Reef - submission
Lynne Dempsey
Council's current plan. Please can you take the time to support Lloyd's
efforts to extend this reef by contributing even a sentence or two on
the back of the latest Panui and dropping it into the Council before the
22nd May. Or e-mail your views to Council - doesn't have to be as long
as mine!
Hope you all 'weathered' the stormy days this week.
Regards
Lynne
SUBMISSION IN SUPPORT OF THE OPOTIKI COMMUNITY REEF APPLICATION FOR $9000
First - we were amazed that such a small sum has been requested and
believe that the Council's contribution should be much higher than this.
Recently we had the pleasure of working under Lloyd Hosken's guidance to
build concrete modules as part of the Transition Town Opotiki Coast
group. Later we took part in dropping these modules onto the designated
seabed site. We were impressed by Mr Hosken's professionalism and the
care he took to educate us about the value of enhanced seabeds to a
community.
This first stage of the project is being monitored to provide evidence
of fish breeding where there was none before.
Research overseas shows that undoubtedly this approach hugely enhances
the fish stocks. The advantage of the reef is that it is close to the
shore - making recreational fishing accessible to those who, in these
constrained times, do not want to spend excessive amounts on fuel by
travelling long distances off shore. Local fishers with smaller boats
and fewer resources will really appreciate this accessibility.
Holidaymakers will also be delighted to see Opotiki develop as a fishing
destination. Motel and Holiday Park owners and businesses in town will
appreciate the attraction of keen fishers to the district over a long
season.
Please let us see the Council getting behind this wonderful project
which has almost unlimited potential for expansion and bringing economic
benefits to the local community. We ask that you actively solicit funds
from EBOP's community project funding for this impressive initiative.
Lynne and Ted Dempsey
332 Ohiwa Harbour Rd