Page 179 - Constructing Craft

The case of the Gregorys

Furthermore, craftspeople who were not members of the CCNZ could expect little

direct support, even if their difficulties with local government could have set a
precedent that all craftspeople might have benefited from. An example is the case

of R. S. & M. P. Gregory, who battled with the Hawke’s Bay County Council
between 1977 and 1979 to advertise pottery for sale on their rural property. The

Gregorys made traditional utilitarian pottery and were unlikely to have been
members of the CCNZ, which was often seen as the organisation that represented

the ‘top’ craftspeople, or even the NZSP, where membership was restricted to

craftspeople whose work had been selected for the NZSP’s annual exhibitions. The
Gregorys already had permission to advertise and sell farm produce from their

property but the conditions of their consent to establish a pottery did not permit the
advertising of pottery. During their attempts to have the condition changed, the

Gregorys exhausted all available means, including letters to cabinet ministers. The
CCNZ in 1978 could give only most minimal support because, as the President,

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Dorothy Pascoe advised, they lacked the resources to even respond to queries.
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The CCNZ managed, in 1979, to offer a letter of support. What is particularly
striking about this case was that while the CCNZ could only provide negligible

assistance craftspeople were receiving enthusiastic support from the wider

community.

Support for Craftspeople Spreads

By late 1979 the position of crafts within town planning rules had become news in

the Hawke’s Bay region and was starting to build momentum as an issue where a
national craft organisation could have shown leadership. As a result of the Gregory

case there was some support from the Hastings City Council, which appeared to be

taking a more conciliatory position than the Hawke’s Bay County Council – the area
the Gregorys lived in. The local newspaper, The Hawke’s Bay Herald-Tribune,

congratulated the Hastings City Council on its enlightened approach and mildly
rebuked the Hawke’s Bay County Council: ‘The Hastings City Council’s sympathetic

Constructing Craft