Flyger Lane sign (2020). Mike Gooch. Word on the Street image collection.
Flyger Lane sign (2020). Mike Gooch. Word on the Street image collection.
Flyger Lane, connecting to Gill Street, provides access for many businesses located in the block of buildings between Gover and Eliot Streets.
An informal laneway had connected buildings facing Gill Street and Devon Street for many years. Curiously, several surveys of the area, from the 1920s on, make no mention of it. Eventually, in 1951 a survey plan notes a general area "to be dedicated for a road" although the plan does not show the road.
In the 1970s, surveys highlighted an area "to be taken for a service lane" where Flyger Lane connects with Gill St and described the proposed street as having an area of 841 square metres. Eventually, in 1980 it was officially recognised and called Flyger Lane.
It was named after the business called Flyger and Carter. A building supplies company, Flyger and Carter operated from premises on Devon Street, adjacent to the lane. The company began trading in New Zealand the early 1930s and years later opened a branch in New Plymouth.
Flyger and Carter was taken over by the Carter Holt Harvey business in the 1990s, the local branch moving to premises in Fitzroy and ultimately Bell Block. The lane still remains there today.
This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.
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