Tawa Historical Society Incorporated

The Tawa Historian

Newsletter #36 – March 2015

Dear Members and Friends,

I have some matters to report to you following our Executive’s first meeting for 2015.

Tawa Memorial
Our architects, McKenzie Higham, have provided us with drawings on which we have commented, and minor changes have been made. We believe the Memorial will be a truly significant and worthwhile addition to the Tawa community. The architects have produced plans which pay magnificent tribute to those who have given their lives in the service of their country.
We are now at the point where the plans are almost ready to go out to tender. The tenders will give us a more accurate picture of the costs involved. We continue with our efforts in fundraising.

A History of Tawa
Our latest book is selling steadily, and about 60% of the printing run has now been purchased. They are available at the Library for $45.

Out of Print
The following of our publications are now out of print:
The Streets of Tawa (published 2005)
An Historical Atlas of Tawa (2006)
Best of Tawa Vol 2 (2008)
Rails through the Valley (2008)
There are only 3 copies remaining of Phil Harland’s Takapu Ammunition Bunker; 9 copies of Brian Mexted’s Memories of Tawa; 21 copies of Best of Tawa Vol.3; and 23 copies of Lest Tawa Forgets.

Our next publication
Mike Steer has been working steadily on the history of the Ranui Golf Club which existed in Tawa fron 1923 to 1929. Its clubhouse was the old Bartlett House, now at 26 Oxford Street. The book will be printed later this year.

Our printer
Since we commenced publishing books on Tawa in 2005, we have had them printed by Porirua Print. Our member Karol de Raad produced them for the best part of a decade, before selling his business to Debbie Weaver. At the beginning of this year we learned that the business has again been sold, so we are now in the process of considering our options regarding a firm to print our books.

WCC Draft Plan
The Wellington City Council is expected to commence a consultation later in March / April on the Tawa Suburban Centre Plan. This plan is expected to allow more intensive development for residential usage, especially in areas closest to the current Tawa business centre. The review is likely to change the intensification/height limits allowed for new buildings with the intention of providing greater support for the business centre. There is therefore a likely effect on existing older building sites that may be ripe for redevelopment in or on sites or properties that may also be of historical interest. We would like to review the older buildings of Tawa that may be of historical interest but the members of the committee do not currently have the time to be able to achieve this. If there is another member of the Society who maybe interested in picking this up as a ‘watching brief’ for the Society, we would like to hear from you.

Meeting dates
Your Executive will be meeting on 27 April, 15 June, 10 August, 5 October and 7 December at the Tawa Community Centre. Our AGM wil be held on Monday 24 August 2015 in the Tawa Community Centre.

Kind regards