Timaru Civic Trust: How Blackett’s Lighthouse was saved

Roselyn Fauth | The Timaru Herald August 1, 2026

A column last week considered Blackett’s Lighthouse as part of a navigational landscape shaped by mana whenua knowledge, pilots, harbourmasters, shipwrecks and local stewardship. But its survival was never inevitable.

A file box loaned to me from Phil Brownie labelled H.P.T. preserves the campaign to save it. Inside are newspaper cuttings, notes, photographs and correspondence from the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, now Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga. Today's column shares what I learnt.

By 1970, the lighthouse had ceased to be Timaru’s principal harbour light. It remained at 7 The Terrace, where it had stood since the 1870s, but the Harbour Board wanted freedom to use the land. The Trust’s South Canterbury regional committee pressed for preservation and encouraged discussions with the Harbour Board, Timaru City Council and government agencies.

Some wanted the lighthouse kept on its original site. Others accepted relocation but insisted its future be settled first. Alternative sites were considered.

Ownership of the lighthouse was also uncertain. Government records appeared to show Crown ownership, while the Harbour Board maintained it held the site in fee simple. According to a November 1979 newspaper report, earlier legislation confirmed the board’s title.

Māori Park offered a practical compromise. The lighthouse could continue serving the harbour as the rear leading beacon for vessels entering Timaru.

Responsibility was shared. The Harbour Board contributed to the move, the Harbour Board and city council helped provide the foundation, and the Historic Places Trust funded or co-ordinated much of the restoration. Public agencies supplied labour, equipment and materials.

The lighthouse was moved from its Le Cren Terrace post, where it once looked out over the harbour in August 1980. Moving it was a tricky task. Committee notes record that ropes slipped and part of the balcony broke. Once lifted, hidden deterioration became obvious: rotten piles or bottom plates, decayed balcony planks, damaged cladding, borer, a broken lower window and problems with the lightning conductor.

As you can imagine, as the scope was better understood, the costs rose accordingly. The early estimates of $3000 proved inadequate. Later figures included $4500 for restoration and about $10,000 for the wider project, although the records do not count the same work. By February 1981, committee minutes recorded about $5800 spent, with painting expected to cost another $2200.

The effort was collective of team work. Lands and Survey supplied a worker for initial repairs. The Harbour Board provided tools and materials. The South Canterbury Savings Bank contributed towards paint and brushes. Government painters assisted, while the City Council helped with maintenance.

The file names officials, including trust committee chairman Noel Crawford, but most labourers, welders, painters and tradespeople remain unnamed. Their work deserves recognition, alongside volunteers who wrote letters, attended meetings, researched ownership and kept the issue public.

In 1984, mayor HDL McIver unveiled a noticeboard at Māori Park, marking the restoration and re-siting. The ceremony probably looked to many like the conclusion of a big community-led project, but Brownie’s file reveals years of challenges, compromises, fundraising, and labour behind it.

It was interesting going through the archive and noticing there was little recorded in the news reports about whether mana whenua were consulted over Māori Park, an important silence in an otherwise detailed record. It would be interesting to learn more.

Then after all the challenges and task complete, the lighthouse was in the way again, when the swimming pool on Te Weka St needed space to expand and develop. And so Blackett’s Lighthouse was moved again, to the Benvenue Cliffs in 2010. Today its survival can seem assured. It was not.

The lighthouse we see as one of our icons was fought for. It survived because people cared enough to keep asking questions, finding money, solving problems and doing the work.

​Not all of Blackett's national lighthouses have stood the test of time. Perhaps they have not been as fortunate to be cared for like ours. The lesson I learned from delving into the Heritage Places Trust file box was not just how our lighthouse was saved, but that legacy was also an example of what civic effort can achieve.

Thank you to all those who have been involved and continue to preserve the lighthouse.

Brought to you by the Timaru Civic Trust, celebrating our built heritage and the people who keep it alive.

The Timaru Herald