Lower Hutt

Lower Hutt is a city in the lower North Island of New Zealand. It is also known as Hutt City which is the name adopted by the City Council ("Hutt City Council"), but currently not accepted by the NZ Geographic Board or recognised in the Local Government Act.

The alternative name is confusing, as there are two cities in the Hutt Valley, Lower Hutt and its neighbour Upper Hutt. Upper Hutt City Council objects to the name of Hutt City adopted by the Hutt City Council. Neither should the city be confused with the former Hutt County, from which much of modern Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt was formed.

Lower Hutt forms part of the Wellington Region. It is the ninth-largest city in New Zealand in population terms, and covers an area of 380 km².

Geography

The city is centred on the lower (southern) valley of the Hutt River, to the northeast of Wellington City. The valley widens as the river nears its mouth, meaning that the central urban area of the city is triangular, with its widest point being at the shoreline. In the upper reaches of the city, the twin ranges of the Western and Eastern Hutt Hilsl become closer, culminating in the narrowing known as Taita Gorge at the northern end of Lower Hutt. This gorge separates the city from its neighbour, Upper Hutt.

The area of the Lower Hutt City also includes the string of small settlements which extend down the eastern coast of Port Nicholson harbour. These include the two large townships of Wainuiomata and Eastbourne. The city also includes a large area of sparsely populated land to the east of the harbour, extending to Pencarrow Head and into the Rimutaka Ranges.

Lower Hutt also encompasses islands in the northern half of Port Nicholson Harbour, the largest of which was known as Somes Island until recently renamed Matiu/Somes Island.

Hutt River

The Hutt River is one of the most significant features of the City, which occupies the lower regions of the river and its flood plain. Modern occupation during the 20th century has led to the river being contained by stopbanks, but there is the continuing threat of flooding as the result of heavy rainfall. This threat was realised in the flood of 1985, but the river has been contained since then, even though smaller streams and storm water drains have caused occasional problems in the face of continued well above average rainfall.

Much of the land adjacent to the river is protected as reserve and provides a much appreciated recreational feature with walking tracks and grassed areas over the approximately ten kilometres of river bank encompassed by the City.

Population

The central urban area of Lower Hutt has a population of around 75,000, or 95,500 including the area around and between Wainuiomata and Eastbourne. In either case, it is the eigth largest city in New Zealand.

Suburbs

Listed north to south from upper valley:

North of Central Business District (CBD)

Pomare; Stokes Valley; Taita ; Wingate; Kelson; Naenae; Avalon ; Belmont; Boulcott; Epuni; Fairfield; Harbourview

South of CBD

Waterloo; Normandale; Alicetown; Maungaraki; Woburn; Waiwhetu; Ava; Korokoro; Gracefield; Moera; Petone

Eastern harbour

Seaview; Lowry Bay; Wainuiomata; Days Bay; Homedale; Rona Bay; Eastbourne; Muritai

History

Prior to European settlement, the Hutt Valley was thickly forested, with areas of marshland close to the river's mouth. Maori inhabited the shoreline, with two pa at either end of Petone beach.

The Maori welcomed the arrival of the New Zealand Company ship Tory in 1839, and William Wakefield (the company's agent) negotiated with local chiefs to allow settlement.

The first immigrant ship, the Aurora, arrived on January 22 1840, still celebrated every year as Wellington's Anniversary Day. The settlement, Britannia, was established close to the mouth of the Hutt River, and settlers established the country's first newspaper and bank.

Within months of settlement, however, the Hutt River flooded, and the settlers decided to move the new colony to Thorndon, in what is now the heart of Wellington, though ome settlers remained at the north end of the harbour.

In 1846 there was conflict between settlers and Maori which led to skirmishes (see Hutt Valley Campaign). In 1855 a major earthquake raised part of the lower valley, allowing land to be reclaimed from swamp.

The arrival of the railway north from Wellington in 1874 and the subsequent location of the railway's engineering works at Petone led to a rapid expansion of the area's population and economy. Other industries were soon attracted to the district.

In 1987-89 the policy of the Government of the day forced local authorities to become more efficient through consolidation, which led to Lower Hutt amalgamating with the adjacent Boroughs of Petone and Eastbourne and the Wainuiomata District (which had achieved its own independence for barely a year).

Culture and Leisure

Several education and research facilities of national significance are in the southern half of the city. Cultural facilities include the Dowse Art Gallery and the former Avalon Television studios now used for world-class cinematic purposes.

The City possesses civic administration buildings constructed in the 1950s which are regarded as representative architecture of the era. Other buildings of national significance include Vogel House , a two-storey wooden residence that was the official residence of the Prime Minister of New Zealand for much of the 20th century.

The city is popular for outdoor sports, especially mountain biking, hiking, fishing, recreational walking and swimming.

Economy

Historically, Petone and nearby parts of Lower Hutt acted as the principal area for light industry in this region, with industries including meat processing and freezing, motor vehicle assembly, and timber processing. This activity has been significantly diminished or discontinued in recent decades with either the transfer of industrial activity to the more heavily populated area of Auckland or cessation at a national level. Such movement has often resulted from competitive pressures on commercial organisations for increased efficiency, as a result of opening up the New Zealand economy to international competition since the mid-1980s.

Nevertheless, Lower Hutt acts as the main location for light industrial activity in the Wellington Region. The city largely lacks heavy industry, however. Trends over the past 25 years have seen service, distribution, and consumer oriented activity replace the industrial activity previously a feature of the Petone area.

Lower Hutt also continues to act as one of Wellington City's dormitory areas and a significant proportion of the population commutes to the commercial and Government offices in Wellington 12 kilometres to the southwest.

David Ogden was elected Mayor in 2004, replacing John Terris.

Fauna and Flora

Hills to about 350 metres (1000 ft) line both sides of the valley within the city limits. The western hills have been populated as residential areas, but the eastern side is protected and clad in native bush and scrub, including the ubiquitous gorse in areas that have been cleared as a result of scrub fires or earlier human activity.

Large areas of reserve land with native bush is held in both the western and eastern hills and certain species of native bird life are common, including the wood pigeon (kereru), tui, fantail, waxeye , shining cuckoo (in season), grey warbler , morepork (native owl) as well as introduced species such as blackbird, song thrush, sparrow, goldfinch, chaffinch, starling, and magpie.

External links

• Hutt City Council
• Lower Hutt City (Name of City Council) Act 1991