On review of community feedback and the proposed design, we saw an opportunity to rethink how we could enhance the community’s connection with Cannons Creek Park. To help create new spaces in the park that celebrate the community's culture, heritage, and identity, we continued engaging for an additional six months in 2023. This included bringing Ngāti Toa Rangatira, local school students and a group of community members together, with the support of landscape architects and Porirua City Council.

The group’s work involved exploring ways we could include our local history into Cannons Creek Park and Wetland. As a result, our resource consent application included the construction of a wetland, accessible paths, lighting, and new recreational spaces that will help support local kaitiakitanga (guardianship) and enhance the community’s connection with Cannons Creek Park and te taiao (the environment).

The upgrades at Cannons Creek Park will include:

• Three sports fields with improved drainage, helping to ensure they can be played on more often
• A wetland on the bottom field (at the northern end of the park), to improve water quality and biodiversity
• Larger and more resilient wastewater and stormwater pipes to support current and future generations living in eastern Porirua
• New recreational spaces around the park and accessible, well-lit paths to help everyone move through the sports fields, new spaces, Bothamley Park, Warspite Avenue and Castor Crescent.

As part of Cannons Creek Park upgrades, the bottom (northern end) field will be converted into a wetland. No space will be taken away from the three remaining fields when we create new spaces for the community to use and enjoy. They include:

A welcome area – people entering the park from Warspite Avenue will be welcomed by signs that provide information Cannons Creek Park features, along with information about other local amenities. We’re also investigating options to include local sculptures or artwork that enhances visitors’ connections with the eastern Porirua community.

Whānau area (connect) – whether a small or a larger group, this space is designed for gathering, sharing kai or relaxing together. It will include facilities and accessible tables, a space for picnics and to put up a gazebo or sit in the shade.

Whānau area (active) – a place where whānau can come to be active and play. From climbing, sliding, jumping or swinging, this area will work with the existing slope to provide lots of active fun. It will also include a shaded space for park users to rest and watch their friends and whānau play, and to prepare and share kai.

Celebration and identity – this space will celebrate our local history, stories and the cultural identity of our people and communities throughout eastern Porirua. It will include signs, storyboards, local sculptures and art, along with seating on the grassed area (including accessible seating), and shaded areas.

Education – an outdoor classroom designed to encourage learning in the natural environment. This space includes seating, places to put down mats, shaded areas and spaces to teach tamariki or visitors, and information boards.

Connection to te taiao (the environment) – this space is designed to enhance community and visitor connections with te taiao. It will include a range of signs that tell the park’s natural history, information about insects and wildlife that park users may see in the area, nature play areas, native planting and kai forests. As we look to replant in the area, there will be future opportunities for the community to get involved and create connections.

No. The Cannons Creek Park and Wetland Project will be paid for by Te Rā Nui, utilising central Government funding from various sources. Rates are set by the Porirua City Council, so these won’t be affected by the upgrades.

There will be some temporary disruption during construction, but we will minimise this as much as we can and ensure everyone can still access field one.

It will take around two years to construct the new wetland, upgrade the stormwater and wastewater pipes through Cannons Creek Park, create the new community spaces and plant around 20,000 native plants. Construction starts in late 2025 and will be completed around late 2027.

Even though Cannons Creek Park has several hills, we’ve designed our shared paths to be accessible for all community members to use, from walking and cycling to mobility scooters, wheelchairs, and whānau pushing a pram.

Wetlands are areas with plants that are often covered by water. They act like the kidneys of the Earth, because their plants and vegetation clean the water that flows into them and improves its quality downstream.

Wetlands that are man-made, like the one we’re building in Cannon’s Creek Park, are designed to trap soil, filter and remove contaminants before water flows downstream. They can provide homes for fish and aquatic life, which – along with the native grasses and flaxes planted along their edges – supports growing habitats for native birds, lizards, and insects.

As well as supporting water management, wetlands can be designed to include recreational and community benefits, such as new paths for walking or biking, as well as spaces to learn and connect.

We’re working with a range of partners to deliver the Cannons Creek Park and Wetland project – Studio Pacific Architecture have produced landscape designs, with Jacobs providing wetland, lighting, sports field drainage and pathway design. JFC (John Filmore Contracting) are our lead contractor for practical delivery of the project.

Porirua’s waterways are feeling the pressure of a growing population and changes to land use. During community engagement in 2019, the management of stormwater and wastewater was a key issue, with many people expressing concern about the quality of the waterways and the pollution of Te Awarua-o-Porirua (Porirua Harbour). These concerns were confirmed during a review of the quality of fresh water in Porirua in 2019 which found, in particular, Kenepuru Stream to be Grade E. This is the lowest water quality grade.

Run-off from rain can cause problems for our taiao (environment). A lot of rain falls on hard surfaces like roofs, driveways and roads and when it runs into the drain it can carry dust and dirt, as well as pollutants like heavy metals from old roofs and oil from our cars.

Soil and toxins then end up in our streams and harbour, polluting our waterways, harming our marine life and affecting the quality of water we use for things like swimming and fishing.  

We want to improve water quality for the community by treating the stormwater entering our waterways. One of the best ways to do this is through investing in water management solutions such as wetlands and pipe upgrades.

We’ve looked into a variety of options that could help improve stormwater management, such as holding and treating stormwater on private properties. Following extensive community engagement in 2022 and 2023, we have made the decision to create a wetland at the bottom (northern end) of Cannons Creek Park, as this option has more recreational and water quality benefits for the community.

The bottom (northern end) of Cannons Creek Park is a great option to create a wetland because it is at the bottom of the catchment, so the run-off from the entire upstream area can flow through the wetland and be treated before it moves into Kenepuru Stream and Te Awarua-o-Porirua (Porirua Harbour).

As part of development to the east of Cannons Creek Park, we have constructed a large pipe to divert flows from the wider residential area into the wetland. This means that more of the run-off from nearby areas can also be treated through the wetland.

There will be an agreed joint approach between Porirua City Council and Wellington Water to monitor and maintain the wetland once completed.

There are a couple of great examples of wetlands around Porirua City. The most-commonly known is Taupō Swamp near Plimmerton. This natural, protected wetland is home to 19 native bird species and a wide variety of plants which support the local ecosystem and environment.

More recently, Wellington Water, Porirua City Council and Ngāti Toa Rangatira converted 7,000 square metres of fields to create Te Kukuwai o Toa native wetland in Elsdon. This wetland is helping to improve the health of the harbour, has created a new home for birds and insects, and is becoming a new space for locals to connect with nature.

Porirua City Council is looking at other opportunities to develop wetlands in partnership with other agencies. In a joint project with Greater Wellington Regional Council, the Council developed an artificial wetland at the foreshore opposite the Porirua Stream mouth. As well as tidying-up a neglected area of the harbour, this project is providing an additional home for birdlife.