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The new environmentally friendly car park next to Tupare on Mangorei Road, New Plymouth. At rear is the new gatehouse.

Taranaki Regional Council media release
14 January 2008
For immediate release

HOW GREEN IS MY CAR PARK

The good news is that there’s now a safe and convenient place to park when visiting Tupare, the iconic public garden on the outskirts of New Plymouth.

The better news is that the new car park was designed with the environment in mind.

The 33-space car park has been completed on adjoining land as part of a refurbishment project at the Mangorei Road property, which is owned and administered by the Taranaki Regional Council.

“It’s great that visitors can now park off the road and we’re also very pleased about the environmentally friendly design,” says the Council’s Regional Gardens Manager, Greg Rine.

“Stormwater from the car park is largely kept on site, rather than being allowed to enter the public stormwater system, from where it can compromise the quality of natural waterways.”

Most of the 1400-square-metre car park’s stormwater will go into soak holes under the central median strip or on the edge of the property. Only in severe rainfall events will it overflow into the public system.

“I’m sure Sir Russell Matthews, who developed Tupare in the early part of last century, would have warmly approved of this innovative approach, especially given he laid the first bitumen road in New Zealand” says Mr Rine. “He was a man ahead of his time.”

From the car park, visitors enter the property through a new gatehouse that will contain maps and other information to allow full appreciation of the property and its cultural and historic significance.

Tupare is remaining open and free to visit as the revamp continues through the summer. Other new features will include a sunken garden and glasshouse, while the James Chapman-Taylor-designed house and nearby cottage on the property are now being refurbished.

The revamp project also takes in Hollard Gardens near Kaponga, which is getting a new events pavilion, upgraded car park and new gatehouse site.

Both Tupare and Hollard Gardens are open daily from 9am to 5pm. For more information, see www.trc.govt.nz.

ENDS

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