The Waikeria Prison Project set a standard for the planning and design professions on engagement with stakeholders, and ongoing involvement with tangata whenua and the local community.
The Waikeria Prison landscape project began in July 2016 with a Prison Capacity Alternative Site Assessment to determine the most appropriate location for a proposed new prison facility in the upper north island. Three alternative sites were assessed against a number of criteria, including landscape and visual considerations. Waikeria Prison was determined to be the most suitable. To enable the building of a new prison facility, an amendment to the existing designation was required.
The final conditions of the designation required the preparation of a Landscape Visual Mitigation and Management Plan (LVMMP) to be integrated with an Ecological Management Plan.
The concept throughout all stages of the project process was to ensure that the facility could be integrated into the existing rural landscape to minimise adverse effects on rural character and the visual amenity of neighbours, while also managing the expectations of tangata whenua and other stakeholders.
