New South Wales Projects & Sites
Hunter Economic Zone Landscape Strategy
introduction / images / location / Projects
Landscape Architect: EDAW AECOM
Location: Kurri Kurri, New South Wales
Listed as A Case Study for the AILA's 2008-2009 National Climate Change Project
Overview
The Hunter Economic Zone (HEZ) is a planned 1,000-hectare integrated industrial estate located within bushland at Kurri Kurri in the Hunter Valley. The integrity of the existing bushland provides a rare opportunity to create a visually compelling, consistent and high quality bushland landscape structure throughout the development that conserves and supplements significant local biodiversity.
EDAW AECOM has established a site-wide landscape strategy that retains much of the existing bushland through the careful implementation of conservation-focused site planning and construction techniques. The strategy is founded upon an appreciation of the site’s genius loci and the benefits of working cooperatively with existing environmental processes.
Retained bushland provides immediate built environment screening benefits and conserves valued fauna habitats and endangered vegetation communities. Landscape restoration techniques include detailed top soil stripping and reinstatement processes.
The restoration process is being monitored by the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change’s National Parks and Wildlife Service, which has expressed a keen interest in participating in EDAW AECOM’s innovative approach to broad scale site restoration.
Stage One of the development is currently underway and the entire project is to be undertaken over a 20-year development horizon. EDAW AECOM has provided ongoing landscape and environmental services since 2005.
Innovative Approaches
Planning and Pre-Design
- The landscape strategy responds to a strong site conservation zoning framework, as informed by the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change, and supplements site connectivity, provides carefully designed management edges between the development and bushland, and maximises the retention of natural watercourses throughout the site.
- All plant material used on the site is of local provenance, including landscape planting within development sites.
- Specialist nursery collection of propagation materials (seeds, by division and cuttings), in conjunction with a database and authority reporting procedures, were established to facilitate the collection and growing on of plant material of local provenance, including the collection and propagation of threatened species.
- Specialist harvesting of native grass seed in large quantities within a 20 kilometre radius of the site involved sourcing from nearby rural properties and Crown Lands (with associated formal land-owner agreements).
- A site-specific ‘developer’s handbook’ was prepared, which includes lists of typical landscape species and descriptions of plant material specific to the three main plant associations present on the site. This handbook will inform landscape designers who will work on the site in the future about local provenance plant material, landscape characteristics, and the unusual species palette.
- Monthly inspections of plant communities over a 12-month period will determine the landscape qualities of individual species, including flowering periods, form and character.
- An on-site training program on soil stripping was conducted by a specialist soil scientist for all contractors.
- Stripping, stockpiling and reinstatement of soil, by plant community and by soil horizon.
Design and Management
- Specialist soil stripping and reinstatement processes were utilised, with an emphasis on the ‘direct return’ of stripped topsoil to maximise the viability of the native soil seed bank for the natural regeneration of bushland.
- Direct seeding of local provenance native grass seed (without using irrigation) to supplement soil stripping and reinstatement of natural regeneration processes.
- Tight control of construction processes maximise conservation outcomes, including the facilitation of a ‘direct return’ topsoil reinstatement process.
- Implementation of water sensitive urban design with hydrology to match pre-European flows suits the habitat requirements of the Green-thighed Frog (a locally occurring threatened species) and creates habitat suitable for the frog within the stormwater drainage system.
- Retention of a minimum number of forage and habitat trees for threatened fauna species.
- Regular inspection of the construction works.
Monitoring and Evaluation
- Monitoring of soil stripping and reinstatement process by NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change specialist, with the findings to be published in scientific literature.
- Comprehensive database prepared for seed collection, propagation and planting locations.
Lessons Learned
- Need for early consultation with authorities to determine an agreed approach to the proposed landscape restoration process and outcomes.
- Need for a whole-of-project-life approach to landscape restoration design, construction, and management, which facilitates consistency of the outcome and the buy-in of all landholders from the outset.
- The importance of early and comprehensive site investigation to inform the design process.
- Initial monitoring indicates the importance of rapid reinstatement of topsoil, as germination viability appears to drop off rapidly during stockpiling NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change).
- Importance of having strong input into how the works are constructed, which, for example, maximises opportunities for the ‘direct return’ of topsoil. This requires strong participation in the design of civil works construction processes, along with the buy-in of the civil contractor
- Benefits of incorporating experimental design into projects, which can provide substantial information for the development of innovative approaches to future projects (relatively inexpensively)
- Benefits of undertaking a critical review of the project upon completion, to document typical problems and how, with hindsight, these can be overcome in future projects
Budget:
Approx. $460,000 for 2 kilometres of verge reinstatement to new road, including costs associated with soil stripping, stockpiling and reinstatement; collection and growing-on of local provenance propagation plant materials, collection and direct seeding of local provenance grass seed.
Project Team:
EDAW AECOM
Mark Blanche, Megan Salom, Chris Yandle, Peter Gillam, Angus Bruce, Professor Tony Wong, Dr Peter Breen, Gabi Parke, Martin Pell, Ichsani Wheeler, Andrew Derkatch
Client
VALAD – John Mettam, Michael Barrow, Jason Shepard
Soils Specialist
Sydney Environmental and Soil Laboratory – Simon Leake
Direct Seeding Specialist
Cumberland Plain Seeds – Tim Berryman
Bush Regeneration Specialist
EcoHort – Edgar Freimanis
Restoration Monitoring Specialist
NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change, Parks Division (Threatened Species Unit) – Mark Tozer
Statutory Planning
SJB Planning – Scott Barwick
Flora + Fauna Survey
RPS Harper Somers O’Sullivan – Toby Lambert
introduction / images / location / Projects
uploaded April 2009
