Onehunga Foreshore
Restoration of a coastline
The Onehunga foreshore is a unique part of the Auckland landscape - a man-made shoreline created to restore the environment that was destroyed in the 1977 construction of State Highway 20.
Ecosystem: Harsh, coastal, multi-use
This is urban regeneration on a sizeable scale. Between SH20 and the Manakau Harbour a total of 6.8ha of parkland have been developed to create a thriving new urban ecosystem.
The designs included new beaches, a boat ramp and a pedestrian / cyclist bridge linking the Onehunga Bay Reserve to the foreshore.
Our brief for this foreshore planting project was to ensure that we had plants that would be robust and stand the tests of time and of Mother Nature herself – literally. This landscape can be fairly unrelenting with constant driving winds coming inland from the Manakau Harbour. Our plants needed Rocky Balboa stamina (the same vintage as SH20 itself). They needed to be able to survive and thrive in the face of anything that was thrown at them.
Ecovitalism: A foreshore back to its vibrant self
At Kauri Park we have decades of experience in producing hardy, environment-ready plants. Our Northland nursery is designed to expose the plants to the extreme conditions – full sun, full wind - that they will need to thrive in. Our plants are always on a mission and so we nurtured the Onehunga foreshore plants under the same tough environmental conditions they would grow to love. This is a key factor in ensuring that our plants quickly adapt to their new ecosystem and critical to their long-term hardiness and health.
The plantings at Onehunga foreshore have been a total success. There have been minimal plant losses in this project, and the species have established well. The Manuka have flowered profusely – even in their very first year post planting. It is an eye-catching project and receives many compliments from recreational users of the foreshore.
Once again, we are delighted to have been part of a project designed to ensure that the ecology and the economy can not just co-exist, but thrive, together.
