BY ROBYN PARKES
At the first meeting of the new Kaiteriteri Domain Board, Sidney Rowling offered the whole of the pine area at Kaiteriteri Bay to be under the jurisdiction of the Board at a nominal rental, an offer that was accepted.
It was agreed that a fixed charge of 5s per week per party for campers be made and 1s per day per party or car for picnickers.
In mid-1936, the Commissioner of Crown Lands informed the Domain Board that if they obtained finance by way of bank overdraft, that money could only be spent on improvements at the domain.
Provision for any monies required for improvements of the beach would have to be made by a separate committee.
Following a general discussion, it was agreed that the members of the Domain Board form themselves into a society, to be known as the Kaiteriteri Beach Improvement Society.
Waimea County Council was approached regarding the Board obtaining jurisdiction over the portion of land between the domain and the sea front, and arrangements for laying on fresh water to the domain was undertaken.
Mrs Hewitt was appointed collector of fees and all persons wishing to camp in the domain had to first apply to her at the store.
Sidney Rowling, with a strong community focus, donated a further piece of land at the eastern end of the bay to the Beach Improvement Society for use for picnickers in September 1936. Bathing sheds were built and an application to the Waimea Power Board was completed, requesting them to install electric lighting.
With caretaking and ongoing improvements there was always the problem of needing the funds to be able to do so.
Various avenues were looked at and one that the board decided on was to offer facilities to the public by means of honorary members’ tickets, at 5 shillings each year, entitling the holders to picnic in the pines, except on gala days, free of cost.
In August 1938 negotiations between the Commissioner of Crown Lands and Rowling were underway for the acquisition and setting aside for recreation purposes the whole of the balance of his area of flat land, together with a proportion of the hillside and water rights at Kaiteriteri Beach. By December the road to Kaiteriteri had been improved and provided good access for motorists.
In 1939 the membership of the Domain Board was extended to include four ex-officio members—the Commissioner of Crown Lands, Nelson, Mayor of Motueka, Waimea County Council chairman, and a representative of the Automobile Association, Nelson. Substantial help was received from the State by way of grants, from the Automobile Association, and from private persons.
The centennial anniversary of the landing of Captain Wakefield at Kaiteriteri was celebrated with a ceremony and the unveiling of a drinking fountain erected within a few yards of the spring from which Wakefield obtained fresh water.
Thanks was given to Rowling for donating the land that the spring was on and to Robert Pattie for building the cairn on Pah Hill.
William Rowling, brother of Sidney, gifted four to five acres of land at Kaka Pah Point in 1942 as part of the centennial memorial to be used as a public reserve.
Kaiteriteri Domain Board had formed with an area of two acres under its control in 1936.
Today the reserve covers 250ha of Crown land that includes Kaiteriteri Beach, Kākā Point Historic Reserve, Kākā Island, Kaiteriteri Estuary, Kaiteriteri Mountain Bike Park and the hills with native bush surrounding the beach and estuary, and is governed by a Reserve Board appointed by the Minister of Conservation.
