Kāpiti Gateway Centre

Kapiti Island is an outstanding taonga and an internationally significant wildlife sanctuary.  Visiting Kapiti island is a highly unique and sought-after natural experience, which brings visitors to the Kapiti region.  

Visitation to Kāpiti Island is currently at only 25% of annual capacity. With better promotion and an improved visitor experience, there is significant opportunity to grow this without impacting the unique environment.  The Gateway will also improve biosecurity and provide an iconic visitor experience for both Kāpiti locals and visitor to our district.

The site for the proposed Gateway is itself very significant.  It is the site that iwi originally landed in our region, and has been used as the launching point for Kāpiti Island for hundreds of years.  Currently we lack recognition and expression of our local history and stories, and we lack a place to welcome visitors to our region.  The proposed buildings, pou, landscaping and art will be a place where we can bring our shared history to life.

The construction of the Gateway building will generate local employment opportunities and provide much-needed economic stimulus to businesses in the surrounding area post COVID-19.

Increasing tourism to the region will help to support local jobs.  The economic revenue of the Gateway and Kāpiti Island tourism in year one is estimated to be $5.91 million. It will generate local employment opportunities and provide much-needed economic stimulus to businesses in the surrounding area.

During construction an estimated 14 jobs would be created plus professional services providers and suppliers. Once the Gateway is completed its estimated that in the first year of operating a further 27 jobs would be created in the tourism and supporting sectors. This number is expected to increase to 48 jobs by 2025 and to 72 jobs by 2030.

We invited five architects to submit concepts for the Gateway building. Four accepted the invitation – two from Kāpiti and two from Wellington. We limited the invitations to five as we paid for the competition entries, to help encourage local participation. Engaging in tender processes can be very costly for small architects and we did not want the cost of participating to be a barrier to entry.

The selection panel that chose the concept consisted of the project Governance Group comprising of representatives from Ngāti Toa and Te Āti Awa, Department of Conservation, Council and the independent Chair, George Hickton plus two independent architects.

The Governance Group also received advice from specialists on resource consenting, integration with Maclean Park, and biosecurity.

The selection panel chose the architects based on an assessment of the criteria required, and architects that were local (Kāpiti and Wellington) had proven experience in visitor centre design and/or experience with the site and proven experience in coastal sites. The criteria included:

• taking into account the coastal environment
• including eco-building principles, and that the building be relocatable
• the needs of visitors, including those visiting the region, park and Kāpiti Island
• ensuring that it worked operationally for the tour operators
• providing a biosecurity facility in keeping with the status of the island
• having the ability to grow in the future, to allow for other tenants
• enhancing the ecological values of the site
• meeting the requirements of the Maclean Park Management Plan
• reflecting the cultural significance of the site and telling our history.

The selection panel chose the design that best met all the criteria in the design brief. While Athfield Architects’ office is based in Wellington, one of the architects working on this project lives in Te Horo and is very familiar with our rich cultural history and coastal environment.

The concept design shows what is proposed to be built on site. As we progress to the final design there may be some parts that need to be adjusted, however the connection to both the park and the beach and the essential elements will be the same in terms of the size and facilities provided. Once funding is secured for the project, further work will be completed on the detailed design. The red poles are placeholders for carved pou to express local stories of significance.

Seventeen car parking spaces will need to be removed from the car park on the south side of Tikotu Stream to make way for the Gateway building (15 will remain, including two accessible parks and one set-down/pick up park).

While there is more work to be done to ensure there is adequate parking to support growth in the area, the Council has secured an agreement with the Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club for 30 car parks for visitors to Kāpiti Island to use.

Many of the car parks at the northern end of Maclean Park are often taken up by visitors to the island. New off-site car-parking has been identified at the Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club (30 parks), for people travelling to the island. More off-site parking will be sourced as demand grows.

The 2019 TRC Feasibility Study considered three locations as potential sites for the Gateway building, including the:

• Paraparaumu Beach Boat Club car park area
• roundabout at the junction of Marine Parade, Kāpiti Road and Manly Street
• south side of the Tikotu Stream in Maclean Park.

The south side of the Tikotu Stream was chosen because it best meets the needs of the project, at the least cost, and takes into account the existing buildings and stakeholder feedback. The optimal biosecurity location is as close to the departure point (the beach) as possible, so locations further away from the beach were not considered.

The optimal biosecurity location for the Gateway building is as close to the departure point (the beach) as possible. Because of this, the two lots at Marine Parade were not considered.

The safest and most reliable point for launching vessels on the Kāpiti Coast is Paraparaumu Beach, as it is protected from the prevailing winds by Kāpiti Island.

Subject to costs increasing post-COVID-19, the project budget for the Gateway is estimated to be around $4.46 million, with 50 per cent sought from the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF), and the remaining amount to be funded by the Council.

The estimated $4.46 million project budget includes the proposed 235m² single-storey multi-purpose gateway building with a large expansive deck (450m²) for visitor and community use. In addition, there will be improvements to the Tikotu Stream and carparking area, a new bridge over the Tikotu Stream, landscaping, and interpretative story telling including Pou. The budget also includes a $1 million contingency fund (35 per cent).

It’s important to note that this figure will be checked again as we move to the detailed design phase. The final costs won’t be known until we put out a tender for the detailed design and construction of the building.

Budget and buildability have been top of mind for this project. The estimates we received have been verified with a quantity surveyor, and will be checked again as we move to the detailed design phase, subject to Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) funding, to ensure the costings reflect a post-COVID-19 lockdown environment. The final costs won’t be known until we put out a tender for the detailed design and construction of the building.

Budget and buildability have been top of mind for this project. The estimated $4.46 million project budget includes the proposed 235m² single-storey multi-purpose gateway building with a large expansive deck (450m²) for visitor and community use. In addition, there will be improvements to the Tikotu Stream and carparking area, a new bridge over the Tikotu Stream, landscaping, and interpretative story telling including Pou. The budget also includes a $1 million contingency fund (35 per cent).

The estimates we received have been verified with a quantity surveyor, and will be checked again as we move to the detailed design phase, subject to Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) funding.

Ongoing costs for running the building have yet to be finalised with Council, but the aim is that the facility will be self-funding its operational costs within five years.

Through the government’s Provincial Growth Fund, we have an opportunity to secure up to 50% of the project costs associated with building a Gateway Centre. If we are successful in securing this funding, it would enable Council to progress the development of this Centre earlier than planned. This will generate local employment opportunities and provide much-needed economic stimulus to businesses in the surrounding area post COVID-19.

Council submitted its application in June 2020 on advice that the PGF application should be made as soon as possible, otherwise it was unlikely to be successful. 

It’s important to note that the PGFs priorities have changed as a result of COVID-19. More projects are now eligible for PGF funding with specific amounts of funding also being set aside for specific COVID-19 initiatives that are “shovel ready” and create jobs.  

We don't have a timeline for when we can expect a reply, but hope there is a quick turnaround. We will update this page when we know more.

The Council’s resource consents team has received our application and will advise if the resource consent application for the Gateway building needs to be publicly notified.