Helensville, New Zealand

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Helensville is a town in the North Island of New Zealand. It is sited 40 kilometres northwest of Auckland, close to the southern extremity of the Kaipara Harbour. The town's population (in 2001) was 2,232.

Helensville is also the name of an electorate seat in the Parliament of New Zealand. The current member for Helensville is John Key for National.

1 Early history
2 Economy
3 Education
4 Transport
- 4.1 Rail
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Early history

Helensville shops ca 1890

The area around Helensville was originally called Te Awaroa, meaning "The long path" or "The long river valley". The first European settlers in the district were Scottish timber millers named McLeod but who had actually come from Nova Scotia to New Zealand. John McLeod built a house which he named "Helen's Villa" in honour of his wife, and the name soon became that of the surrounding settlement.

Initial development of the town was around the kauri milling industry, but by the start of the 20th century dairying was becoming of increasing importance. It was also becoming somewhat of a tourist centre, owing to the presence of hot springs 3 km to the west of the town at Parakai.

A lot of the early history of Helensville is described in the book "Men Came Voyaging" written by Colleen Sheffield who tragically lost her life in a bus accident before the book was completed.

[edit] Economy

Although it is no longer a forestry or dairy centre, the town is still a tourist attraction, largely because of its many historic buildings, the Hot Springs at Parakai and the Parakai Aerodrome, and its proximity to Auckland. It has also seen positive effects from the nearby wine producing region around Kumeu, 20 km to the south. There are also an increasing number of lifestyle blocks in the area.

[edit] Education

The town is served by Helensville Primary School, and a secondary school, Kaipara College with about 700 students, noted for its performance in sport, writing and music.

Helensville also had a Community Education scheme in association with Kaipara College called the Rodney Community Learning Centre serving early school leavers and mature students. This comprised of two small TEC funded sites, one in Helensville and another one in Wellsford. This however closed down at the end of 2005.

[edit] Transport

[edit] Rail

Helensville is on the North Auckland Line and is the next major station north of Waitakere. The station still features the original wooden building, which has been restored, and has a shunting yard and ONTRACK depot. In June 2007 it was announced suburban rail services are to be extended to Helensville in 2008^[1].