The city is now one step closer to getting a world-class marine research and education facility.

This comes after Tauranga City Council commissioners approved the reclassification of a small area of land at Marine Park, Sulphur Point today.

Public community consultation saw 66 per cent of more than 300 submitters support the reclassification.

A written statement by council said of those supporting the reclassification more than 90 per cent were strongly in support, with a substantial majority of younger people behind the proposal.

Council strategy and growth general manager Christine Jones said the facility would play a key role in Tauranga's economy and the ongoing mahi to support and protect the marine environment.

"We're pleased to see this level of engagement and the balanced representation across our whole community in the submissions received.

"Whilst this may be just the first step in this process, it's already great to see support from our community for this development. In particular, our younger people, and to start to see the project come to life."

Of the submitters who opposed the proposal most were concerned about the loss of open recreational space.

Council said the proposed site for the facility was chosen to mitigate the loss of open space as it was set back from the water's edge and maintained access to harbour margins.

And an observational study of this area of Marine Park conducted in 2021 confirmed that the area proposed to site the facility is underutilised.

In 2018, the council consulted with the public on a similar proposal for the land. However, that proposal sought to revoke the reserve status rather than reclassify it.

Reclassifying the land maintains the protections under the Reserves Act 1977 and would not impact the council's ownership of the site.

Once the reclassification is complete, entities demonstrating the capability to establish and operate a facility will be able to apply to lease the land through a tender process managed by council. This was expected to happen later this year.

Credit: nzherald.co.nz