Media Release

Work begins on District’s New War Memorial

Work has begun, excavating the terraces for the new District War Memorial at Laurie Hall Park.

The new memorial will include a large central area set into the slope to the east of the waterfall, semi-enclosed by three granite memorial walls. The central wall will carry the names of all service men and women who died in active service during the wars in which New Zealand participated.

Above the central area there will be retained area with balustrade. Existing paths are being realigned to allow better access through this area and the slope is to be terraced lawn with concrete steps.

The contact has been let to Transfield Services and is due for completion by ANZAC day next year. During the memorial’s construction about half of the lawn area by the waterfall and gardens will be fenced off and four parking spaces will be unavailable to the public as they will be used for work site access by trucks. Most of the pedestrian access through the park will be available; however, members of the public are asked not to approach the works area including the waterfall.

Cenotaph to be deconsecrated

In preparation for the restoration and relocation of the War Memorial at Rose Street in Central Whangarei, a public deconsecration ceremony will be held at the site on Sunday 19 October at 3pm.

Reporters: there are lots of little stories around this project. Some are outlined here:

Field of Remembrance

In the past four years a field of remembrance, featuring one white cross for each Whangarei service person killed in the First World War, has been installed at Laurie Hall Park for a month before Anzac Day.

Ceremonies at the Park on the day, including a community choir performance of choral music composed specifically for the event, have attracted increasing crowds in recent years.

Because the event has outgrown the Rose Street site, discussions in the past couple of years have been around whether to relocate the existing memorial to Laurie Hall Park, or whether a new memorial should be developed.

That presented the opportunity to discuss a number of other issues, including adding the names of service men and women who have been omitted from other memorials.

A project team has been formed including Archie Dixon and Ian Reid from the Returned Services Association, Councillors Glen and Martin and Council staff. The RSA members’ opinions were surveyed and the consensus was to create a new memorial at Laurie Hall Park, incorporating the Memorial from Rose Street. Mr Reid began gathering the names and stories of people who fell during the wars.

Do you have a family connection to the memorial?

The Rose Street Memorial does not contain a full list of Whangarei war dead so Ian Reid from the Returned Services Association has been working on a project to record all the names of Whangarei people who died in service.

Mr Reid is keen to hear from anyone who may have a name to add to the memorial. Mr Reid said there are no formal rules about name selection, and it is up to the local region as to how names are selected.

The format for name recording on a memorial would be the surname of the person followed by initials. The only additional information being considered is VC for a holder of the Victoria Cross.

This project is ongoing. So far 284 Service People from World War 1 have been identified (but only 166 of these are listed on the Rose Street Memorial), 321 World War 2 Service People have been identified, along with one each from the Boer War, the Korean emergency and two from the Vietnam emergency.

We are seeking sponsorship contributions for this project.

To gain a sense of connection with something, to be proud of it and own it we need to be involved with it somehow; maybe through decision making, physical work, providing information, or financial contributions.

Whangarei District Council has allocated $500,000 to build a new memorial at Laurie Hall Park. The design has been signed off, contracts have been let and work has begun on the ground.

The Returned Services Association is now looking to involve the community, businesses, individuals, groups, clubs and associations to support the project.

The memorial will include four stainless steel flagpoles (sponsored by Culham Engineering) that will fly the New Zealand flag, the Royal New Zealand Naval white ensign, the Royal New Zealand Air Force ensign, and the Merchant Service red ensign. On Anzac day these will be replaced with two New Zealand and two Australian flags.

Raising money from the public will enable permanent spotlights to be installed o highlight the flags. As well as creating a spectacle, the flags will be able to fly 24 hours a day, rather than being raised at dawn and lowered at sunset.

Another project we would like the community to contribute to will be a platform for the flag bearers who are an important part of the Dawn Ceremony on ANZAC day.

We also plan to produce a commemorative booklet about the unveiling of the new memorial, listing all the names of Whangarei’s war dead.

Mr Dixon said anyone wishing to contribute to the project could contact him at the Whangarei RSA on 438 3792.

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