The month leading up to Christmas looked very different for the Piritahi Team working on Taniwha Reserve in 2020. The Early Works team were working at full tilt to remove four houses on Epping Street before theChristmas break, ready for the construction team to kick off land remediation in the new year.
Twelve months on, those houses and the overgrown and unsafeReserve they used to neighbour are a distant memory. In 2021 Taniwha Reserve has been transformed.
Gone are the narrow and dark park entrances and walkways; the swampy, flood prone grass area; and the degraded and overgrown Ōmaru Creek. If you visit Taniwha Reserve now you’ll find a safe and attractive park surrounding an urban wetland with wide pedestrian walkways, bridges and viewing platforms and newly planted natives beginning to establish their roots.
Getting to this point has been full of challenges. Working through the wettest months of the year, the Piritahi team carried out 7,500m3 of earthworks, over an area of approximately 10,000m2. Throughout this period, the construction team stopped frequently to consult with mana whenua representatives, archaeologists and contamination specialists as they unearthed bones (of a cow) and contaminated materials which had to be appropriately managed and safely removed from site.
Ultimately, the result from months of hard work is the fundamentally re-shaped Reserve, which included daylighting Ōmaru Creek and constructing a new wetland. The wetland and native riparian planting not only adds to the amenity of the park for public enjoyment, but also plays a vital role in actively improving water quality in Ōmaru Creek, by filtering out pollutants and reducing potential flooding in the area.
Taniwha Reserve sits in the heart of Glen Innes, delineating the bustling GI town centre, from the rapidly intensifying residential developments.The Reserve is a key link in the green corridor which connects Hobson Bay in the West, through to the Tāmaki River in the East.
The month leading up to Christmas looked very different for the Piritahi Team working on Taniwha Reserve in 2020. The Early Works team were working at full tilt to remove four houses on Epping Street before theChristmas break, ready for the construction team to kick off land remediation in the new year.
Twelve months on, those houses and the overgrown and unsafeReserve they used to neighbour are a distant memory. In 2021 Taniwha Reserve has been transformed.
Gone are the narrow and dark park entrances and walkways; the swampy, flood prone grass area; and the degraded and overgrown Ōmaru Creek. If you visit Taniwha Reserve now you’ll find a safe and attractive park surrounding an urban wetland with wide pedestrian walkways, bridges and viewing platforms and newly planted natives beginning to establish their roots.
Getting to this point has been full of challenges. Working through the wettest months of the year, the Piritahi team carried out 7,500m3 of earthworks, over an area of approximately 10,000m2. Throughout this period, the construction team stopped frequently to consult with mana whenua representatives, archaeologists and contamination specialists as they unearthed bones (of a cow) and contaminated materials which had to be appropriately managed and safely removed from site.
Ultimately, the result from months of hard work is the fundamentally re-shaped Reserve, which included daylighting Ōmaru Creek and constructing a new wetland. The wetland and native riparian planting not only adds to the amenity of the park for public enjoyment, but also plays a vital role in actively improving water quality in Ōmaru Creek, by filtering out pollutants and reducing potential flooding in the area.
Taniwha Reserve sits in the heart of Glen Innes, delineating the bustling GI town centre, from the rapidly intensifying residential developments.The Reserve is a key link in the green corridor which connects Hobson Bay in the West, through to the Tāmaki River in the East.
The month leading up to Christmas looked very different for the Piritahi Team working on Taniwha Reserve in 2020. The Early Works team were working at full tilt to remove four houses on Epping Street before theChristmas break, ready for the construction team to kick off land remediation in the new year.
Twelve months on, those houses and the overgrown and unsafeReserve they used to neighbour are a distant memory. In 2021 Taniwha Reserve has been transformed.
Gone are the narrow and dark park entrances and walkways; the swampy, flood prone grass area; and the degraded and overgrown Ōmaru Creek. If you visit Taniwha Reserve now you’ll find a safe and attractive park surrounding an urban wetland with wide pedestrian walkways, bridges and viewing platforms and newly planted natives beginning to establish their roots.
Getting to this point has been full of challenges. Working through the wettest months of the year, the Piritahi team carried out 7,500m3 of earthworks, over an area of approximately 10,000m2. Throughout this period, the construction team stopped frequently to consult with mana whenua representatives, archaeologists and contamination specialists as they unearthed bones (of a cow) and contaminated materials which had to be appropriately managed and safely removed from site.
Ultimately, the result from months of hard work is the fundamentally re-shaped Reserve, which included daylighting Ōmaru Creek and constructing a new wetland. The wetland and native riparian planting not only adds to the amenity of the park for public enjoyment, but also plays a vital role in actively improving water quality in Ōmaru Creek, by filtering out pollutants and reducing potential flooding in the area.
Taniwha Reserve sits in the heart of Glen Innes, delineating the bustling GI town centre, from the rapidly intensifying residential developments.The Reserve is a key link in the green corridor which connects Hobson Bay in the West, through to the Tāmaki River in the East.