Trams played the starring role in inter-city transport in early twentieth century New Zealand, buses, first introduced into New Zealand in 1904, were cast into a supporting role. Few of the largely private operators of bus companies could compete with the tram and so their services were relegated to the outer edges of cities. They provided links between tram networks and direct routes to isolated areas where cost prohibited the laying of tramlines. Legislation passed in 1913 allowed local authorities to establish motor bus services. Few took up the opportunity and early bus operators remained largely privately owned. In 1926, however, the Control of Motor Omnibuses Act was passed. This Act required bus owners to register their vehicles and, as local authorities became licensing authorities, many local authorities began to buy out the private owners. Although they would not come into widespread use until after the Second World War, from this point onwards, the role of buses increased and, in post-World War II New Zealand, would finally replace the tram on the public transport stage.
An early example of a site where buses, not trams, predominated, can be found in Eastbourne, a settlement located across the harbour from Wellington city. Because of its remote location, Eastbourne has always considered its connection with the Hutt Valley and Wellington to be vital to its growth, both as a resort and commuter suburb. Yet it was not economically feasible to lay tramlines through to the outlying area. Access was provided primarily by the private excursion ferry services established by Captain 'Bully' Williams [1832-1890] in 1886. The ferry service became daily in 1901 and, in 1913, the Eastbourne Borough Council purchased it.
Around this period the firm Sievers & Bosher began providing transport services to ferry passengers between the wharf and Eastbourne. When the road from Eastbourne to Wellington was upgraded in 1925, the firm began providing a real alternative to the ferries, starting a regular Eastbourne-to-Wellington bus service with three Dodge motorbuses. While the terminus was the Eastbourne Public Library, the service operated from large 'stables' on the corner of Muritai Road and Karamu Street. In Wellington, commuters or picnickers caught the Eastbourne bus at the Hotel Cecil corner, by the Wellington Railway Station.
To stop this service from denting the profitability of the popular ferries, the EBC offered to buy the Eastbourne Bus Company from Sievers & Bosher. On obtaining ratepayers' approval, the EBC raised a loan for £8000 and purchased the service in early 1927. The EBC also purchased two buses to add to the eight then in operation. The makes of the buses included Graham/Dodges, Minervas, Willy Knights and Leyland (Tiger and Lion) marques.
Foreseeing the future profitability of the bus service (its income overtook the three ferry boats in 1938) the EBC decided in 1937 to raise another loan for 'a suitable building for use as an omnibus garage and workshop with staff quarters and accommodation' just beyond the bus terminus at Tawa Street. In the past, private bus companies had traditionally operated from a motley collection of converted shops, offices and garages. However, as local authorities and large operators such as NZR Road Services began consolidating smaller companies into their public transport networks, purpose-built workshops and terminals became more common. However, the Eastbourne proposal was notable for its size and facilities, which reflected the central role of buses in transport to the borough.
The 'Omnibus Garage Loan' was originally to be £5,000, but was increased to £6,000 the following month, after a revision of the building costs. A poll of ratepayers on 22 Sept 1937 supported the idea (195 voting for, 44 against) and, once Government gave its permission, the 10-year loan was raised. The loan was raised from State Advances Corporation, at an interest rate of 3.5% per annum. As well as issuing debentures to help pay for the loan, a special rate was levied the following year from ratepayers (of 5/12th of a penny in the pound) to pay the "interest and other charges".
The site chosen for the Garage was south of the town on Muritai Road, round Point Arthur, in Korohiwa Bay, near the place where a road departed over the hill to Gollan's Valley. This point was later named Burdan's Gate after early farming settlers, the Burdan family. The land was then part of the Eastbourne Domain, but was transferred into EBC ownership 'as from 6 October 1940'.
Between Burden's Gate and the proposed building site was a motor camp. The actual building site had an early use as the dump for the borough's night soil cart, a practise that only ended when the sewerage system was laid in the mid 1930s. The presence of contaminated soil would account for a council resolution to pay 'dirt money' to the men employed on drain construction on the new garage site, which was underway by March 1938.
C. H. Mitchell and A. H. Mitchell, Wellington-based architects, drew plans for the reinforced concrete building. A Clerk of Works was hired by the borough at £8 per week to oversee the concrete work. In addition, the road from the terminus at Tawa Street to the bus garage was widened and rebuilt. The work on the building was carried out by builder D. Daily, and was substantively finished in March 1939. The cost of the completed building was about £3,000 more than the £6,000 borrowed for it, the balance being found out of revenue.
The Town Clerk, Cliff Bishop, made the arrangements for the formal opening of the new Omnibus Garages. With flags flying, the Minister of Transport Bob Semple declared the completed facility in use on 24 May 1939 by merely 'opening the door'. At the opening, the Mayor, Mr E. W. Wise, estimated that the bus service would carry 500,000 passengers that year.
The bus service and bus culture had become part of Eastbourne's unique identity and the Omnibus Garage became an integral part and a central symbol of that culture. The borough's strong emphasis on its bus link with the Hutt and Wellington was illustrated a few months after the opening in the centennial publication "Sunny Eastbourne: the Playground Suburb", written by Town Clerk and bus service General Manager Cliff Bishop. Bishop wrote 'In controlling the Motor Omnibus and Harbour Ferry Service, the EBC has responsibilities far beyond those usually associated with local bodies of its size'. The booklet profiled the 'new bus garage... recently opened' and devoted over a quarter of its 52 pages to promoting the bus service as a means of commuting or accessing Eastbourne's leisure opportunities.
The Omnibus Garage and bus services were of particular importance during the Second World War. During the war, the ferry services were reduced as Muritai was taken for use as a minesweeper. To compensate, EBC re-employed the firm Mitchell & Mitchell to create new garage facilities on site. Built around a timber frame, the new structures were clad in stucco and had flat, sloping roofs. The EBC also established a new service between Eastbourne and Petone Railway Station.
From 1948, until 1989, the ferry service stopped completely, increasing the borough's dependence on its bus service. To compensate for the loss of ferry transport, the EBC had increased its fleet to 23 buses, with a similar increase in drivers. Workshop staff was doubled to eight. The expansion meant that the EBC had to improve the facilities at the Garage. The toilet facility (one cubicle and basin), was considered inadequate for the increased number of staff, and the union considered the lighting and ventilation in the workshop insufficient. The Building Controller Advisory Committee deferred an extension to the building but painting and minor maintenance was carried out by contractors such as P. M. Cheyne & Sons. In 1956 the firm Mitchell & Mitchell was re-employed. The firm created a larger W.C by accessioning part of the storage area and converted part of the former paint workshop into a locker room.
In the 1960s, the EBC also increased the accommodation facilities. It acquired flats that had been used as transit housing in ex-Army buildings during the war and relocated them on a site to the south of the Garage. Around this period a concrete block extension was added to the south elevation to create more workshop space.
By the 1980s the role of the Omnibus Garages changed. A new interchange was established at Waterloo and it took over workshop responsibilities, making the new bus workshop and outbuildings at Eastbourne redundant. In 1989, as part of the local authority reorganisations, the EBC was absorbed into Hutt City Council. The Eastbourne Bus Company service came under Hutt City Council administration. Negotiations between the Council and the bus company over the Omnibus Garage continued until 1992, when the bus company board accepted responsibility for all maintenance of the building, in return for a peppercorn rental of the premises from HCC ($1 per annum, renewable annually). Cityline took over management of the bus service and garage when HCC sold the Eastbourne Bus Company in 1992. That year, the bus garage building was valued at $330,000, the seven blocks of flats at $700,000, and the 18-bus fleet at $1.039 million.
By the Millennium, the future of the Omnibus garages and outbuildings were under question. As early as 1996, the Hutt City Council had mooted plans to sell the blocks of flats and redevelop the land, but had met opposition from residents. In 2001 the Hutt City Council proposed to sell the land, as part of proposed redevelopment known as the 'Korohiwa development'. Three years later, in 2004, the outbuildings, which were in a very decayed state, were demolished. This left just one of the detached structures on-site, namely the pair of concrete ramps near the Butterfly Creek, which buses were driven up on to for steam cleaning. The three accommodation flats over the Omnibus Garage traditionally occupied by bus company employees were also left vacant. In 2005 the Hutt City Council issued a permit to 'remove' the bus garage, workshop and offices in their entirety as part of the redevelopment plan. Local residents protested and formed a group under the name 'Eastbourne Rights'. In August 2005, their efforts prompted the HCC to halt the development in order to allow the group to put forward alternative proposals for the land. These alternative proposals were rejected in December 2005 and the future of the Omnibus Garages, once so central to Eastbourne's identity, remains uncertain.
