Aotea Lagoon

Aotea Lagoon is an artificial lagoon surrounded by a 7-hectare (17-acre) public park in the Papakowhai suburb of Porirua, North Island, New Zealand.[1] Aotea and two nearby lagoons were created when major arterial transport links were realigned from the natural coastline to land reclaimed from Porirua Harbour.

Aotea Lagoon
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.
LocationNorth Island
Coordinates41°7′12″S 174°51′25″E
Typeartificial lagoon
Primary inflowsPorirua Harbour and stormwater drains
Primary outflowsPorirua Harbour
Basin countriesNew Zealand
Surface area5 ha (12 acres)[1]
Shore length1732 m (2,402 ft)
Surface elevationsea level
SettlementsPapakowhai[1]
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Hydrology

The lagoon is 5 hectares (12 acres) 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]

History

The North Island Main Trunk railway and State Highway 1 used to run round three bays between Porirua and Paremata. In 1960, 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 north and south lagoons were largely filled in, and the largest or middle lagoon partly filled in, with material from the Ministry of Works and Development's earthworks[6] when the highway was realigned to its present position to the east of or inland of the railway in the late 1960s.

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]

Facilities
Plaque in the path giving the distance around Aotea Lagoon - 732 metres

The park's centrepiece is a path around the lagoon.

The Waitangirua Lions built a ¼ scale ridable miniature railway with an 833-metre (2,733 ft) loop track including two bridges and a tunnel.[8]</ref> The train runs Sunday afternoon, weather permitting, from Pipitea Station south-west of the lagoon.[9]

The park has lawns on three sides, some with barbecues. Other facilities from the north to south-east are adventure and toddlers' playgrounds, duck pond crossed by boardwalk, splash pad, island reached by bridge and Pétanque terrain. In the south-west corner another duck pond and rose garden.

Most people visit Aotea Lagoon for exercise or relaxation while children enjoy the playgrounds, feeding the ducks, riding bicycles and the train.[10]

Notes
  1. Porirua City Council 1994, p. 1.
  2. Porirua City Council 1994, p. 7.
  3. Porirua City Council 1994, p. 40.
  4. Porirua City Council 1994, p. 38.
  5. Porirua City Council 1994, p. 4.
  6. Porirua City Council 1994, p. 6.
  7. "Historic site: Aotea Lagoon". Porirua Library. Archived from the original on 1 February 2019. Retrieved 2018-06-27.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) Includes photographs of the railway causeway and Aotea Lagoon being built.
  8. Canterbury Society of Model and Experimental Engineers 2002, p. 2.
  9. Porirua City Council (16 October 2017). "It's full steam ahead for Aotea Lagoon's miniature train". Porirua City Council. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
  10. Jacobson 2009, p. 2.

References
  • Porirua City Council (1994). Aotea Lagoon Management Plan (Report). Porirua Library: Porirua City Council.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Canterbury Society of Model and Experimental Engineers (April 2002). "Mini Railways in New Zealand" (PDF) (2nd ed.). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-05-26. Retrieved 2018-06-27.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Jacobson, Christine (2009). Aotea Lagoon Visitor Monitoring 2009 (Report). Porirua City Council.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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