50 years ago
Louise Pease
■ Work has begun on the new waterfall project in New Plymouth’s Pukekura Park. The stones at the base of the waterfall came from the demolished Devon St post office. The waterfall will cost over $3000 but much of this money has been donated.
■ The Australian National Ballet may take to the stage in place of the New Zealand Ballet in the 1971 Bowl of Brooklands Festival due to the crippling costs facing the national ballet whenever it appears at the bowl. Brooklands Trust secretary Mr B. P. Connell received a letter from the New Zealand Ballet after months of trying to secure them for the festival, stating the ballet would be unable to appear as it has for the last 11 festivals, because it faced ‘‘crippling costs’’ whenever it appeared at the bowl for a one-off performance. Mr Connell said in that case the Brooklands Trust will consider negotiating for the Australian Ballet to perform as it would work out to be more economical and satisfying.
■ Waitara could be supplied with Kapuni natural gas by the middle of next year. New Plymouth City Council Gas Department manager Mr A. Blackman said the department had begun a survey into the economics of supplying gas to Waitara. If that proved favourable a three-inch pipeline could be laid to the town in the next five months. The contractors working on the 10-mile gas pipeline through New Plymouth are well on schedule and the pipe has already been laid from Bell Block to the Waiwakaiho River.
■ Over 300 people turned up to the summit of Mangatoa Rd to witness the Minister of Works, Mr Allen, declare the remote road open. One of these was 86-year-old Doug Black of Mo¯kau who was thrilled the road was open but commented that it would have to be sealed one day. ‘‘It’ll cost them millions, I know, but the road won’t really be finished until it’s sealed,’’ he said. The Mangatoa Rd is a nine-mile stretch of metal road between Waikawau and Kiritehere which now provides through access between Awakino and Kawhia. It is hoped that in the future the road might form part of a completely sealed scenic route on the west coast between New Plymouth and Auckland called the Great Western Highway.
■ Movies: In Enemy Country (Mayfair), Tarzan’s Three Challenge and Sweet Sins of Sexy Susan (State), Carry on Doctor (Regent, Stratford), Here we go Round the Mulberry Bush (Regent, Ha¯wera).
35 Year Ago
Petrocorp’s first condensate from its Kaimiro field has been trucked to Port Taranaki for shipment to the Marsden Point refinery. The condensate was produced during the well’s commissioning, which started last week. When the well is in production, condensate will be carried to the Omata tank farm to be stored with McKee crude oil. When in full production the well will produce about 120 barrels of condensate a day and 85,000 cubic metres of gas. At present the gas is being flared to waste but once commissioning is complete, it will run into the North island reticulation system via a 100mm pipe 4km long, to the OaonuiKapuni line. The field could last up to 15 years.
25 Years Ago
■ New Plymouth’s Julia Darling took another step towards a career as a dancer at the weekend when she won the National Performing Arts modern dance award in Wellington. Fellow New Plymouth dancer Tania-Cherie Laird capped a great weekend for Taranaki by taking third place. It was the first time the title has come to Taranaki in 17 years.
■ The second methanol distillation unit at the Motunui plant has been approved by Methanex Corporation and work on the $75 million project will start almost immediately. ‘‘It’s good news for the Taranaki engineering industry, civil, mechanical, electrical and other disciplines. This will give more continuity of work and that’s good for the region,’’ said Fitzroy Engineering managing director Peter WhiteRobinson.