Down to the Reef: Responding to Sea Level Rise at the Meola Reef Landfill

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Coyle Park

1- Leachate Treatment Plant 2- Sea Wall and Drainage System 3- Broad Pedestrian Promenade and Pathway System 4- Native Forest Planting 5- Improved Dog Park with facilities

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Through the construction of these elements the foundation for the future development of the site is laid by addressing its polluting potential and encouraging greater community use and involvement in the entire recreational centre of the district.

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Further connections to Meola Reef are developed and links between the two suburbs of Pt Chevalier and Westmere are established. By making these connections Meola Reef is enabled to become a recreational hub for the district as well as providing attractive alternative means of transport.

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1- Road Connection 2- Pedestrian Bridges 3- Ferry Terminal Developed 4- Museum Tramway extended to tip of Park

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These developments will allow access for all people to the now disappearing shoreline and to the deeper water. This will provide an opportunity for boating and water-sport. By this stage leachate interception will have improved the water quality of the inlets to a point that they are swimmable.

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1- Waterfront Hard Surfaced Plaza 2- Public Accessible Piers 3- Open Park/Event Space 4- Boardwalk extending out to Meola Reef

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Meola Reef is part of a series of Public Owned Recreational Assets separating the central suburbs of Pt Chevalier and Westmere. These areas are seeing an increase in population density which will be compounded by their elevated position should sea level rise occur. More intensive land use will demand a greater quality and amount of recreational space and infrastructure, something which Meola Reef may provide as a redeveloped park that is fully integrated with its surroundings.

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Coyle Park

Waitemata Harbour

Sea Level +4m A Strategies for Linking the Green Core.

Pt Chevalier

Westmere

Connection of the recreational spaces between Pt Chevalier and Westmere will enable residents to walk from Coyle Park to Western Springs. This will provide an enriching and tranquil alternative to the cities streets and encourage residents to become less dependent on their car for leisure.

A1 Raised pedestrian viaduct between Coyle Park and Meola Reef, with clearance for boats.

A2 Coastal pedestrian promenade, with integrated cycleway, road and tram line.

A3 Promenade diverges into existing tramline, walkways and roads leading to Western Springs and Heritage precinct.

B Strategies for public coastal access

. Breaking through the barriers of private residences and poor points of access are new public spaces; social piers, a ferry terminal and waterfront park, that take advantage of the now deeper water and spectacular views of the harbour.

B1 A Ferry Terminal will link the suburbs directly with the now bustling harbour and its many destinations.

B2 Piers extending from the streets of Pt Chevalier provides local residents the opportunity for interaction with the sea and counteracts shoreline loss.

B3 The waterfront plaza creates a multi-use urban space with a framed view of the greater Auckland Harbour that can be adapted to suit the needs of the growing community.

C Strategies for establishing connectivity between suburbs and park space

. Loss of land due to sea level rise and the population increase of the area over time will drive the need for alternate routes transport to Meola Reef and between the suburbs.

C1 Light pedestrian bridges cross Motions and Meola Inlets, providing a direct route between Pt Chevalier and Westmere while allowing boats to pass underneath.

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C2 Through an embankment under Meola Road, vehicular access between the two suburbs will be sustained .

D Strategies for addressing the capped Landfill’s environmental issues

. Infrastructural work to ‘clean up’ and protect the Meola Reef Landfill is the basis for redeveloping the site. The required technical aspects such as the seawalls have been re-purposed for more uses.

D1. Nitrification towers and settlement ponds treat stored leachate drawn from drains placed under the protective seawall system that surrounds the reefs

coastline.

D2. Native vegetation protects the clay cap of the Landfill from erosion and damage, while providing an opportunity for an urban forest to grow.

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Down to the Reef Design Statement New Zealand is an Island Nation, surrounded by both the Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea. Auckland its biggest city, is also a coastal one, being an isthmus between two harbours. As such the projected sea level rise of 2-4 m over the next 100 years will have major effects on its structure and form. Meola Reef Reserve is a capped municipal landfill in Central Auckland that worked from the 1950’s until the mid 1980’s. Containing domestic and industrial waste, it was poorly constructed on a porous lava flow that extends some kilometers into the Waitemata Harbour. With edge of the landfill already deteriorating through erosion from storms, a rise in sea level would erode the cap completely and expose tonnes of toxic rubbish to the waters of the harbour. The higher water table will also increase leachate flow from Meola Reef into the waters of the Meola and Motions Inlets, making them more unsafe for recreation and swimming. Through Landscape Architecture Meola Reef can be elevated to its full potential, taking a multifaceted approach that addresses the current and future social, environmental and infrastructural needs of the area. The interventions needed to prevent this environmental catastrophe will be used to compensate for the impacts sea level rise will have on the surrounding suburbs. As high land will be at a premium following flooding of low areas the surrounding suburbs of Point Chevalier and Westmere will be subject to more intensive use, making the series of public recreational spaces between them more important than ever. The sea walls needed to protect the landfill and drain leachate will be used to connect the chain of park spaces to the coast by constructing a new promenade, accommodating infrastructure such as walking and cycle paths and an extension of the existing heritage tramway nearby. In addition it will connect the inner suburbs to the coast directly, drawing in more local residents to the site and increasing its perceived value. The planting required to protect the landfill cap from erosion will become a new urban forest, while other areas will remain open flexible grassland to take advantage of the spectacular 180° views of the harbour. At the tip of the peninsula land will be built up to prevent flooding and used as a flexible waterfront plaza, able to support a variety of community events and activities. To increase accessibility to the site, the arterial Meola Road will be raised to prevent inundation by the sea, and pedestrian bridges will connect the surrounding suburbs to Meola Reef and each other. At the coastal edge new piers will extend into the water, providing a needed access point and replacing the lost foreshore as a space for relaxation. The connection to these piers will also combat a current barrier to water access of private properties lining the coastal edge. The largest pier at the tip of the peninsula will become a ferry terminal as the water depth increases, providing a new link to other docks on the Waitemata Harbour. The redevelopment of Meola Reef will transform of a once undervalued and inefficiently used space to a regional recreation and transportation hub that meets the future needs of its surroundings and links them to the populations of greater Auckland, becoming the beginning and end of a connected network of recreational spaces extending from the coastal Coyle Park to the tranquil Western Springs.


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