Te Pūwaha - the Whanganui Port revitalisation project

Te Pūwaha is the first community led project aligned to the health and wellbeing of Te Awa Tupua.

A modern, purpose built marine precinct, with enhanced flood protection is at the heart of Te Pūwaha – a project that will embrace the Whanganui Port as a community asset for the next 50 years, and beyond.

Te Pūwaha is a collaborative effort, led by iwi and upheld by project partners to create Mauri Awa (abundance for the river), Mauri Ora (abundance for the wider eco-system) and Mauri Tangata (abundance for whanau, hapu, iwi and the wider Whanganui community).

The total investment in Te Puwaha is over $50 million, with $26.75 million received through the Provincial Growth Fund which is managed by Kānoa – Regional Economic Development Unit. The remaining cost and resources are covered by project partners Whanganui District Council (Whanganui Port Operations Company), Horizons Regional Council, Q-West Boat Builders, and the Whanganui District Employment Training Trust (Port Employment Precinct).

Te Mata Pūau, representing Whanganui hapū, are leading Te Pūwaha and in partnership with project partners are applying the innate values of Te Awa Tupua.

The Horizons portion of the project will ensure river channel alignment is maintained to protect Whanganui’s critical infrastructure (including the port, three waters and flood protection assets) from erosion and sea encroachment. This certainty of river alignment is a critical component to the wider Te Pūwaha project, as it will protect and enable the Whanganui Port to develop and operate by defining the river mouth and ensuring a navigable depth is maintained for vessels.

Horizons components of the project are:

• Strengthening of the North Mole and revetment;
• Reinstatement of the Tanae Groyne (~50m in length);
• Upgrade of erosion control structures along the South Spit;
• He Ara Tuku Rau;
• Strengthening of the South Mole; and
• Repair to the interface wall at the base of the South Mole.

Want to find out more?

Check out the Te Pūwaha webpage, follow Te Pūwaha on Facebook, or subscribe to the project’s regular newsletters.