Growth And Development Of Community Centre

Chronicle (Levin), 2 September 1948, Page 4

Growth And Development Of Community Centre

The growth and development of a ' community centre in Dargaville was the subjecit of an address. to the Levin Junior Chamber of Commerce this week by the resident senior tutor in Adult Education attached to Victoria College, Mr. M. A. Nixon, M.A. "Dargaville was rather an interesting place, although to those who had been there it was probable ithat they.\had memories of the ■ dullest and dirtiest • town in New Zealand," said Mr- Nixon in his opening remarks. "Dargaville lies up the Northern Wairoa River, the longest navigable river in New Zealand," he continued. "That waterway played a tremendous part in tlie liistory of the development of the district. In. the early days the missionaries arrived- there, but made little impression on the district. However, it was exploited when the forests of kauri, the best in New Zealand, were cut down and later when the gum diggers arrived. After the timber had been cleared, it was found that a very valuable subktance, known as kauri gum, was present in the soil. This is still th| best substance for. making linos and varnishes," added the speaker The gum diggers landed in Dargaville and established themselves all over the 'district. Mr. Nixor said that his own father landec there in December, 1880, from Ir.e-

Land, ^nd in three years he naa saved enough money to buy a farm elsewhere in the North Island. "This illustrates a pont I wanted to make," he went on. "The area was exploited. Once any one made any money they went out oi D^gfivlle, In areas where men are hard working, those who make the most money are the besl workers. So it was in Dargaville The men* who made their monej left the district, leaving behinc them the flotsam of weaker types Thus, not only was the lanc robbed of its natural resources but the population was exploitec also. Among the people wh( rettled the -district were a number of remittance men, some °o: whom made good, but the other; remained as 'deadbeats' of th

society. "After the land had been cleared and the gum taken, the district fell back and gained a bad reputation. Roads were bad, in fact they still are, this being eaused by the early predominence of river transport. The effect. of this was that progress -was held up. When it was settled it was by those who could not afford to settle elsewhere. It was settled by people who -were not, in many cases, of very high intelligence. Then the Dalmatians arrived. They were hard workers and cleared the 'land, built roads an'd. bridges, but did not contribuiemuch to the district's culture. "These facts make it all the more surprising that a community centre beg'&n there," continued the speaker. "The district owes its thanks to a man called Long, who went there in 1942. Mr. A. G. Long read of the Peckham centre in South London, England, where people got medical care which did not come out of a bottle. The idea was to maintain health by providing healthful activities. "Long read about Peckham and 'decided to ' build up some such system in Dargaville. He worked, extremely hai'd, and by his vigour. and enthusiasm got some interest in it. Finally, a committee was set up afid the thing gradually got going. They set to work and: started sn orchestra, choral| society, art class, chess, stamp and sports clubs. Up to this time they . had not received any help from the Government. They took over the- top floor , of the council buildings and made the organisation pay. After a time they asked for Government * help, which was given in 1945." He had been appointed as direcItor of the centre, continued Mr. r Nixon. It had then been decided to set up a constitution, and the commttee had worked out a set of rules and had done very well. "The cu'rious thing about this was when, a year after these rules had been drawn up, some constitutions came in from other pa-rts of the world and they were found to be almost identical with the principles and phrases in the Dargaville constitution."