Native Planting Completes Hobsonville Point’s New Wastewater Pump Station

18 June 2025

Hobsonville Point, The Airfields
News
Development
Urban regeneration

Eke Panuku and Kāinga Ora are nearing completion of a new wastewater pump station.

Pump Station 6 is at the intersection of Glidepath Road and Bomb Point Drive in Hobsonville Point. As some finishing touches are completed over the next couple of weeks, the work site will be demobilised and the road re-opened.

As part of our commitment to delivering essential infrastructure while supporting environmental and community outcomes, we partnered with the Kaipātiki Project to restore the area around the pump station and its emergency outfall pipe.

This effort helps integrate the facility into the local landscape and enhances biodiversity in the surrounding environment.

The Kaipātiki Project, based in Birkdale, brought valuable expertise to the project. It designed the native planting plan, supplied more than 1,100 plants from its nursery, and led planting days.

Volunteers from the Auckland City Mission, the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity conference, and local volunteers all pitched in to bring the planting to life.

The plant species were carefully selected to support native birds.

Rewarewa (Knightia excelsa), kōwhai (Sophora), and harakeke (Phormium tenax) attract nectar-feeding birds like tūī, while taraire (Beilschmedia taraire) and coastal maire (Nestiges apetala) provide food for kererū.

Closer to the coast (where the emergency outfall pipe is located), makeke (Plagianthus divaricatus) and coastal daisy (Olearia solandri) were planted to encourage the return of the rare and elusive fernbird to Hobsonville Point.

This initiative forms part of a broader ecological restoration approach across the neighbourhood, including wetland catchments designed to manage stormwater and enhance the local habitat.

This strategy has already seen success — the raupō pond, installed early in the development near the shell barrier beach (a short walk from the new pump station), has attracted the rare spotless crake.

With more homes planned in the growing Hobsonville Point neighbourhood, the existing wastewater pump station (PS3), built in 2015 to service Launch Bay, Catalina Bay and the Airfields, was no longer sufficient to meet projected demand.

Pump Station 6 was constructed to ensure reliable wastewater services for future residents.

Beyond essential infrastructure delivery, the project is a strong example of how environmental restoration can be embedded into urban development.

As the pump station continues to play an important role in supporting wastewater services in the area, the native vegetation will continue to grow and mature, creating a habitat that supports the return of native species long absent from the area.