Ormiston Town Centre

The centre of a new town for 40,000 people (by 2025) will be in this vicinity.

Its landmark entrance is a cable-stayed traffic bridge named Ormiston Bridge. The town was planned to have a mix of ethnicities and cultures and reflect the Manuakau area which has about one third of its population born outside New Zealand. Medium to higher density living, and a mix of uses such as home-based businesses, commercial and retail activities were expected to characterise the town which is being developed as a community. The development was to include five neighbourhood centres and have a strong focus on open space, high urban design standards and environmental sustainability. Unfortunately and disappointingly the plans for Flat Bush were not initially realised in practice.

A review in 2008 found among other things that roads 'were of excessive width, together with wide corners which had created a high-speed environment with poor crossings for pedestrians.' There was little public transport. Those houses which had been built were detached, of low density, did not always relate well to the street and most had four or more bedrooms. In relation to the green fingers which provide public open spaces the review did find they are multi-functional accommodating stormwater conveyance and groundwater recharge whilst filtering out nutrients and sediment loading. They will provide a fantastic walkway and cycleway network throughout Flat Bush with connections to Botany and the rest of Manukau.

Following the critical review a Masterplan and Design Guidelines Document was prepared recommending a changed street pattern and denser housing. After these false starts the Todd Group have been engaged as the developer of the renamed Ormiston Town Centre, which was to have been constructed between 2015 and 2022. Besides Barry Curtis Park and a popular skatepark, one of the first facilities up and running was Ormiston Senior College. The aquatic centre is underway but residents are underwhelmed. A town they were promised in 2002 is only just taking shape, while the residential housing estates explode south towards Whitford and Alfriston. Some developments comprise of rows of tilt slab concrete homes with six or more bedrooms and no yard. Public transport is still absent, teenagers are bussed all over Manukau for schools and pools and the library busses do double time all in anticipation of this centre.

The version of the plan that was mooted in 2018 is a shopping centre about half the size of Sylvia Park, with Todd Group and the Auckland Council behind it. Until this eventuates, the town is an ever increasing mass of low and medium density housing, bordered by fast moving roads heaving with traffic, served only by the two schools, a large supermarket and one fast food restaurant.

Whether Ormiston Town Centre shapes up according to the initial urban design ideals for the area remains to be seen.