Waitangi Park
Waitangi Park in March 2007. In the foreground is the Sunday market.
LocationWellington, New Zealand
Coordinates41°17′29″S 174°47′05″E / 41.29137°S 174.78482°E / -41.29137; 174.78482
Area6.5 ha (16 acres)
Created2006
Operated byWellington City Council
The Waitangi Park wetlands. In the background are the Chaffers Dock Apartments (in the Former Post and Telegraph Building)
Waitangi Park showing walk-on world map and Les Arts Sauts performance dome

Waitangi Park, a remodelled recreation space in Te Aro, Wellington, New Zealand, dates from 2006. It lies near Te Papa (the National Museum of New Zealand), Former Post and Telegraph Building and Courtenay Place. The facility includes a waka-launching area, a children's playground, a skateboard zone, and a large grassy space.

Geography and history

The Waitangi stream formerly flowed from around Wellington Hospital in Newtown along Adelaide Road to the Basin Reserve and then along what is now Kent and Cambridge Terraces.[1] Its outlet was the Waitangi lagoon or swamp, formed by a shingle beach which periodically gave way, causing clumps of flax and toetoe to float out into the harbour.[1][2][3] The lagoon used to harbour eel, fish, and shellfish, and was used by Māori for food gathering, fresh water, and waka launching. Early European settlers planned to dig a canal along the stream to use what is now the Basin Reserve as a harbour, but the 1855 earthquake uplifted the land and made this impractical.[4] The stream was piped underground instead.[5] The wetlands in the redeveloped Waitangi Park are fed by the outflow from the Waitangi stream, now lifted from stormwater drains and caused to flow through gravel and grass as part of the park's development.[6]

Wellingtonians formerly referred to the Waitangi Park area as Chaffers Park. Chaffers Park was created after industrial buildings on the site were demolished.[7] Chaffers Marina adjoining the area was opened in 1993.[8]

Redevelopment into Waitangi Park

Wraight Athfield Landscape Architecture (WALA) won the competition held to design the park. WALA saw the design through to completion in 2005. The redevelopment of the park won a number of awards from the New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects, the New Zealand Institute of Architects and the Wellington Civic Trust, among others.[9][10]

As part of the redevelopment, on the north-east side of the park the former Herd St Post Office was developed into lifestyle-apartments and into a commercial space called Chaffers Dock Apartments.

The redeveloped park was officially opened in March 2006. The redevelopment project cost a total of $22 million.[11]

The New Zealand Construction Industry Council (NZCIC) criticised the construction tendering process for the park, arguing that under-tendering caused problems. According to the NZCIC, the "initial tender accepted for the development at Waitangi Park was $2.1 million less than the estimated cost of the project, and at least $2.6 million below tenders from two other companies."[12]

Events

Numerous events have taken place at Waitangi Park, these include:

Regular events include:

  • Waitangi Park Market. Fruit and vegetable market. Open hours: Sunday 7am - 12pm.[14]
  • Petanque
  • Skateboarding
  • Waka-launching

Further reading

  • Price, Nina (2009). Waitangi Park: Public Land in Competition (Thesis).

References

  1. 1 2 Adkin, G. Leslie (1959). "The Great Harbour of Tara". Wellington City Libraries. p. 97. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
  2. ↑ Ward, Louis (1928). "Early Wellington". p. 304. Archived from the original on 2010-04-28. Retrieved 2021-09-24 – via web.archive.org.
  3. ↑ "The Weather". Wellington Independent. 5 Mar 1853. Retrieved 25 Sep 2021 – via Paperspast.
  4. ↑ Burgess, Dave (3 November 2010). "Group plans to slip a few eels downtown". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "Waitangi Park – an urban wetland recreated". Enviro History NZ. 12 December 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "Waitangi Park – an urban wetland recreated". envirohistory NZ. 12 Dec 2010. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
  7. ↑ "Significant street full of history". Stuff. 2014-02-07. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
  8. ↑ "About Chaffers Marina". Chaffers Marina Wellington NZ. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
  9. ↑ "Waitangi Park". Wraight + Associates landscape architecture and urban design. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  10. ↑ "Waitangi Park". New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  11. ↑ "Waitangi Park opens in Wellington". New Zealand Herald. 15 March 2006. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  12. ↑ "Waitangi Park costs: Value better than lowest cost". Scoop.co.nz (Press release). 1 March 2006.
  13. ↑ Festival Of The Arts 2006
  14. ↑ Waitangi Park Market
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