Whakarongo, New Zealand
A Time of Transition: Introduction
(Introduction section in 'A Time of Transition')
This, the fourth publication on the history of Whakarongo School,
initially sought just to cover the twenty year period since the 1977 Centenary.
It was in that year, that the third and most extensive of these books, From Stoney Creek to Whakarongo, was published. However, as that
book is long since out of print and as many residents who have arrived over the
last two decades have had little or no access to it, a history of the school and
district, albeit limited to key features, is also covered here.
As the chapters that follow will attest, Whakarongo was once the nerve
centre of a small, but thriving,
rural community. Unfortunately, with the advent of motor vehicles, along with
such things as farm amalgamation and changes to land usage (i.e. from dairying
to sheep farming or agriculture), many rural communities found that their
schools, community halls, small businesses, dairy factories and Government
agencies, were less in demand than in slower moving times. Whakarongo was no
exception. Still, it is fortunate in that unlike many similar communities,
including Kelvin Grove, it has retained its school - and what is more its school
roll is growing dramatically.
It is useful in a study of Whakarongo to be aware of key issues involving
Kelvin Grove. For example, Kelvin Grove School was mothballed in 1939, in
anticipation of a new suburb. However, that development proved to be almost
three decades away. Eventually the Wanganui Education Board decided to sell the
old site and to rebuild closer to the new Roslyn State Housing suburb. As a
result, the school ‘reopened’ as Roslyn School in 1953. Kelvin Grove School
therefore changed its name and location,
and Kelvin Grove effectively lost its heritage in the process.
Although a detailed social history of the often embattled Kelvin Grove
district is yet to be written, the following chapters provide a good insight
into it. Of particular note is the proposed railway deviation through the
suburb, the proposal to rename Roberts Line, the huge controversy surrounding
the naming of Celaeno Park and the establishment of a Youth Justice Centre in
Mohaka Place.
Other associated difficulties not covered in detail here include the
relationship between the old and new residents dating from the 1960s, and
especially in relation to the Kelvin Grove Halls. Another
was the lengthy debate in the late 1980s that eventually saw the
restoration of Kelvin Grove’s community taonga, its photographic W.W.I and
W.W.II Rolls of Honour. After surviving (due to fast-working locals) the fire
that destroyed the first Kelvin Grove Hall in 1921 - and Massey students in the
Anti-Vietnam days - this collection was rediscovered, after the hand-over,
beneath a drip in a damp store room in the new Kelvin Grove Community Centre.
The new Roll of Honour, complete with an explanation, is now on display in that
building. Also of note is the perceived relationship between the Palmerston
North City Council and the suburb, and the enormous struggle over the decades to
obtain basic amenities. It appears that fighting battles is the means by which
Kelvin Grove is regaining its lost heritage.
As the saying goes, those who ignore their history, are doomed to repeat
it. Accordingly, one important purpose of this book, which is primarily a
‘bricks and mortar’ heritage study, is to ensure that Whakarongo School and
district learns from the experiences of Kelvin Grove. The two districts share
the same heritage and it should not surprise readers to know that they have been
referred for decades as ‘sisters.’ The two are distinct in that,
historically, they were small rural service centres (as opposed to traditional
town suburbs) which, in turn, were once a single entity. They are also distinct
in that both have been incorporated by boundary changes into a city that largely
does not share - and sometimes does not understand - their particular heritage.
Furthermore, both are unique as ‘city suburbs,’ in that they also
have continuous community records dating back almost 100 years (from 1901) in
the case of the Kelvin Grove Residents’ Association, and over 120 years in the
case of Whakarongo School. Probably Kelvin Grove’s claim in this respect is
unique in the city. In fact possibly its hall minute books (which record a great
deal of social history) are only exceeded in their continuity
by Palmerston North’s own Council records.
As stated, a most important
purpose of this book is to ensure that the many new families in the district,
have ready access to information on the place they now call their home. Town
planners, social scientists, university and high school students, and others who
will eventually use this book as a resource, also need to know and learn from
the experiences of both Whakarongo and Kelvin Grove.
In particular they will gain from knowing that despite the huge influx of
new residents into this district - and correspondingly children into Whakarongo
School - not one ‘new resident’ responded to over twelve months of
advertising and school newsletter invitations, by attending the school
and district’s 120th Jubilee dinner in February 1997. On the other hand
though, the school children - almost the entire school population in fact - made
a huge contribution to the Jubilee activities on the Saturday afternoon. The
Jubilee organisers and participants, along with the teachers, were delighted
that so many parents brought their children to school for the occasion.
When a few ‘new residents’ were asked why they did not attend the
Jubilee dinner, their reply was not that they had no interest in the event or
such things as the cost. Rather, they thought it was for former school pupils -
which they obviously were not. One most significant suggestion, made ironically
by a ‘new resident,’ but one who had a strong rural background, was simply
that the majority of the ‘new residents’ had urban backgrounds. The person
felt that these people simply did not know HOW to be ‘rural.’
Last Updated: 22/7/2001