Powell Cresent in Ilam – Named after Robert Frederick James Powell (1902- 1976). Powell was head auctioneer, then inspector, for Pyne, Gould, Guinness Ltd. One of the streets developed in the 1960s by Maurice R. Carter Ltd., a company which built 138 houses in a block of land off Grahams Road bought from the PGG superannuation fund. Named Wavell Street in 1961 by the Waimairi County Council but this name was never used. Powell Crescent first appears in street directories in 1966.
A reasonable amount of information from the library website and nothing that I can add about the name of the street. Papers Past mostly only had ads for sections and houses for sale. Most houses were built in the 1960s and are made of brick. Some were made from something called Roman brick. I had to google it and the modern Roman brick is longer than the normal brick. Many of the houses had a double garage in front with the house on top. The subdivision was called Glenburn subdivision. A pleasant tree lined street and one house stood out because of the shape. I can’t think of a way to describe it.
Lytteltonwitch's Walking the streets of Christchurch Project 