Partnering with the Private Sector to Implement Cost Effective Green Infrastructure Solutions

There is a growing awareness, at a community and political level, of the value of green solutions for stormwater management. While some forms of green infrastructure have easily demonstrated cost vs benefit outcomes, identifying the value that stream restoration contributes to stormwater management is more problematic. While the ecological benefits of rehabilitating degraded streams is not universally acknowledged the reality is that natural streams, some supporting measurable biodiversity, are being lost as a consequence of development.

Resource consents for development resulting in stream loss typically set conditions for offset mitigation and are an opportunity to redress the loss of stream habitat and improve the natural environment for urban communities. The Auckland Council’s Regulatory Unit sought assistance from the Stormwater Unit to identify sites that could be offered to developers seeking to discharge mitigation offset obligations. Fruitvale School was one of the sites identified and was taken up by a developer. Council assisted by providing technical assistance and facilitating an arrangement with the Ministry of Education. The stream “daylighting” project completed at Fruitvale Primary School is an example of how a partnership between a private developer, Council and the landowner can offset a mitigation obligation to create a high value community and ecological outcome. The final result is the realisation of a school’s long held aspiration to bring back a lost stream and make it the focus of their sustainability curriculum. From a stormwater perspective the substantial volume of stream channel created will provide peak flow detention to mitigate known downstream flooding issues.

This paper will provide insights into how the process succeeded in achieving this result at comparatively low cost.