On Saturday mornings in winter Raiomiti Street in New Plymouth can be chaotic. The netball courts at the end of the road are the destination for hundreds of people each weekend.
The busy sports facility had a much quieter beginning. In 1930 the New Plymouth Borough Council purchased a 1.7ha block of land next to the Waiwhakaiho River. The park planned for the spot did not immediately fire-up Fitzroy locals into action. In fact, little happened until 1944 when a committee was set up under the enthusiastic leadership of Vernon George.
At a cost of £2,621 courts were laid down and on King’s Birthday weekend 1947, Mrs H.D. Muir, president of the New Zealand Basketball Association (the name was changed from ‘Basketball’ to ‘Netball’ in 1969) officially opened the new facility. A large crowd was there, and close to 1000 players took part in the first tournament.
The street which leads to the park was planned long before all this happened. A survey map drawn in 1900 shows an “old village site”, on a cliff overlooking the Waiwakaiho River. This was Rai-o-Miti pā and on the same map the road we know today as Raiomiti is clearly marked.
An urupā is situated on the site of the old pā overlooking the Waiwhakaiho River. It marks the resting place of Hone Ropiha Te Keukeu, a Te Ātiawa chief and Native Assessor, who passed away at Rai-o-Miti pā in December 1858.
This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.
