Aotea Lagoon
| Aotea Lagoon | |
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| A view from the north-east: Pipitea miniature railway station across the lagoon, State Highway 1, North Island Main Trunk Railway and Porirua Harbour to the right. | |
| Location | North Island |
| Coordinates | 41°7′12″S 174°51′25″E / 41.12°S 174.85694°ECoordinates: 41°7′12″S 174°51′25″E / 41.12°S 174.85694°E |
| Lake type | artificial lagoon |
| Primary inflows | Porirua Harbour and stormwater drains |
| Primary outflows | Porirua Harbour |
| Basin countries | New Zealand |
| Surface area | 5 ha [1] |
| Shore length1 | 732 m |
| Surface elevation | sea level |
| Settlements | Papakowhai [1] |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Aotea Lagoon is an artificial lagoon surrounded by a 7 ha public park in the Papakowhai suburb of Porirua, North Island, New Zealand. [1] Aotea and two nearby lagoons were created as transport links were realigned from the natural coastline to land reclaimed from Porirua Harbour.
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[edit] Hydrology
The lagoon is 5 ha of seawater,[1] connected to Porirua Harbour by a culvert under the model windmill.[2] Three stormwater drains empty into the lagoon,[3] two in the east bank, the third in the south-east under the jetty.
The lagoon's "water body receives limited flushing and aeration" and "little can be done to improve water quality without extensive engineering works."[3] Poor water quality means swimming is prohibited.[4]
[edit] History
The North Island Main Trunk Railway and State Highway 1 used to run round three bays between Porirua and Paremata. In 1961 the railway was realigned to a causeway built between headlands at the mouth of Porirua Stream, Gear Homestead, present day Thurso Grove and Forth Place.[5] Cut off from the sea, the bays became lagoons.
The lagoons were partly filled in, with material from the Ministry of Works and Development's local earthworks,[6] then the highway was realigned inland of the railway.
The Ministry, Porirua City Council, Project Employment Programme and local service clubs turned the area around the middle lagoon into a public park,[2] that opened as Aotea Lagoon in 1980.[7] Originally leased from the Crown, the park was taken over by the City Council in 1994. [2]
[edit] Facilities
The park's centrepiece is a path around the lagoon, the easiest of Porirua's top 12 walkways.[8]
The Waitangirua Lions built a ¼ scale ridable miniature railway with an 833 m loop track including two bridges and a tunnel.[9] The train runs Sunday afternoon, weather permitting, from Pipitea Station south-west of the lagoon.[10]
The park has lawns on three sides, some with barbecues. Other facilities from the north-east are adventure and toddlers' playgrounds, a duck pond crossed by boardwalk, an island reached by bridge and a Pétanque pitch. In the south-west corner are a rose garden, fernery and smaller duck pond.
Most people visit Aotea Lagoon to walk for exercise or relaxation while children enjoy the playgrounds, feeding the ducks, riding bicycles and the train.[11]
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d Porirua City Council (1994), p.1.
- ^ a b c Porirua City Council (1994), p.7.
- ^ a b Porirua City Council (1994), p.40.
- ^ Porirua City Council (1994), p.38.
- ^ Porirua City Council (1994), p.4.
- ^ Porirua City Council (1994), p.6.
- ^ Porirua City Council, Historic Site: Aotea Lagoon.
- ^ Porirua City Council, Porirua's Top 12 Walking and Cycling Tracks.
- ^ Canterbury Society of Model and Experimental Engineers (2002), p.2.
- ^ Waitangirua Lions Club, The Aotea Lagoon Train.
- ^ Jacobson (2009), p.2.
[edit] References
- Porirua City Council (1994). "Aotea Lagoon Management Plan" (PDF). Porirua City Council. http://pcc.govt.nz/DownloadFile/Publications/Leisure-and-Recreation-Plans/Aotea-Lagoon-Management-Plan-1994. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
- Porirua City Council. "Historic site: Aotea Lagoon" (HTML). Porirua City Council. http://www.pcc.govt.nz/About-Porirua/Porirua-s-heritage/Porirua-s-suburbs/Paremata--Papakowhai-and-Mana/Historic-site--Aotea-Lagoon. Retrieved 2011-09-15. Includes photographs of the railway causeway and Aotea Lagoon being built.
- Porirua City Council. "Porirua's Top 12 Walking and Cycling Tracks" (HTML). Porirua City Council. http://www.pcc.govt.nz/Leisure/Walkways-and-Pathways. Retrieved 2011-09-22.
- Canterbury Society of Model and Experimental Engineers (2002). "Mini Railways in New Zealand, 2nd Edition" (PDF). http://web.archive.org/web/20100526111348/http://www.csmee.org.nz/SecondEdition,MiniRailway_%5B1%5D.pdf. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
- Waitangirua Lions Club. "The Aotea Lagoon Train" (HTML). Waitangirua Lions Club. http://www.waitangirualions.org.nz/train.html. Retrieved 2011-09-22.
- Jacobson, Christine (2009). "Aotea Lagoon Visitor Monitoring 2009" (PDF). Porirua City Council. http://www.pcc.govt.nz/DownloadFile/Leisure/Aotea-Lagoon-Visitor-Monitoring-Report. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
