Leo Cooney, Horowhenua Mayor Bernie Wanden, Roading Services Manager James Wallace, Roading Project Engineer Xitij Sakhalkar, and Deputy Mayor Jo Mason at the Jack Line Memorial rededication.
Leo Cooney, Horowhenua Mayor Bernie Wanden, Roading Services Manager James Wallace, Roading Project Engineer Xitij Sakhalkar, and Deputy Mayor Jo Mason at the Jack Line Memorial rededication.
A former local identity who was prepared to dig deep into his own pockets for what he believed has had those efforts remembered with the laying of a small plaque in the middle of Levin this morning.
As deputy mayor of Horowhenua at the time, the late Jack Lines, MBE, lobbied hard and spent his own money to have a roundabout built at the intersection of Queen and Cambridge Sts in the 1970s.
At that time the intersection was notorious for crashes and Lines, having spent time overseas, was adamant a roundabout was the solution to saving lives.
An old photo of former Horowhenua Mayor Jack Bolderson and Jack Lines at the roundabout site.
But the powers that be took a lot of convincing as roundabouts were a relatively new thing at the time, so to speed things up Lines stumped up $5000 to get it rolling.
There was a catch though - his money was only good for a year - a condition that ensured the roundabout project moved along quickly.
Current mayor of Horowhenua Bernie Wanden said it was staggering to think the proposal was initially rejected as the number of cars required to warrant a roundabout back then was 1400 per day
Wanden said there was now an average of 25,000 vehicle movements each day at the roundabout. He himself used it "at least" twice each day.
"Jack Lines was a staunch advocate for this district and its very interesting to think he put his money where his mouth was. He was fantastic community-minded deputy mayor and councillor and a lot of things he did went unheralded, in many ways," he said.
To put the $5000 donation into perspective, it would be the equivalent of $50,000 in today's money.
The late Jack Lines, MBE.
After negotiating with the National Roads Board (NRB) it was agreed that the board would contribute $28,000, which represented half the cost the roundabout, and the full cost of lighting.
The roundabout was reported to cost $12,000, so the cost to the ratepayer was to be $6000. But with Lines' pledge of $5000, the burden on ratepayers was just $1000.
The roundabout was officially opened on Thursday, March 21, 1985. It has recently been revamped and redesigned, hence the need for a rededication of the plaque and the renaming of the Jack Line Memorial Roundabout.
Those who knew him, like former associate Leo Cooney, said he was an outstanding man with the will and the energy to serve his community and get things done.
Cooney said Lines was a borough councillor, deputy mayor, Rotarian and businessman, and described him as a visionary.
He thanked Wanden, deputy mayor Jo Mason, and the Horowhenua District Council staff for their efforts in rededicating the Jack Lines plaque near the roundabout.
Lines was awarded an MBE for service to the community in 1988. He died after a short illness in 1993.
