A CITY OF PARKS AND TREES

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31088, 17 June 1966, Page 31 (Supplement)

A CITY OF PARKS AND TREES

Christchurch was given a heritage of open spaces for sport and recreation. It is a gift that has been cherished by succeeding generations and ample demonstration of this has been given whenever there has been a move to interfere with Hagley Park-

Hagley Park, with its 446 acres right in the centre of the bustling metropolitan area, provides the main “lung.” It was there, only 13 years after the first organised settlement, that the Botanic Gardens were laid out, there that some of the early trees were planted. It is those trees and thousands of others around the city that have helped to give Christchurch its reputation as the garden city of New Zealand. Two or three years after the arrival of the First Four Ships, a Scottish gardener, Mr W. Wilson, began providing trees for the settlement. First, he grew easilypropagated and fast-growing varieties such as Lombardy and black poplars and two or three kinds of willow. Then he made large-scale importations of distinctively English stock—oaks, ashes, sycamores, birches, elms and chestnuts—trees that still figure prominently in the oldest plantings. Trees, however, like their planters, have a life span and the city depends on each generation of civic administrators to see that Christchurch’s character and charm are maintained. It has always had men and women

has to remove a number of dead or dying trees every year. Its policy is that for each tree taken out three new ones will be planted. A trip in any suburb will show reserves, parks and playgrounds. The statistics of the council’s reserves department give an indication of how important the city’s lungs have been and are regarded. Apart from Hagley Park and the Botanic Gardens, there are 733 acres of suburban parks, City squares and other reserves add 108 acres, reserves under development as parks 198 acres, and areas awaiting development 202 acres. Ninety small reserves and street-corner plots give a total of 17 acres and there are 27 acres of children’s playgrounds outside those in parks. Mostly on and around the hills, there are scenic reserves of 1004 acres. Added to these are the reserves in the areas of other local bodies, including the unique Riccarton Bush—a living link with the past—giving metropolitan Christchurch an impressive total of open spaces, a total the envy of many other New Zealand cities. While some of them were set aside by the earliest planners, the work of looking after them and seeing that they are added to is a continuing job. Among the more impres-

in both administrative and executive fields dedicated to preserving what had been handed on. Today the City Council

sive additions in recent years was the Queen Elizabeth II Park. When the Queen last visited Christchurch the City Council saw the purchase of the 121 acres of the New Brighton trotting course as a wonderful way of commemorating the Royal visit and adding to the city’s sporting ground amenities. The park is now well under development. An allweather athletic track is being provided, and this and the other amenities of the park are among the advantages to be advanced in support of Christchurch’s bid for the Empire and Commonwealth Games. A par-three golf course which should be ready in two years is another new amenity. In Waimairl in recent years there has been development of Jellie Park and all the metropolitan local bodies have contributed to provide new areas to keep Christchurch’s green spaces. It is not only those in control of local bodies who have been prominent in beautifying the city. The beautifying societies, street competitions and home owners’ own efforts to present pleasing frontages have helped. Residents’ pride in their garden city extends beyond their gardens, and in the city there are more than 260 tree-lined streets which have been planted in response to residents’ requests. t'v 4 ' '4V»X V > ' *