User:Nyutkas/sandbox/McLaren Falls Park



= McLaren Falls Park =

McLaren Falls Park is located on McLaren Falls Road about 19 km south-west of Tauranga, one of the most populous city in the Bay of Plenty Region of the North Island of New Zealand. McLaren Falls Park is spread over 190 hectares of pastoral and horticultural parkland set alongside Lake McLaren. The park includes the entrancing beauty of impressive botanical collection of trees. There are numerous walking tracks within the boundaries of the park, with most of them providing easy walks on well-formed and wide tracks.

The Lakeside Walkway runs almost the full length of the eastern side of Lake McLaren to the Lower Mangapapa Power Station.

The Waterfall Track branches off the Lakeside Walkway, crosses over the road and then loops alongside a stream on the way to and from the small waterfall.

McLaren Lake has a variety of aquatic birds, including ducks, shelducks, swans, geese and Pukeko (Porphyrio melanotus).

A tranquil and secluded area of the park situated next to Lake McLaren is the place where you can enjoy camping, walks, fishing, picnics, bushwalks and concerts during the summer months.

Spotting the Glowworm at night is of particular interest here. Just head along the Waterfall Track after dusk to not only see the pretty waterfalls, but to spot the glow worms.

History of McLaren Falls Tauranga Borough Council was a pioneer in the generation and distribution of electricity in New Zealand. This began with the construction of the Omanawa River Falls Power Station in 1915 and then the McLaren Falls Power Station in 1925, both within the river Wairoa River (Bay of Plenty) catchment. In addition to Lake McLaren there are two further artificial lakes which have been formed by dams within the catchment. These are Lake Mangapapa and Lake Mangaonui. The lower Mangapapa Power station and a small portion of Lake Mangapapa and its associated dam are located at the southern end of McLaren Falls Park. The landscape of the Wairoa River catchment bears considerable testimony to the harnessing of hydro electricity which has occurred there. Dramatic cut faces of the canal the large diameter pen stocks and the dam structures are reminders of the extensive modification in which this landscape has undergone.

The following documents a history of the hydropower activities in the McLaren Falls Park area drawn from a paper entitled History of McLaren Falls Park prepared by W.J (Bill) Kennedy in the 1980’s (exact date not known, but likely to be 1984) and a book by Evelyn Stokes entitled a History of Tauranga (likely to be around 1983).

In 1914 the Tauranga Borough Council began construction work on the Omanawa Falls power scheme. The following year a young university graduate, Lloyd Mandeno, arrived in Tauranga, and his first appointment was to the position of assistant electrical engineer to the Borough Council. In 1917 Mr. Mandeno became the Council’s chief electrical engineer and began investigating the possibilities of harnessing the waters of the Wairoa for further power generation. He recommended to the Borough Council that this was a desirable and a viable proposition, and work began in 1918. The council began acquiring ownership of some sections of Crown land adjacent to the river on the eastern side. Much of the land on the western side was shortly to become the property of the Scott family, who are farming it today.

In 1921, Lloyd Mandeno had completed initial surveys of the upper Wairoa and Mangapapa Rivers and settled on McLaren Falls as a suitable site for a power station. During 1923 detailed surveys and plans proceeded and the power station was constructed. The first generator began operation in 1925. With completion of the second generator, the surplus power was sold to the Auckland Power board and transmitted along lines that linked up at Aongatete River with the transmission lines from Horahora Power Station on the Waikato River. In the establishment of electric power supply, and in other public works both the Tauranga Borough and County authorities were fortunate in having available the inventive mind and vision of Lloyd Mandeno. When the McLaren Falls project was underway, Mandeno already had ideas about further power generation in the upper Wairoa area.

The McLaren Falls were named after a settler who owned a piece of land which extended from the main highway to the river. Most of the land bounding the eastern side of the river above the falls was owned by Mr. Harold Marshall, until a portion of it was purchased from him by the City Council, to be incorporated in the park. Prior to this the Council had in 1918 acquired a limited area extending from the power station to the present site of the hostel building within the park, as well as another area of some eighty acres at the southern extremity, both acquired as water reserves for the existing and possible future development of hydro schemes. The remaining area between these two reserves was purchased from Mr. Marshall in order to give a continuous park land area in the eastern side of the lake. (Kennedy, 1980’s).

The eighty acres comprising the southern sector are mostly covered in native bush and extend from the confluence of the Opuiake and the Mangapapa streams nearly to the McLaren Falls Road. The completion of the Lower Mangapapa power station and the small lake which supplies water for its turbines has greatly added to the attractions and improved access to this area. A roadway has been constructed through here and sealed under an agreement between the council and the Generation committee. This provides an interesting scenic drive through the extent of the park, with picnic areas at intervals, a continuous vista of exotic and native trees with many glimpses of the lake and background of pasture lands and hills, reaching to the Kaimai Range (Kennedy, 1980’s).

The Ruahihi Power Station Canal project (1977-1981) caused a 1.2 metre increase in the level of Lake McLaren and the construction of an additional outlet to the Lake. Public land remains outside the park itself and is reserved for power generation purposes. Some of this land is leased for grazing whilst other areas are in bush and forestry. The original McLaren Falls Power Station was essentially decommissioned in 1981 with the commissioning of the Ruahihi Power station. This building, which is no longer required for hydropower purposes, has the potential for reuse as a visitor facility with the ability to provide interpretation of the history of hydropower in the area. Kaimai Hydropower have recently called for registrations of interest to pursue this potential.

History of the Arboretum McLaren Falls Park incorporates an arboretum including native and exotic species. The arboretum was advocated for and planted by the Bay of Plenty Tree Society with the first plantings undertaken in 1965, following Council’s purchase of additional land to add to the park for this purpose. The Bay of Plenty Tree Society was formed in 1963 under the enthusiastic leadership of Mr. K.H. Armstrong and was legally incorporated in 1964.

Mr. Armstrong, with the support of Society members, approached the Council with the suggestion that an area of Council-owned land bordering on the McLaren Falls lake and power scheme could be, with the acquisition of some extra land, developed into a substantial park of about 150 acres (60 hectares). The Society offered to supply the trees and to proceed with planting when this was achieved. This has subsequently become an annual commitment to the Society, and to date many thousands of trees covering over 500 species and varieties, exotic and indigenous, are established in the park. Subsequent to the purchase of land bounding the lake in 1965, the area was designated “McLaren Falls Park”, and the Tree Society began planting. A verbal agreement had been entered into between the Council and the Society to the effect that the latter should supply and plant as wide a variety of trees as possible. Maintenance from that stage would be the responsibility of the Council. This agreement has continued to date.

The first trees planted by the Society were a number of native species on the small peninsula leading to the spill-way and dam above the power house. The Tauranga Garden Club also at this time planted Rhododendron on the hill slopes above and below the power station. Unfortunately, some of this planting has been destroyed as a result of road widening adjacent to the newly constructed culvert near the park gates. Shortly after the completion of the power scheme in 1924, a small area adjacent to the lake was planted by the Borough Council in Douglas fir and Eucalyptus trees, and these have grown into handsome trees. Since 1965 and continuing as an annual commitment, the Society has established about 2,500 exotics and an even greater number of native trees. More than 500 species and varieties of exotics are represented in the park, with many of the earlier plantings reaching a considerable size. A nursery was established on Council land, and a considerable number of seedling trees were grown with a view to extensive plantings when a suitable project became available. Of particular interest is an entirely native section, where first plantings were made only fourteen years ago, and is today an outstanding example of the success which can be achieved in establishing native species, with many of these now well above twenty feet in height.

It already contains a representation of most of indigenous species, some of which are rarely seen in local forest areas. They include several varieties of native beech (Nothofagus spp.); two varieties of the Libocedrus species (Kawaka and Kaikawaka); Yellow Silver pine (Dacrydium intermedium); and Matal, which is rare in the Tauranga district. Kauri Pine is also growing well in this section. Other areas of some uninteresting native bush are being enriched by plantings of podocarps, beech, puriri, kauri, and Pohutukawa. Although a developing area the park has attracted considerable attention from a number of distinguished visitors. Fortunately endowed with a climate and rainfall which favours a wide variety of trees and plants, the McLaren Falls district is ideally suitable for this kind of development. Here we can successfully establish a wide range of trees from most countries and both hemispheres, and this park is well situated for the growth of all but the most frost tender species. The natural contours of the land make possible the successful growth of sub-tropical to cold climate, wetland to dry-footed plants. Even now a number of lesser known and attractive species are quite well established notable amongst these are some Mexican Swamp cypress (Taxodum mucronatum) with their graceful, pendulous branches and attractive almost evergreen foliage. This tree eventually develops the largest bole diameter in the world. Another rare and beautiful example is the Hagenia abyssinica, from the highlands of East Africa. These trees, along with others from Taiwan, Korea, and many other countries are attracting the interest of visiting horticulturists and tree enthusiasts generally. Overall, a mixed landscape of conifers, broadleaves, deciduous and evergreens, with a sprinkling of colorful autumn foliage trees, has resulted. Varying soil types and contours from sunny slopes to shaded hillsides provide natural directives in many areas, with nature itself as the final arbiter of success in the establishment of a botanical garden. The initial area available for development was approximately 60 hectares or 148 acres, including 80 acres of native bush. Further areas under lease to adjoining farmers will eventually revert to the Council, some in October 1981 and the balance in 1996. On 1 April 1981 an additional area of 109 hectares or 269 acres was added to the park on completion of Ruahihi canal construction. The development of this extensive area was an example of local body initiative in the field of hydro-electric power production, simultaneously with the creation of an extensive community park of recreational, aesthetic and pastoral appeal.