Matai Street East/ Matai Street West in the suburb of Riccarton, Christchurch

Matai Street East / Matai Street West – formerly Matai Street. Also Station Road, Railway Terrace and Riccarton Station Road. Named after the matai tree, a native New Zealand conifer. Named to commemorate the Deans families’ efforts to conserve the native forest trees in Riccarton. The naming was also designed to showcase the Maori names of trees. Named in 1892 when John Deans (1853-1902) split up 150 acres of the Deans Estate into 105 lots which were auctioned. Referred to as “formed and opened up” in The Press in 1898. The eastern end of Matai Street first appears in street directories in 1902 running off Harakeke Street to the northern railway. In 1896 directories, Station Road runs from the West Belt (later Deans Avenue) to Riccarton Road. In 1910 it is re-named Railway Terrace; in 1914 it is Station Road again. In 1915 the Riccarton Borough Council decided that Station Road and Railway Terrace should be renamed under one name, Railway Terrace. The other portion of Station Road was re-named Matai Street. Re-named Matai Street East and Matai Street West by the Riccarton Borough Council in 1984, but the listing in street directories is for Matai Street only until 1993.

A huge amount of information from the library website and all the name changes are confusing.Nothing that I can add here.

The east and west is split by Mona Vale Ave. Christchurch Girls High School now takes up an entire block of Matai St East and personally I think it looks so ugly. I am obviously biased towards the wonderful building in Cranmer Square which sadly has been demolished. The school is built on land where Riccarton Mill used to sit.
Matai Street West has a mixture of new and old houses. A few older wooden villas which I love. At least one ugly toilet block style here. There is a cycleway here that joins up with a bigger cycleway that runs along side of the railway line. There is a fence between cycleway and train track.
There is a fantastic looking brick building near the railway end of Matai Street West and I googled it. It is the Britten Stables and the new owners have turned it into luxury accommodation. A bit too expensive for this oldie who likes to stay at YHAs. I am amused to see on the airbnb website that it is Britten Stables Observertory.