Our way with water

As the organisation responsible for leading Auckland Council’s urban regeneration activity, it’s always been our aim to show leadership in sustainability and to encourage an environmentally conscious philosophy by both developers and the community residing in our neighbourhoods.

Guided by mana whenua, we work with the key principle, Aho Taiao ‘Living with nature’. This means in each area we work nature is visible, green, resilient, and ecologically healthy.

Three of our key projects: Te Ara Awataha, Northcote, Puhinui, Manukau and Wynyard Quarter on the waterfront, are living examples of this approach. 

Northcote

Te Ara Awataha is a decade-long community project in Northcote, Auckland, focused around daylighting the historic Awataha Stream. As part of the broader urban regeneration of Northcote, ngā Iwi Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau (Mana Whenua), community and public sector partnerships are enabling a transformation that will benefit the area for generations.

For nearly 70 years, the Awataha Stream was confined underground and a taonga was nearly lost. Heavy rainfall flooded streets, and flora and fauna were uprooted.

Not surprisingly, rainwater likes to flow where streams used to exist. As Sara Zwart, Eke Panuku Development Auckland principal regenerative design lead, puts it, “it’s about working with natural systems, not against them.”

The 1.5-kilometre greenway now provides a transport route, stormwater network and native wildlife habitat; functioning as a place to gather, exercise and learn. It includes a newly constructed detention basin (Greenslade Reserve) doubling as a sports field, and over 400m of daylit streambed.

To look at it, it’s a regular sports ground, but when it rains it becomes an enormous soak pit preventing 12 million litres of water from flooding neighbouring properties. The existing sports field was lowered by 1m and underlaid with quick-draining fill to enable this to happen.

The below comparison slider shows before and after photos of Greenslade Reserve during a 2023 flooding event.

In extreme rainfall, like Auckland experienced in 2023, it performed perfectly, protecting life and property in Northcote.

Extreme weather events highlight to dramatic effect, the importance of the long-term resilience and high-quality assets this project is providing for the community. The new stormwater infrastructure exceeded design expectations when put to the test, resulting in minimal damage to homes and businesses as well as the surrounding environment and new amenities, meaning costly repairs and downtime for both the project and the community were avoided.

However, one of the greatest evident benefits is the return of native wildlife to the area, with flora and fauna once again making Te Ara Awataha home. This includes newly resident eels, return of puha (watercress) and the first Kākā in decades spotted by our volunteers in the area.

Mana whenua, Kāinga Ora, local schools, the Kaipātiki Project and Eke Panuku banded together to create the Awataha Stream Project.

Manukau

Right across town, another stream regeneration programme is underway, and that’s the 12km Puhinui Stream in South Auckland.

Physical works to improve the natural environment, amenity, accessibility, and health of the stream are part of a collaboration with Te Waiohua Iwi, Auckland council whanau, crown agencies, community organisations and the culturally rich, unique and diverse communities of Te Puhinui.

They include new wetlands, cycleways, stream naturalisation and significant native planting.

“You can’t just fix a section of a stream or fix a wetland. You need to work with everyone around it to fix every part of the system, says Zwart, “so I think that’s the work.”

Wynyard Quarter

Wynyard Quarter, which comprises approximately 37 hectares of land and almost three kilometres of coastal frontage, was designed around a sustainable development framework.

Strategic planning, design and engagement with mana whenua enabled the creation of this award-winning urban regeneration.