Steve Lowndes, who has lived in the settlement for 25 years, wants to see its heritage better recognised by visitors.
“There are 40 or 50 cars here any weekend day and a lot of the visitors don’t know what they’re missing,” he said.
He has proposed building an open-sided, whare-style structure near the Birdlings Flat car park. It would house 10 information panels outlining the area’s history, amenities and natural environment.
“Probably an iron roof standing on six telegraph poles,” he said.
The panels would trace Birdlings Flat’s history, beginning with its geological formation and volcanic origins.
They would then cover Waitaha, the earliest Māori in the area.
“They were superseded by Ngāti Māmoe, who established themselves across the lake from Birdlings Flat at a pā site called Ngutu Piri, they would’ve occupied that from about 1500 to 1750,” he said.
“When Ngāi Tahu came along, they dislodged Ngāti Māmoe and built another pā which is called Ōruaka.’’
The panels would also cover early European settlement, when hardwood timber was felled and ferried to Christchurch to build some of the city’s earliest structures.
The Birdlings Flat settlement was laid out in 1882 on a pā site called Te Mata Hapuku, meaning “the face of the groper”.
This is because it is believed there was a large groper hole used by Māori for fishing.
The settlement was originally intended to be called Seaforth.
“The idea was that the train from Christchurch would come and stop at Birdlings Flat Station and people would spend the weekend by the sea, but it never really took off. It didn’t take off at all, in fact,” Lowndes said.
“Then people came and built baches for hunting and fishing, and these were all illegally constructed. All the sections have evolved slowly but now they’re all virtually built on.
“The population here has grown from about 40 or 50, 25 years ago to 250 (now).”
In te reo Māori, the settlement is called Pōranui, meaning “big flat”, a name given in 1909 by the post office.
Lowndes, who was elected ECan chair in 2016 and served for three years before retiring in 2019, is working with fellow resident Patsy Gibson to gain support for the project.
He presented the idea to the Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū Banks Peninsula Community Board at a meeting last week and has also notified Wairewa Rūnanga. The project will be presented to its marae committee.
“They’re all very enthusiastic. I think it’s got the legs – everybody who hears about it thinks it’s a very good idea,” he said.
The next step is to estimate the cost of the whare so funding applications can begin.
Lowndes does not have a timeline for completion.
“It will happen when it happens,” he said.
