Plimmerton unveiling
A new Plimmerton unveiled.
It features the names of key landmarks between Plimmerton and Titahi Bay.
The balustrade, just past the railway lines, and a new wave-shaped stone wall with the names Taupo and Plimmerton on it, were blessed and unveiled during a dawn ceremony on March 21.
The entrance cost $59,000 to consult, design and install.
The work has been driven by the Plimmerton and Hongoeka communities through Porirua City Council’s village planning programme.
Porirua mayor Nick Leggett said the designs, carried out by Plimmerton resident and landscape architect Linda Kerkmeester, provided a special way into the suburb.
The blessing ceremony was led by Hongoeka resident Kahu Ropata.
Ropata said later naming the landmarks ensured the traditional names were preserved and shared with the community.
The idea of highlighting the bridge over Taupo stream with a balustrade artwork was reinforced following consultation with Hongoeka over ideas for the design.
‘‘It has ended up as a placenaming device acknowledging the sea and the headlands that define this place from entrance
has
to been Titahi Bay to the beach at Karehana Bay and beyond,’’ Kerkmeester said.
The landmarks named are Tawhiti Kuri (landmark of the southern boundary towards Titahi Bay), Taupo ( named after the pa and the name for the larger Plimmerton area), Motuhara (the name of the biggest land block), Hongoeka (the bay, marae and settlement), Te Rewarewa (a significant landmark tdefining the northern end of Hongoeka Bay and Haukopua (a landmark of the northern boundary towards Pukerua Bay).