Karaka Biosphere Reserve
Stage 2 - Developed Design Proposals Stage 1 Perspective
Karaka Bio-Sphere Reserve
Karaka Biosphere Community Development
Karaka: A Low Impact Sustainable Development
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Contents Group Analysis By Dustyn O’Leary & James Haining 3-11 Individual Development Designs Karaka Biosphere Community Development 12-21 By Dustyn O’Leary
Karaka: A Low Impact Sustainable Development
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By James Haining
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Group Analysis Contents Context
Stage 1 Linkages 4 Character Analysis 5
Landscape Structure Analysis
Hydrology Wider Catchment 6 Drainage Patterns Sub-catchments 7 Flow Accumulation 8 Slope and Aspect 9 View Shafts 10
Land Suitability Development Opportunities & Constraints 11
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Context - Stage 1 Linkages
Stage 1 Density Map locating Stage 2 Site
Auckland, New Zealand
Karaka
Stage 1 Concept - Biosphere Reserve Plan The concept of a Biosphere Reserve Plan aims to treat the entire area as a single system and therefore promote the integration of natural systems and human development across the whole landscape. This can be achieved through the variety of ecosystem services and a overarching goal of ecological restoration developed in the Stage 2 site design.
Stage 1 Biosphere Reserve Concept Plan
Stage 2 Site
The site chosen for development in Stage 2 of this project is located on one of the larger peninsula’s on the eastern side of Karaka West. The site is 55 hectares in size and is within the high density area of the stage 1 development plan. The biosphere concept indicates that this area mainly consists of transition zone, where ecological habitat, values and ecosystem services are to be included within the high density residential framework. Any core habitat or corridor habitats developed in the Stage 2 area will form an important part of the wider ecological network developed under the biosphere reserve plan. 4
The site is approximately 1 km from the central commercial and transport hub and has the potential to be connected to this area by both road and subsidiary public transport networks. There is also possible locations for pedestrian and cycle links to this main hub and other residential areas
Context - Landscape Character Analysis Landform
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Character & Site Description
The 55 hectare is located on one of the smaller eastern lobes that make up the larger Karaka North peninsular. On either side of the site are two small inlet estuaries with significant mangrove populations. The land-form of the area is very flat and low lying with wide views of the harbour. There is currently no vegetation on the site as the area is used primarily for agriculture and has consequently been divided into several linear pieces that are show evidence of frequently tilling. There are no mapped watercourses on the site but there are several small depressions that may have been modified by the current land users to drain the site. The land-form begins at 3 metres above the sea level in the northern end of the site and rises to a maximum of 23 meters in the south (within chosen extent).
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Landscape Structure Analysis Position in Larger Catchment
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Natural Drainage Catchments Site Extent
The Stage 2 site is situated within a wider catchment that makes up a large part of the northern area on the Karaka West peninsular. Within this catchment is located the new bridge-way currently proposed to link Karaka through Weymouth and the main central commercial and transport hub. This wider catchment will have an overarching storm-water management plan in addition to the smaller sub-catchment plans developed within the Stage 2 site. The design of the Stage 2 site will need to exemplify how water can be treated on site within a high density development and how ecosystem services, like water filtration and reuse through the re-construction of natural processes like water treatment trains, can be used to connect people with the larger water system and instil hydrological stewardship values in the residents and their communities.
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Landscape Structure Analysis Drainage Patterns - Sub-catchments
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Within the Stage 2 Site there are several smaller catchment areas with a variation of flow volumes and rates. The flow volume of each sub-catchment indicates the amount and rate of water via overland flow pathways on the site. Areas that are flatter in land-form tend to have a lower flow volume and rate whereas steeper sections tend to have a higher flow volume and rate. Each of these sub-catchments should therefore have its own management plan and storm-water mitigation devices in order to effectively deal with these variations. All the impervious surfaces created in the development of the site will need to be treated on site through comprehensive treatment train, with respect to each separate sub-catchment, before it is allowed to enter a tributary or the harbour.
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Landscape Structure Analysis
Flow pathways on the Stage 2 Site are also an important consideration for the developed design process. Despite the lack of true stream beds on the site the mapping of water accumulation enables us to see where water will collect on the site gives an indication of where subsidiary water flow pathways may form and where they will enter the wider stream network. These flow pathways are currently erosion and pollution pathways carrying sediments and high nutrient loadings from the nu-vegetated agricultural land usage into the nearby estuary and harbour. Therefore these areas should not be built upon but integrated into the development in a way that deals with water quality issues e.g. re-vegetation. The area where water naturally accumulates may also inform potential locations for storm-water treatment devices as this is where the water will naturally flow anyway (as long as the topography remains relatively undisturbed).
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Landscape Structure Analysis Slope and Aspect
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On the site chosen for development under Stage 2 there are not a lot of south facing slopes or gradients over 15 degrees. In the Stage 1 analysis these constraints helped inform the large areas of re-vegetation proposed under the Biosphere Concept Plan but at this stage of the design they are not a major consideration due to the gentle topography and north facing nature of the site.
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Landscape Structure Analysis
Views outwards from the site, both at the northern and southern ends, are extensive and encompass the majority of the inner Manukau Harbour reach as well as Weymouth Peninsular. Views into the site from Weymouth, and other points across the harbour, indicate that a large proportion of the site is visible from beyond the water, particularly the areas in the flat, northern end of the site closest to the waterfront. The high visibility into and out of the site indicates that any development occurring in the view shafts will have a large impact on the amenity of Karaka, both for development’s residents and for those living in Weymouth or other harbour-side locations. It is therefore recommended that the northernmost area of the site be reserved from building and instead become an opportunity for further re-vegetation, ecological habitat creation and/or integrated into the public parkland network. 10
Landscape Suitability Development Opportunites and Constraints
Development Constraints = Revegatation or Public Space
Development Opportunities
Potential Links into Wider Transport Network
Together the mapping of sub-catchment locations, flow rates and pathways, water accumulation and discharges, and view shafts into and out of the site, have informed the above layout of areas to be developed and areas to be utilised for other purposes. While these two clearly defined areas are separate in terms of where building should and should not occur they can still work together, inform one another through the design process and aim towards a single system goal. For example other infrastructure or parallel goals such as ecological habitat, networks of public space, storm-water mitigation devices or public transport networks can still be integrated into the non built spaces and form a richer, more diverse system across the whole site.
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Karaka Biosphere Community Development
By Dustyn O’Leary 1388919
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Contents Re-vegetation 14 Building Footprints and Carparks 15 Circulation 16 Public Space/Productive Land 17 Hydrology 18 Master Plan 19 3D views 20-21
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Re-vegetation Areas
50 buffer Wetlands NZ Coastal Broadleaf Forest Public Parkland/ Wetlands Productive Land Wetlands Public Parkland/ Revegetated Productive Land Public Parkland/ Productive Land Core Habitat Revegetated
7 ha.
Revegetated Apartment Footprints Core Habitat Core Habitat Parking Apartment Footprints Apartment Footprints Tramline Stop Parking Parking Roading Stop Tramline Tramline Stop Pedestrian & Roading Cycleways Roading Pedestrian & Contours Cycleways Pedestrian & Cycleways Light Rail Contours Contours Light Rail Light Rail
1:5000 @ A3 Development constraints such as views into and out of the site, sub-catchment locations, potential sea level rise and flow accumulation have indicted the areas shown above are not desirable for development and therefore could be re-vegetated. In re-vegetating these areas there is also potential to create valuable ecological habitat that will encourage native diversity to be re-established throughout the region. This is particularly relevant for this development area as the views in and out of the site have informed the re-vegetation of the peninsular northern-most area which forms an area of approximatively 7 hectares. This amount of re-vegetation is big enough to become a core habitat area and therefore may eventually be able to support key native species in conjunction with the additional corridor patches in the rest of the development. The flora communities present in the replanted areas will also be of significant aid to storm-water and climatic management, helping to catch, sequester and clean storm-water flows as well as combating air pollution. These ecosystem services will help maintain the health of the water and soil systems on the site and therefore contribute to the resilience of the development. The main vegetation areas should consists of the coastal broadleaf/podocarp forest species typical of the area, such as the following: Rata - Metrosideros robusta Pohutukawa - Metrosideros excelsa Kahikatea - Dacrycarpus dacrydioides Rimu - Dacrydium cupressinum 14
Puriri - Vitex lucens Tarairei - Beilschmiedia tarairi Totora - Podocarpus totora
Pathway through Native Bushland
Building Footprints and Car-parking
Wetlands Public Parkland/ Productive Land Revegetated Core Habitat Apartment Footprints Parking Tramline Stop Roading Pedestrian & Cycleways Contours Light Rail
1:5000 @ A3 The buildings proposed in this development are multi-storey apartment blocks ranging in size and shape depending on location and orientation. Each block will have a minimum of 4 m, and a maximum of 12, units per story a be 3 or 4 stories high. The blocks in the north section of the site will be restricted to 3 stories (15 m) tall in order to preserve the views of the residents in the southern areas. The southern area apartments will be 4 stories (20m) tall so that views and population density is maximised. Assuming that there will be an average of 3 people living in each unit, the projected population of this area would be between 2700 and 3000 people. Each apartment building is orientated to both north-facing and to provide a close visual and physical connection with the re-vegetated areas. Each block will have a living roof as part of the building requirements to reduce the energy cost of the development, provide amenity to the development and blend the buildings in with the surrounding landscape. This space will also therefore have the potential to be additional public space and also provide another food production area. Parking has been allocated to each apartment block, at a minimum of 1 allocated space per unit. This has been done to minimise the amount of space needed for parking and the associated impervious surfaces as well as maximising the amount of green space and encouraging use of the public transport networks provided. Private vs Public Space Private spaces are allocated to each block but not to each single unit, removing the need for cadastral boundaries or fences that will cut up the landscape and fragment the development. This approach will mean that each residential building will have shared private spaces such as the rooftop gardens, the central or sideline courtyards attached to each block and the allocated parking area. All other space in the development will be public space to provide easy flow paths and encourage a sense of community responsibility. 15
Circulation
Wetlands Wetlands Light Railway Bridge through bushland.
Public Parkland/ Parkland/ Public Productive Land Land Productive Revegetated Revegetated Core Habitat Habitat Core
Apartment Footprints Footprints Apartment Parking Parking Tramline Stop Stop Tramline Roading Roading Pedestrian & & Pedestrian Cycleways Cycleways Contours Contours Light Rail Rail Light
1:5000 @ A3
Links with Wider Transport Networks & Central Commercial Hub Roads are minimised on the site through a circular network and single access for each residential block. All streets are no parking zones to prevent roadways from segmenting areas within the site. pedestrian and cyclists have right of way in all areas. Multi-use pedestrian and cycle pathways link together all major public areas through the shared spaces of the development. Pathways through the ecological habitat are also included to increase the recreational space available and encourage a high level of connection between the residents and the local ecology. This connection could raise education and awareness about the ecosystem services occuring in the development and help create a higher level of social responsibility towards the local environment.
Light Rail Link 16
Roadway Link
A light rail public transport option is provided with 3 stops in the area. The path of this railway and the frequency of pickup locations will mean that no resident will have to walk, or cycle, more than 1km to utilise this network.
Public Space/ Productive Land Wetlands Public Parkland/ Productive Land Revegetated Core Habitat Apartment Footprints Parking Tramline Stop Roading Pedestrian & Cycleways Contours Light Rail
1:5000 @ A3
The central areas of the site are perfectly located for both public recreational space and community productive land. However, in the interest of maximising community involvement in the layout and structure of the development these areas would be best designated as flexible use zones, where public parkland and agricultural production sections are allocated to fit the current needs of the community. This would allow more of the land to be productive when fruit and vegetable prices are high and this land use is of maximum benefit and then if recreation becomes a higher priority that land could be returned into open parkland. Some vegetation around the edges of these areas, such as features trees and storm-water swales/rain-gardens could be permanent. Species in these vegetation communities should be selected for enhancement of the pollination system, thus raising the resilience of the agricultural production in both the public and private garden zones. For example, native flowering trees like Pohutukawa (Meterosideros excelsa) and Kowhai (Sophora tetraptera) or exotic flowering trees like Japanese Cherry (Prunus serrulata), Magnolia (e.g. Magnolia x soulangeana) or Tulip (Liriodendron tulipifera) would all fit this role as well as providing excellent amenity value. (See additional 3D views for additional visualization).
Community Garden in Park 17
Hydrology - Catchments and Treatment Pathways
Wetlands
Wetlands
Public Parkland/ Productive Land Public Parkland/
Productive Land
Revegetated
Revegetated Core Habitat Apartment Footprints
Core Habitat
Parking
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Apartment Footprints
Catchment 3
Tramline Stop
Parking
Roading Pedestrian & Tramline Stop Cycleways
Roading
Contours Light Rail & Pedestrian
Catchment 2 Catchment 4
Catchment 1
Cycleways Contours
Catchment 2
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Light Rail Catchment 1 Catchment 6 1:5000 @ A3 Each catchment area will have its own storm-water management plan, with run-off from impervious surfaces being channelled through a treatment pathway consisting of living roofs, swales, rain-gardens and finally wetland plant communities. Impervious surfaces on the site include roadways and parking spaces. As the apartment rooftops will be living roofs they qualify as pervious surfaces with a 60% water retention rating. As the living roofs are proposed agricultural spaces, the nutrient loading of the remaining 40% water running off these surfaces will then pass into a shallow natural pool system in the courtyard space of the block. This water can then be used as a recreational element, or water garden spaces or flush toilets with any excess being channelled into the wetland system. Roading and carpark run-off will have a higher heavy metal contaminant loading and will therefore also need to be filtered on site. This runoff will be captured in sunken swales or rain-gardens and channelled into the wetlands where any remaining pollutants or sediments can be removed before the water enters the estuary. Wetland species could include: Apodasmia similis Baumea rubignosa Blechnum minus Phormium tenax Rhopalostylis sapida Typha orientalis Cyathea medullaris 18
Jointed Rush, Oioi Swamp Rush Variety Swamp kiokio NZ Flax, Harakere Nikau Bulrush, Raupo Black Tree Fern
Natural Wetland in Bush Corridor.
Master Plan Wetlands Public Parkland/ Productive Land
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Revegetated Core Habitat Apartment Footprints
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Parking Tramline Stop Roading Pedestrian & Cycleways Contours Light Rail
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1:5000 @ A3
This plan shows how all the layers of circulation, building footprints, parking allotments, re-vegetated areas, hydrology and public spaces will work together as a single system over the site. (Perspective locations link to 3D views).
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3D Views Perspective 1 - spatial layout of the buildings in relation to the revegetated
areas shows the close link residents would have to the native ecological habitats.
Perspective 2 - central public spaces are located for easy access by all residents.
This image also shows how agriculture could be integrated into these public areas
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Perspective 3 - Parkland at sunset
Perspective 4 - A wetland system and native vegetation provides high ameity value to the adjacent
living spaces and also serves as a recreation or educational spaces for all residents.
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Karaka:
James Haining 1419267
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A low impact sustainable development
Contents Design Concept and 3D views..................................24 Master Plan............................................................ 25 Building footprint and oriention................................. 26 Influence of subcatchements..................................... 27 Public open space...................................................... 28 Hydrology:storm water.............................................29 Storm water as a sustainable resource....................30-31 Encouraging sustainability.......................................32-33 Circulation and connection......................................34 Circulation layers Digram............................................ 35 Structural vegetation................................................. 36-37
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Design concept and 3D views The drive behind the design was not only for it to be low impact on the environment but also improve it. The main goal was to create a development that encouraged sustainabilty as well as improving the sites ecological value. This links in with our first initial Biosphere cocept which involved integrating human and natural systems across the whole landscape. The master plan shows how the multiple layers of the development interlink to form one single system.
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Master Plan
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Building footprint and orientation All the units on site are a mix of 3/4 bed apartments. The apartments will be spacious with each having a floor space of 156 square meters. The blocks are clustered and spread from the ridges at 3 storeys tall. This ensures better views of open space and coastal parkland. There is a total of 1173 apartments which means if we apply an average of 3 persons per apartment the development will hold 3519 residents. Encorporating underground car parking into the majority of the blocks allows for a significant reduction in the area of impermeable surface that would normally be associated with high density urban areas. The smaller apartment blocks on the outer edges have surface parking on areas of shared surface. This surface is permeable allowing filtration of run-off and redcution in output to the storm water mitigation system. When locating the apartment buildings the sub-catchments were taken into consideration anf influenced the location . Sub-catchments that recieved the highest volumes were not built on but instead revegetated. The majority of the developments built environment has been located in a medium volume catchment. Each sub-catchment the built area of the development occupies has their own treatment train of proposed larger storm water mitigation devices. The higher area of building footprint or impermeable surface within the catchment the more storm water devices I have proposed to deal with the higher levels of run-off these areas produced by impermeable surface. When deciding the orientation of the apartment blocks I took views into consideration. I did this as one of the objectives I wanted to achieve was connecting people with the surrounding landscape and bringing that into the development. WIth this in mind I have tried to achieve the visual connection by ensure each apartment has views to atleast one or more green spaces. These spaces include: -coastal parkland -communal allotment gardens -linear parks containing the storm water treatment trains such as rain gardens and wetlands. -Significant areas of revegated bush. Figure 1 shows which areas be viewed from the various apartments.
Fig1:Apartment views
Apartments with views of revegetated indigenous bush
Apartments with views of linear parks
Apartments with views of communal allotment gardens
The cycling/pedestrian routes that follow the coastal parkland have uninterupted views of the estury and surrounding landscape. This is to encourage residence to use these routes rather than vehicular transport as the roads are contained within the heart of the development and do not get the best views. The revegation along the steeper slopes of the coastal edge is to be a mix of grasses and shrubs so as not to block views from apartments to the estury. The coastal edge has atleast 100m distance between it and any of the apartment blocks. This is not only to preserve the coastal character but so that the residence of weymouth and Wattle downs do not straight across onto a built up area. They will see revegatated areas and parkland with the apartment blocks set back behind these areas.
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Apartments with views of coastal parkland
Map showing Influence of Sub-catchements on design
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Public open space The apartment blocks are surrounded by coastal parkland giving immediate recreational green space ameneties on their doorstep. Keeping such large areas of open parkland on the coast preserves the current open coastal character. There is also linear parks penetrating the largest cluster of apartment blocks. Parks, gardens and green space in urban areas can improve the wellbeing and quality of life of people living there. Such large areas have beeen dedicated to open parkland for this reason as well as to balance out the built environment. The linear parks help link residents in the center of the cluster to the wider coastal park land aswell as other areas of the development. These linear parks also provide a more even distribution of public open space so residents in the centre of the clusters don’t have to go all the way to the coastal parkland to get to recreational space.
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Hydrology:storm water The proposed location of the larger storm water mitigation devices was in direct response to the terrain and patterns of flow accumulation in the area. The larger devices are situated along the areas of naturally high flow accumulation. Doing this will aid the movement of the storm water throught the devices. The diagram below elow shows the location of these devices in relation to the flow accumulation. The largest Devices are located at points of high flow accumulation.
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Storm water as a sustainable resource The storm water system within the development will aim to ensure it has as low an imact as possible on the immediate and surrounding environment as well as helping the development to be more sustainable and add ecological value. To do this there will be a series of interlinking storm water treatment trains (several inter-connected storm water devices) within the development to treat and mitigate run-off. Treating storm water as close to the source as possible ensures a reduction of contaminants moving to the wider water systems and reduces the developments impact on the environment. An important goal for the design was to better integrate the way storm water was dealt with in the development. The first step in this train will be green roofs. All the apartment blocks that make up the sub-division will have green roofs to help mitigate storm water. These will play an important role in the treatment train. Green roofs utilize the biological, physical and chemical processes found in the plants/ soil complex to prevent airborne pollutants from entering the storm water system. They will also reduce the runoff volume and peak discharge rate by holding back and slowing down the water that would otherwise due to the sub-divisions location flow quickly into the estury. Green roofs are also known to help treat nitrogen pollution in rain as well as negate acid rain. The green roofs will not only be involved in managing stormwater but fullfill the key development driver of sustainablitly in such ways as: -reducing the ‘heat island effect’ common in high density urban areas. This will reduce the need for mechanical airconditioning. -keeping the building insulated in winter lowering heat demands and thus reducing energy requirments of development. -potentially lengthen roof life by 2 to 3 times (Stroud Water Research Centre, 2013). The green roof system will also aid bringing ecological value as they will provide a series of stepping stone habitat for a diverse range of flora and fauna. Integrating the built environment with natural elements. The second phase of storm water treatment train is the proposed rain water harvesting system to supply water for toilet flushing inside the apartments and irrigation of the communal allotment areas. This system will collect excess water once the green roof has become saturated during a rainfall event. Re-using this water in such ways will again reduce the amount of water going into the storm water system. It will also help the development be sustainble as it will decrease the developments water requirements playing an important part in times of drought(common in Auckland summers). The third stage of the treatment train is at street level. Here there will be series of small street-side rain gardens and swales in the streets between apartment blocks. These will deal with immediate run-off from the roads as well as the overflow when the water harvesting system is full. These will help remove street trash and heavy metal contaminants associated with vehicles. The fourth step is the storm water moving into larger techniques of mitigation that will be located in the linear parks that penetrate the subdivision. The storm water will move through these parks in a series of larger rain gardens, swales, retention ponds and constructed wetlands. Placing these mitigation devices in the parks and making them part of the developments design will allow people to get a better understanding of Hydrological processes. These devices being located in these accessible open spaces will significantly enhance the subdivisions built environment. They add to the the developments green space amenities as a destination for passive or active recreation, with potential viewing areas, pathways, and gathering spaces. The storm water treatment trains will see storm water be seen as a resource and help instil stewardship values. A further way in which storm water run-off is reduced on site is the encorporation of permeable surfaces. These are loacted in multiple parts of the development in the form of the shared surface areas.
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Encouraging sustainability Each unit within the development has access to communally run and maintained allotment gardens. These are located directly behind or adjacent to apartment blocks. The inclusion of community run orchards provides a pleasant transition zone between the clusters of apartment blocks. The allotments and orchards will help the residents to become more sustainable by growing their own produce. As well as being sustainable people are being integrated with the natural processes through agriculture. These spaces for the production of locally grown food is provided as a way for families and individuals to feed themselves and their neighbors. This adds a layer of communnal self-sufficiency and stregthens the community. These spaces will also help diversify the character of the development
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Circulation and connection The develpment has been designed for the pedestrian with all the apartments within short walking distances of each other. The large network of pedestrian circulation routes ensure easy access around the development and interconnecting the green recreationional spaces.
Wider connection routes of the development
New Bridge link
Along with the pedestrian network there are sufficiant cycle paths moving through the heart of the main cluster of blocks. This interlinks the different clusters as well providing an alternative transport link to the core. These cycle paths within the devlopment also be part of a larger coastal cyclepath netowork linking the other clusters of development.
District distributor road
Two district distributor roads lead through the development linking it to the new proposed bridge link to Waymouth, Karaka West and the core zone of the wider Karaka development. The road system in the development is minimal to encourage residence to use the healthier more environmentally friendly methods of transport of cycling and walking. Only having a limited number of roads also decreases the amount of impermeable surface. In terms of parking the design maintains a place for personal cars(underbuilding car parks), but simply puts them off the street so that residents are given more room and oppertunity to walk,bike or take public transport. Public transport is a top prioity of a sustainable development. The proposed public transport links will provide easy access to, from and around the area. A key component of this plan is the new Karaka link bus service which will run from the core zone of the wider karaka development to multiple development clusters including this one. This quick access to the retail, leisure and business services located at the core will encourage people to leave their cars at home thus lowering the amount of vehicles on the roads. From here the new bridge developement leading to Waymouth and the new rail link to Auckland CBD will encourage a ‘park and ride’ scheme where people can leave their car at home take public transport or cycle to the core where they can commute on the train to the city. This aids Aucklands congestion issues.
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Cycle path network
Core Zone
Circulation layers Diagram
Vehicular movement routes
Cyclclist movement routes
Pedestrian movement routes
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Structural Vegetation Large areas of the coast have been revegetated with indiginous broadleaf forest as well as native shrubs and grasses. This reduces the volume of overland water flow and helps improve water quality of the estury. The slopes over 15 degrees were all on the coastal edges and are within the revegetated areas. Revegetating these slope will also reduce erosion of the coastal edge and sedimentation in the estury. These revegetated areas provide new complex habitat corridors around the coast for flora and fauna. The inclusion of wetland and riparian planting along the constructed wetland and largest storm water treatment trains will also add to the range of eco-systems and increase biodiversity within the development. This increase in bio-diversity will bring further ecological value to the area and enrich the green space amenities for the residents. These revegatated habitat corridors would be part of a patch and corridor network going along the coasts and rivers of the wider karaka development. This network would provide a missing link between large ecological habitats on the west and east coast of Auckland as identified on the ecological connections map. It would help provide a stepping stone for native birds and good seed source in the Auckland region. Street trees also line the streets between apartment buildings to help break up the built environment. These would be native Metrosideros excelsa which would also add seasonal interest with their bright red winter flowers. The orchards will be a mix of fruit trees and aid aid the natural process of pollination as well as providing a food source. The Coastal parkland has sparse groupings of various specimen trees (both native and exotic) to spatially break up this large open space more. They will look good aesthetically as well as helping the coastal parkland to not feel overly vast and open. They will also provide ecosystem services by providing shade.
Ecological Connections
Rangitoto Island
Auckland Domain
Waiheke Island Parks
Motuihe Island Browns Island
Mission Bay Park Kepa Bush Reserve Western Springs Park Oakley Creek Reserve
Ponui Island
Awaroa Park
Waikowhai Park
Waitakere Ranges
Ambury Farm Park
Murphy’s Scenic Bush Reserve
Clevedon’s Scenic Reserve
Totora Park Puhinui Park Hunua Ranges Margan’s Bush
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