Te Pā Harakeke - a model park

For many years Modellers Pond in Tāhunanui echoed with the excited chatter of children and adults sailing their bespoke and kitset creations. By 1958 the pond and park had also become the headquarters for enthusiastic members of the Nelson Society of Modellers, who added a miniature railway. 

Situated on the edge of the Waimea estuary, the pond relied on tidal waters sweeping in through purpose-built gates to clean it. This process successfully enabled the recreational use, but gradually the weeds and algal blooms took over, making the pond expensive to maintain and impossible to use for recreation.

A render of how the park will look completed.

Fast forward to 2022 and the site has a new name, a new, much expanded purpose – and work has begun filling the large pond in preparation for the project completion in winter. Local kaumātua gifted the name Te Pā Harakeke which is a Māori whakatauki, or proverbial saying, about the importance of whānau (family). This is symbolic of the area’s importance to families and the underlying purpose of the new family-friendly park.

Canopy Landscape Architects were awarded the job of designing the revamp, a collaborative process including Luke Porter and Shea Gillison from Canopy, Lead Engineers Stantec and the Nelson City Council.

This design approach resulted in a masterplan that celebrates the coastal environment and compliments the popular model train attraction which still hosts children’s parties, night rides and weekend fun. Maintaining the railway was an integral part of the project, with the design team working with the Modellers Society to propose additional track routes that integrate the train network within the new design, enabling users to explore the restored estuarine habitat. 

Play Island at the centre of the park.

Construction’s underway and it’s hoped by mid-year Te Pā Harakeke will offer a variety of different spaces from active nature-based play to more quiet, intimate spaces that encourage play through exploration and discovery. 

Large open grassed spaces on the fringe of the park will provide space for gathering, complimented by a range of seating opportunities & shelter. A network of accessible trails and boardwalks wind through the site connecting the spaces, while a range of more fun ‘off the beaten track’ circulation opportunities will encourage exploration of the natural environment.

Canopy has explored the synergy between recreation & restoration that will make the park a truly unique destination. It’ll have a strong environmental focus in keeping with it’s ecological setting. A network of low lying estuarine flats will be formed as an extension of the Waimea Inlet, returning part of the site to it’s historical form. These low lying areas will be periodically inundated at king tides, continually moulding the shape and altering the character of the park & celebrating the dynamic nature of coastal environment. 

It’s hoped the new design will encourage birds into the park.

Extensive estuarine revegetation will provide a framework for the recreational opportunities to occur within, creating important habitat to attract birds & invertebrates into the park. The park will also be a place to connect, observe & learn about the natural environment through signage & interpretative play. 

The Canopy team found one of the biggest challenges was getting stakeholders to understand the benefits of allowing tidal inundation, then finding practical design solutions to allow this to happen.  “Any project dealing with something as complex as tidal inundation is challenging,  support from our collaborative partners has enabled the project to maximise these opportunities as much as possible while still achieving the councils requirements for a new recreational facility”. Gillison says.

“Currently the site is a self contained pond, the new park returns the site to a more natural state allowing the tide to periodically progress into the site. The design proposes creating softer edges to help protect the built infrastructure around the site, allowing these natural processes to inundate the site and create a buffer while also establishing new, much needed salt marsh habitat.” 

Canopy worked closely with engineers, pouring over tide charts for the next 30 years to map how far the estuarine environment would extend into the park, while establishing a network of raised pathways & boardwalks that allowed connections between the proposed recreational ‘islands’’.

Despite tight deadlines Gillison says it’s been a rewarding project to work on, and after 10 to 15 years of local body debate around what would happen with the park it’s great to be able to deliver a unique, adventurous, family environment to the community.