The golf club and its supporters opposed the proposal and came up with its own plan. The council responded by asking officials to consider the golf club option alongside its own plan.
“The council has worked closely with Takapuna Golf Course to complete a feasibility assessment of the two proposals,“ the council’s head of sustainable partnerships in the Healthy Waters & Flood Resilience division, Tom Mansell, said today. ”An eight-step technical review ensured both options were evaluated fairly for feasibility, cost-effectiveness as well as addressing environmental considerations.”
The Takapuna Golf Club’ alternative design retained the 18-hole course while making changes to meet flood relief goals.
Officials say the golf club’s initial proposal, which would have created a large number of smaller stormwater storage ponds throughout the park, was “soon found to be unfeasible due to cost and maintenance requirements”.
The golf club was granted a time extension to provide an alternate option, which it has now done.
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“Both the council proposal and the golf course’s revised proposal have similarities in terms of placement and the method of storing stormwater on the site,” said Mansell.
“We’re confident in the single design concept that’s come out of the feasibility assessment and are ready to move this project forward for our communities.”
The council’s general manager of Healthy Waters and Flood Resilience, Craig Mcilroy, said the confirmed design concept allowed for both flood resilience and recreation to “coexist in one blue-green space, including potentially golf”, if that’s what the community and local board decided.
“It’s great to reach this milestone so we can move forward as quickly as possible to address flooding in the Wairau catchment and the protection of lives and properties,” Mcilroy said.
“We heard from the community that they wanted us to move swiftly and decisively while protecting the recreational greenspace they love. This design concept achieves both and we can now progress this important work.”
Takapuna Golf Course would be impacted under a proposal to use AF Thomas Park as wetland and flood storage.
The Wairau flood resilience project is part of the council’s Making Space for Water programme, which has allocated $760 million to building infrastructure that manages floodwater in temporary reservoirs or “detention sinks”, usually on parkland.
“It aims to build smarter, more resilient infrastructure to help protect homes, schools, businesses and infrastructure from future flooding while enhancing green spaces for community use,” the council said.
The Government is co-funding Making Space for Water, in this case by providing 62% of the costs of creating the wetland area.
The officials’ proposal will now proceed to detailed planning, with a view to work starting this year. The future recreational use of the whole park will be a matter for the Kaipātiki Local Board, which is expected to consult widely before making a decision next year. Comment from the golf club and local community groups has been sought.
More to come
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Simon Wilson is a senior writer covering politics, the climate crisis, transport, housing, urban design and social issues, with a focus on Auckland. He joined the Herald in 2018.
