Woods' was entrusted to develop a plan for 3,500 dwellings on 162 hectares of land in Long Bay.

Woods Involvement

Our team worked with Auckland Council to develop a plan for a high quality mixed density community. This was especially difficult given the steep terrain with the area which made complying with the rule book almost impossible. So, Woods had to redefine the rule book.

Woods role on the Long Bay Project was as the Lead Consultant to coordinate and deliver the project. For this, Woods provided the necessary Engineering, Surveying and Planning and worked closely with and coordinated the other specialist disciplines including Geotechnical, Landscape Design, Urban Design and Ecological expertise.

Woods was involved in the initial master planning, earthworks, infrastructure and subdivision development to establish the Long Bay community. The Woods planning team secured all the necessary resource consents to enable the development including bulk earthworks, multi-staged subdivisions, stream enhancements, a village centre and public amenities, and various terraced housing developments. Woods planners also liaised with mana whenua throughout the development process to ensure cultural values were recognised and provided for. The development involved significant restoration and enhancement of local streams and wetlands, which will serve as focal points of visual amenity for the local community.

Challenges

For Woods, developing innovative solutions is often a necessity. The Long Bay Project had many challenges to overcome. Located adjacent to the Long Bay Regional Park, this highly visible site is situated in the lower catchment of two significant streams discharging directly into the marine environment, these being the Awaruku and Vaughan's catchments totalling a catchment area in the order of 400 ha. These streams already compromised by largely uncontrolled urban development (Awaruku catchment) and by farm activities (Vaughans catchment) required attention. The streams were further burdened with an aging and under capacity public and private wastewater network that further reduced the quality of these streams.

As a result, it was Woods (and Todd Properties) main objective to significantly improve the existing condition of these streams and the receiving environment. In order to overcome these issues, innovative solutions were required to meet this environmental objective. For long term fresh water quality, extensive stream restoration and wetlands were incorporated into the project design. These wetlands were designed to treat not only the development but the entire catchment. This, together with the requirements for 'at source' treatment greatly improving the quality of these waterways. For short term fresh water quality extensive research was undertaken both locally and internationally into the best practices for erosion and sediment control during construction.

The controls practiced on this site were well in excess of what was then considered best practice Technical Publication TP90. Many of the systems developed for Long Bay were later adopted into Auckland Councils' new DG05 guidelines. For wastewater a modern wastewater pump station was design by Woods complete with a 1km long, 2m diameter TBM installed tunnel. This tunnel was designed with a dual purpose. Firstly for conveyance and secondly to provide the large emergency storage requirements that would be necessary to service not just the Long Bay project itself but also the existing catchment. By doing so greatly reduced the risks of uncontrolled wastewater discharges which were a major concern and hazard with the existing infrastructure at the time.

From the outset, the Long Bay coastal marine area was identified as a sensitive receiving environment, and the land development process had the potential to have a negative impact on the aquatic environment. In particular, a major concern was that exposed clay would wash into rivers when it rained. Woods planners and engineers worked together and invested considerable time and energy into sediment control, which led to the application of flocculation (flocculant mixes with sediment to cause the latter to drop into a sediment pond before escaping). Their use of flocculation at Long Bay has become a template for other projects since. Additionally, Long Bay was one of the first big land development projects in Auckland that incorporated low impact stormwater designs, like rain gardens in the road network. This industry-leading erosion and sediment control methodology was an innovative solution which is now common place throughout Auckland.

Woods Performance

Woods’ involvement in engineering, surveying, planning and resource management resulted in almost doubling the developable area from what was originally proposed by Auckland Council.