Tipos de Relaciones Laborales

The Napier South reclamation scheme (see Figure 4.1) was the largest of the pre- earthquake reclamations, the reclamation work being undertaken from 1900 to 1908.

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Napier South, adjacent to the Borough, was part of the larger Whare-o-Maraenui Block (see Figure 4.4). The idea for this reclamation evolved after the Easter Flood of 1897. The flood showed how the nearby Tutaekuri River had spread silt over a wide area and how, if tamed, this could be used to help reclamation by depositing silt in a controlled manner.41 Apart from the possibility of reclamation, there was also concern about the threat to flat areas of Napier, should there be another major flood.42 The 1897 flood had caused widespread damage in Hawke's Bay and had also flooded streets in central Napier.43

The Napier Harbour Board, as owner of the Whare-o-Maraenui Block, drove the search for reclamation possibilities. From August 1898, the Napier Borough Council corresponded with the Harbour Board, requesting it to sell or lease a part of the land to the Council for reclamation, sanitation and other purposes. At about this time, the Harbour Board had begun a separate dialogue with a private syndicate, Langlands and Co, which had its own proposals for reclamation.44 In December 1898, the Harbour Board reported that negotiations were proceeding with both the Borough Council and the syndicate, but from the tenor of the discussion at a Borough Council meeting in early February 1899, the tide was turning against Council participation in the reclamation project. John McVay, Borough Councillor, in a letter to the Daily Telegraph, commented that, in recent times, the Council had effectively been excluded from discussions about the proposed reclamation.45

Later that month, the Napier Harbour Board adopted a scheme for reclaiming the Whare-o- Maraenui Block. In essence, the block would be leased by public tender or auction for 21 years, with conditions that included the reclamation of 300 acres of land. The reclamation was to be completed within six years, with temporary banks to be built to ensure that Napier was protected from flooding, but with a continuous stream of water passing by the town’s sewer outfall. The necessary ground equipment, including a suction plant, was to be on site within 12 months of the agreement being signed, this requirement indicative of the higher level of technology to be used than for earlier reclamations. When the land had been reclaimed, it was to be surveyed into sections, of which the lessee would receive 200 acres as freehold in part payment for work performed. Of the remaining 100 acres, 50 acres was for the Harbour Board, 20 acres for a park, and 30 acres for roads. Other conditions included a right of renewal of the lease, and the future reclamation of other parts of the Whare-o-Maraenui Block.46

A sub-committee’s report outlined the scheme’s advantages. For the Harbour Board, income would be obtained from the lease or sale of the reclaimed land. Harbour facilities would also be improved through a diminished need for dredging. For the Borough Council, a public park would be established. The realignment of the Tutaekuri River would ensure a constant water flow past the sewer outfall and protect the town from flooding. The Chairman of the Harbour Board explained that it would be better for the scheme to be carried out by private people rather than the Borough Council. This would reduce the financial risk to the Board and avoid the need for a large loan to meet the costs of reclamation before properties were leased or sold. 47

Before tenders were invited, empowering legislation was passed and there were further negotiations with the private syndicate. In October 1899, the Napier Harbour Board Amendment and Endowment Improvement Act 1899 was passed to allow the reclamation and improvements to proceed as planned and to enable the Board to sell or dispose of land. The land this legislation covered is shown edged in red in Figure 4.4, the Napier South portion being the area marked “300 ac” in the northern part of that land. The syndicate also made it clear to the Harbour Board that it would tender for the project only if the terms suggested by the syndicate were included in the lease.48 In December 1899, tenders were invited for the project, which included the reclamation of 300 acres of land and the diversion of the Tutaekuri River to facilitate reclamation work.49

In January 1900, the Napier Harbour Board accepted the only tender for the lease and reclamation of the Whare-o-Maraenui reserve. This tender was received from Langlands and Co, the private syndicate that had been negotiating with the Board.50 The Hawke's Bay Herald editorial was positive, stating that the decision (carried by six votes to four) was the most important business transacted by the Harbour Board for many years. The newspaper applauded the Board for adopting a scheme that would transform land that had been largely idle, and which was an eyesore and a menace to community health. The scheme, the newspaper commented, would enable several hundred acres to be profitably occupied at no financial loss to the Harbour Board or to ratepayers. The proposed reclamation would also help reduce the silting of the Inner Harbour, an issue that had become a major annual expense for the Board. The newspaper observed that the syndicate would be recompensed for its endeavours, but added that the syndicate would also be taking a material risk,

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whereas the people of the district could lose nothing. The editorial concluded: “We congratulate the Board upon its wise decision, believing, as we do, that the work will prove of the greatest advantage to the community.”51

Some doubted the decision. J.N. Williams, member of the Harbour Board and also Chairman of the Hawke's Bay County Council, resigned from the Board, advising the Council that the scheme ignored the likelihood that the Tutaekuri River might change its course, so that the river channel created by the syndicate might instead “be filled by the inflow of the tide from the inner harbor [sic] and the contents of the Napier sewer” rather than a flowing river. He also believed that the financial arrangements for the scheme were detrimental to the Board. John Bennett, another Board member and also a County Councillor, but who was unable to be present at the meeting, informed the County Council that “the reserve was practically a gift to the syndicate”, for, given time, reclamation by nature would greatly enhance the value of the land.52 Indeed, a historical sign states that the reclamation of the area began in 1874 when the formation of the Taradale road linking Napier to Taradale trapped silt that would otherwise have flowed downstream to Ahuriri Lagoon.53

Work began on the reclamation in 1900. At the time, the syndicate partners were William Langlands and C.D. Kennedy, but in early 1901 the Harbour Board lease was transferred to a new syndicate, C.D. Kennedy and Co, after Langlands encountered financial difficulties. The new partners were Charles Kennedy, engineer and lawyer, William Nelson, sheep farmer and industrialist, and George Latham, contractor. Nelson was responsible for overall management and control, with Kennedy looking after engineering matters. It was Kennedy who had closely observed the effects of the 1897 flood, and who had planned the reclamation scheme. The position of Kennedy raised possible conflicts of interest, given that he was Engineer for Hawke's Bay County Council, and was also a Napier Borough Councillor for a short time from September 1899 until early in 1900 when he resigned. He acknowledged that his resignation was advisable, in view of negotiations that were about to take place between the syndicate and Borough Council. George Nelson, son of William Nelson, also assisted the syndicate as engineer, and in the years to come became prominent in promoting ideas for port development and further reclamations.54

The principal mode of reclamation was to be the siltation method, which had been attempted unsuccessfully on a limited basis by Harbour Board Engineer John Goodhall in the 1880s. Engineering plans prepared for the project in an early planning stage are shown in Figure 4.5. The area to be reclaimed was initially part of a larger settling basin. An embankment was built along the Wellesley Road side, the existing water frontage, and a stone weir was constructed at the lower or northwestern end of the basin. The purpose of the weir was to slow the flow of water, giving silt the chance to settle in the basin, rather than being washed out to sea. The Tutaekuri River, which was especially diverted for the project, fed the upper or southwestern end of the basin through a channel of about 2.5 miles in length. Most of this watercourse was artificial “and, by being quite straight and having no bends, sufficient head was gained on the river to carry its load of silt straight into the settling basin where it was needed.”55 Two suction dredges were used to form the entry channel, the adjoining banks, and the numerous side channels within the basin area were constructed. Water was fed into these channels, from which sand pumps “shot vast quantities of silt out on either side.”56 As the water flowed slowly through the channels, silt was deposited, so that when the water eventually left the basin at the exit weir, it flowed out into the Inner Harbour and sea having lost most of its silt. Meanwhile, the silt that had been deposited within the basin and channels was redistributed by manual and mechanical means, so that the level of the land slowly rose.57 When the reclamation was nearly finished, the Tutaekuri River was diverted alongside the western side of the reclaimed area. For a while, the new river channel was used to provide fill, which was transported away to build up lower places that remained on parts of the reclaimed land.58 While siltation was the predominant method of reclamation, dredging activities were estimated by George Nelson to have assisted the process by about 15 to 20 percent.59

The positive aspect of the Napier South scheme was that a large area of land was reclaimed and prepared for urban development. The scheme was much larger and more carefully planned than any earlier reclamation in Napier, in terms of both the size of the reclamation as an engineering project, and in the subsequent layout and design for the new suburb created on the reclaimed land. The scheme also provided local employment for some years, with over £70,000 paid in wages. The scheme was labour intensive with most of the work being carried out manually, with horse and cart. This was a time before heavy machinery, the work being carried out by labouring gangs who were sometimes employed in three shifts, working day and night.60 But there were negative aspects. The project took

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longer than planned, largely caused by dry weather and a series of droughts.61 Reclamation by siltation required a plentiful supply of water. The amount of silt deposits was also less than expected. This led to suggestions that the syndicate was using the silt that was available to reclaim, as first priority, land that would pass to the syndicate, in preference to land that would remain with the Harbour Board.62

The principal concern, however, was the risk of flooding arising from the reclamation work. As the work proceeded, the protective banks were raised progressively until water levels within the settling basin and contained by the protective banks were several feet higher than the surrounding land. As George Nelson commented some years later, the reclamation “was an anxious job with the water pent up by the embankments of the settling basin to a height of four or five feet above the adjoining streets of Napier. Only the watertightness of a bank of earth stood between us and ruin. An accident could have drowned Napier.”63 Although there was no disaster, there were many complaints from persons inconvenienced by the work or those who felt threatened by it. There were many reports of water flowing over roads or property, or silt being deposited in places outside the settling basin.64

Meanwhile, plans were developed for roads, sections and other amenities. These were included on a plan produced for the syndicate and Harbour Board in March 1906, shown in Figure 4.6. The roads that were subsequently constructed combined a grid and crescent pattern, partly following the original shoreline, which fronted onto Wellesley Road. Sections were planned in a number of sizes, including some half-acre lots, but were typically quarter-acre lots. The plan clearly delineated which sections were to pass to the syndicate and those that would remain with the Harbour Board. Responsibility for road formation was indicated in the same manner, with nearly five miles of road to be formed by the syndicate and just over one mile by the Harbour Board. Land was also set aside for two parks. The area of land, excluding roads, to pass to the syndicate was 186 acres, with 46 acres remaining with the Board. These arrangements generally followed the original scheme. Streets in Napier South were named after syndicate members Nelson, Kennedy and Latham, and several Harbour Board members.65 Later, several additional streets were added, permitting some half-acre sections to be replaced by smaller sections.

In April 1908, 200 sections were placed on the market at a public auction sale. The plan produced for the auction is shown in Figure 4.7, with the available sections coloured red. The auctioneers, C.B. Hoadley and Son Ltd, proclaimed that the properties being sold were high, dry and free from floods, had good natural drainage, and were blessed with highly fertile soils, ideal for growing vegetables. They added that roads were being formed, properties could be supplied with artesian water at moderate expense, and no Borough rates were payable. At the time, Napier South was sited just outside the Borough boundary. The auctioneers asserted that every section was within walking distance of the Napier Railway Station, and the auction provided an excellent opportunity for purchasers to acquire freehold land that was almost unobtainable elsewhere in Napier.66 The Daily Telegraph described the auction as “a wonderful success”, with 119 sections being sold.67

Within two years of the auction sale, progress was such that the Daily Telegraph described Napier South as “a new, flourishing and splendid suburb [that] had arisen to shed further lustre on the prestige of Napier as one of the prettiest and most pleasant residential centres in the Dominion.”68 It asserted that the views were pleasing, and the streets were well laid out, adorned with homely villas freshly painted and most with gardens. The picture presented was one that praised the new suburb as an escape from the established but less desirable parts of the town, albeit on a modest scale. The report, however, also observed that there were no formed footpaths, and services such as drainage and channelling had yet to be provided.69 Open drains were a feature of the streetscape for some years. In April 1911, there were 120 homes in Napier South, increasing to over 200 by 1913. The increasing population led to the opening of Napier West School in 1914 adjacent to Nelson Park, later renamed Nelson Park School. In keeping with the raw appearance of Napier South in its earlier years, the school grounds at first were rough, poorly drained, and often flooded.70 The picture of Napier South in reality, therefore, was quite different to the positive picture presented in the auctioneer’s puffery when the building allotments were first marketed.

Two parks were to become principal features of Napier South, and compensated for the shortage of recreation space in other parts of Napier. The Borough Park, later to be named Nelson Park in honour of the Nelson family, was purchased by Napier Borough Council in 1909. While part of the park had been already been reclaimed at the time of purchase, the remainder of the park was swampy and covered with large rocks and tree stumps. Within a

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year, the park had been levelled, grass and trees planted, and an access road provided. An artesian bore for water supply was also installed, but plans to include a three-acre lake in the park did not proceed. The intention was to use the park for field sports that included cricket, football and hockey, and cricket matches were played there from 1915. The visit of the Prince of Wales in 1920, as part of an Empire tour, prompted work to make the park more presentable.71 About 90 years later, the park is mainly used for hockey and cricket, but in emergencies has been used for other purposes. After the 1931 earthquake, 500 tents were erected there for temporary accommodation, and the army used the park during the Second World War.72 Sir Donald McLean Park, usually referred to as McLean Park, was eventually donated to the Borough Council. The 20-acre park was originally purchased from the syndicate by a trust that had been established in 1905 to honour Donald McLean, who had been prominent in the early settlement of Hawke's Bay and who later became a member of both the Hawke's Bay Provincial Council and Parliament. When offered to the Borough Council in 1910, the park was accepted once some legal issues were resolved. At that time the park had only partly been reclaimed, but within two years two playing fields were ready for use.73 A century later, the park’s principal uses are for rugby and cricket, including international fixtures.74

When settlement of Napier South began in 1908, it was part of Hawke's Bay County. It did not become part of Napier Borough until 1915, apart from a minor boundary adjustment in 1910 when a slice of Napier South adjoining Wellesley Road was incorporated in the Borough to settle a boundary road dispute.75 In 1911 the Napier South Town District was constituted for the remainder of Napier South, with the first election of board members held later that year.76 The life of the Town Board was only four years, as the Board did not have the resources that were adequate to deal with Napier South issues. The merger of Napier Borough and Napier South Town District in 1915 followed an extended debate, which took place in public meetings and in the correspondence columns of local newspapers. In this public discussion, doubts were expressed about a viable future