Goodmans Ltd, a local Waikanae company, is making good progress on preparing the ground for the new Jim Cooke Park Stopbank next to the Waikanae River. This stopbank improvement will protect a large part of Waikanae from a 1 in 100 year flood.
“We have put up site fences to separate the construction activity from you and there are some parts of the popular shared path that will be closed during construction,” says Kees Nauta, GWRC Project Engineer.
“We will establish alternative paths in most cases, but these temporary paths may not be suitable for buggies, wheelchairs and mobility scooters. This is a temporary measure and the shared paths will be reinstated as soon as possible after construction.”
Mr Nauta says they are on programme to finish by the end of June. “We hope you can bear with this disruption to enable these essential works to be carried out during this time, and we would like to apologise in advance if this is disruptive to you.”
Current works include work that is almost complete to move the practice soccer ground and floodlights, so it can be sown and ready for play this winter.
Tree-clearing work is currently underway, and an area being made ready to stockpile clay that will be used to make the stopbank water proof.
Mr Nauta says once these works are complete, river gravels will be brought across the river to form the stopbank and imported quarry clay trucked in to complete the stopbank. They will use removed topsoil to re-grass the stopbank once the reconstruction is finished.
“Our restoration plans for the project include 10,000 eco-sourced native trees to restore privacy for residents and further enhance and beautify the river corridor. We understand that some residents will be upset at losing existing mature trees adjacent to their property, but we hope that the 10,000 new trees will go towards mitigating that removal,” says Mr Nauta.
“The tree layout plan for the residential boundary is being drawn up at the moment and we will share this with residents for their feedback before planting goes ahead.”
Notice boards have been placed at entrances to the site to provide information and contact details for inquiries. The hours of operation for the construction and delivering material is proposed to be from 7.30am through to 6pm during Monday to Saturday, with no work on Sundays or public holidays.
