Smart Road

Smart Road, near the Waiwhakaiho River, is named after James Pickford Smart, who, with his wife Mary and five children came to New Plymouth in 1842 on the Blenheim. In the early years of the New Plymouth settlement, Smart was a large landowner and farmed in the area.

Later, when the railway line went through, the Smart Road station was built. But, by the early 1900s, the station was thought to be under-utilised and too far from the burgeoning population of Fitzroy. Despite objections, the facility was closed down and a new station built in Fitzroy.

In the early part of the 20th century, the area beside Lower Smart Road was used as a stock sales yard and by the army for military exercises. Then the Agricultural Society proposed to buy the land off the council in 1912. Initially rejected, the society was eventually successful and, with much voluntary labour, formed the A & P Showgrounds. The first A & P show was held there in 1917. Before long, a rudimentary grandstand had been built.

From the 1920s, lower-grade, club cricket games were played on the showgrounds. The quality of the pitch always left something to be desired, however. The New Plymouth Old Boys' Cricket Club often played semifinals against Country Division teams there, enjoying a lot of success as their bowlers could dominate the games. Eventually it was the home ground for the Smart Road Cricket Club, which would become the Fitzroy Club and move to Peringa Park.

In January 1951, the showgrounds became the venue for speedway racing. Soon, the Taranaki Midget Car Racing Club was running regular Saturday night meetings through the summer months. In the days before television, spectators in their thousands attended these events. Sometimes, late in the afternoon, when cricket games were still underway, the keen drivers were already out on the track getting in some pre-meet practice.

With land values increasing, the site was sold in 1970 and developed into an industrial estate and today has become the Valley Mega Shopping Centre. Upper Smart Road is still dominated by farming interests.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.