In the 1830s, European settlers started to arrive, concentrating on timber milling, kauri gum digging and flax milling, with brickworks and pottery industries following later. In the 20th century, industry and service trades started to grow, with population taking off after World War 2, partly due to improved transport links with Auckland City, such as the Northwestern Motorway, whose first section opened in 1952. Suburbs like New Lynn, Glen Eden, and Henderson grew to prominence in the following decades. In February 1993 the council developed the "Greenprint". This was declared itself to be an eco- city. On 1st November 2010, the Waitakere City Council was abolished and Waitakere City was merged into a single Auckland City governed by Auckland Council. All council facilities and services were handed over to the new council. The city of Auckland, the country's largest urban area. It has by far the biggest population and economy of any region of New Zealand, but the second- smallest land area being 4,894 Square Km’s. and a Population of 1,614,300 June 2016. PEOPLE: Despite its small area, the region is by far the most populous in New Zealand, with a population of 1,614,300, 34.4% of the country's population. The region is growing faster than any the region is growing faster than any other part of the country with its population increasing by over 240,000 (22%) in the past 10 years (According to Census data from 1996, 2001 and 2006). Rapid population growth in the area in the past decade has caused urban sprawl and precipitated a shift in land use activities from agriculture, horticulture and some manufacturing toward retail and construction industries. Waitakere is ethnically diverse, young, and reasonably affluent, with more than half of the residents working in Central Auckland. "Westies" is the nickname given to locals because of the city's location relative to the rest of Auckland. The west area traditionally was mostly populated by blue-collar workers, although with rising housing costs in the rest of Auckland this has changed somewhat. TRANSPORT: Transport in the Auckland Region is predominantly via motor vehicle, with much of New Zealand's motorway-grade roads being located in the region. However, there is also a commuter rail system linking the city center with Waitakere and Manukau, and a relatively extensive bus system.
ENVIROMENTAL:
Originally designed as a stormwater project to address residential flooding. Project Twin Streams evolved from community-based river rehabilitation activities targeting native species revegetation of 56km of streambanks, into a project which has also sought to promote local community development [Gregory and Brierley, 2010]. The alignment of biophysical goals and socio-cultural objectives deems Project Twin Streams an appropriate location to explore aesthetic preferences of the public in relation to ecological and morphological condition. Nevertheless, we suggest the findings from this research are useful in guiding future appraisals of how the public perceive and understand aesthetic preferences and naturalness, which may enhance river rehabilitation and management efforts.
PROJECT BACKGROUND:
Project Twin Streams is the result of a local council-community partnership created in 2003 as part of the eco- city mandate for Waitakere City. Funding of $39.5 million NZ, over a ten year period [from 2003- 2012 ] allowed for the purchase of 100 properties in the 1:100 year flood plain, to restore the natural flow of the waterways as well as 56 kilometers of streamside planting to create a natural filter for storm water runoff before it goes into the streams. Project Twin Streams is centered on two streams Opanuku and Oratia in the former Waitakere City Council area of Auckland, New Zealand. Project Twin Streams is located in Waitakere City, one of seven territorial areas within the Auckland region and home to over 186,444 residents from a range of cultural communities. Waitakere City is 56 Km of stream banks that are the focus of Project Twin Streams. Project Twin Streams, is an innovative community initiative that brings together diverse groups around the shared goal of restoring and reclaiming local streams. This multifaceted initiative is successfully overcoming cultural differences and encouraging a sustainable community development approach to urgent and local environmental issues such as storm water management, stream restoration and pollution. Around the issue of restoring the health of these local waterways, Project Twin Stream builds cross cultural relationships by encouraging local groups to take ownership and responsibility for finding and implementing solutions to the problems facing the water catchment. The result has been a growth in community spirit, connection, encourage and support each other here.
A CULTURED ENVIRONMENT:
The use of arts to expand and celebrate community building is another unique aspect of Project Twin Streams. Six local community groups have collaborated on a sculpture to celebrate the cultural diversity involved in Project Twin Streams. The central pillar of the sculpture is the theme of growth: the growth of nature, people, plants, community and cultures all around the stream.
COMMUNITY:
Six local community groups have collaborated on a sculpture to celebrate the cultural diversity involved in the project. The central pillar of the sculpture is the theme of growth: the growth of nature, people, plants, community and cultures all along the stream. The project became a channel to connect local people with council and their neighbours and a way of encouraging new migrants to build a greater scene of ownership and connection to their new homes.
WALK AND CYCLEWAY:
One of the most visible initiatives is well received Twin Streams Walk and Cycle way, which allows residents and visitors to wander or ride most of the length of the two streams and some of their tributaries.
SUSTAINABLE LIVING & SUSTAINABLE HOUSEHOLD PROGRAMME:
Project Twin Steams is an urban sustainability project in Waitakere City employing creative environmental approaches to restore six local streams. Part of the Twin Streams project provides the overall framework for the Sustainable Households Demonstration Programmed, which was divided into three sections being Glen Eden, Ranui and Swanson areas. Project Twin Streams is designed to encourage community involvement in the long term care of local streams based on the belief that this will lead to healthier streams and communities. The Sustainability Living, Sustainability Households Demonstration Programme, has evolved from Project Twin Streams as a way of working with people to make changes in their own homes and neighbourhoods in order to live more sustainably. In the phase of the programme July 2008 to June 2009, the target number of households to complete a home check was 80 in Glen Eden and 250 in Ranui and Swanson combined.
The community development approach is on the following assumptions:
People are more likely to make changes in behaviour when they understand the problem and are involved in identifying the solutions in a meaningful way.
Local communities know the most appropriate and effective methods to engage local people.
Each community has its own diverse characteristics. Programmes need to be adapted to harness the strengths of communities.
A single broad approach is unlikely to be effective.
Creative learning methods that engage with people's hearts and minds are more effective than simply distributing written information in creating meaningful and long-term behaviour change.
Local organisations can be more effective than Council in engaging their own communities in the sustainability journey but need to be adequately resourced and supported to do so.
A partnership approach between communities, local, regional and central government, non- government organisations and local people is seen as a very effective way of achieving long- term change towards sustainability [Chilcott, 2008]. One of the underlying assumptions of the Project Twin Streams community development model is that a "one - size fits all' approach is unlikely to be effective and that different communities have their own way of doing things. Three sites were selected for the demonstration phase: Swanson, Ranui and Glen Eden. These sites were selected because they had all expressed interest in the project; were believed to have strong community networks and had actively engaged diverse communities of interest in Project Twin Streams [Waitakere City Council, 2007b].
The programme vision is: 'Sustainable households driven by local communities who influence others to create a sustainable catchment' [Waitakere City Council, 2007a]. Local residents volunteer their labour to improve an aspect of another resident's home and or garden. The aim is to foster community connections and at the same time up-skill local residents so that they can apply their new skills and knowledge in their own homes and garden.
The Sustainable Living, Sustainable Households Programme also has the potential to contribute towards the following Project Twin Streams outcomes:
ENVIROMENTAL:
Increase installation and use of sustainable technologies by households and businesses.
SOCIAL:
Increase community understanding of how to live more lightly on the earth. Increase sense of belonging with others in the local community. Increase interaction between people and local places [Trotman and Wood, 2006:15] The Council has a strong interest in whether the programme is providing tangible benefits to households. The evaluation needs to provide simple and credible information about the changes for households, for example savings on water, electricity and transport costs. There is also interest in whether organisations are using community development approaches and how effective these are.
SUCCESS:
Project Twin Streams became a channel to connect local people with their council and their neighbors and a way of encouraging new migrants to build a greater sense of ownership and connection to their new homes. In 2007, Project Twin Streams received international recognition as a finalist in the International Thiess River Prize and was Highly Commended in the Sustainable Urban Communities Category at the Auckland Regional Council's Sustainable Environment Awards.
MAKING IT WORK FOR YOU:
The success of Project Twin Streams has been the innovative way in which it brought local community together around an issue larger than culture, language or religion. Contacting community groups and assigning them specific responsibility for certain catchment areas and activities helps encourage ownership and investment in the project. Is your outreach or environmental advocacy reaching ethnic and new immigrant communities? Increase your impact by taking in all members of your stakeholder community. Promote the ancillary benefits of your environmental project to reach to reach wider audience and new funding sources; such as, lifestyle changes that improve health, wellbeing and connection.
WHERE:
One of the key objectives of Project Twin Streams is to build strong relationships with and within the communities through which the streams run.