On 16th April 2014 Bay of Plenty Regional Council announced its decision to partially remove the artificial surf reef that lies off the Tay Street beach. The original concept driving the Artificial Reef Programme (ARP) was the development of multi-purpose artificial reefs that would not only protect the shorelines from wave energy, but also provide amenity values such as surfable waves and fish habitat. The reef became the focus of student research ranging from oceanography to planning, social and economic research. The commercial components of the construction process did not go smoothly and the reef has never been built to its original design parameters. The removal of the reef provides further opportunities for research on the effects of removal and is in keeping with the original reef design and purpose.