The Waitangi stream formerly flowed from around Wellington Hospital in Newtown along Adelaide Road to the Basin Reserve and then along what is now Kent and Cambridge Terraces.

[1] Its outlet was the Waitangi lagoon or swamp, formed by a shingle beach which periodically gave way, causing clumps of flax and toetoe to float out into the harbour.

[1][2][3] The lagoon used to harbour eel, fish, and shellfish, and was used by Māori for food gathering, fresh water, and waka launching.

Early European settlers planned to dig a canal along the stream to use what is now the Basin Reserve as a harbour, but the 1855 earthquake uplifted the land and made this impractical.

[9][10] As part of the redevelopment, on the north-east side of the park the former Herd St Post Office was developed into lifestyle-apartments and into a commercial space called Chaffers Dock Apartments.