Modellers Pond redevelopment beginning soon

The redevelopment of the Tāhunanui Modellers Pond into a family park is set to get under way in time for Christmas.

Just over a year ago, the Nelson City Council voted to fill in the Tāhunanui Modellers Pond, putting up $3.75m to construct a park in its place.

The design includes options for seating, picnic areas, trees planted for shade, natural play areas, boardwalks, a sheltered lookout for birdwatching, and a proposed shunting yard that will complement the model train tracks that are being retained.

The Modellers Pond has proved to be a millstone for successive councils, being beleaguered for decades with sedimentation and algae problems.

Work on the redevelopment will be split into two phases.

Before the Christmas period, NCC contractors will start work decommissioning the pond.

This phase of the work will involve deconstructing the edge of the pond, removing existing wooden features, and preparing the existing concrete for reuse when building the park.

Reclaimed fill material and logs from trees that fell during recent slips due to bad weather, are being used to help fill in the pond and create play features in the park.

Work on the project will pause over the holiday period, with fencing being put up around the pond as a safety precaution when work resumes.

The park’s model train tracks will be retained, with The Nelson Society of Modellers taking the opportunity to shift the two train stations together.

Spokesman Nigel Gibbs while this had created a significant amount of work, ‘‘in the long run it should complement the new space’’.

‘‘We are planning to run the railway over the summer break before having to uplift some of the ground level track to aid the redevelopment. Hopefully we will still be able to run the raised track during most of the works.’’

Community and Recreation Chair Tim Skinner said he was thrilled to see that the model trains would continue to be a feature of the park.

‘‘It’s always hard to see things from our past go through significant change. But I think this plan will transform the Modellers Pond into an amenity the whole of Nelson will benefit from.’’

New 3D designs of the park have shown the estuarine planting and low-lying areas will sometimes be inundated by king tides. This is a feature of the new park, with the tides continually moulding the shape and altering the character of some play spaces.

‘‘The designs give a real sense of the transformation that will happen, and the many ways people will be able to spend an enjoyable afternoon here,’’ Skinner said.