Old Apiti post office steps turned into memorial
Errol Mckay could have been forgiven for clearing the rubbish left behind when he bought the site of the former A¯ piti post office.
Instead, he salvaged the building’s concrete steps and set up an information board detailing one of Manawatu¯ ’s oldest postal services.
A builder by trade, Mckay was hunting for a section for his return to his home town after living in Bay of Plenty. When one was put on the market four years and her piano to deal with tough times. She would be open to the opportunity to record the song properly, in the hope it could be used to raise more money.
‘‘Music is the only way I know how to help others.’’
They Are Us lyrics
I will stand with you
Hand in hand with you
We can make it through the darkest nights
They shouldn’t have to fight
For their human rights
Or to live a life in a place that we call home ago, he was quick to snap it up for $12,000.
The old post office had been relocated to Greymouth, where a couple had plans to refurbish it and use it as their home.
‘‘As soon as I heard the post office had been moved, I bought the section. It was quite a mess when I took it over,’’ Mckay said.
Timber, brick and concrete was scattered in piles. Over four months, he cleared the debris and built a new home, which now couples as a workshop and woodwork gallery. This is my home as much as it is yours, you belong with us
Our arms are wide open with love, they don’t frighten us
We will stand with you
Hand in hand with you
No-one can tell you, you don’t belong We’re a place that you can call home it’s true
We will fight for you
Aotearoa stay strong
This is your home
Innocent lives taken too soon When one is lost our hearts break too The world is broken let love be spoken Don’t let them break you too
When he stumbled across the concrete steps, in their original location, Mckay had a flashback to his childhood. His grandfather built the first post office in A¯ piti, and he wanted to retain what he could for posterity.
‘‘I [left the stairs] as a memorial to the post office, otherwise all this information would have been lost forever.’’
In the early years, the post office was just a simple wooden shack, built in 1889.
The building was replaced in 1908 with a building that operated until the post office closed in 1984.
The post office was rehomed in 2015, with its new owners retaining several original features. Development at Whakarongo is nearly ready to roll, with the Palmerston North City Council looking to subdivide 9.6 hectares it owns on the upper terrace of the residentially zoned land.
Council property manager Bryce Hosking said the land would be subdivided into about 115 sections of different sizes to appeal to a range of budgets.
With roadworks on James Line finally completed and a new roundabout ready to stretch into the Whakarongo residential area, the council was a key landowner well placed to initiate development.
It had earlier sold and moved the heritage Huntly House from James Line to open access to the land originally held for an extension to the Kelvin Grove Cemetery, Hosking said.
Mayor Grant Smith said it was exciting to see land desperately needed for new housing about to be opened up.
He said the ‘‘pepper and salting’’ of a mixture of medium price-range properties and others suitable for public or social housing would be a winning recipe.
It was important the sections were priced to complement rather than disrupt the private market, he said.
Hosking said the council would maintain control over the subdivision and sale of sections, rather than sell the land as a block for others to develop, or simply hold.
But it was working with industry players, including builders and real estate agents, on the best mix and configuration of section sizes, so it could show people the building options available for small sections in particular.
Housing portfolio support councillor Lorna Johnson said making sure the development included affordable housing was important.
The council is expected to start by developing 56 sections.
It is likely to submit a resource consent application by the end of March, which will be considered by an independent commissioner.