Auckland Council has today confirmed it will proceed with a controversial “flood-detention sink” for the Milford-Wairau Valley, with implications for the future of Takapuna Golf Club.

The area suffered two deaths and the worst damage of any part of the city, during the Auckland Anniversary weekend floods of 2023.

The land is currently used by the Takapuna Golf Club and the council has been working with the club to create a design it hopes everyone will be happy with.

Officials reported to the council in April on more than 100 flood-mitigation options, recommending a scheme that would convert half the park to a wetland for general recreation, with the capacity to store 550 million litres of floodwater. The remainder of the land would be large enough for a nine-hole course.

The golf club and its supporters opposed that plan and presented that April meeting with their own proposal. The council responded by asking officials to consider the golf club option alongside their own plan.

That work is now complete.

“The council has worked closely with Takapuna Golf Course to complete a feasibility assessment of the two proposals,“ the council’s head of sustainable partnerships in the Healthy Waters & Flood Resilience division, Tom Mansell, said today.

“An eight-step technical review ensured both options were evaluated fairly for feasibility, cost-effectiveness as well as addressing environmental considerations.”

When the floods come: Artist's impression of the new wetland proposed by Healthy Waters on the land currently occupied by the Takapuna Golf Course, showing it in a flooded state.

Officials say the golf club’s initial proposal, which would have created a large number of smaller stormwater storage ponds throughout the park, was “soon found to be unfeasible due to cost and maintenance requirements”.

The golf club was granted a time extension to provide an alternate option, which it has now done.

“Both the council proposal and the golf course’s revised proposal have similarities in terms of placement and the method of storing stormwater on the site,” said Mansell.

“We’re confident in the single design concept that’s come out of the feasibility assessment and are ready to move this project forward for our communities.”

The council’s general manager of Healthy Waters and Flood Resilience, Craig Mcilroy, said the confirmed design concept allowed for both flood resilience and recreation to “coexist in one blue-green space, including potentially golf”, if that’s what the community and local board decided.

“It’s great to reach this milestone so we can move forward as quickly as possible to address flooding in the Wairau catchment and the protection of lives and properties,” Mcilroy said.

“We heard from the community that they wanted us to move swiftly and decisively while protecting the recreational greenspace they love. This design concept achieves both and we can now progress this important work.”

Takapuna Golf Course would be impacted under a proposal to use AF Thomas Park as wetland and flood storage.

The Wairau flood resilience project is part of the council’s Making Space for Water programme, which has allocated $760 million to building infrastructure that manages floodwater in temporary reservoirs or “detention sinks”, usually on parkland.

“It aims to build smarter, more resilient infrastructure to help protect homes, schools, businesses and infrastructure from future flooding while enhancing green spaces for community use,” the council said.

The Government is co-funding Making Space for Water, in this case by providing 62% of the costs of creating the wetland area.

The officials’ proposal will now proceed to detailed planning, with a view to work starting this year. The future recreational use of the whole park will be a matter for the Kaipātiki Local Board, which is expected to consult widely before making a decision next year. Comment from the golf club and local community groups has been sought.

More to come

Simon Wilson is a senior writer covering politics, the climate crisis, transport, housing, urban design and social issues, with a focus on Auckland. He joined the Herald in 2018.