The Joyce Petchell Park enhancements are to be completed by Christmas by council contractor Fulton Hogan. Raglan Community Board was given this update at its meeting on the 4th December.
Earlier this year, Waikato District Council published construction plans that would have seen almost the whole of Petchell Park turned into a carpark. Following a public outcry, the council changed course and came up with a plan to reseal the existing parking area and tidy up the grass berm. It also undertook discussions with iwi and obtained approval from Heritage NZ for the work.
The Petchell Park area is listed on the NEW ZEALAND ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION’s register as R14/171, Maori Te Awamutu Cavalry Camp Site, Raglan.
The archaeological record says that the area is known as Pipiroa and was a traditional Maori shell gathering area. There are several shell midden exposures along the seaward margin of the area in question. The midden is predominantly very small cockle with sparse pipi and occasional small oven stones. A photo taken in 1877 shows members of the Te Awamutu Cavalry camped on the southern end of the site. The area is known to Raglanites as Joyce Petchell Park. The park commemorates Joyce Petchell, who was Waikato Woman of the Year in 1976. She passed away later that year after a lifetime of community work, including being on the Executive Council of the Plunket Society of NZ. The memorial park was created by the Raglan Lions Club. The Petchell family ran the Raglan supermarket from 1924 until early this century.