Home
Welcome to the Broad Bay Community Centre website. You can find out more about our village hall and what happens there below. You may also be interested in finding out more about the people who live in Broad Bay or have links to the place.
About the Broad Bay Community Centre
The Broad Bay Community Centre Committee administers and maintains the Broad Bay Hall and grounds through its regular meetings. Committee members voluntarily provide the energy and know-how for many projects, and the necessary fundraising for general running costs. In recent years, events have included: community dinners and dances, weddings, funerals, birthday parties, auctions and fundraisers, dance and yoga classes, youth nights, music lessons, support groups, candidate forums, garage sales, plays, food trucks, biodiversity sessions, etc.
Broad Bay Hall decorated for a wedding in 2022.
The Hall is available for any group or individual to hire. For instance: the Broad Bay Bowling Club met here regularly; local groups hold regular committee meetings in the hall or Etheridge Rooms; Broad Bay School puts on plays, quiz nights, end of year ceremonies, etc; individuals hold birthday parties, weddings, funerals, and classes there; DCC information sessions are offered for local residents; and there are regular community gatherings and market days.
The hall set up for the historic photo exhibition and vintage afternoon teas in 2023.
About Broad Bay
Broad Bay, on the Otago Peninsula, is formed of two bays, Broad Bay and Turnbull’s Bay (originally Smith’s Bay), in the shadow of the Harbour Cone. Wandering Maori used the Bay in the past, with cooking ovens on the slopes, whares on the shore, and place names. The first Crown Grant Sections were taken up by European settlers in the 1860s, mostly for family farms: by 1884, there were 19 dairy farmers, and an average attendance of 26 at the Broad Bay School (founded in 1877).
William Larnach used the Bay to offload effects and materials for the building of his ‘Castle’, transporting them up the hill to his ‘Camp’ on a bridle track which became ‘Camp Rd’. The early farmers would boat their produce ‘up the river’ to Dunedin. When the area became a holiday playground around the turn of the century, many Dunedin people came back ‘down the river’ to spend their festival days or holidays.
Some of Dunedin’s leading families built holiday homes. Many a time the Harbour ferries would be full to overflowing, especially when attending the New Year Regattas, held for many years. The ferries also had the job of delivering the growing Peninsula population to and from work in the city. Wharves were constructed at Ross Point and at the present site, the first being a ‘short wharf, followed by the ‘long wharf, which went away out into the channel: it was a long, long walk on a wet day.
The road was completed in pieces, using prisoners from the Land Wars in the North Island, Chinese Coolie gangs, and road workers. The stone wall is a continuing tribute to their skill.
Weir ran the ferry Moerangi until 1909, when she was taken over by the Peninsula Ferry Co Ltd,
of which Weir was an initial director.
The community store was on the corner of Harington Point Rd and James St (now Portobello Rd and Clearwater St). It was developed into a 2-storey shop in 1925, which later had petrol pumps attached at the front, and a bakery on the side. It finally ceased trading as a store in 1971. This above shows a crowds outside the store on a busy regatta day.
In October 2023 an exhibition celebrating 175 years of official settlement in Broad Bay was held:
Broad Bay – Whaka Oho Rahi – Looking Back, Moving Forward. As part of this we collected stories from people who live in Broad Bay or have a connection to this place. To find out more about this historic exhibition and to read the stories, check out the links below.
