Timeline
Raising the concrete berm
Severe weather events in 2023 caused parts of the cemetery to flood. With the blessing of affected whānau we carried out some work to protect burial plots at risk of future flooding, to avoid this happening again. This involved:
- Temporarily removing headstones to safe storage, where they were kept safe until the berm was completed.
- Raising the concrete berm by 350m
- Adding in topsoil to raise the ground contours around the new berm
- Recontouring the area to redirect stormwater to the soak hole
Thank you to whānau who worked closely with us to help protect this tapu space.
Drop-in information session
A drop-in session will be held at the urupā on Saturday 31 May 2025, between 10am and 12 midday, where you can find out more, ask any questions you may have, and give us your feedback.
You can also email your feedback to yourplace@westernbay.govt.nz
Feedback closes 5pm, Sunday 8 June 2025.
Terraces formed
Things are shaping up nicely, with all terraces now formed-up, and top-soiling complete on four of the terraces.
The terraces have been shaped in a way that ensures an efficient use of space, while providing easy access for both visitors and maintenance.
Grass has been sown on the four finished terraces, and this will be covered in fabric for the next few weeks to help the grass to grow, while also protecting the new seed from birds and heavy rain.
Native plants have been ordered and these will go in the ground shortly.
We're also in the process of finalising the location and style of the shelter/rain harvester which will capture rainwater for hand cleansing.
Middle and upper terraces largely complete
The middle and upper terraces are now largely complete, and the location of the shelter has been determined - at the bottom of the southern side, facing north towards the trees.
Next week we'll be laying the weed cloth on the batters (sloped areas between and along the sides of the terraces) to get them ready for planting.
We'll also be sowing grass seed on the terraces and covering it with protective cloth to help it grow and keep it safe while it establishes. We won't be planting the bottom and middle terraces on the northern side just yet, as the area is too shady and wet right now. But we'll get to this in a few weeks when it's dried out more.
Geotextile fabric laid down
All three terraces on the southern side of the driveway are now finished. We've put grass seed down on these terraces and covered them with geotextile fabric to create a micro-climate to help the grass grow. We're hoping to remove this within the next couple of weeks, to reveal the new grass.
We've also weed-matted and planted the batters (sloped areas between and along the sides of the terraces) with the following native species:
- Coprosma acerosa 'Taiko' (Sand Coprosma)
- Muehlenbeckia astonii (Shrubby Tororara)
- Phormium cookianum 'Green Dwarf' flax
It's still too wet and shady at the moment for us to complete the lower and middle terraces on the northern side, but we've been able to finish the top terrace and its side batter.
We're looking forward to seeing the area 'green up' over the coming months!
New grass growth
Watch the magic happen, as we roll back the geotextile fabric in the video below to reveal lush, green grass!
Normally it would take months to grow grass like this, especially during winter. But with the help of this special fabric, it only took a few weeks.
You’ll notice one of the sections where the grass didn’t grow as well – this is where we used a heavier cloth that we recycled from elsewhere. This was also the case in patches where the fabric overlapped.
This was a great learning for us – going forward, we’ll be using the lighter grade fabric to fast-track grassed areas in future projects.
Next, we will be putting a roller over the grass to iron out any lumps and bumps. And then we’ll get to work on the northern side, which is now dry enough to finish contouring, sow grass seed and lay down this ‘magic’ fabric.
