Council growth and infrastructure manager Christine Jones said they had worked with professionals to ensure a good quality development. She stressed the plan was not finalised.
Advice from an arborist was that the stream corridor would get the same level of planting as other revegetation and restoration areas in the city.
Councillor Larry Baldock said the council could save money by asking the Papamoa community to do some of the planting, in the same way as Rotary co-ordinated community planting to help restore areas of Kopurererua Valley beside Route K.
Papamoa councillor Steve Morris said it was a fantastic idea. ''I am sure the Papamoa community would come in droves.''
The Mount/Papamoa Ward's other councillor Leanne Brown said she knew that Papamoa people would get behind it. ''It is a very passionate community.''
Councillors were also surprised that the cost of heritage interpretation signs was about a third of walkway and cycleway costs.
The landscape plan was a requirement of the stormwater consent granted by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council to address stormwater management in Papamoa. It also required the development of a landscape plan for Taylor Reserve and the preparation by tangata whenua of a cultural plan for the two areas.
The regional council will put the draft landscape plan out for public consultation, with further consultation prior to implementing aspects of the plan. The work will take about nine years.
A report to the council said the pathways and pedestrian bridges would vastly improve the connectivity between the stream corridor and surrounding areas.
Councillors were told that the landscaping would improve the ecology of the slow-moving stream which currently suffered from high temperatures in the summer.
Mr Morris recalled falling into the stream in 2005 and getting a ''most uncomfortable rash''.
''It is a waterway you would hardly want to swim in. It is very dirty.''
While the water would never be drinkable, the project would improve water quality, he said.
The cost to the council could reduce by $840,000 if a funding application to the New Zealand Transport Agency to subsidise the paths was successful.
The council has already budgeted $1.31m for the project and would need to find an additional $3.48m in its 2018-29 long-term plan. The money would come from development fees and rates.
Biggest costs of the Wairakei Stream and Taylor Reserve landscape plans
- $3.06m for planting
- $1.17m for shared cycleways and walkways
- $340,000 for cultural and heritage interpretation signs
