Coronation Avenue

The year is 1953 and the British Commonwealth has a new Queen, Elizabeth the Second. One of the ways that the good folk of New Plymouth saw to mark the event was to rename Avenue Road as Coronation Avenue.

This was not without some controversy.

Some argued the change was long overdue as the existing name seemed to be a contradiction. Was it an Avenue or a Road? And if it was an Avenue why was it not tree-lined? The answer was that it was a stock route and, until there was an alternative route for stock, the council was unwilling to plant trees. Apparently to protect the trees would have been both expensive and unsightly for 10 to 15 years. On balance, though, the council decided that it was the... "Best road in the city" and the... "Main entrance to New Plymouth", and therefore renaming it was appropriate to celebrate the coronation.

In fact Avenue Road wasn't exactly the current Coronation Avenue either, as Avenue Road had begun near Cracroft Street, which was the old city boundary. So Eliot Street was actually shortened with the name change and the dividing line between it and Coronation Avenue became Rogan Street. 

An article in the Taranaki Herald, 4 July 1953 reported the erection of new sign posts. However, the reporter also noted that "the first [sign] strikes the eye of the motorist approaching from the south as he swings into the avenue near Upjohn Street. But the regal note is slightly flattened by the sign post on another pole on the other side of the street. It reads 'Stock Route'."

It seems royalty shouldn't have to share its triumphal entrance with humble domestic animals.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.