Second century ahead

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33263, 28 June 1973, Page 26

Second century ahead

Westport, the main town of the Buller district, will celebrate its centenary this year with a series of events in October when the Governor-General, Sir Denis Blundell, and Her Excellency, Lady Blundell, will visit the town. Included in the celebrations will be a re-enactment of historic events.

There have been many changes in the business centre in the last five years, with an insistence on high building standards by the Borough Council resulting in a closer concentration of the main shopping area in Palmerston Street, with new structures replacing some which had long outlived their usefulness.

Although the number of hotels in Westport has declined from 17 in 1953 to 10, the standards of the existing buildings and their accommodation have improved considerably. Dominion Breweries have recently provided a valuable addition at Westport, a new motelhotel block built on modern lines and eagerly sought by the tourist trade. Westport is in fact well off for motels, mostly new structures. Prominent buildings include Westport’s Borough Chambers and high clock tower, erected for less than $30,000 about 35 years ago, the community hall built from public subscription and opened only this year, and a large block of Gov-

ernment offices situated in mid-Palmerston Street.

The Railways Department has a modern station, replacing an outdated building destroyed by fire, and also a new workshops section. Other extensive building developments are in hand in the town, including a new gymnasium at the Buller High School and the replacement of the Roman Catholic Church, St Canice, which is 86 years old. The parish opened a new social hall this month.

To provide some variety for visitors, a Coal Town Trust has now been formed at Westport — headed by the Mayor, Mr W. A. Craddock — to develop a project centred on the former Mor-

ley’s brewery property donated to the town by Dominion Breweries. It is proposed to make it an historical centre.

There are many attractions for visitors to the Buller, scenic beauty, beaches, caves and bush walks.

Each summer, more people from other centres experience and appreciate the services given at motor camps adjacent to the sea and rivers at Carter’s Beach, Mokihinui, and Karamea. Regular annual bookings are made by some Canterbury families for accommodation at Carter’s Beach, bordering the longest and safest sea frontage on the whole of the West Coast.

There has been increased patronage of the Kynnersley Domain at Mokihinui in more recent years, a place better known as the holiday home of many Buller coal miners. It is fringed by the sea on one side and the Mokihinui River on the other, a good stream for flat fish and whitebait. There is a particularly pleasant motor camp near Karamea, cut out of the bush at Maori point, and again close to the sea and river.

One of the largest camps in the district is another cut out of an expanse of native bush on the north fringe of Westport, a camp that has a special appeal for city dwellers.