Western News: September 11, 2018

8 Tuesday September 11 2018
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
WESTERN NEWS
News
Suburb of Sockburn quickly disappearing
• By Anan Zaki
SOCKBURN HAS been
mentioned in city records for
140 years, but local identities say
their suburb is under siege.
Former Paparua County clerk
and Sockburn resident of 49
years, Bryan Mooar, believed
the growth of the Wigram
subdivisions have played a large
role in the demise of Sockburn.
Mr Mooar was at the Paparua
County Council for 25 years, 13
of those as clerk, until it amalgamated
with Christchurch in
1989.
Sockburn resident of 68 years
Eddie Cutts agreed with Mr
Mooar’s views.
Mr Cutts is the grandson of
Albert Cutts, who once owned
Chokebore Lodge, which was associated
with horse racing.
“It’s disappearing because
we’ve got the very big Wigram
[residential] complex at the old
airport, together with the retirement
villages,” Mr Mooar said.
He said other factors that have
fuelled the decline of the area
was the 2011 closures of the
former Sockburn Service Centre
and the suburb’s last major freezing
works, the Alliance Freezing
Company.
The Alliance freezing works
IDENTITIES: Long-time Sockburn residents Bryan Mooar and Eddie Cutts at the Sockburn
roundabout.
was at the former site of the city
abattoir on Racecourse Rd.
Another closure that affected
the area was the Sockburn swimming
pool, which shut down in
2006, Mr Mooar said.
“The old abattoir was an old
identity and provided a lot of
job availability for people in the
area,” he said.
Recently the Sockburn Fire
Station was renamed Wigram
and next year Sockburn School
will move to Wigram.
“It’s not just quietly disappearing
. . . it’s being gobbled up,” Mr
Mooar said.
He believed the future of
the suburb was industrial and
there was no way to stop the
suburb being taken over.
“It’s just a matter of progress,
the city expanding and it’s only
one or two kilometres from
Riccarton Rd, which is a main
route,” Mr Mooar said.
He did not feel sad about
Sockburn being eroded away, as
he believed it was for the greater
good of the city.
Mr Cutts said much of Sockburn
has already disappeared as
the area was known for its horse
racing stables.
He believed the city’s population
growth has negatively
impacted the racing history of
the area.
“It’s disappearing now, all that
land by the Riccarton Racecourse
is being gobbled up developers
for high density living.
“Racecourse Rd and the surrounding
streets had horses
going to the track every morning
and now you’re not even allowed
a horse on the road. So Sockburn
has lost its identity.”
Mr Cutts wished his children
and grandchildren enjoyed the
area like he was able to.
“But you can’t live in the past
unfortunately, I would like to
though. We used to go over to
the racecourse and disappear for
the day, play in the pits, shoot
rabbits and fly kites.”
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