Media Release

September 3, 2009

Agreement to preserve Hobsonville’s heritage

Plans to develop a heritage trail in Hobsonville have been endorsed by Waitakere City Council.

The council’s Infrastructure and Works Committee has agreed to a service level agreement with the Hobsonville Heritage Trust for the design and construction of a trail that will highlight the area’s rich history.

The agreement will see the trust receive a one-off payment of $300,000 for which it will have to:
• Develop a landscaping plan for Limeburners Bay and obtain building and resource consents for a Hobsonville Heritage Trail;
• Apply for and obtain an authority to modify an archaeological site (uncover the kiln floors, re-cement in the bricks; and install drainage and fencing where appropriate); and
• Construct the heritage trail and install interpretive signage and prepare heritage brochures that will explain the significance of heritage sites in Hobsonville.

The $300,000 is the balance of compensation paid to the council for the demolition of Sinton House by the New Zealand Transport Agency to allow for the construction of the new SH 18 motorway.

“This is a public/private partnership where the council acquires land through the subdivision process but a private trust adds value, in this case through the development of a heritage trail,” says committee chairman Derek Battersby.

Council officers are negotiating with the landowner as part of the planned development of that site, to acquire the land adjacent to the esplanade reserve that has archaeological features associated with it.

The proposed subdivision will require the approval of the council, Auckland Regional Council and the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. The archaeological features were given additional protection by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust last year to include the post-1900 features of the site along the coastal foreshore under the Historic Places Act 1993.

An archaeological assessment of the area conducted by the council last year highlighted the heritage significance of Limeburners Bay and the archaeology is more extensive than first thought.

The bay contains the remains of Carder’s and Holland’s heavy clay pottery works, and the R.O Clarks Ltd works and is regarded as the birthplace of ceramics in Waitakere, before the industry shifted to New Lynn.

• The two companies operated in the area between 1863 and 1929.
• In 1885 R.O Clarks was producing up to 60,000 bricks a week that as one advertisement said at the time “generally acknowledged as the hardest bricks in Auckland”.

The Hobsonville Heritage Trust was established by a group of local residents for the sole purpose of preserving heritage in the area.

Private-public partnerships like this have proven successful on several projects throughout Waitakere, including Olympic Park in New Lynn where the fundraising ability of an independent charitable trust meant much more was able to be done there, like the inclusion of artworks.

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