Heritage Inventory Project

Over the summer, Council has been recording and collating heritage sites, items and areas of historical interest in the Franklin region into a database. A significant amount of forms and suggestions have been received but we require more to find and identify the heritage that Franklin residents want to be identified and remembered. Some of the sites that have been identified and will be further investigated include;

- Former Pollok School building, served local primary school pupils for over 120 years and is believed to be the oldest school building still on the Awhitu Penisula, still on its original site.
- ‘Pea Factory’ in Karaka. From 1938 to the early 1950s the Thompson and Hill vegetable cannery business operated a factory at Karaka.
- Waka haulage track/ Waiuku Portage. For centuries the portage between the Awaroa Stream and the Waiuku River was used by Maori and then Pakeha, linking the high producing area of the Waikato with the Auckland and northern markets.
--Buckland Anglican Church, an interesting story about how the people of Buckland in 1895 built a church to maintain their own identity.
-Pirrit Heel and Toe Plate Mill and Dam, This was operated by John Pirrit and Sons who were early settlers of Razorback Road, engineers by trade they sold much of their produce in the Auckland Market, as well as using their engineering skills for roading and railway construction.
-Centennial Park Flax Gardens; a part of Centennial Park, Tuakau, in which a lot of work has been done to beautify the area.

The public can fill out forms to identify their sites of historical interest. These can be found at the Franklin District Council building on Manukau Road, as well as in public libraries, or filled out online at www.franklin.govt.nz. We are really keen to get as much public input into the development of this project as possible, and look forward to your contributions.

The next step is to get them into a database so that it is known that a site exists and where it is. This emphasises the importance of any sites that are currently not known.

Do not hesitate to contact Shaun Hamilton- Heritage Project Administrator. Email: Shaun_Hamilton@franklin.govt.nz or phone: 237 1426 ext 426.