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. The stream was piped underground instead.
European settlers initially intended to build a canal along the stream to serve as a harbor in the Basin Reserve area. However, an earthquake in 1855 caused the land to shift, rendering the canal project impossible. As a result, the stream was diverted underground.