being provided by the Waikato Regional Council.