An artist's impression of what Water St carpark could eventually look like, under the district council's new Blue Green Network Strategy. Image supplied
A plan to showcase the waterways that pervade Whangarei's inner city is underway.
Whangarei District Council's state of the environment co-ordinator Joanna Wilson said making a feature of waterways, rather than fencing them off and forgetting about them, encouraged people to take ownership of them and discouraged the "shopping trolley
in the stream" mentality.
"It's about getting people back in touch with nature in the urban environment," she said.
Council was to begin rolling out its Blue Green Network Strategy. Blue stood for the development of watercourses, including rivers, streams and stormwater drains, complemented by green areas of planting and parkland.
It was to be implemented over the next 50 years, often in conjunction with other projects, such as cycleways and stormwater management projects. "We're not looking at a huge cost all at once. It'll be a bit here, a bit there," she said.
