Naenae

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Naenae, a major suburb of Lower Hutt in the North Island of New Zealand, lies on the eastern edge of the floodplain of the Hutt River, four kilometres from the Lower Hutt CBD. A small tributary of the Hutt, the Waiwhetu Stream, flows through the suburb.

Naenae has a population of around 8,000 - 10,000. It hosts several schools, including Naenae College (the second-largest High School in the Hutt Valley), Naenae Intermediate School, Naenae Primary School, Rata Street School, St. Bernadettes' School and Wa Ora Montessori School.

The Naenae railway station (on the Wairarapa/Upper Hutt railway line) adjoins Naenae's main shopping centre.

Naenae's shopping center contains a major Olympic size swimming pool, first constructed at a time when New Zealand hosted the international diving championships. The pool has three diving boards.

Naenae as a basic translation from Māori means ‘mosquito/sandfly’, testament to the fact that prior to the suburb being properly developed and drained, there was a predominant mosquito population.

As Lower Hutt expanded in the Post-War years, Naenae was chosen as an ideal site by the Labour government at the time to become a ‘designer community’, a model suburb of sorts, where a suburban state housing estate would be constructed as well as a substantial community shopping centre. This community centre would serve as a social hub for the greater area. It was hoped that the ideal nuclear family life could manifest itself from such a grandiose scheme.

Unfortunately demand for housing, due to the rising urbanisation of the country, outstripped the need for community centres, meaning ultimately the scheme was never fully realised. The irony is that as the population grew, so did the demand for community amenities.

One strongly overlooked fact about Naenae is that it’s community centre was designed by the renowned Austrian architect/town planner Ernst Plischke.

Plischke made a major contribution to New Zealand and Austrian architecture of the twentieth century, having spent over twenty years of his career producing designs whilst living in New Zealand. Plischke was a modernist at heart, and designed community centres that did not fit the traditional formula of emulating British villages, rather embracing the modern identity that was evolving.

The design and subsequent development of the Naenae civic centre allowed Plischke to expand his ideas. It is widely believed that Plischke was inspired by the Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Square) in Venice, embodying the belief that by creating a public space for people, you would animate the town.

All the buildings in the community centre opened out onto a plaza that were supposed to form three independent squares performing separate roles that encompassed foot traffic for shops, al fresco dining and entertainment, and lastly civic functions.

In 1966 the post-modern Post Office was officially opened, paying homage to the Art Deco era Main Post Office in Lower Hutt town centre.

Naenae was zoned back in the 1960s as a partly industrial, but principally residential area. At its peak, Naenae boasted two manufacturers with strong Dutch connections.

Firstly there was Philips, which produced television and radio sets. This closed down during the 1980s and the buildings that once house Philips is now occupied by Resene Paints.

Secondly there is Rembrandt Suits Ltd, which was formed following the Second World War by Dutch tailors. It now exports mainly to Australia, as well as holding major contracts throughout the world.

‘Modern’ Naenae.

Despite considerable investment and think-tanks on how to bolster the faltering local economy, Naenae has faced a steady decline for the past twenty-five years. In recent times, there has been significant shift in the demographics of the suburb. Following the post-baby boom period, many of the parents of these children remained in Naenae, eventually progressing to pensioner status. As these people died, they were replaced by predominately Pacific Island migrants and their families.

It has been ascertained that Naenae now has a stagnant population, again, ironic, considering that mosquitoes thrive in stagnant areas. It is predicted that there will be minimal growth over the next decade, combined with an overall lower average household income in comparison to the greater Wellington region.

According to the last census in 2001, it is thought that there is approximately 7,150m2 local centre retail floor space in Naenae, of which only one quarter can be economically viable and sustained by the local population.