Our dedicated space for heritage
Come and check out the Plunket Building 1934, repurposed for heritage displays.
From saving babies to saving a building
In 1934, the Plunket Society in Gisborne opened its Fred Forge-designed, purpose-built premises beside the river in Palmerston Road. Here it stayed until 1996, educating parents and assisting in the health, welfare and development of children. Plunket moved with the times, introducing a car seat rental scheme in 1981 and free advice by telephone in 1994.
In 1996, Plunket’s expansion led to its move to bigger premises. The building was sold to iwi training centre, Turanga Ararau. Unable to move the building as it had hoped, Turanga Ararau put it back on the market.For many years the Plunket Building sat derelict, targeted for demolition, almost forgotten – except by then local heritage group, the Tairāwhiti Branch of Historic Places Trust.
Members raised the importance of preserving the building – not least because it sat in a community precinct of architectural and social significance – with parent entity Historic Places Trust (now Heritage NZ) but to no avail. Seemingly thwarted, the local branch committee formed Tairāwhiti Heritage Trust in 2009, registering as a charity in 2010, with its primary mission being ‘to protect and promote local heritage for future generations in the Tairāwhiti region’.
Finally, there was a vehicle through which
the local branch committee could save the former Plunket Building. The Trust bought the building in 2010 for $1.
Impending changes to the Historic Places Trust Act, under which Historic Places Trust operated, saw all branch committees disestablished in 2012.
Branch committees from many regions including Tairāwhiti were mobilised to continue their mission as advocates for heritage nationally and in their regions. They formed the national organisation Historic Places Aotearoa and then the regions formed their own member organisations.
In late 2012, Historic Places Tairāwhiti became an incorporated society with 15 members and the following year registered as a charity. Historic Places Tairāwhiti changed its name to Heritage Tairāwhiti in 2024.
Today, the four trustees of Tairāwhiti Heritage Trust and 120 members of Heritage Tairāwhiti work closely on heritage matters in the Tairāwhiti/Gisborne region.
