History of Howick & Districts in good hands

On Saturday I attended the Annual General Meeting of Howick and Districts Historical Society, alongside Howick Local Board Chair Bruce Kendall, Members Adele White, Jack Collins, and John Spiller. The Society is the guardian of 30+ historical buildings located at the Howick Historical Village, Bell House, and Hawthorne Dene, plus an incredible collection of local historical items and documents.

The Howick Local Board provides funding for the operation of the historical village through our work programme, recognising the importance of recording and sharing local history. This year we increased this to $450k (up from $373k) to help with ongoing operations.

Unfortunately, the nature of historical buildings and artifacts is that they need constant maintenance and care, with extra complexity of meeting heritage standards. The Society has reluctantly put a non-heritage portion of Hawthorne Dene property up for sale to ensure their future viability.

The good news is that the visitor numbers to the Historical Village continue to climb, well past their pre-pandemic numbers. New events and activities continue to bring more people and it was fascinating to see that between their school programmes, live days, and events they’ve had visitors from every part of Auckland. None of this has been easy and it’s a testament to the incredible mahi (work) of General Manager Lexie Palmer-Gapper and her awesome team of staff and volunteers.

Congratulations to President Kathy Kennedy and her amazing dedicated volunteer board for their ongoing stewardship of this important part of our local history.

Find out more about these unique places and opportunities to support the work they do here: https://www.historicalvillage.org.nz/