LIVING IT UP IN LEPPERTON
Christine Persico finds a town off Taranaki’s Lost Highway keeping at bay a tide of development from nearby New Plymouth.
Lepperton is a place where lost dogs go to the dairy rather than the pound. Roaming sheep are returned to their owners by the mayor, and the biggest drawcard is the annual March lawnmower races.
The town, sitting between State Highway 3 and Inglewood in north Taranaki, was established as a military settlement in the 1860s and named after Lieutenant Colonel Maxwell Lepper, commander of the 14th Regiment in the Taranaki militia in the land wars. After his retirement, the colonel was allocated a block of land in the settlement.
Lepper died about four years later, but five generations on, his descendants still live on that land on Manutahi Rd.
Graeme Lepper, the colonel’s great-great-great-grandson, has lived in Lepperton all his life, and he and wife Robyn are still ‘‘farming where we started off’’.
He says it is a neat little community, but not as connected as it once was due to people losing contact to ‘‘a huge degree’’ when they leave school.
In his parents’ day, it wasn’t so easy to go to town, so everyone’s work and social networks tended to be in the community they lived in.
‘‘Now they have their social network spread between here and town.’’
Lepper says the area has changed hugely in his time, particularly in size. This is mainly due to lifestyle blocks being introduced over the past two decades and the development of a subdivision.
He says it is a rare privilege to live in an area named after his family.
The Leppers have a genealogy book detailing the family history on the farm dating from when Colonel Lepper was first given the land.
‘‘Each generation played a little part in what they’ve done in the community and in New Plymouth, on various boards and things like that.’’
Lepperton’s new school is under construction, and moving day is scheduled for term four this year.
Board chairman Ian McCaul has lived in Lepperton for 65 years, and says the school and store are very much a community hub.
‘‘I just think we’re very lucky in this area; we’ve got everything really. We’ve got a very picturesque rural feel village; we’ve still got quite a number of farming families living in the district which gives it a sense of permanence I guess.’’
New principal Andrew Retallick is trading one small school – Kakaramea, near Pa¯tea – for another, and while he has yet to move in, he likes what he sees.
He was attracted to the job by the community’s strong sense of identity.
Another Lepperton stalwart, Katrina McNab, says her family moved there for the rural schooling. She appreciates the way that everyone knows everyone and there are extra eyes and ears on her kids when they are in the village. Fondly nicknamed ‘‘Hurricane Katrina’’, she has supported the Lepperton and Waitara communities for years, including being the driving force behind Lepperton Primary’s famous lawnmower races.
‘‘It was good for the community because I think it put Lepperton on the map a little bit in the region. I don’t think growth is bad but I don’t think we want to become a suburb of Bell Block.
‘‘We want to keep our own identity and keep that friendliness which we’ll lose, I think, if it gets a bit bigger.’’
New Plymouth mayor Neil Holdom and his family have lived in Lepperton for 12 years, and says it has ‘‘old school New Zealand flavour’’.
He says Lepperton is a place where lost dogs go to the dairy, where they are swiftly reunited with their owner. Holdom’s been known to help catch the odd missing sheep. ‘‘It’s got a little dairy in the middle of town, and a tennis club and a bowling club and a school and a community hall. There’s a real sense of community. We absolutely love it here.’’
Everyone knows everyone else and they look after each other – feeding each others’ animals or even chasing lost sheep at 10pm.
‘‘My kids and I are running around putting someone’s sheep in our paddock and by the next day we find out whose they are.
‘‘Those are pretty cool adventures and that’s sort of similar to the childhood I had growing up in South Taranaki. I couldn’t think of a better place to raise a family.’’
Another growth area in the expanding township is the dairy – owners Craig and Denise McGregor hope to have their cafe fish and chip shop up and running by the end of the year. And then, the locals won’t have to go to Bell Block or Waitara for takeaways that will be cold by the time they get home.
Denise says she wanted her children to grow up in a rural community. ‘‘I do believe New Plymouth is moving this way, so in the future are we going to be a subdivision of New Plymouth? I hope not. I hope we still stay out here in our safe little place. That’s why we moved here; that’s why we love it so much.
‘‘It’s people; people make a place and if you’ve got good people in your community you love it.’’
There’s a real sense of community. We absolutely love it here.
New Plymouth Mayor Neil Holdom