Torhaven Park’s ephemeral wetland project has won an award for its innovative transformation of a previously unusable floodplain into a community asset that promotes residential and wildlife engagement.

The project won the ‘Excellence in Infrastructure’ award at the 2019 Stormwater Queensland Awards for Excellence in Cairns on 2 October. The award recognises innovation and excellence through stormwater treatment.

Avoiding the creation of a large, unusable space with bio-retention drain – the 2.2 hectare area has been landscaped to incorporate a creek-like catchment passing through an industry-first floodplain wetlands solution, integrated with a playground and walking trails for the community to enjoy. The architect-designed adventure playground includes shade sails, a treehouse network with rope bridges, rock-climbing walls, seesaws, swings and slides.

The project’s design is so ground-breaking it was recently a finalist in the Australian Water Awards, Innovation category, and is up for two more prestigious industry awards – the 2019 Sustainability Awards, Landscape and Biophilia category, and the 2019 Urban Development Institute of Australia (QLD) Awards in the Parks and Recreation category.

Torhaven’s Development Manager, Meaghan O’Shea and her team worked closely for several years with ecologists, hydrologists, engineers, landscape architects and Ipswich City Council to plan an innovative wetland system and recreational precinct that fosters a relationship between the community and environment. Key consultants on the project included E2Designlab and Water Technology.

‘Not only have we met state planning policy objectives, we have delivered a natural ecosystem for the broader community which councils could apply to future stormwater management projects,’ said Meaghan.

This is a great example of how we are finding innovative ways to meet our customers’ needs and our commitment to creating healthy and sustainable communities for everyone to enjoy.