Tupare gets its water sorted

One of New Plymouth’s iconic heritage properties has readied itself for future summer droughts by sourcing water directly from the Waiwhakaiho River instead of using metered town supply.

Tupare has installed a system to pump water directly from the river to a tank at the top of the property, with reticulation to more than half the gardens already completed and the rest to follow within two years.

The small volume of river water involved not require a water-take resource consent.

The newly reticulated area includes Tupare’s two water features, the fountain in Elizabeth Garden and the waterfalls by Mary Lane, meaning they can be run for longer periods.

“We’re not using metered water on the garden at all now, which reduces costs and eases demand on the town supply,” says Greg Rine, Regional Gardens Manager for the Taranaki Regional Council.

“That’s particularly important during summer droughts – not only for the people of New Plymouth, but also for the gardeners at Tupare. They’ll be able to efficiently and sustainably keep the garden healthy and attractive through the main visitor season, even when the rain stays away.”

He says Tupare has killed two birds with one stone with the project, resealing some of the paths after the new reticulation pipes were laid. “It’s been a logical sequence of work. The paths were breaking up and there were a number of trip hazards.”

The gardeners are now busy tidying the edges of the new paths with soil and plantings

Tupare, Pukeiti and Hollard Gardens are the three heritage properties owned and managed by the Taranaki Regional Council on behalf of the people of the region. They are open daily and entry is free.

For more information, see www.tupare.info, www.hollardgardens.info and www.pukeiti.org.nz. Social media users can also follow the Taranaki Regional Council gardens on Facebook (TaranakiRegionalGardens) and Twitter (@TaranakiRG).

The fountain in Elizabeth Garden at Tupare

ENDS

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