Trio meet heritage deadline
Plimmerton’s history dominated the waking moments of Mary Beckett, Deidre Dale and Andrew Deller this past year.
The trio worked hard towards creating the Plimmerton Heritage Trail, which was unveiled on Saturday.
The 35 signs, placed on mostly front fences and buildings between St Theresa’s Church and Plimmerton Boating Club - with a few out-of-the-way signs in places like Taua Tapa Track and Taupo wetland - took about a year to complete.
Deller said he was racing to get his allocation of the history finished before the deadline last week.
‘‘We’ve spent a lot of time on this project, and it’s a relief and satisfying to get to this point,’’ he said.
‘‘Changes seemed to be made weekly and ideas came and went regularly.’’
Deller said there had been a heritage trail established in the suburb in 1990, and this was a continuation of that one.
Dale said her knowledge of Plimmerton and its history grew and grew.
‘‘I spoke to Tiratu Williams [from Hongoeka] and she was generous with her time,’’ she said. ’’This work made me look at Plimmerton through different eyes.’’
The cost of the signs and new website was $14,500, covered by Porirua City Council’s village planning framework. Deller, Dale and Beckett worked as volunteers on the project.
The trail is about a two-hour walk and its aim was to inform residents and visitors on the sub- urb’s rich history.
‘‘There has always been something to see here but we wanted to connect people with the stories. Buildings, families, businesses, Maori history - there is a lot to tell and it’s all pertinent, and we hope to bring the community closer together.’’
Dale said the story of sign num- ber 23, the Taupo Urupa (burial ground), might be a painful one, but deserved to be told.
Beckett said it was unlikely the work finished now, as the updating of information will be an ongoing task.
More information on each site on the trail is available at plimmerton.nz.