Richmond is the main urban centre of the Tasman District. It is also growing and has a current population of approximately 14,600 residents. Richmond is located 14kms south of Nelson City. It is also located on the boundary between the Nelson and Tasman Districts.
Richmond UDA is the most developed and densely populated UDA in the Tasman District. Much of the stormwater flows originate from the Richmond foothills, which slope up from the developed areas towards an elevation of approximately 600m. Significant areas of the foothills are forested and subject to periodic harvesting. There are a number of gullies which route through stormwater flows into the urban area.
The UDA has three major drainage catchments:
1. Borck Creek
2. Jimmy Lee Creek (CBD) draining into Beach Road Drain 3. Reservoir Creek.
Council as planned a programme of stormwater improvements across Richmond to provide better service for managing both primary and secondary flows. Richmond residents have from time to time experienced flooding due to Council stormwater systems becoming overwhelmed in times of heavy rain.
Much of the stormwater system within the developed area is piped. The major piped stormwater systems convey stormwater along Oxford Street, Queen Street, Salisbury Road and Gladstone Road. Most of the stormwater flows in a northerly direction from its source of origin into the town centre. In many places the existing piped stormwater system is under capacity, which is a result of the continuous development of Richmond originating from the town centre outwards towards the foothills. In some places, detention dams have been constructed to ‘control’ stormwater flows in strategic places to reduce peak flows and the severity/likelihood of flooding risk further downstream.
Of note in the Richmond UDA are existing stormwater improvement projects that have been undertaken, and are planned to progress. These include the Borck Creek improvements which are established in the lower areas and planned to continue much further upstream; the recent enhancements to Reservoir Creek; and the plans to improve the function of Poutama Drain to achieve a number of positive outcomes for cultural,
environmental, recreational and stormwater control values. There are a number of other stormwater related growth and renewal projects to provide for future growth and to improve the function of the network.
Figure 16: Richmond Urban Drainage Area and Drainage Network 3.11.1 District Plan Notations
The Tasman Resource Management Plan (TRMP) contains the following notations for the site:
Planning Maps: Numbers 22, 23, 57, 121 - 135, Richmond Zoning: The Richmond UDA contains the following zones:
Central Business Recreation Rural Industrial
Commercial Residential Rural Industrial
Conservation Rural 1 Rural Residential Closed
Heavy Industrial Rural 1 deferred Light Industrial Rural Residential Serviced Light Industrial Rural 1 deferred Mixed Business Tourist Services
Mixed Business Rural 1 deferred Residential
Open Space Rural 2
Table 22: Richmond Zones Stormwater Designations:
D247 Waimea Inlet to Main Road Hope and Hill St South - Richmond (Borck Creek and related drains (Eastern Hills, Bateup, Whites and Reed/Andrews) – Local purpose reserve stormwater and recreation D248 Richmond South – Bateup Drain Detention Ponds (2) – Local purpose reserve stormwater detention D249 Richmond West – Poutama Drain – Local purpose reserve (stormwater)
3.11.2 Land Uses within and adjacent to the UDA
Richmond is the main township in Tasman and also the most diverse in terms of land uses. The centre of town is a large commercial area consisting of the Richmond Mall and associated carparking areas, Queen Street, and adjacent commercial services. Beyond this towards the Waimea Estuary are the industrial land uses. Moving further down Lower Queen Street are existing industrial and mixed businesses uses. This area also includes a number of deferred zones in the Richmond West area providing for further residential and commercial uses. The remainder of the Urban Drainage Area consists of the existing residential areas and to the south towards Hope are the expanding residential growth areas. This southern portion also still contains rural zoning and rural land uses. In conjunction with most of these land uses across the UDA are various parks, sports fields, schools, walkways, cycleways, and roads. State Highway 6 passes through Richmond in a generally north south alignment.
To the east of Richmond is the Barnicoat Range which contains many public tracks and is being revegetated into native plantings. Above this the land use is predominantly pine plantations running up to the ridgeline between Richmond and Saxton Hill. To the south and western boundaries, the land uses are a variety of rural, horticultural and scattered residential uses. There are also some more limited commercial / industrial uses in this wider area. To the north of the UDA is the Waimea Inlet which the UDA borders.
3.11.3 Topography
Richmond, to the west of the State Highway is generally flat, while the main part of Richmond between the State Highway and the hills is gently sloping with an increasing gradient as it moves towards the hill slopes.
A relatively small portion of the UDA is on the lower slopes of the hills. Moving to the south are some areas of rolling hill country through to flatter land in the rural portion of the UDA around Hope.
3.11.4 Soil Types and Permeability
The soil types in Richmond are generally loam based with permeability ranging from moderate to moderate/slow. The Heslington soils on the slopes above Richmond have a moderate level of erosion potential. Other areas of Richmond do not have erosion identified as a soils limitation. Specific descriptions and permeability are shown in the table below. A map series showing their location is included within Appendix B.
Soil Series Soil Type Permeability
Richmond Silt Loam Moderate/Slow
Ranzau Stony Sandy Loam Moderate/Rapid
Ranzau Gravelly Silt Loam Moderate/Rapid
Wakatu Silt Loam Moderate/Slow
Heslington Steepland Soils Moderate
Wantwood (small area)
Hill Soils Moderate
Lee (small area) Steepland Soils Moderate
Table 23: Richmond Soils
3.11.5 Surface Water and Receiving Environment
The Richmond UDA contains a number of minor creeks flowing from the hills to the east across the UDA towards the Waimea Inlet. These streams all receive stormwater from various parts of the network and form part of the wider stormwater network. There are also a number of artificial ponds in the area which act as stormwater detention and water storage. The most obvious surface water body is the Waimea Inlet which all stormwater in Richmond, aside from any which discharges to ground, ultimately flows to. Waimea Inlet has visual amenity values and recreational values primarily for boating (including water skiing), kayaking and fishing. The streams through Richmond have visual amenity values, particularly where they run through publicly accessible parks. There is no formal recreational use such as swimming in the urban streams.
3.11.6 Drinking Water and Soakage to Ground
Richmond sources its drinking water from two water sources including bores extracting groundwater. These bores are located on Lower Queen Street and are approximately 38m deep. The bores are within the UDA boundaries. UV treatment of the supply is used, and emergency chlorination is also in place. Soakage to ground is a feature of the stormwater network in Richmond however these are generally remote from the identified bores, excluding two soakage pits that are near the bore locations. The soakpits are primarily located within the Ranzau soil series.