Strategic LANDSCAPE Plan

Landscape Vision

Not existing prior, the SLP provides a Landscape Vision for Alandale that ensures site integrity is maintained when managing existing assets and considering proposed developments. The Landscape Vision aligns with the Alandale Foundation Trust (Trust) purposes and Alandale Lifecare management requirements. The Alandale Landscape Vision is:

“Alandale promotes healthy outdoor living, where the grounds stimulate the senses and imagination, promote wellbeing and community engagement in an open parkland setting. The landscape has a coherent visual amenity that enhances the dwellings and overall Village marketability, offering Space, Grace and Place to residents and visitors.”

 

Landscape Improvement Strategies

Based on the Landscape Vision, a number of short- and long-term strategies, are to be implemented over a 1 -10 year period, these were recommended with indicative implementation processes. As implementation will have associated costs, these strategies will be prioritised to identify best return on investment and annual budget allocation. The primary strategies are:

1. Parkland Trees: Much of the treed network has been removed and many that remain are nearing the end of their life cycle or are a health hazard. Staged removal is required, replacing them with a strong treed framework that has minimal visual impact on long views of the Waikato river environment and does not damage infrastructure. Primary trees are to have a 50+year expected life span to maximise return on investment.
2. Marketing & Brand Development: Staged development initiatives focussed on maximising marketing, photogenic brand development and environmental sustainability, including investing in developing key areas to maximise return on investment, long-term water conservation management, low-power LED path lighting and using appropriate plants for site conditions.
3. Community Engagement Areas: Development of key outdoor meeting areas to encourage residents to meet together outside, to develop and promote community wellbeing. Focussing resources on these engagement areas maximises long term return on investment.

Operational Implementation
The SLP is a strategic document, offering a guiding principle that will need to be reviewed periodically to ensure it aligns with Alandale requirements and market expectations. An Operational Landscape Plan is now required to prioritise and plan the improvement strategies over a 5- 10-year period, develop cost estimates for budget forecasting and identify resource requirements.

 

Alandale Landscape Vision

Alandale’s website promotes the Village environment as a place where people can:

"Retire to an active community nestled away on the banks of the Waikato river. You’ll enjoy a social lifestyle as well as the financial freedom that comes from owning your own unit.  Alandale village is nestled away on the shores of the Waikato river and provides peaceful retirement living in either one of our 133 Villas.

All residents at Alandale benefit from an independent lifestyle while still being close to activities, facilities and people that ensure that you won't be bored.”  

And, the Alandale Foundation Trust’s purposes (as stated in the O.R.A.) are:

1. To provide health care for the elderly.
2. To provide amenities for the cultural, spiritual and recreational well-being of the elderly.
3. Without restricting the scope of the foregoing to provide the use of facilities, counselling and other appropriate assistance for the elderly.

The Landscape Vision statement needs to align with these purposes. It gives direction for how the landscape is to be managed and helps provide inspiration during change.

From a management perspective, the Landscape Vision assists with making strategic and operational decisions. The Vision is referenced when proposed works are being considered to ensure that these works align with the Vision and if not, either identify opportunities to align the works with the Vision or choose not to undertake them. 
 

 

Landscape Vision Components

“Promotes healthy outdoor living”

Ongoing development of Village landscapes encourages outdoor living and engagement with other residents, to safely exercise within Alandale and access the public walkway along the Waikato River. Furthermore, Vitamin D is improved when the forearm underside is exposed to sunlight.

“Stimulates the senses and imagination”

Stimulating the senses is essential to perpetuating people’s health and sense of well-being, especially when combined with landscape features that inspire the imagination and the latitude to have fun, such as a the bowling green, croquet and petanque. This is beneficial for residents, their visiting families and interaction with grandchildren and prospective buyers.

“Promotes wellbeing and community engagement”

A number of studies have shown that spending time outside in a planted environment positively uplifts a person’s emotions and improves their sense of well-being. Engaging and sharing with others while doing this fosters a better sense of community. An onsite example would be the vegetable gardens beside the tennis courts; installing seating beside this would encourage people to engage with others and take respite from their endeavours.

“Open parkland setting”

Alandale already has an open parkland setting although this has been degraded over time with the removal of many trees. Parkland environments promote an appreciation of nature, especially with plants that exhibit colourful foliage and flower seasonal changes while offering wide spaces between these vertical elements that fosters security and trust through long line of sight. Park environments require a hierarchy of vertical planted elements (such as trees and shrubs) to provide visual structure, framing and focal points, separated by open grassed areas.

“Coherent visual amenity”

Coherence refers to the degree in which different landscape features associate spatially with one another. A landscape with high coherence infers that the components within the landscape visually integrate to create a wholeness that looks and feels right to the beholder and those using the space, instead of being disjointed and dissonant.

“Space, Grace and Place”

• ‘Space’ refers to the open parkland areas beside and between buildings and adjacent to the Waikato River. They offer areas to socialise, share, be creative, exercise, stimulates the senses while ensuring people using these spaces live in a safe community with long lines of sight and adequate pedestrian lighting.
• ‘Grace’ is a landscape that is dignified, elegant, beautiful, and smoothly flows from one type of landscape to another, visually and functionally throughout the Trust managed areas. This landscape resonates with the community.   
• ‘Place’ is the sense of place created by both the community and the sum total of the landscape components; residents want to live in Alandale. It indicates a positive desire to be in this place, to create ongoing social cohesion, to empower and support other people.

“Enhance marketability”

The saleability of both the Alandale Village concept and private dwellings is vital for positive returns on investment. The Trust’s common land surrounding private dwellings sets the stage and determines whether a prospective buyer would like to live in the Alandale environment. This correlates with positive brand development in the wider community through various media, and offers good promotional opportunities.  



PRIMARY LANDSCAPE IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES

 

1. Site Development

Any future development, such as the River Elm site, needs to align with the Strategic Landscape Plan to ensure it is in keeping with Alandale’s overall landscape design and integrity. The River Elm development for instance is able to use existing landscape features to reduce landscape development costs, such as the adjacent native bush stand east of Unit 167 and south of Unit 114 to create a community engagement meeting space.
 
Site design integrity also needs to be consistent throughout the site, with replacement of existing street furniture and hardscape forms that do not align with the Landscape Vision. A design suite is required for off-the-shelf items that have the desired amenity, user-friendliness, are cost effective (meaning excellent expected asset longevity and ease of maintenance). Items include park benches, fences, trellises, raised gardens, garden bed edging, signage and low power LED path lighting that lights paths but reduces light pollution into houses.

2. Parkland Trees

Much of the treed network has been removed and some that remain are nearing the end of their life cycle. Staged removal will be undertaken, replacing with a strong treed framework that has minimal visual impact on long views of the river environment and does not damage infrastructure. Primary trees will have 50+year expected life spans to maximise return on investment.

3. Marketing & Brand Development

Staged development initiatives focussed on maximising marketing, brand development and environmental sustainability, including investing in developing key areas to maximise return on investment, long-term water conservation management, low-power LED path lighting and using appropriate plants for site conditions.
 

4. Community Engagement Areas

To maximise return on investment, it is proposed that Alandale focus its capital landscape budget on developing key landscape meeting areas throughout the local neighbourhood areas to encourage outdoor community engagement. These engagement areas are to be located in Trust land, in reasonably open areas that can be developed without being intrusive to adjacent residents.
 
Based on therapeutic design tenets, the landscape features encourage people to gather in small groups, stimulate their senses and help to create neighbourhood pride of place. These would improve site marketability and therefore likely provide higher long term returns on investment.
 
Proposed Landscape Features:

• Patio and connecting footpath
• Park benches with backs and arm rests, oriented in a V-shape, open to the sun, but with dappled tree/shrub shade during summer.
• Scented perennial shrubs and groundcovers buffering the patio from prevailing wind
• Raised planters with culinary and medicinal groundcovers that are easily harvested by residents.
• Garden art platform for secure placement of exterior sculptures surrounded by groundcovers.
• Water feature(s) for contemplation, movement and/or sound.
• Dwarf fruit tree orchard with seasonal fruits away from the main footpath

Landscape Vision Alignment:

• Promotes healthy outdoor living
• Stimulates the senses and imagination
• Promotes wellbeing and community engagement
• Coherent visual amenity
• Space, Grace and Place
• Enhance marketability

Engagement Areas Key: High Priority (Red), Medium Priority (Orange), When Feasible (Yellow)