History – Avenue of Norfolk pines no more

The Norfolk pine is a distinctive conifer, and member of the ancient family Araucariaceae. As the name implies, the tree is endemic to Norfolk Island. The avenue of Norfolk Pines on Molesworth Drive in Mangawhai was planted by Paul Speedy when the causeway was built in 1975. As remembered by his son Gordon, it was a labour of love that took many years to complete. While the exact number of trees planted is unknown, it would have been somewhere between 200 and 250.

Paul, now deceased, first collected cones from his property in the Maungatapere area. He boiled them, then after retrieving the seeds, placed them on to damp sacks to germinate. Once sprouted, the seedlings were potted and tended at his Mangawhai home until they were large enough for permanent roadside planting. He planted them out when they were two-and-a-half feet tall. His neighbour, Lyn Ball, who has also since passed away, gave him a helping hand and planted many of the trees.

After 30 years, most of the trees had reached adult size and height and formed a beautiful avenue running toward Mangawhai Heads. But, alas, this is no longer the case. Some of the trees were stunted due to unsuitable soil and removed, and a few were killed with poison by a disgruntled person. A few were lost to fire, some were cut down for commercial section access and recently, some were cut down by Kaipara District Council to widen the footpaths.

Lyn commented once on how heartbroken Paul would have been if he were still here to see the lack of care that had been taken of the trees. Very little now remains of the wonderful avenue of trees that once ran from the bridge on Molesworth Drive to the golf course.

The Mangawhai of old always had folk who were generous in giving their time and energy to community endeavours, which benefited everyone. With the rapid population growth, propelling the town toward city status, modern planning does away with much of the initial selflessness that went into the creation of many community amenities that the public enjoys at Mangawhai. In many cases, people are unaware of how these amenities came to be.

There is a large library of how this community was formed held at the Mangawhai Museum.