Beacon

• Waitakere City
• lower density, single use, higher cost suburban greenfield
• rated a low sustainability neighbourhood by the Observational Tool (not enough replies received to rate this by Resident Self-Report Tool)

Housing

Waimanu Bay is a new affluent subdivision on the eastern coast of Te Atatu Peninsula. It consists mostly of large stand-alone houses. There is a gated retirement community which has some smaller stand alone dwellings and some duplexes.
Walking and public transport

Waimanu Bay was observed as being very walkable. Roads are wide and many only have footpaths on one side, however traffic is light and there is good surveillance from houses making walking pleasant. There are extensive walkway systems along the coast, picnic tables and seating, and all public spaces are overlooked by houses. There are, however, very few amenities to walk to. The bus service is extremely poor.

Amenities and services

Te Atatu Peninsula town centre is about a kilometre away from most houses and all day-to-day services, including a supermarket, are found there. A primary and an intermediate school nearby are beyond 800m from most homes. The only services within 800m of most dwellings are a church and a toy library.

Public space and environment

The site has stunning sea views and there is significant fernbird habitat (a species threatened at a national and local level) along the coast. A wetland area has been included in one of the reserves and this is vegetated with native plants. Some illegal vegetation clearance is recorded as occurring during the site development. While no ecological assessment was accessed, it appears that the coastal habitat is likely to be negatively impacted by the development, mainly through stormwater run-off. One of the local reserves is very densely planted with native wetland plants, creating habitat and providing some stormwater treatment. There is a stormwater pond at the northern end of the development.

Public space is limited to walking tracks along the coast.