Abstract:
At the turn of the century the Borough of Wanganui was a thriving and rapidly expanding community with over eight thousand souls scattered over a wide area near the mouth of that great natural highway used by the Maori for centuries and by the European for seven decades.
The site of the settlement occupied part of the floor of a wide river valley with enclosing hills to the north and south. Originally the floor of the valley consisted of an expanse of sand-dunes alternating with areas of swamp. The swamp areas have disappeared, except for the large Balgownie swamp near Castlecliff, but the sand still remains, particularly to the seaward side of the city. There was no real topographical obstacle to the spread of settlement and it is fully evident that Wanganui has spread over its river valley site in a very uneconomic way through an initial lack of any town planning and through a desire on the part of settlers to be free from rates outside the borough boundary. In justice to the New Zealand Company it should be mentioned that, in a map of the "County Sections in the District of Wanganui" dated April 6, 1842 the town streets and sections are drawn to a geometrical nicety; while the "Plan of the Town of Petre", dated about 1848 is a model of planning. There was, however, no effective control over the spread of settlement and there tended to be an up and down river extension. Another factor influencing the spread of settlement was the late opening up for settlement of the two hundred and forty five acres of town land which was granted to Bishop Selwyn to be used as an endowment for educational purposes.
