2013
In February, the community organised an evening creek walk to explore Houghton Valley’s (very hidden) waterways and share everything they knew about the creek and the landfill drainage system. They met at the Sinclair Park Playground at the top of the valley, and following the line of the original creek as closely as possible, they worked their way down to the Buckley Reserve Playground, where it got a bit dark to go any further.
On the way they found the manhole lids that indicated the pipe network, the places where water was directed from channels into the pipes, and the freshwater springs.
The idea was to share the local history and what Lifting the Creek could mean, with the objective of coming up with a shared vision. It was not about the details of how it could be achieved, but what we as a community would like to see eventually.
Dave of Houghton Bay Rd was very knowledgable about the pipe network and brought maps of the system and described many happenings, including the time in the early 2000s when the pipe near the school field blocked and the school field flooded about half a metre as there is no other drainage to that area (the lower field is 1m higher than it).
Grant from Hungerford Rd and Jenny from Houghton Bay Road showed the others the secret channels and springs: there are nine all together including the larger stream that runs beside the track from Buckley Reserve Playground up to Buckley Rd, and one that supplies water for the Meadery.
2023
In November we had another community Creek Walk, called Haewai Creek Walk – Reimagining Houghton Valley. This walk focussed more on discussing / explaining / visualising our project for Lifting the Creek and remediating the problems of our closed landfill.
We had a pleasant ramble down the valley, exploring the various places that our catchment water makes it appearance, its way, and its disappearance down the valley. At times we had to revert to walking down the road due to swampy parts and steep places, though an intrepid few clambered down a gully formed by rainwater. We finished with a picnic afternoon tea at the playground.
We also created a Haewai Creek Walk handout with some of the background to the project.
Future hīkoi
Walks down the valley are an excellent way of understanding the landscape, the technical issues and the aspirations of the community. It is also a way of connecting emotionally with what has happened and what this place could become. In the development of the catchment design we hope to have more hīkoi to help align the stakeholders and consultants involved in the process. Although we need to find a way of covering the whole ground without running out of time or steam!