Green light for Bower Park improvements and wetland restoration

A project to restore a significant wetland and deliver a long-planned expansion of Bower Park will get underway in 2026, following endorsement from the Waitai Coastal-Burwood-Linwood Community Board.

The land around Lake Kate Sheppard, an urban lake in the red zone south of QEII Park, subsided by approximately a metre in the Canterbury Earthquakes. This has seen the area start to revert naturally to wetlands, which this project will protect and enhance.

The work will focus on restoring the habitat, which includes a significant inanga (whitebait) spawning ground.  Alongside the ecological work, Bower Park will be upgraded as flagged in the Regeneration Plan.

The park’s size will be increased, providing more space for summer sports like the popular local touch rugby module.

An end-of-life playground will be replaced with a new one featuring a mix of natural and traditional play equipment, and a new hard-surface pump track will be built for scooters and bikes. The project also includes creating new walking and cycling paths to improve connections through the area.

The final plan was shaped by public feedback gathered during the consultation phase, which ran from 5 May to 25 June this year.

"Community input was vital, and we made a number of changes based on what we heard," says Red Zone Manager Dave Little.

“In response to feedback, we adapted the plan to relocate the playground and amenities to a more accessible location with better surveillance. A proposed through-road was also removed from the plan due to concerns about safety and potential anti-social behaviour.”  

With the plan now approved, detailed design and consenting will get underway.  Construction is expected to begin mid-2026 and be completed by November 2027.