We’re Making Good Progress With The Marine Centre

It’s been a long time in the planning, but the new Upper Harbour Regional Marine Centre is getting closer to being a reality.

This has been a project in the planning since October 2009 when the Crown and the Waitakere City Council recognised the need to have a facility on The Landing at Hobsonville Point for water based recreational uses and other community uses.

In June 2017 a Trust was formed to facilitate the creation and management of the facility known as the Upper Harbour Regional Marine Centre and the real work began which included locating a site with water access to build on, consulting with the community to make sure that the facility was required, designing a multi-purpose building and then working through the various channels including Council to ensure that it was allowed to be built.

Over the years the Trust has managed to get through the hurdles, and there were plenty!

Now we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and are looking forward to being able to share that progress.

What Is The Upper Harbour Marine Centre?

The Upper Harbour Regional Marine Centre is a facility being built at Hobsonville Point to provide for water based recreational uses, but the facility is being designed to accommodate a range of other community uses too.

When we talk about the Upper Harbour Regional Marine Centre we are talking about a building that is the “centre” which has storage on the lower level and a community / hospitality facility on the upper level.

It also includes a new wharf that provides all-tide water access.

The facility itself consists of storage below to accommodate storage for various club’s boats and safety equipment, and then upstairs we have a function centre area with bar and kitchen facilities.

Storage is provided so that water based community groups and clubs can store their equipment close to the water. We currently have based on Hobsonville both yachting and rowing that have been active for many years and what we are seeing as the community grows are more people getting involved in the water based activities with a lot of kayaks, paddleboards and also Waka to be seen on the water most weekends. It is envisage that there will be clubs formed or located to the local area and where possible they will have access to both facility as a base for them.

The upstairs is planned to be a multi-purpose function and hospitality venue.

While we are still working through the details, the idea is to have a community hub with hospitality options being considered.

These may include a club bar that will be open to the various club members with a sports club (yacht club) theme.

This will be open to club members and the public (as licensing allows) and gives another option to people when looking for somewhere to visit, enjoy a drink and something to eat where they can also enjoy the most stunning outlook.

There is also a “meeting / training” room that will be available for clubs and schools to use, but we expect that this will be available for companies and people to hire for mini-conferences, training days or for functions and special occasions.

This video gives an idea of what to expect:

There have been lots of ideas and the operational detail is being worked on, with details to be released as progress is made.

Negotiations are also currently underway with the Auckland Council to include a new public toilet which will be accessible off the Coastal Walkway.

When Can You Expect To See This Start?

We are close to delivering this amazing that the community will be proud of and be able to enjoy for many, many years to come.

The hope is that you will start to see work on the building platform and wharf in early 2023, and subject to funding and consenting we would like to start the building in late 2023 / early 2024.

When completed the Centre will be managed by the Trust for use by the residents of Hobsonville Point and the wider area. It will be a place providing easy access to the water and vibrant new community centre located over the waters of the Upper Waitemata Harbour.