Ask Phoebe: Dedwood a stage in Ponsonby's history

Cabbage Tree Swamp became Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham. Photo / NZ Herald Archive

Enough of the road problems, let's have something interesting. In early Auckland electoral rolls, some people gave their places of abode as Dedwood, Cabbage Tree Swamp, Hobson's Bridge and Township of Cotele. Where exactly would these places have been in the city, Super or otherwise?
Michael Cummins, Tauranga.

Dedwood was apparently the old name for Ponsonby, and was one of the first areas settled by Europeans as Auckland became established. It may have been the name of one of those early families.

Cabbage Tree Swamp was an easy one, as I live nearby. The Gribble family farmed on what was called Cabbage Tree Swamp in Sandringham Rd from 1855 until their departure for the goldfields in Thames and Waihi. They returned in 1884 to farm pigs on the swamp, but the farm was successively subdivided from 1891 to 1933 to allow for the increasing need for residential areas.

In 1930 the Gribble and Hirst families donated a significant part of the farm to Mt Albert Borough Council for a recreational area. Depression-era workers drained the swamp to create what we now know as Gribblehirst Park. The narrow road through the park is still known as Cabbage Tree Swamp Drive.

Hobson's Bridge was part of early Newmarket. In 1842 Epsom Rd, later called Parnell Rd, was formed, running from the bottom of town up to Parnell and beyond. In 1845 Khyber Pass Rd was formed, and where Khyber Pass meets Broadway was known as Hobson's Bridge. It referred to a small wooden bridge that crossed Hobson's Creek, more or less where the railway line passes the Olympic Swimming Pool. That a very small bridge was the most noteworthy landmark in the area gives some idea of the empty nature of the landscape.

And Cotele was part of what is now Newton, and was probably named after a house built there in the late 1880s.

Who owns the footpath and roadway outside a residential property? We have ongoing problems with a neighbour who insists that he owns the footpath and road directly outside his property and is most upset if anyone puts their rubbish bins there. We live in units at the end of a cul-de-sac where there is no other space, especially on recycling days. Sue Brookland, Waterview.

The footpath and roadway, and berm if there is one, belong to the council. Your neighbour owns the area contained within the boundaries of his surveyed property, as specified in the title deed, and no more. He cannot stop you putting your bins outside his home, if there is nowhere else for them.

We regularly travel from the city to the North Shore via Curran St. We always obey the posted 30km/h signs which start towards the bottom of the hill and continue on to the onramp. We think we're doing the right thing but are regularly tooted at by impatient drivers, and have been subjected to road rage. Are we right?
Pene Ashby, Birkenhead.

Yes, you are. Any temporary speed sign takes precedence over the normal speed limit. If it says 30km/h, that's the speed limit.