The severe weather events in early 2023 affected many communities in the Wairau area and resulted in two fatalities. As a result, we are working to reduce flood risks and prepare for future flooding.
We want to improve Wairau's flood
resilience by:
- increasing how much
stormwater that uninhabited green space can hold during flooding
- creating more stormwater storage and wetland spaces
- restoring streams.
This project is part of our
Making Space for Water programme and is co-funded by central government. It will add to our other flood management initiatives to keep Auckland safe.
About the project
We will create a network of flood management systems that protect homes, businesses and infrastructure. The systems:
- are designed to work together
- will get better at reducing flood risk with each part we build.
These systems together will form a
blue-green network.
The complete blue-green network will:
- make the stormwater network more resilient and easier to maintain
- significantly reduce flooding risk to:
- homes
- businesses
- transport networks
- power and water infrastructure
- help maintain access to:
- important roads
- important community facilities including schools, retirement villages, North Shore Hospital and other medical facilities
- restore natural waterways, increase biodiversity and improve neighbourhood connectivity while protecting homes and businesses.
We will build the first two stages of the project over the next 10 years. Developing a large project like this requires:
- careful planning
- construction that happens in stages
- ongoing collaboration with the community.
Area overview
Our proposed improvements to the Wairau
catchment.
Stage 1: A F Thomas Park upgrades
We will upgrade
A F Thomas Park by:
- increasing how much stormwater the park can hold from 60,000 cubic metres to 550,000 cubic metres
- creating
wetlands,
dry detention and overland flow paths as needed to prevent stormwater from overwhelming Wairau Creek and surrounding areas.
Stage 1 will also include the removal of Woodbridge Lane Bridge.
These upgrades are essential. They will support and improve the effectiveness of the flood management systems proposed in Stage 2.
We will maintain A F Thomas Park as a flexible green space for community recreation that also helps manage flooding.
Stage 2 and 3: Future works
The proposed work across the wider Wairau catchment includes:
- increasing the capacity of up to four stormwater
detention ponds, including at Rewi Alley Reserve, Trias Reserve and Tōtaravale Reserve
- widening and
daylighting streams to restore their natural flow, including Wairau Creek
- upgrading stormwater infrastructure along Wairau Road to improve water flow.
Proposed design
Artist impression of A F Thomas Park with flood water storage combined with recreation facilities.
In April 2025, the
Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee supported a business case to combine flood storage with recreational facilities at A F Thomas Park. Examples of flood storage could be ponds or wetlands where excess water can be stored during heavy rains or floods.
At the same meeting, the committee requested the proposed concept be reviewed alongside another design submitted by Takapuna Golf Course.
The golf club’s initial proposal was not considered practical due to cost and maintenance requirements. The council gave a one-month extension to the golf club to submit an alternate design.
The golf club's new proposal is similar to the council's proposed design in terms of location and method of storing stormwater. This means we can now move forward with a single design that has both flood storage and recreation facilities.
Check
A park with purpose: flood protection and recreation to coexist at AF Thomas Park on OurAuckland to learn more.
Download the full concept design report to learn more.
