RMLA Technical Documentation Award for Waikato Regional Seascape Study

Boffa Miskell landscape planners and landscape architects had significant involvement in two 2023 RMLA Award-winners.

Waikato Regional Council engaged Boffa Miskell to undertake an outstanding seascape assessment within the mapped coastal environment of the Waikato region’s east and west coasts. This study was to be undertaken in light of the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement and the Waikato Regional Policy Statement.

Landscape planners Rebecca Ryder, James Bentley and Julia Wick; along with Strategic Advisor Maori Te Pio Kawe, GIS specialists Brian McAuslan and Dave Hill; and graphic designer Vanessa Le Grand Jacob comprised the Boffa Miskell project team.

The resulting report: Waikato Regional Seascape Study (2023), is a first-of-its-kind assessment which describes the way the coastal and marine environments interact together to form ‘seascapes’, and how this distinct environment is understood and experienced by people. The report identifies, maps and lists the natural and cultural values of the Waikato region’s seascapes; and puts forward candidates for Outstanding Natural Features and Outstanding Natural Landscapes in the Coastal Marine Areas.

Most significantly, the innovative methodology developed by Boffa Miskell for this report has been peer-reviewed and found to be robust, with accurate and credible results. This methodology can be applied throughout Aotearoa/New Zealand and marks a substantial step forward in the identification and assessment of some of the nation’s most critical and meaningful environments.

Te Tangi a Te Manu: New Zealand Landscape Assessment Guidelines was the winner of the RMLA Publication Award.

In response to a long-recognised need for agreed-to and consistent landscape assessment guidelines for Aotearoa New Zealand, Te Tangi a te Manu was written in 2020. Boffa Miskell partner Rachel de Lambert was one of the co-authors, along with Gavin Lister and Alan Titchener. The guidelines are widely accessible through the publication of a 285-page book by Tuia Pito Ora, New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects.