Walk #81 1st February 2022
I’d just finished cancer treatment at Palmerston Nth Hospital and decided to celebrate by going for a walk before heading home.
This was one of the more unusual walks from the book. Instead of a walk through the bush, or along the coast, or in the open country, the walk was in a suburb.
Savage Cres is in the book as it’s described as one of the best examples of unaltered early state housing.
One of the key promises of prime minister Michael Joseph Savage was to provide good housing for New Zealand’s working population. The election of his government heralded a boom in state housing that lasted for decades.
Unlike other NZ leaders, this prime minister kept his promises. He got it done. He is worthy of respect. His picture sits on a shelf in prime minister Jacinda Adern’s office. He’d be shocked at how our state housing stock has been sold off by successive governments, and dismayed at the broken promises … promises like Jacinda Adern’s KiwiBuild, which was scrapped in the first year.
I didn’t think much of the suburb. The state houses were sturdy and the gardens were all neatly kept, but the people weren’t all New Zealanders and some were noisy. It didn’t seem like a community. A domestic was going on in one house and the police were at another. I decided to cut the walk short and head back to my car. Just before reaching the park I heard a guy yell out the police were there because a car had been stolen. I hurried back to my own vehicle.
Would I recommend this walk? Yeah nah.
Walk: Manawatu 27
New Zealand Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage – 1938 Speech (Remastered Audio)
KiwiBuild failure is more than a broken promise, it’s a betrayal
NZShortWalks 