Wainuiomata

Wainuiomata
A view of Wainuiomata as seen from above Sunny Grove looking North.
Wainuiomata
Coordinates: 41°15′41″S 174°57′3″E / 41.26139°S 174.95083°E / -41.26139; 174.95083Coordinates: 41°15′41″S 174°57′3″E / 41.26139°S 174.95083°E / -41.26139; 174.95083
Country	New Zealand
Region	Wellington
District	Lower Hutt
Electorate	Hutt South
Government
• MP	Trevor Mallard (Labour Party)
• Mayor	Ray Wallace
Elevation	86 m (282 ft)
Population (2006)[1]
• City	11,079
• Urban[1]	17,214
Ethnicity
• European	6933
• Māori	2778
• Asian	582
• Pacific Island	1332
• Middle Eastern/Latin American/ African	60
Time zone	NZST (UTC+12)
• Summer (DST)	NZDT (UTC+13)
Postcode	5014
Area code(s)	04
Website	www.wainuiomata.co.nz

Wainuiomata (/ˌwaɪn(j)uːiˈoʊmɑːtə/) is a large suburb of Lower Hutt, in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. The suburb has a population of 16,000.

History

The isolated nature of Wainuiomata was a problem for early settlers. Narrow hill routes into the settlement were the only access during the 1850s and 1860s. Later proposals were made for rail access to the valley, but never realised. The town's economy in these early days was largely based around timber milling from the forests around the Wainuiomata River. A flax mill was based around the north of the suburb, but this proved to be economically unviable.

Once the forests started to be cleared, sheep and dairy farming became an important part of the local economy. The settlement started to grow into a proper suburb in the 1920s, but the major growth was after World War II, when many young couples moved to the suburb, attracted by the affordable housing.

Geography

Hills surround Wainuiomata on three sides. The topography reduces local wind-flow, resulting in lower minimum temperatures in winter and higher maximum temperatures in summer than in most other parts of Wellington and the Hutt Valley.

The Orongorongo Valley, accessed via the Wainuiomata Valley, features bush walks and native-forest scenery.

An aerial view of the Wainuiomata Valley. The Hutt Valley and Wellington Harbour appear on the left, with Moores Valley to the right.

People

The town is often abbreviated to Wainui by locals.^[2]

Wainuiomata has a reputation for its enthusiasm for sports, particularly rugby league. The Australian NRL Grand Final in 2005 saw each team containing a former member of the Wainuiomata Rugby League Club. ^{[citation needed]}

The town's sports enthusiasts related to an incident that attracted national media attention in April 2009 when a Palmerston North motelier banned all Wainuiomata residents. This came after a series of misdemeanours by visitors from there.^[3]

The many sports-stars originating from Wainuiomata include rugby union All Blacks Piri Weepu, Neemia Tialata and Tana Umaga,^[4] as well as Leinster Rugby player Leo Auva'a.

Wainuiomata also achieved prominence with the first series of the television production Seven Periods with Mr Gormsby, shot in the old Wainuiomata College with many local residents as cast members.^[5]

The documentary series Heartland made Wainuiomata a focus in a film by Gary McCormick during its 1994 series.^[6] The show made a household name of Chloe Reeves, an aspiring jazz singer, who voiced her romantic dreams while wearing trademark tiger slippers. Reeves, or Chloe of Wainuiomata, became a byword in New Zealand for the lower socio-economic demographic of Wainuiomata.

Margie Abbott, wife of Australian prime minister Tony Abbott grew up in Wainuiomata.

Education

Wainuiomata has eight schools.

• Arakura School is a state contributing primary (Year 1–6) school in Arakura, and has 204 students as of November 2013.^[7]
• Fernlea School is a state contributing primary (Year 1–6) school, and has 255 students as of November 2013.^[7]
• Konini Primary School is a state contributing primary (Year 1–6) school in Parkway, and has 251 students as of November 2013.^[7] It was established in 2002 following the merger of Parkway School and Sun Valley School.
• Pukeatua Primary School is a state full primary (Year 1–8) school in Glendale, and has 214 students as of November 2013.^[7] It was established in 2002 following the merger of Glendale School and Pencarrow School.
• St Claudine Thevenet School is a state-integrated Catholic full primary (Year 1–8) school, and has 269 students as of November 2013.^[7] It was established in 2005 following the merger of St Matthew's School and St Patrick's School.
• Wainuiomata High School is a state secondary (Year 9–13) school in Parkway, and has 776 students as of November 2013.^[7] It was established in 2002 following the merger of Parkway College and Wainuiomata College.
• Wainuiomata Intermediate School is a state intermediate (Year 7–8) school in Parkway, and has 349 students as of November 2013.^[7] It was established in 2002 following the merger of Parkway Intermediate School and Wainuiomata Intermediate School.
• Wainuiomata Primary School is a state contributing primary (Year 1–6) school in Homedale, and has 350 students as of November 2013.^[7] It was established in 2002 following the merger of Wainuiomata School and Wood Hatton School.

Transport

Commuter transport is provided by two bus routes, Wainuiomata North (No 160) to the shopping centre and Wainuiomata South (No 170); both from the Waterloo Interchange in the Hutt Valley, and connecting there with trains to Wellington.

A branch commuter railway line (see Wainuiomata railway proposals) was proposed at times in the 20th century, but never proceeded.

Fire brigade

Wainuiomata has a volunteer fire brigade, established in 1944 following a major house-fire in 1943. The first superintendent was Mr J.S. Dunn. The first station was built in 1945 on land opposite Wainuiomata Primary School. The Wainuiomata Development Company donated land and timber to the brigade, with other brigades and companies donating hose, standpipes and ladders. The Stokes Valley brigade supplied a Gwynne Trailer pump.

In the early days any available vehicle would tow the pump and trailer to calls. Often this was a 30-seater bus, as one of the foundation members, Mr Artie Kilmister, was the local bus driver. In 1946 the brigade took delivery of its first "real" fire engine, a Ford V8 Marmon-Herrington 4-wheel-drive.^[8] This truck, an ex Air Force tender, remained in service until 1965. It had no flashing lights, only a siren and on occasions this failed: it was not unusual for members to yell from the truck "get out of the way", or words to that effect.

The Wainuiomata Volunteer Fire Brigade joined the United Fire Brigades Association of New Zealand (UFBA) in 1944.^[9]

References

External links

• Wainuiomata online