Looking Back at Te Koutu / Lake Te Koo Utu

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Lake Te Koo Utu (formerly called Te Koutu) is one of Cambridge’s most loved green spaces and its history is layered with stories of flourishing Māori communities, followed by town community effort, vision, and a fair bit of hard work.

In the 1950s, a dedicated group of locals rolled up their sleeves to improve the lake and its surroundings. Their efforts, ranging from road building and planting projects to ambitious fundraising drives, left a lasting mark on the park we know today. Company names are show in bold below.

In this letter, written by Frank Herbert “Bert” Short, Bert recalls his involvement with the Cambridge Domain Board and the Lake Improvement Committee. His memories give us a glimpse into a time when the community came together with generosity, resourcefulness, and even the occasional “payment” in ale, to shape Te Koo Utu Lake and its surroundings.

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Looking back at Te Koutu / Lake Te Koo Utu

Written by Bert Short, date unknown

My earliest association with Te Koutu Park was as a member of the now defunct Cambridge Domain Board – firstly, with Mr. S. [Sam] Lewis as Chairman, and then with the late Mr. W. Cubis. We administered the Domain lands, that is, the five chain area that encircles the Borough of Cambridge. With funds available, we did what could be done in Cambridge and Leamington Domains. After World War II, the Domain lands was taken over and administered by the Cambridge Borough Council.

 

Cambridge Jaycees and the Lake Improvement Committee

In the early 1950s the Cambridge Jaycees called a public meeting to see what could be done to improve the Te Koutu Lake area. The Lake Committee was formed. In the next ten years a great deal was achieved.

• A road was cut from Albert Street entrance to the causeway area of the lake by Lewis Hoyle Contracting – no charge.
• J.D. Wallace Contracting spent a week clearing and burning tree tops in this area, and cleared a road around the lake – 100. 0. 0.
• Draglining by I. MacDonald to make a parking area by causeway -/100. 0. 0.
• To stabilize the edge of this area, 200 yards of rotten rock was delivered and placed by Karāpiro Quarry – no charge.
• About this time Duke Street Hill was lowered and over 1,000 yards of filling was delivered to this site by the Ministry of Works – no charge.
• J.D. Wallace Contracting levelled graded this filling – no charge.
• The entrance from Albert Street to this area was restricted by a large open drain. The drain was re-aligned and machine dug to a depth of 16′ by Mr. P. Hulse no charge. (Pipes were supplied by the Lake Improvement Committee and Leamington Concrete Works – half price – and laid by Council staff.)
• The Lake Improvement Committee raised extensive funds from paper drives (about ten Borough collections a year). Trucks from E. H. Cochrane Ltd., Cambridge Transport Ltd., and L.Y. Loy & Son were always available – no charge. The drives were manned by Jaycees, Cambridge Rotary, volunteers. About $75 0. 0 was an average receipt. These drives went on for about ten years.

 

The Cambridge Beautifying Society was also very active in these years, and gave freely in cash and trees to various projects. The most successful were the Camellia Garden, native planting at Albert Street entrance and the kauris at the same entrance. for

A notable clearing as for the Camellia Garden. The biggest crawler tractor to visit Cambridge for some time was observed one night on its transporter. It was “borrowed” and six dead Macrocarpa trees – very large – were removed: charge two dozen ale.

It took Council staff and trucks a week to remove these trees. Courtneys Mill staff spent several nights after work cutting these trees into movable chunks – no charge.

All these years e had great help from the Borough foreman, Mr. M. Wootten, with trucks and tractors, and manpower if they were available.

We always had a tractor blade available from Walsh Motors – no charge.

The Lake Improvement Committee and Beautifying Society planted well over 1,000 trees during this period but we did not have the follow-up care that was necessary. Apart from Albert Street entrance plantings and Camellia Garden, which were well maintained, few survived.

 

Looking ahead with gratitude

I hope any new planting will benefit from our mistakes. If adequate after care does not follow this project will be just another in the long saga of Te Koutu Lake.

So many people in so many ways have tried to help this unique beauty spot. It deserves the greatest encouragement.

My apologies to all whom I have not mentioned who helped in those years of the Lake Improvement Committee and the Beautifying Society efforts, farmers with tractors, farmers with spades and slashers, Cambridge business community, Cambridge residents, and Council staff.

The last contribution from the Lake Improvement Committee was to hand over its remaining funds ($1100.00) by the Chairman, the late Mr. E. Haydon, to the Cambridge Borough Council for use, if possible, to be spent at Te Koutu Lake.

 

About Bert Short