Aotea Lagoon

Aotea Lagoon is an artificial lagoon surrounded by a public park in the Papakōwhai suburb of Porirua, New Zealand.

History
The North Island Main Trunk railway and State Highway 1 used to run around three bays from Porirua city centre through Papakōwhai. The bays were between the mouth of Porirua Stream and promontories at Gear Homestead, Thurso Grove and Brora Crescent. In 1958–1961, the construction of a causeway, to realign the railway, cut the bays off from the sea turning them into lagoons. To realign the state highway, the lagoons were partly filled in.

Having built state housing in the city, the Ministry of Works and Development was also required to develop reserves for recreation. They proposed filling in the central lagoon for playing fields. Instead, local leaders

suggested an aquatic reserve around the lagoon. In November 1973, the ministry estimated the playing fields would cost $300,000 or $275,000 for the aquatic reserve. They offered Porirua City Council a contribution of $200,000.

By August 1975, councillors had chosen the aquatic reserve, and, due to rising costs, secured a contribution of $290,000. The ministry shaped the park with material from the nearby earthworks for the Royal New Zealand Police College and Whitford Brown Avenue. The Project Employment Programme did the landscaping. Then local service clubs built amenities, while the council co-ordinated the work.

Aotea Lagoon officially opened to the public in March 1980. The 7 ha park, originally leased from the Crown, was given to the council in 1994. In 2021, the state highway alongside the lagoons was renumbered 59.

Hydrology
The lagoon covers 5 ha. A culvert connects the lagoon to Porirua Harbour, renamed Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour in 2014. Gates at the lagoon end of the culvert, below the model windmill, regulate the tidal flow. The windmill houses controls for the gates, and it was presented to the city by Paremata Jaycee in 1981 according to its commemorative plaque.

Stormwater enters the lagoon in three places. It also entered and was retained in a shallow duck pond, to the north-east of the lagoon, which had persistently poor water quality. In 2022–2023, the duck pond was filled in and an artificial stream was created across that area. Poor water quality in the lagoon means contact recreation, including swimming, is prohibited.

Present
The park has three zones: lagoon, play and garden. the first zone has a 732 m path around the lagoon, a Pétanque court and a bridge to an island. To the north-east, the play zone has adventure and toddlers's playgrounds, the stream, a pump track, a splash pad, and the Butterfly Walkway. The garden zone, to the south-west, includes a rose garden and a sculpture Untitled (1979) by Guy Ngan, an abstract geometric work in steel, both commissioned by Porirua Rotary. All three zones also have lawns.

A rideable miniature train runs around the park on an 832 m track which includes a tunnel. Built by Waitangirua Lions, the railway operates Sunday afternoon, weather permitting, from a station south of the lagoon.

Past development
The amenities at Aotea Lagoon have changed over the years. When the park opened in March 1980, a newspaper report mentioned the miniature railway, the lawns and the rose garden with the sculpture as its centrepiece. The other original amenities were the duckpond, the island in the lagoon, the Pétanque court, a jetty into the lagoon opposite the entrance to the garden zone and a pond in the garden zone lawn, according to an aerial photograph taken a few months before the park opened.

Later in the 1980s, a fernery was added next to the rose garden, an adventure playground was added mid decade, while rowing boats operated on the lagoon 1984–1989. The 1990s and 2000s saw no changes to the amenities.

In the 2010s, the adventure playground was rebuilt then the splash pad was added. By summer 2015–16, the sculpture had been moved from the rose garden to the adjacent garden zone lawn and a circular rose bed had been put in its place.

By summer 2019–20, aerial photographs showed the jetty, garden zone pond and fernery had been removed. the 2020s have seen the duck pond replaced by the stream and the pump track.

Visitor survey
In 2009, the council surveyed visitors to Aotea Lagoon. Most people came to the park to walk, for relaxation or exercise, and they lived nearby in Porirua or neighbouring Tawa. However, the playgrounds drew visitors from a wider area including Wellington and the Hutt Valley.