TO MARK 50 YEARS AS BOROUGH

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 110, 3 February 1941, Page 9

TO MARK 50 YEARS AS BOROUGH

Jubilee Park Opened AVhat was once 13 acres covered with blackberry and gorse was officially opened as Jubilee Park, a magnificent hillside reserve with 3000 native trees and shrubs, some flowering, and two paths leading through cool bush to the heights from where there is an almost unrivalled panoramic view of the Hutt Valley. It was bought for £6OO and the cost of development was said by the mayor to have been little, day labour and subsidized workers having been used. The park is situated on the AVestern Hutt Road near the Normandale crossing. In the flat area at the entrance to the reserve is a fernery containing 95 per cent, of the known native ferns of New Zealand. The joinery for the building was given by the mayor. The mayor, Air. Andrews, said that the council wanted to celebrate Lower Hutt’s 50 years as a borough in a tangible way, but not by splashing money about and wasting it. Jubilee Park had been decided on, and it was a fitting project, well and economically done. Had the council not bought the land it would have been, divided into building sections. Air. Vickery, an adjoining owner, helped by giving the north bank at the entrance and a strip along the back of the park. Dr. B. J. Dudley gave a fine seat, and there were other spots that needed similar seats. Mr. A. Marshall and the AVellington Acclimatization Society gave fish for the pond. AVhen he first saw the property and considered its prospects, he consulted Air. E. Hutt, superintendent of reserves, who also saw the possibilities and planned the layout. Air. Hutt also led well the men who had carried out the work.

There was in the park a hut built of slabs 100 years old from the old Barton homestead, the gift of Lady Roberts, said the mayor. Mr. Hope Gibbons, president of tbe Native Plant Preservation Society, said that the fernery had a wonderful variety of the native ferns of a country which had the best collection of ferns of any country in the world. The park was a great achievement. Declaring the park officially open, Mr. T. Jordan, president of the Municipal Association of New Zealand, said that he thought local bodies should devote more attention to native plants than was done

Commemorative trees were then planted. The Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr. Parry, planted a kauri, Mrs. Jordan a native honeysuckle, Mrs. Andrews a mountain cedar, and Mrs. Hope Gibbons a celery top pine. Hundreds of people then took the opportunity of inspecting the park and fernery. Before the ceremony, tbe Lower Hutt Company of the National Military Reserve, which made a smart showing on parade, was inspected by the mayor, who was an officer in the Great War. and Mr. Jordan.