A load of boules

File under: waterfront, landscape architecture, rants, Wellington

It's been a while since I last wrote about Waitangi Park, and I'm holding off on replying to Kenno's Snark at the Park until the Wind Gardens are complete (which is proving to be a very long wait) and I can get a better idea of how the park works as a whole. But there was a letter in Friday's Dominion Post that I had to respond to.

The writer complains that there's too much concrete, not enough greenery, and that the wetlands should all be converted to petanque pitches so that "Wellington could become the petanque capital of the southern hemisphere". I'm not averse to the odd game of petanque myself (especially with a glass of vin rouge in one hand, though the kiosk is also taking forever), but while French may be the second-most spoken language in Wellington, the suggestion smacks of Eurocentrism. If he were a true petanque fan, he would know about the existing facilities at Waitangi Park via the NZ Petanque Wiki.

As for the greenery vs concrete issue, I've written several times before about the practical need for a balance between hard and soft landscaping in an urban park. There certainly is a sense of barrenness to the park, but if anything it would be worse if were just one big paddock, and once the trees grow the whole place will be leafier and more intimate.

The wetlands have certainly had their detractors, and it's a pity that the water-treatment aspect is not yet working, but it's interesting to see how many of the Waitangi Park photos on Flickr concentrate on the wetlands and the captivating images they provide (such as this one by nzphotopro1). Of course, a park doesn't exist solely for the amusement of photographers, but it's a hint that it would be a lot less interesting without the wetlands (and the skatepark, graffiti, graving dock, propellor and all the other hard elements).

Anyway, here's my reply.

Alan Burden wants Waitangi Park to have "more greenery, less concrete and no 'swamp'". Yet most of the time, the concrete and lime-chip areas attract more people than the existing grassy field, and the wetland area is one of the most interesting parts of the park.

Wind-blown rubbish is a fact of life in Wellington, and any planted area or water feature, even traditional flower beds or duck ponds, would fill up just as quickly. Some people call for "nature" to be returned to the city, but they obviously prefer a manicured, Europeanised vision of picturesque nature to a working ecosystem that recalls the living lagoon that was once nearby.

Speaking of European imports, while Petanque is an appropriate activity, perhaps we should wait to see how well the park's existing petanque terrain is used before taking over the whole area.

What the park needs is not more greenery, beyond what the existing trees will bring once mature, but more shelter, activity, visual interest and vertical elements to alleviate the flatness. And luckily, that's exactly what the proposed nearby buildings will bring, thus completing the vision of a lively urban public space rather than a wide, dreary paddock.