Centennial Drive

The passage of the Paritūtū Centennial Park Act through parliament in 1938 paved the way for the creation of a fitting memorial to the arrival of the first European settlers to Taranaki.

According to notes collected by Felix Bellringer, New Plymouth Borough Council Town Clerk for fifty years, the idea was originally that of New Plymouth surveyor and historian, W. H. Skinner. However, it was Bellringer who persuaded the New Plymouth Harbour Board to set aside 89 acres [39 hectares] for the park, rather than the twenty proposed initially. Bellringer, who was also the Borough solicitor, drafted the necessary legislation and helped shepherd the bill through parliament.

The 89 acres included Paritūtū, the three offshore islands and 77 acres [31 hectares] to the west of Paritūtū. A committee, comprising representatives of the Borough Council, the Harbour Board, the Taranaki County Council and a, “representative of the Māori race”, was established under the Act to oversee the development of the park. The ambitious plans included extensive tree planting, a motor camp, a children’s playground, tennis courts and pedestrian walks.

The park was officially opened on 31 March 1941, a fine blustery day, by the Governor-General, Sir Cyril Newall. A huge crowd flocked to Ngāmotu for the day of celebration with an astonishing 85 people treated for a variety of ailments by the St John Ambulance. The worst injury was to young Colin McLeod of Record Street, who fell from an embankment onto the railway tracks fracturing his right femur.

Access to the new park was by way of a new road, named at the time, Paritūtū Crescent. In 1971 the name was changed to Centennial Drive to prevent confusion with nearby Paritūtū Road. Later when the Ōmata tank farm was completed in 1984, the road was extended along the cliff top to connect with Beach Road.

The drive along this stretch of road offers spectacular views of the Taranaki coastline and access to Back Beach, a popular surfing spot.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.

Related plan:

Centennial Drive (1938) SO 7675, ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)