Woods is leading the planning, design, and delivery of key infrastructure and consenting for Milldale — a 300-hectare master-planned development that will bring 4,500 new homes to Auckland’s northern growth corridor.

Our role

Initiated in 2014 and supported by live zoning through Unitary Plan submissions and a Wainui Precinct overlay, the development includes a town centre, schools, reserves, restored stream corridors, a retirement village, and local neighbourhood hubs. Woods is delivering planning, engineering, surveying, and urban design services across the full lifespan of the development, which is expected to continue over the next 8–10 years. From the outset, our team has played a central role in consenting and design for bulk earthworks, streamworks, subdivision stages, stormwater infrastructure, and the layout of future neighbourhood and commercial centres.

Woods successfully obtained multiple earthworks and streamworks consents covering up to 75 hectares in area over two seasons. These included stream reclamation and a comprehensive mitigation and offset package, involving enhancement of primary tributaries and restoration work in surrounding regional parks. Preparing the Assessment of Environmental Effects required detailed review and interpretation of specialist inputs including urban design, ecology, geotechnical, stormwater, and civil engineering.

We also prepared and lodged the necessary land use and subdivision consents to enable both housing and commercial development, including ultimate build outcomes for superlots and planning for local centres.

In parallel, Woods worked closely with Healthy Waters and Auckland Council’s regulatory team through multiple stages of design. We led the preparation of the Network Discharge Consent and the catchment-wide Stormwater Management Plan — which was adopted for the entire future urban zone. The plan included water-sensitive design principles and a low-impact treatment train approach to minimise environmental effects.

Woods developed a 1D–2D flood model of the catchment, including stream networks and river corridors, with model calibration based on real flow gauge data from the Orewa River. Scenarios were modelled with and without climate change influences to assess risk across varying coastal and tidal conditions. Flood mitigation involved improving stream conveyance through reshaped banks while maintaining natural low-flow channels and designing hydraulic structures such as bridges and culverts with ecological considerations like fish passage and green outfalls.

Key challenges

The sheer scale of Milldale posed an immediate challenge — compounded by the client’s request to deliver at least 400 lots per year. This required rapid delivery of consenting and infrastructure to match the pace of development and support housing supply targets.

Large-scale infrastructure — including new roads, bridges, sewer pipes, and water mains — needed to be designed and delivered in sync with housing rollout. Woods’ multidisciplinary expertise, experience on complex projects, and strong working relationships with council and collaborators were key to maintaining delivery momentum.

Outcome

To date, over 1,000 lots have been completed at Milldale, with the overall capital expenditure projected at $1.4 billion. Woods has successfully delivered all assessments, models, and consent packages on time and within budget — enabling the staged rollout of a major new urban community in Auckland’s northern growth corridor.