The History of Lees Grove

Lees Grove was named during the 1950s, apparently after Andrew Lees (1872–1932), a financial backer of Wainui-o-mata Development Limited. Lees lived at Okaiawa in Taranaki and never resided in Wainuiomata. Company records show that he held a Class A bond valued at £110, with £10 paid on 27 May 1929. The street therefore commemorates an investor in Wainuiomata’s proposed development rather than a local resident.

Wainui-o-mata Development Limited was established in the late 1920s after acquiring extensive farmland around Fitzherbert Road, Wainuiomata Road and Main Road. The company planned to transform the largely rural valley into a garden suburb, connected to the Hutt Valley by a road tunnel.

The scheme was partly financed through bonds, with investors promised rights to residential sections. Construction of the proposed tunnel began in January 1932 but stopped after approximately 330 metres because of financial difficulties during the Depression. Although subdivision plans had been prepared and sections pegged out, land sales did not begin until 1941, and the eventual development followed a different layout.

Several other Wainuiomata streets, including Hine Road and Stanley Street, were also named after directors, bondholders and supporters of the development company who did not necessarily live in the valley.

Petite Bois Farm

Before Lees Grove became a residential street, much of the surrounding land formed part of Petite Bois Farm, owned by Leonard (Len) Percival Apperley (1887–1988). The farm was situated near the present-day intersection of Lees Grove and Hay Street.

The name Petite Bois, meaning “Little Wood” in French, reflected Apperley’s service in France during the First World War. The farmhouse incorporated part of an older building known as Grovedale, originally associated with the Wood family near present-day Waiū Street and dating from the nineteenth century.

The surrounding hills once contained substantial stands of native timber. During the 1920s, timber from the property was milled for construction of the Ōrongorongo water-supply tunnel. The farmhouse survived the development of the surrounding neighbourhood but was destroyed by fire in 1978.

The Hillside Fire and Old Timber Track

A local recollection by Carl Smith describes a bushfire that swept across the southern hillside above Lees Grove during the early 1960s. After the scrub had burned away, an old sledge track reportedly became visible across the hillside.

According to Smith, Apperley had constructed the track to haul tawa timber down towards Holland Street. The timber was supplied to the local cheese factory, where it was burned to heat the boiler.

Smith also recalls a second old farmhouse near the upper end of Reid Road, suggesting that the area retained traces of its earlier farming settlement well into the period of residential development.

Fernlea School

The rapid expansion of housing during the 1950s and 1960s brought increasing numbers of families to Lees Grove and the surrounding streets.

Fernlea Primary School opened in February 1963 at 25A Lees Grove to serve the growing neighbourhood. Its name reflects the ferns that once covered much of the surrounding land, a feature still evident in the nearby native bush and Fern Gully which is accessible via Fern Gully Track.

The school became an established part of the community as the former farmland was transformed into residential streets.

The Former Lees Grove Dairy

Another familiar feature of the neighbourhood was Alway Stores, a dairy situated at the corner of Lees Grove and Hay Street, recorded as 9 Lees Grove or 25 Hay Street.

The shop operated from the 1960s until the late 1990s, serving local residents for several decades. A photograph taken around 1978 shows the dairy with its distinctive Alway Stores sign and advertising for Tip Top ice cream and other products.

The building remained standing for several years after the business closed before eventually being demolished. The site is now residential housing.

Lees Grove Track

The bush-covered hills remain an important feature of Lees Grove. The Lees Grove Track begins between numbers 72 and 74 Lees Grove and climbs towards the Rātā Ridge Track and Mt Lowry, providing access to the Northern Forest section of East Harbour Regional Park. The track itself was named after the street.

The area was also the scene of a search and rescue operation in July 2019, when a father and his two daughters, aged 11 and 14, became lost while attempting to walk from Lees Grove to Days Bay. After spending a cold night in the bush, the three were found unharmed near the Kōwhai Track the following morning.

Credits

Special thanks to Jeremy Foster for some information in this article.
Special thanks to Tararua Tramping Club for some information in this article.
Special thanks to Carl Smith for some information in this article.

Related:

Lees Grove Track →

East Harbour Regional Park →

More Wainuiomata Roads →