Carving out a subdivision

Richard Silcock reports on the massive earthworks that have just been completed for the development of a 420-hectare, multi-million dollar subdivision on the eastern boundary of Levin that will provide around 2500 residential properties on what was once rural land.

?With a population of 36,500, Levin and the surrounding Horowhenua region is regarded as the horticultural centre for the lower North Island with large commercial market gardens supplying vegetables to Wellington, Palmerston North and the towns in between.

Over recent years the population has grown substantially resulting in an urgent need for more housing.

First mooted in 2008, a large section of rural land to the east of Levin was identified for housing development by the Horowhenua District Council in its 2018 Growth Strategic Plan. Following approaches in 2019-2020 to the landowners and following consultation with the Muaupoko Tribal Authority Inc , the Council rezoned the area in 2021 as low to medium density residential with open spaces and a wetland, and created a plan for a subdivision known as the Taraika development to be integrated into the Levin Town Plan.?

Funding of $25 million for the development was sought from the Government through Crown Infrastructure Partners ; one third of which is a concessionary loan and another third as a grant. The Council is funding the remaining third through a co-infrastructure funding agreement with the commercial developer, James McDonnell. The design of the development was carried out by Orogen Ltd for 2500 sections with a potential for a further 1500 at a later stage. ?

The first stage of the development started in April 2023, with the bulk earthmoving contract awarded to Goodman Contractors Limited to strip, reshape and level the first 200 lots and form the road alignments.

Kevin Peel , Goodman’s senior project manager says apart from the usual issues when working over the winter months, when the upper silty layers got wet and difficult to handle, they have not had any issues with the earthworks.

“We’ve shifted around 80,000 cubic metres of earth,” says Kevin. “Part of the site was once a river, so we did encounter lots of stones and boulders in the upper layers. We have excavated and levelled the site by up to one-and-a-half metres and the wetland area will be excavated to a depth of between two to three metres.

“Once the wetland excavation is completed, a synthetic clay-liner will be laid and the site will be planted out in natives and water rushes to filter the water run-off from the developments stormwater drains.”

Most of the stones and rocks from the excavations have been stockpiled for crushing and will be reused within the subdivision for the construction of roads. Likewise excavated earth will be used for topsoil.

Goodman’s manager for the earthworks, Macu Waqa says repurposing and recycling in this way reduces the environmental impact of shifting rocks and other material off-site.

“Earth from the site has been put through a crushing screen to remove any stones and has been spread to a depth of 100mm across the housing lots.”

At the height of earthworks, Goodman’s had 10-12 staff working on site along with an array of heavy equipment including two CAT bulldozers, two Kobelco and a CAT excavator, a CAT 12M grader, five CAT and Moxy dump trucks, a Cat C556 roller and a CAT 289D skid steer box grader. A Metso ST2.4 screening plant was also onsite to screen the topsoil.

“We made good use of technology with our machines utilising in-cab GPS throughout the project,” says Macu. “In order to minimise dust, most of the site has been, or will be planted with grass as, with the exception of the wetland, most of the earthworks have now been completed.”

The cost of the earthworks is just over $1 million excluding the 14,700 square metre wetland, which when competed will see a further 22,000 cubic metres of earth excavated.

Paul McDonnell, spokesperson for the development company says they expect to start marketing and building houses later this year once the residential sections are surveyed and the utility services installed.

“While there will be covenants covering the types of housing, we are aiming for a mixture of architectural styles,” says Paul. “The development will be fully landscaped and there will be green park-like open spaces along with a shopping precinct of between 20-30 retail shops and potentially a school.”?

With the alignment for the planned extension of the Kapiti/Horowhenua Motorway from Otaki to North of Levin (O2NL)* nearby, NZTA have agreed it will not conflict with the Taraika development nor the supporting infrastructure. The arterial roads will pass over the motorway via embankments and bridges and it is expected that a pedestrian over-bridge will also span the motorway to connect east and west Levin.

The development will increase the size of Levin by a quarter of its current size and the mayor of Horowhenua, Bernie Wanden, says that with new housing under pressure in the district, the project cannot be completed soon enough. He says Levin is the third fastest growing district in the country and badly needs new housing as there has been a 20 percent growth in Levin’s population over the last couple of years.

There is some negativity surrounding the development with some in the community saying that the current infrastructure will not cope and there’s not enough water for a new large housing development of this size, with Levin residents already facing water shortages over the summer months.? The Horowhenua Residents and Ratepayers Association also say there are simply not enough jobs here for an extra 5000 people!

Footnote: The O2NL Motorway construction is scheduled to start mid next year and take up to five years to build. The NZTA says two alliance consortiums will be engaged through a tender process to construct the $1.5 billion motorway.

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