Pāpāmoa Hills Cultural Heritage Regional Park: Car Park & Site Entry Development

Helping a significant cultural site keep up with its own growth.

Pāpāmoa Hills Cultural Heritage Regional Park is a hugely significant historical icon for the Bay of Plenty, featuring one of the densest collections of archaeological sites in New Zealand. But, its popularity was growing far beyond what its ageing facilities could handle. Visitor surveys found growing dissatisfaction among locals and tourists, so HEB was called in to help.

At the heart of these visitor requests lay a desire for the park to contain more information about its story, which dates back to the 1300s – that, plus better access to the walks, longer tracks, more parking options, upgraded facilities and the planting of more native bush.

HEB Civil was engaged to construct a car park and site entrance which would welcome visitors with the story of the place. The aim here was to improve the visitor experience and enhance their understanding of the landscape, in turn giving them a greater respect for Pāpāmoa Hills’ history and culture. Additionally, a large number of quality-of-life improvements were made, including relocating the water main, better stormwater services, wheelchair access to the loop track, new surfaces and pavers, and plenty of new plantings.

Given the sensitivity of the area, HEB worked in close collaboration with Bay of Plenty Council and local iwi partners, which included having a cultural monitor on-site – to ensure that everyone involved was aware of, and took steps to preserve, any archaeological findings made during construction works.

Our work

• Establishment of a working area, temporary diversions and environmental controls.
• Installation of stormwater services and relocation of water main.
• Construction of vehicle entranceway and road widening.
• Construction of wheelchair-friendly access to loop track, including a new boardwalk.
• Installation of new edges, kerbs and concrete pavers with stencil sandblast etching.
• Construction and asphalt surfacing of new car park.
• Construction of new rain gardens, and the preparation of garden beds and lawn areas, plus planting of native bush.
• Construction of timber boardwalks, a toilet block, security and lighting.