Akaroa Historical Overview - Christchurch City Council

SECTION SEVEN: CHANGE AND GROWTH 1950 TO 2009
“Akaroa's
topographical setting is
unique – the splendid
harbour, the eroded
crater of an ancient
volcano, on which the
town sits and the steep
hillsides behind are not
matched anywhere
else in New Zealand or
overseas. When the
history of the French
settlers establishing
their community here
is added in, we have a
place that has a history
combining Maori,
French and English
strands like nowhere
else.
The remarkably well
presented built
environment is a
further unique
characteristic of
Akaroa, with the
setting reinforcing the
cultural experience of
its history.”
Alun Wilkie, 2005
Akaroa Civic Trust AGM
Introduction: the road over Hilltop
Through the second half of the 20 th century Akaroa changed and
grew. The permanent population of the town remained almost
static, though by the 1990s the permanent population was a little
higher than it had been in the 1950s. Paradoxically, the number of
dwellings, and the built-up area, expanded dramatically. This
expansion of the built-up areas is the most conspicuous evidence of
far-reaching changes that altered the economic basis of the town
and its social structure.
These were years, mostly, of rising prosperity through which
increasing numbers of Christchurch residents acquired second,
holiday, homes. What made Akaroa a natural choice for some of
those wanting holiday homes – especially those interested in
recreational boating and fishing – was the improvement of the
road to Akaroa.
The full length of the road from Christchurch to Akaroa was sealed
in the 1960s. 1 The commonest way to travel to Akaroa became the
private car. The Railways Road Services maintained a daily bus
service to Akaroa from Christchurch into the 1980s and had a depot
in the later years of the service on Aubrey Street. Subsequently,
shuttle and bus services were run by private companies. These
services carried mainly overseas tourists to and from Akaroa.
Akaroa people wanting to go into “town” (as Christchurch was
universally described) and Christchurch people wanting to spend
time in Akaroa, many now in their own holiday homes, almost all
travelled by car over the excellent road that State Highway 75 had
become by the 1970s. 2 “Progress” came to Akaroa, it was noted in
the New Zealand Listener in 1970, “when the road from
Christchurch was upgraded”. 3
Politically, the Akaroa Borough became part of Akaroa County in
1957. The County, in turn, was absorbed into the Banks Peninsula
District in 1989. Then in 2006, Banks Peninsula became part of
Christchurch City. Presciently, in 1876, when the Borough was
formed, a writer in the Akaroa Mail anticipated that when Akaroa
had grown into womanhood she would be “wedded to the
Plains”, an apt description of the amalgamation of 2006. 4
1 Lowndes, Short History, not paginated
2 Akaroa Mail, 31 May 1976, p. 2; Booklet published by the Akaroa Mail in conjunction with the Akaroa
Civic Trist, no date
3 New Zealand Listener, 26 March 1970
4 Akaroa Mail, 4 August 1876
AKAROA HERITAGE OVERVIEW : SECTION 7 CHANGE AND GROWTH 1950 TO 2009 PAGE 127