Wakatu Ave in Moncks Bay – Formerly Pratt Street. Named after Frederick Pratt (1861-1925). Re-named Wakatu Avenue.Pratt, a lawyer, was elected to the Sumner Borough Council on 24 April 1901 and was mayor of Sumner May 1905-February 1906. His obituary says “he would be remembered as one of the most public-spirited and generous residents who have ever worked for the benefit of the district”. He lived in Nayland Street. Pratt Street is first mentioned in the Star in 1905 when a property is advertised for sale there. First appears in street directories in 1910. Re-named Wakatu Avenue on 1 September 1948 when 120 streets were re-named.
A reasonable amount of information from the library website. Reason for the name change was that there was a Pratt St in North New Brighton. There was at least one letter to the editor complaining about the name change. There was a big amalgamation of councils which is why so many street name changes in 1948.
Because of the number of entries in Papers Past I limited my search to Pratt St Redcliffs so possibly missed some entries. In 1919 there was talk about building a seawall and that was likely the result of the huge high tide flooding in 1918. Flooding continued to be a problem in the following decades. There was at least one case of polio on the street in 1925. The stone tram shelter was nearing completion in 1934 and anyone doing the nearby multi geocache take notice of that date. Lots of death notices plus a few birth notices. In 1950s and 1960s there were lots of complaints about the state of the road plus the traffic. This street and nearby streets had a huge problem when there were sailing regattas on at the nearby yacht club. There had been a rifle range used by the army near both Bay View Rd and Wakatu Ave but this was closed in 1947. In 1951 the army wanted to do tank training on this land but the locals protested. There was an issue with drainage on this land which caused flooding on nearby streets. The locals wanted either a park or a reserve on the land.
I was surprised that there are 82 houses on this street as when I walked it the other evening I wouldn’t have expected this number of houses. I looked at google maps and there are a lot of houses on back sections. The houses cover every decade from 1910 onwards with a big cluster built in 1970s. A large number were built between 1910 and 1925 and many are still lovely places. There is one 1910 cottage that has been ruined by the way the has been modernised. My friends will be shocked but I actually quite liked a couple of modern houses. I quite liked the street and yes I did say hello to the the large lion statue that was beside a driveway. If anyone actually sees me when I am walking the streets yes I do make comments about the houses that I see. So if you see an older woman stop and say that is gorgeous or god that is so ugly I am actually quite harmless.
Lytteltonwitch's Walking the streets of Christchurch Project 