Lower Hutt
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Lower Hutt () is a
city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
in the
Wellington Region Greater Wellington, also known as the Wellington Region (Māori language, Māori: ''Te Upoko o te Ika''), is the southernmost regions of New Zealand, region of the North Island of New Zealand. The local government region covers an area of , and ...
of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. It is New Zealand's sixth most populous city, with a population of . The total area administered by the council is around the lower half of the Hutt Valley and along the eastern shores of
Wellington Harbour Wellington Harbour ( ), officially called Wellington Harbour / Port Nicholson, is a large natural harbour on the southern tip of New Zealand's North Island. The harbour entrance is from Cook Strait. Central Wellington is located on parts of ...
, of which is urban. It is separated from the city of Wellington by the harbour, and from
Upper Hutt Upper Hutt () is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. History Upper Hutt is in an area originally known as Orongo ...
by the Taita Gorge. Lower Hutt is unique among New Zealand cities, as the name of the council does not match the name of the city it governs. Special legislation has since 1991 given the council the name "Hutt City Council", while the name of the place itself remains "Lower Hutt City". This name has led to confusion, as Upper Hutt is administered by a separate city council, the Upper Hutt City Council. The entire Hutt Valley includes both Lower and Upper Hutt cities. Lower Hutt is also often simply called "the Hutt".


History

Before European settlement, thick forest covered most of the Hutt Valley, with areas of marshland close to the river's mouth. Māori inhabited the shoreline, with a
The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori people, Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive :wikt:terrace, terraces – and also to fo ...
at each end of Petone beach. Māori welcomed the arrival of the
New Zealand Company The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model that was focused on the systematic colonisation of New Ze ...
ship ''Tory'' in 1839, and
William Wakefield Colonel William Hayward Wakefield (1801 – 19 September 1848) was an English officer of the British Legion (1835), British Auxiliary Legion, and the leader of the second New Zealand Company's first colonising expedition to New Zealand; one of ...
(the company's agent) negotiated with some local chiefs to allow settlement. The first immigrant ship, the ''Aurora'', arrived on 22 January 1840, an event still commemorated every year on the Monday closest as Wellington's Anniversary Day. A settlement, Britannia, grew up close to the mouth of the Hutt River ( Te Awa Kairangi in Māori language), and settlers set up New Zealand's first newspaper and bank. The city takes its name from the English name given to the river, named after one of the founding members, director and chairman of the New Zealand Company, Sir William Hutt. The dual name of Hutt River Te Awa Kairangi has been used since 2010. Within weeks of settlement the Hutt River flooded, and in March 1840 the majority of Britannia settlers decided to move to Thorndon, ( in the heart of Wellington city), though some settlers remained at the north end of the harbour. In the 1840s an area on the west bank of the Hutt River, in what is now Alicetown, formed the village then known as Aglionby. In 1846 conflict arose between European settlers and Māori, which led to armed conflict in the Hutt Valley Campaign. The 1855 Wairarapa earthquake (in the range of magnitude 8.1 to 8.3) raised part of the lower valley, allowing reclamation of land from swamp. The fault escarpment from the earthquake is still visible, notably at Hutt Central School. On New Year's Day 1859 the first permanent lighthouse to be built in New Zealand was lit at Pencarrow Head. New Zealand's only female lighthouse keeper, Mary Jane Bennett, became the inaugural operator of the lighthouse. The railway line from central Wellington reached Lower Hutt station (subsequently Western Hutt) in April 1874, with the line running north up the west side of the Hutt River to Silverstream opening two years later. Before the Second World War of 1939–1945, urban settlement in the lower Hutt Valley concentrated mainly on
Petone Petone (Māori language, Māori: ''Pito-one'') is a large suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand. It stands at the southern end of the Hutt Valley, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour. Europeans first settled in Petone in Januar ...
, central Lower Hutt and Eastbourne, with a total population of 30,000. In 1927 the Public Works Department completed the construction of a branch railway line to Waterloo on the east side of the river; the route diverging from the main line between Lower Hutt and Petone. Two years later the railway workshops moved from Petone to a new larger site off the new branch at Woburn. In the late 1940s new suburbs of
state housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...
developed along the eastern side of the Hutt Valley, from Waiwhetū to Taitā (then known as Taita), to alleviate nationwide housing shortages and to cater for the booming population. Between 1946 and 1954 the railway line from Waterloo extended through these new suburbs to Haywards, becoming the main line in 1954 when the existing main line between Haywards and Melling closed. By the end of the 1950s, Lower Hutt had a population of 80,000.


Government


Local

The Hutt City Council comprises a mayor and 12 councillors. Campbell Barry became New Zealand's youngest mayor and was first elected in 2019, succeeding Ray Wallace. The city's six electoral wards (Northern, Western, Central, Eastern, Harbour and Wainuiomata) each elect one councillor, with the remaining six councillors elected at-large. Mayor and councillors elected in the 2022 local-body elections: Neighbouring councils are
Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a Territorial authorities of New Zealand, territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the city of Wellington, the country's capital city and List of cities in New Zealand#City councils, third-largest city by popul ...
(adjoining to the west),
Porirua Porirua, () a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Poriru ...
City Council to the north,
Upper Hutt Upper Hutt () is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. History Upper Hutt is in an area originally known as Orongo ...
City Council to the north-east and South Wairarapa District Council to the east. The boundaries of the Lower Hutt city local body have evolved from a series of amalgamations and boundary changes over the years. The Hutt County Council, established in 1877, covered the region from Wellington's south coast up to
Waikanae Waikanae (, ) is a town on the Kāpiti Coast, north of the Wellington, New Zealand. The name is a Māori language, Māori word meaning "waters" (''wai'') "of the flathead grey mullet, grey mullet". The area surrounding the town is notable fo ...
, excluding the
Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a Territorial authorities of New Zealand, territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the city of Wellington, the country's capital city and List of cities in New Zealand#City councils, third-largest city by popul ...
area. As the region grew, urban parts of the Hutt County became autonomous boroughs:
Petone Petone (Māori language, Māori: ''Pito-one'') is a large suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand. It stands at the southern end of the Hutt Valley, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour. Europeans first settled in Petone in Januar ...
in 1888, Lower Hutt in 1891,
Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...
in 1906, Johnsonville in 1908,
Upper Hutt Upper Hutt () is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. History Upper Hutt is in an area originally known as Orongo ...
in 1908,
Porirua Porirua, () a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Poriru ...
in 1962 and Kapiti in 1974. In 1941 Lower Hutt became a city. It incorporated Normandale in 1957. In 1987–1989 the New Zealand Government forced local authorities to consolidate, which led to Lower Hutt amalgamating with the adjacent Boroughs of Petone and Eastbourne and with the Wainuiomata District (which had its independence for barely a year), and to the abolition of the Hutt County Council.


National

The area of Lower Hutt is covered by two general electorates ( Hutt South and Remutaka) and by two
Māori electorates In Politics of New Zealand, New Zealand politics, Māori electorates, colloquially known as the Māori seats (), are a special category of New Zealand electorates, electorate that give Reserved political positions, reserved positions to repre ...
( Ikaroa-Rāwhiti in the north and
Te Tai Tonga Te Tai Tonga () is a New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorates, Māori electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand New Zealand House of Representatives, House of Representatives. It was established for the 1996 New Zeal ...
in the south).


Geography

The city centres on the lower southern valley of the Hutt River, to the northeast of the city of
Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
. The valley widens into a
delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...
as the river nears its mouth, so the central urban area of the city forms a triangle with its longest side along the shoreline. In the upper reaches of the city the Western and Eastern Hutt Hills become closer, culminating in the Taitā Gorge at the northern end of Lower Hutt, separating the city from neighbouring Upper Hutt. Lower Hutt includes the cluster of small settlements that extend down the eastern coast of
Wellington Harbour Wellington Harbour ( ), officially called Wellington Harbour / Port Nicholson, is a large natural harbour on the southern tip of New Zealand's North Island. The harbour entrance is from Cook Strait. Central Wellington is located on parts of ...
. These include the two large
township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...
s of Wainuiomata and
Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...
. The city also includes a large area of sparsely-populated land to the east of the harbour, extending to Pencarrow Head and into the
Remutaka Range The Remutaka Range (also spelt Rimutaka Range) is the southernmost range of a mountain chain in the lower North Island of New Zealand. The chain continues north into the Tararua Range, Tararua, then Ruahine Range, Ruahine Ranges, running para ...
. Lower Hutt's boundaries also include the islands in Wellington Harbour, the largest of which is Matiu / Somes Island.


Climate

Lower Hutt has a wet
oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...
(
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
: Cfb), which is similar to nearby Wellington, with relatively warm summers and mild winters with the occasional storm.


Te Awa Kairangi / Hutt River

A single major aquifer dominates the lower Hutt Valley: the
river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
, originally named Heretaunga, and since 2010 known as "Te Awa Kairangi / Hutt River". ''Awakairangi'' in the
Māori language Māori (; endonym: 'the Māori language', commonly shortened to ) is an Eastern Polynesian languages, Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost membe ...
means "river of food from the sky". Lower Hutt occupies the lower regions of the
flood plain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...
of the river, one of the most significant features of the city. In the 20th century the Hutt River Board built stopbanks to contain the river, but the threat of flooding from heavy rainfall persists. In 1985 the river burst its banks, and since then floods have been on a smaller scale. Smaller streams and storm-water drains have also caused occasional problems when rainfall exceeds average levels. Much of the land adjacent to the river is protected as reserve by the City Council and managed by the
Greater Wellington Regional Council Wellington Regional Council, branded as Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC), is the regional council overseeing the Wellington Region of New Zealand's lower North Island. It is responsible for Public transport in the Wellington Region, p ...
to provide popular recreational areas. From the river mouth, walking and cycling trails and grassed areas occur at various points along both sides of the river up the Hutt Valley to Te Mārua, 28 km further north in Upper Hutt. With lower river-levels in mid-summer,
algal bloom An algal bloom or algae bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in fresh water or marine water systems. It is often recognized by the discoloration in the water from the algae's pigments. The term ''algae'' encompass ...
s have contributed to making slow-flowing areas anoxic. The Regional Council has cited the algal blooms as the cause of death of a small number of dogs swimming in the river, as well as of skin reactions in the case of swimmers. Seven bridges cross the Hutt River within the city of Lower Hutt, with several other bridges built and replaced from the 1850s onwards. Tributaries of the Hutt River within Lower Hutt include: * Waiwhetū Stream * Te Mome Stream * Opahu Stream (Black Creek)


Suburbs

Here are listed the following suburbs of Lower Hutt City (unofficial suburbs are in ''italics''). ;Northern Ward :'' Pomare''; Stokes Valley; Taitā ;Western Ward : Haywards; Manor Park; Kelson; Belmont; Tirohanga; Harbour View; Melling; Normandale; Maungaraki; Alicetown ;Central Ward : Avalon; Boulcott; Epuni; Lower Hutt Central; Woburn ;Eastern Ward :'' Wingate''; Naenae; Fairfield; Waterloo; ;Harbour Ward – Petone Community Board :'' Ava''; Korokoro;
Petone Petone (Māori language, Māori: ''Pito-one'') is a large suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand. It stands at the southern end of the Hutt Valley, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour. Europeans first settled in Petone in Januar ...
; Waiwhetū;
Moera Moera, a suburb of the city of Lower Hutt in New Zealand, forms part of the urban area of greater Wellington. Location Located at the south-eastern end of the Hutt River, the suburb's name Moera is thought to be a simplification of Moe-i-te- ...
; Gracefield; Seaview; ;Harbour Ward – Eastbourne Community Board : Point Howard; Sorrento Bay; Lowry Bay; York Bay; Māhina Bay; Sunshine Bay; Days Bay;
Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...
;Wainuiomata Ward : Wainuiomata; Wainuiomata Coast; Pencarrow Head; Arakura; Homedale Village; Wainuiomata West; Glendale Notes:


Demographics

Lower Hutt City covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. The city's population has remained stable from the 1990s to the 2013 census. In the five years between the 2013 and 2018 censuses, the population grew steadily across the city with an increasing amount of homes being purchased and the area seen as more affordable comparable to the rest of the region. Lower Hutt City had a population of 107,562 in the
2023 New Zealand census The 2023 New Zealand census, which took place on 7 March 2023, was the thirty-fifth national census in New Zealand. It implemented measures that aimed to increase the Census' effectiveness in response to the issues faced with the 2018 census, i ...
, an increase of 3,030 people (2.9%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 9,324 people (9.5%) since the 2013 census. There were 53,082 males, 54,009 females and 468 people of other genders in 39,279 dwellings. 3.8% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 37.5 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 20,595 people (19.1%) aged under 15 years, 19,896 (18.5%) aged 15 to 29, 51,261 (47.7%) aged 30 to 64, and 15,807 (14.7%) aged 65 or older. People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 64.3% European (
Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...
); 19.6% Māori; 12.2% Pasifika; 18.6% Asian; 2.1% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 2.1% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 95.1%, Māori language by 5.1%, Samoan by 4.2% and other languages by 17.8%. No language could be spoken by 2.3% (e.g. too young to talk). New Zealand Sign Language was known by 0.6%. The percentage of people born overseas was 27.6, compared with 28.8% nationally. Religious affiliations were 33.9%
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
, 4.5%
Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
, 1.4%
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
, 1.1% Māori religious beliefs, 1.3%
Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
, 0.4%
New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...
, 0.1%
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, and 1.8% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 49.6%, and 6.1% of people did not answer the census question. Of those at least 15 years old, 19,188 (22.1%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 42,231 (48.6%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 20,148 (23.2%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $47,800, compared with $41,500 nationally. 13,125 people (15.1%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 48,201 (55.4%) people were employed full-time, 10,395 (12.0%) were part-time, and 2,694 (3.1%) were unemployed.


Urban area

Lower Hutt's urban area covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. Lower Hutt had a population of 106,530 in the
2023 New Zealand census The 2023 New Zealand census, which took place on 7 March 2023, was the thirty-fifth national census in New Zealand. It implemented measures that aimed to increase the Census' effectiveness in response to the issues faced with the 2018 census, i ...
, an increase of 2,985 people (2.9%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 9,213 people (9.5%) since the 2013 census. There were 52,563 males, 53,505 females and 465 people of other genders in 38,895 dwellings. 3.9% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 37.4 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 20,415 people (19.2%) aged under 15 years, 19,740 (18.5%) aged 15 to 29, 50,733 (47.6%) aged 30 to 64, and 15,642 (14.7%) aged 65 or older. People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 64.1% European (
Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...
); 19.7% Māori; 12.3% Pasifika; 18.7% Asian; 2.1% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 2.0% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 95.1%, Māori language by 5.1%, Samoan by 4.3% and other languages by 17.9%. No language could be spoken by 2.3% (e.g. too young to talk). New Zealand Sign Language was known by 0.6%. The percentage of people born overseas was 27.7, compared with 28.8% nationally. Religious affiliations were 34.0%
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
, 4.5%
Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
, 1.4%
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
, 1.1% Māori religious beliefs, 1.3%
Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
, 0.4%
New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...
, 0.1%
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, and 1.8% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 49.4%, and 6.1% of people did not answer the census question. Of those at least 15 years old, 19,026 (22.1%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 41,766 (48.5%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 19,980 (23.2%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $47,800, compared with $41,500 nationally. 12,957 people (15.0%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 47,736 (55.4%) people were employed full-time, 10,263 (11.9%) were part-time, and 2,679 (3.1%) were unemployed.


Economy

Historically, Petone, Seaview and Gracefield have been the main area for industry in the Wellington region, with industries including meat processing and freezing, motor vehicle assembly, and timber processing. As business have taken advantage of global manufacturing efficiencies, much of this large scale industry has changed to smaller design-led and medium-sized industries exporting to the world. Over the past 25 years service, distribution, and consumer-oriented sectors have increased. Lower Hutt remains the main location for light industrial activity in the Wellington Region. Until post-war housing development took over, the central and northern areas of the city were largely market gardens. In 2010 the lower reaches of the Waiwhetū Stream was cleaned up to remove toxins from decades of industry use. The channel was also widened to better protect against floods and native plantings and management has seen native waterlife and birds return to their habitat. Petone's Jackson Street and neighbouring areas have seen a resurgence in to one of Wellington's most popular retail and hospitality area. Lower Hutt has one of the greatest proportion of science, technology and high value manufacturing businesses in New Zealand. Crown research institute GNS Science and New Zealand's innovation centre and business accelerator Callaghan Innovation are based in Lower Hutt, along with over 800 research organisations in high-end manufacturing, research and technology. The suburb of Avalon was home to New Zealand's television industry from 1975 until the late 1980s. The Avalon film and television studios were New Zealand's first purpose-built television studios, and is the largest television studio complex in Australasia. The studios were home to Television One from 1975 to 1980, when it merged with South Pacific Television to form
Television New Zealand Television New Zealand (, "Te Reo Tātaki" meaning "The Leading Voice"), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a New Zealand state-owned media company and Crown entity. The company operates a television network, TVNZ+, streaming service, and 1N ...
(TVNZ). After 1989 most of TVNZ's operations moved to Auckland, and the studios were eventually sold off in 2012 to a consortium of Wellington investors. Avalon continues to operate independently with seven film and television studios used as primarily as a feature film production base. A large proportion of Lower Hutt's residents commute to the mainly commercial, service and government offices in Wellington City 12 km to the south-west.


Culture and leisure

Several education and research facilities of national significance are in the southern half of the city. Cultural facilities include the Petone Settlers Museum, War Memorial Library, Dowse Art Museum and Vogel House. The city possesses civic administration buildings constructed in the 1950s that are regarded as representative architecture of the era. A building of national significance is Vogel House, a two-storey wooden residence that was the official residence of the
Prime Minister of New Zealand The prime minister of New Zealand () is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Christopher Luxon, leader of the New Zealand National Party, took office on 27 November 2023. The prime minister (informally abbreviated to P ...
for much of the 20th century. It is a prime example of early colonial architecture in New Zealand and operates today as a tourist attraction. The city is popular for outdoor sports, especially mountain biking, hiking, recreational walking and fishing. The central city is home to Queensgate Shopping Centre, the largest shopping centre in the lower North Island. The Riverbank car park adjacent to the central city is home to a Saturday produce market. Among the filming locations for ''The Lord of the Rings'' directed by
Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker. He is best known as the director, writer, and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy (2012–2014), both of which ar ...
, Dry Creek quarry, which dominates the hills above the suburb of Taitā, became the site for a huge medieval castle built for scenes of Helm's Deep and Minas Tirith.


Education

Lower Hutt has four state secondary schools: Taita College, Naenae College, Hutt Valley High School and Wainuiomata High School. Other secondary schools include Chilton Saint James School, a private girls school; Raphael House Rudolf Steiner School, a state integrated Waldorf education school; Sacred Heart College, a state integrated Catholic girls school; St Bernard's College, a state integrated Catholic boys school; and St Oran's College, a state integrated Presbyterian girls school. The city is home to two tertiary institutes: the Wellington Institute of Technology in Petone, and The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand in Waterloo.


Media

The city is served by The Post, The Hutt News and community newspapers. Local LPFM radio station The Cheese broadcasts in the city, and is licensed with APRA and PPNZ in New Zealand for music broadcasting rights. It began Saturday 1 July 2006 and its original frequency was at 88.4 FM from Wainuiomata. The station can be heard in Lower Hutt on 87.9 MHz FM with simulcasting via their official website. Subscribers to Vodafone TV can hear The Cheese on channel 417. The station broadcasts a mix of music from the 80s, 90s, recent and current hits.''City Life Magazine'' 1 February 2007
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Flora and fauna

Hills to about 350 m (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, and the ubiquitous gorse in areas that have been cleared as a result of scrub fires or earlier human activity. Native birds are common, including the New Zealand pigeon,
tūī The tūī (''Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae'') is a medium-sized bird native to New Zealand. It is blue, green, and bronze coloured with a distinctive white throat tuft (poi). It is an endemism, endemic passerine bird of New Zealand, and the on ...
, grey fantail, silvereye, shining cuckoo (in season), grey warbler and morepork. Introduced species include the
common blackbird The common blackbird (''Turdus merula'') is a species of true thrush. It is also called the Eurasian blackbird (especially in North America, to distinguish it from the unrelated New World blackbirds), or simply the blackbird. It breeds in Europ ...
,
song thrush The song thrush (''Turdus philomelos'') is a Thrush (bird), thrush that breeds across the West Palearctic. It has brown upper-parts and black-spotted cream or buff underparts and has four recognised subspecies. Its distinctive Birdsong, song, w ...
,
house sparrow The house sparrow (''Passer domesticus'') is a bird of the Old World sparrow, sparrow family Passeridae, found in most parts of the world. It is a small bird that has a typical length of and a mass of . Females and young birds are coloured pa ...
,
European goldfinch The European goldfinch or simply the goldfinch (''Carduelis carduelis'') is a small passerine bird in the finch Family (biology), family that is native to the Palearctic zone in Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia. It has been introduced t ...
, common chaffinch,
common starling The common starling (''Sturnus vulgaris''), also known simply as the starling in Great Britain and Ireland, and as European starling in North America, is a medium-sized passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is about long and ha ...
, and Australian magpie.


Notable people

* Ginny Andersen (born 1975), politician * Chris Bishop (born 1983), politician * Russell Brown (born 1962), media commentator * Terence Burns (born 1938), cricketer * Gordon Onslow Hilbury Burt (1893–1968), photographer * Tāmati Coffey (born 1979), politician * Julian Dennison (born 2002), child actor * Kerry Fox (born 1966), actor *
Brooke Fraser Brooke Gabrielle Ligertwood (née Fraser; born 15 December 1983) is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. She uses both her maiden and married names professionally. After signing with Sony BMG in 2002, she gained recognition for her debut album, ...
(born 1983), singer and songwriter * James Hector (1834–1907), geologist, naturalist, and surgeon (died in Lower Hutt) * Veranoa Hetet (born 1966), Māori weaver and contemporary artist * Peter Hogg (1939–2020), Canadian lawyer, author and legal scholar best known as the leading authority on Canadian constitutional law * Mladen Ivančiċ (born 1955), New Zealand Film Commission official * Lloyd Jones (born 1955), author * Shona Laing (born 1955), singer and songwriter * Alan MacDiarmid (1927–2007), Nobel laureate * Brad McKay (born 1979), Australian medical doctor, sceptic, television personality and author * Peter Mulgrew (1927–1979), mountaineer, yachtsman and businessman * Sir Walter Nash (1882–1968), New Zealand Prime Minister (1957–60), MP for Hutt from 1929 to 1968 * Anna Paquin (born 1982), Oscar-winning actress * Haylee Partridge (born 1981), cricketer * Erenora Puketapu-Hetet (1941–2006), Māori weaver and author * Eddie Rayner (born 1952), keyboardist for Split Enz (1974–1984) * Ben Sears (born 1998), Cricketer for Wellington and New Zealand * Tana Umaga (born 1973), former
All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...
captain, former player and current rugby union coach * Holly Walker (born 1982), politician * Piri Weepu (born 1983), former
All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...
player and current rugby union player * Puti Tipene Watene (1910–1967), rugby league footballer and politician * Nick Willis (born 1983), two-time Olympic medallist * Megan Mansell (born 1990), New Zealand broadcaster


Sister cities

Hutt's
sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is International relations, a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there ar ...
are: * Minoh, Japan (1995) * Taizhou, China (2008) * Tempe, United States (1981) Since 2000, Hutt also has friendly relations with
Xi'an Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...
, China.


Gallery


References


Bibliography

*


External links


Hutt City Council official website

Hutt Valley Tourism official website



Maungaraki website

HuttCam website



GNS Science
{{Authority control Populated places in the Wellington Region Populated places on Te Awa Kairangi / Hutt River Hutt Valley