| 77 T T Virginia Wright Forestry block transformed The now completed sub-division took shape over about two years. Sam Oliver Design DEVELOPMENT When Covid took Sam Oliver back to his hometown of Whakatane, it also presented him with an unexpected opportunity when what started as a hunt for his first home turned into the purchase of a forestry block 40 minutes up the road. With the aim of developing the block into a rural sub-division, Sam decided to apply the skills he had acquired doing a degree in industrial design, and honed doing product design at an industrial design studio in Auckland, to something completely different. So, he set about turning the 30-hectare, freshly logged forestry block into seven large lots ready to be bought and built upon. “You’re still kind of designing things I suppose, taking the land and turning it into a liveable area, designing roads, and building sites, so it’s still design but on a bigger scale,” says 27-year-old Sam. “It was all stumps and slash and a rough old logging road, but the contractor who logged it came back, and we pulled out thousands of stumps on 20 hectares where it was flat, and raked up all the slash, so we had mountains of slash and stumps. “Another contractor came in and hogged it all up, which is kind of like wood-chipping, but it turns it into biofuel, which went to the Kinleith Sawmill. It was a wicked way to get rid of all that material.” The stumps on the hills were left to rot slowly away to avoid tempting erosion, and natives were planted on the steeper slopes, which will also help keep the land stable while attracting the birds. Then it was time to start the work in earnest of upgrading the old logging road, building smaller side roads, designing the minimum 1000sqm house sites, driveways and gardens, as well as making the most of the natural features already there. This included turning a swampy waterway into than big-city entertainment. “It’s a pretty cool place to live if you’re into hunting and tramping, and the ocean’s right there as well. Edgecumbe’s 10 minutes away and Kawerau’s 20, so there’s plenty of jobs around.” He’s talking ideas over with a local builder for a possible spec home on one of the front sections and looking forward to seeing the first residents coming in to enjoy the sunshine capital of New Zealand, planting their gardens or orchard, running some sheep or a couple of horses, and making the most of the now well-established, lush, grassy paddocks. a native wetland. “It was a dingy little creek filled with slash, which is now a nice pond I’ve fenced off, and I’ve planted the surrounding three-and-a- half hectares with natives. I built a little jetty out on to the pond and there’s already heaps of birdlife only two years later. I’ve set it up to supply everyone with non-potable water for washing cars and gardening and things, but each house will collect its own rainwater,” says Sam. The now completed sub-division took shape over about two years, with Sam adopting a hands-on approach, always there helping out the local contractors on the job, many of whom he knew having grown up in the area. The seven sections currently available average three hectares on either side of the now sealed road that runs down the valley. Sam walked the different sections numerous times in all sorts of weather to work out the best place for the pre-engineered, raised house sites that are ready for building, taking sunshine, privacy and views into account. “It’s a small community in its own valley really. You drive in an automatic gate that keeps the stock out, along the road with the lots each side, which have rural views into the valley, down to the waterway at the end with a roundabout,” explains Sam. Sorting out the stormwater was one of the biggest jobs, and was well tested, then improved, when Cyclone Gabrielle came along, resulting in even more, bigger culverts and retention ponds being built further up the water catchment to reduce the stress on the culverts in the first place. “Everything’s been tested to the max so I know I don’t have to worry about it again, even if it’s an intense downpour like we had that day with 50mls in 30 minutes,” says Sam. Having grown up in the area, Sam knows how much Manawahae Road has to offer someone that enjoys the outdoors, rather Stainless steel – fabrication and welding Design Supply Install Steve King 027 4095 0054 Will King 027 615 7922 Robbie Hall 027 807 1312 * Ef uent & irrigation * Feed systems * Frost protection * Animal health * Detergent * Rubberware & Consumable * Trenching service c1107kwKing Milking & water systems specialists since 1988 King Farm Services Ltd Main Street, Edgecumbe Ph 07 304 9640 anytime Pleased to be of assistance with our trenching services FOR ALL YOUR FENCING NEEDS Rural Fencing | Residential Fencing Stockyards | Security Fencing 0274 483 0477 perkinsfencing1986@gmail.com CONTACT US The Minginui Nursery is appreciative for the opportunity in being involved with SamOliver Design and the 1372 Manawahe Road project. Supplier of high quality native plants ready for delivery anywhere in Aotearoa Minginui Nursery is a purely native tree nursery based in the Bay of Plenty and specialises in revegetation plants. The process is proven. As well as ‘growing to order’ and aiding in project planning, customers all over Aotearoa can obtain native plants for riparian planting, returning disused land to native, or simply planting in the household garden. With the capacity to produce over 1,000,000 plants per year the nursery is able to supply pure cold-hardy natives on a commercial scale with orders delivered right to your door. To discuss your requirements please feel free to contact: Sales: Lance Taurua Email: lance@minginuinursery.co.nz Mob: 021 742 237 Ph: 07 366 3314 Address: Minginui Nursery, Mill Ave, Minginui 3079 Website: www.minginuinursery.co.nz
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