MODEL CEMETERY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 230, 29 September 1931, Page 8

MODEL CEMETERY.

PLATEAU AT PAPATOETOE.

cmld maobi settlement,

terraces to be preserved.

A pear-shaped plateau, enclosed by tidal arms of the Manukau, is being developed by the Papatoetoe Town Board as a model cemetery. In the old tribal days the hea4?and was terraced and inhabited by the Maoris, who probably found it a convenient camping place during the journey from tha Tamaki to Waiuku and the Waikato River. Mr. W. J. Nicholson,, chairman of the Papatoetoe Board, said" to-day that the scheme of improvements would preserve the terraces and any other signs of Maori habitation;

The plateau is almost level and slopes steeply towards the foreshore on both sides. On these slopes the board will plant native trees and shrubs. The plan, prepared by Mr. E. V. Blake, town planner for Papatoetoe, is divided by carriageways in the form of a cross, with a site for a chapel at the intei - section of the main arm. The principal carriageways will have a width of 40xt to provide for two lines of traffic. In the layout of the subsidiary paths there is a refreshing departure from the usual rectangular design, and all the plots are easily approached. Self-contained areas of the cemetery have been allotted to the various religious denominations. From all points of view the design is • a striking indication of the effect that can be obtained by taking advantage of natural features. The new cemetery park is situated one mile from the Papatoetoe township, and lias an area of 16 acres, approached by Wyllie Road and fronting Pa Road. The terraced headland was probably dotted with Maori dwellings in the same way as the slopes of Mount Eden, says Mr. George Graham, who is an authority on Maori life. He adds that some of the headlands on the Manukau were fortified strongholds and were the seem.' of much bloodshed in the days of hand-to-hand fighting. As defensive points, they became useless as soon as guns, and artillery were brought into New , Zealand.

Mr. Graham considers that tlie plateau near Papatoetoe was a peaceful settlement and that the Maoris cultivated the volcanic soil of the plateau and seciired a plentiful supply of fish in the tidal creeks and in the Pukaki inlet.