Stream to reappear next year

Auckland Council’s plan to return a piped stream to wetland in D’Oyly Reserve, Stanmore Bay, has overcome the final hurdle of local board consent and work is expected to begin next January.

The scheme has a budget of $1.5 million, $1.1 million of which comes from the developers of 20 Link Crescent, McConnell Property, in mitigation for piping the stream which ran through that piece of land.
Council’s waterways projects team leader, Deborah Morley, says that the stormwater pipe through D’Oyly Reserve will be filled with concrete and a ‘naturalised’ streambed with associated planting created on top. Water from the culvert will be diverted down the new streambed.

At present, D’Oyly Reserve consists of mown grass on top of what was historically a stream. Recreational activities in the reserve are affected by the fact that it’s boggy in winter, as the stormwater pipe beneath has insufficient capacity, resulting in overflows.

Hibiscus and Bays Local Board deputy chair Janet Fitzgerald says that the reserve’s use is very restricted in winter because of those boggy conditions. “Year-round of the use of the reserve will now be possible after the restoration,” Mrs Fitzgerald says. “This plan incorporates people’s feedback on the different activities they’d like at the reserve including having open space.”