Hello John – it is disappointing the small strip of properties between Pembroke St and Hamilton West school was privatised, In the 1910s Hamilton’s Domain board tried very hard to protect the belt.
“Our first duty is to realise that every inch of our domain lands has been set aside “for recreation purposes,” and nothing else. ... When the late Commissioner of Crown Lands held his enquiry in Hamilton he spoke of these lands as “the glorious heritage of future generations.” It is the sole function of a domain board to preserve and develop this “glorious heritage,” and to see that the people of future generations shall not be robbed of their air spaces, gardens and playgrounds. We, as a domain board have nothing whatever to do with education, religion or commercial undertakings, and we have no right to use the grounds or property entrusted to us for any of these purposes’
Domain board versus Hamilton high school bill - Waikato Argus, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5361, 17 July 1913
Hello John – it is disappointing the small strip of properties between Pembroke St and Hamilton West school was privatised, In the 1910s Hamilton’s Domain board tried very hard to protect the belt.
“Our first duty is to realise that every inch of our domain lands has been set aside “for recreation purposes,” and nothing else. ... When the late Commissioner of Crown Lands held his enquiry in Hamilton he spoke of these lands as “the glorious heritage of future generations.” It is the sole function of a domain board to preserve and develop this “glorious heritage,” and to see that the people of future generations shall not be robbed of their air spaces, gardens and playgrounds. We, as a domain board have nothing whatever to do with education, religion or commercial undertakings, and we have no right to use the grounds or property entrusted to us for any of these purposes’
Domain board versus Hamilton high school bill - Waikato Argus, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5361, 17 July 1913
The 1927 Hamilton map (https://heritage.hamiltonlibraries.co.nz/objects/23732/hamilton-borough) shows most of the southern green belt still existed then. It was taken over and partly developed by Hamilton West School after it moved from what is now WINTEC, about 1940.