Feilding

Feilding Aorangi (Māori)
Town
Manchester Square
Nickname(s): 'Friendly' Feilding
Feilding
Coordinates: NZ 40°13′S 175°34′E / 40.217°S 175.567°E / -40.217; 175.567Coordinates: NZ 40°13′S 175°34′E / 40.217°S 175.567°E / -40.217; 175.567
Country	New Zealand
Region	Manawatu-Wanganui Region
Territorial authority	Manawatu District
Ward	Feilding
Named for	Colonel William Henry Adelbert Feilding
Electorate	Rangitikei
Government
• MP	Ian McKelvie (New Zealand National Party)
• Mayor	Margaret Kouvelis
Elevation[1]	70 m (230 ft)
Population (June 2015 estimate)[2]
• Total	15,950
Time zone	NZST (UTC+12)
• Summer (DST)	NZDT (UTC+13)
Postcode	4702
Telephone	06
Website	www.feilding.co.nz

Feilding (Māori: Aorangi) is a town in the Manawatu District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 54, 20 kilometres north of Palmerston North. The town is the seat of the Manawatu District Council.

Feilding has won the annual New Zealand's Most Beautiful Town award 14 times. It is a beautiful Edwardian themed town with red-bricked pavements, stunning flowerbeds, and friendly service. The town is currently extending its CBD beautification featuring paving and planter boxes on the footpaths on the main streets in the CBD, including the realignment and beautification of Fergusson Street to the South Street entrance of Manfeild Park. The attractive CBD has contributed to the thriving retail scene, which includes boutique stores and national/international chains (Paperplus, Ballentynes, Postie Plus).

The town is a service town for the surrounding farming district. The Feilding Saleyards have been a vital part of the wider Manawatu community for over 125 years. As transport systems improved and farming practices changed, the need for small, local saleyards all but disappeared, leaving few major selling complexes in New Zealand. Manawatu is a diverse and fertile farming area with high production, high stock-carrying capacity and a stable climate. These factors make Feilding Saleyards a popular medium for many farmers. A unique aspect of Feilding Saleyards is their location in the centre of town.^[3]

The Manawatu Plains, on which the town is sited, are very fertile land, and as such it is a prosperous agricultural area. Being located on the floodplain of a major river has its problems, however, and in February 2004 the town suffered extensive flooding. In 2009 the Horizons Regional Council commissioned a new flood protection scheme to prevent extensive flooding in the future.^[4]

Feilding Hotel

Feilding Clocktower

Feilding Railway Station

An Eric Brew mural at Feilding Railway Station

A reminder to keep Feilding's tidy and attractive image

History

The town was named after Colonel William Henry Adelbert Feilding, a director of the Emigrants and Colonists Aid Corporation Ltd. who negotiated the purchase of a 100,000 acre (400 km²) block of land from the Wellington provincial government in 1871. The first settlers arrived from Great Britain on 22 January 1874.

The Feilding Edwardian Project Inc. was established in September 1993 by local businesses with the aim of revitalising the central business area of Feilding. Many of the commercial buildings were built in the 1900s (Edwardian era) and have been restored and preserved over time.

Feilding is home to a number of historic collections, buildings, monuments and museums, including:

• The Coach House Museum
• St Johns Church
• The Feilding Club
• Feilding Hotel

Feilding is also home to historic steam rail collections and the Feilding & Districts Steam Rail Society. They run regular chartered trips using their fully restored engines and heritage carriages, including short runs on the steam train and jigger in exchange for a 'gold coin' donation during special events in the town.

Features

• One of New Zealand's main motor racing circuits, Manfeild, is located at the southern edge of the town
• There is an active light aircraft airfield at the eastern edge of the town
• The depot of the Feilding and District Steam Rail Society is located in the town and it runs railway excursions from this base.
• Feilding's stock saleyards were once one of the largest in the southern hemisphere and are right in the central business area. Guided tours are available.^[5]
• The Coach House Museum
• Focal Point Cinema Feilding
• There are no traffic lights and no parking meters.

Economy

Employing about 30 people with a payroll of $1.5m in 2015, Proliant, an Iowa based firm privately held by the father and son team of Wally and Nix Lauridsen, constructed a $24m factory on the outskirts of Feilding for the production of a byproduct from cattle blood plasma, bovine serum albumin (BSA), which is used in pharmaceuticals, vaccines and medical research. Proliant produces about half of the world's BSA.^[6][7][8][9]

In the Manawatu District^[10] of the people aged 15 years or over:

• 40% earn $20,000 or less (NZ 38.8%)

• 14% earn more than $50,000 (NZ 16.2%)
• the unemployment rate is 3.8% (NZ 7.3%)
• 73.4% of permanent private dwellings are owned with or without a mortgage by the occupant(s) (NZ 66.9%)^[11]

Education

Secondary schools

• Feilding High School

Primary and intermediate schools

• Feilding Intermediate School is a state, coeducational intermediate (years 7-8) school with a decile rating of 5 and a roll of 312. It was established in 1964.^[12]
• Lytton Street School is a state, coeducational contributing primary (years 1-6) school with a decile rating of 4 and a roll of 498.^[13]
• Manchester Street School is a state, coeducational contributing primary (years 1-6) school with a decile rating of 6 and a roll of 288.^[14]
• North Street School is a state, coeducational full primary (years 1-8) school with a decile rating of 4 and a roll of 481.^[15]
• St Joseph's School is an integrated coeducational full primary (years 1-8) school with a decile rating of 6 and a roll of 124.^[16]

Notable personalities

Famous people from Feilding include:

• Murray Ball (the kiwiana cartoonist who drew Footrot Flats).
• Tom Scott; also a New Zealand cartoonist.
• Evermore popular musical group.
• W. H. Oliver was born in Feilding.
• Barbara Stewart politician
• Glen Jackson (rugby player); was born here.
• Glenn Standring (the film director); was born here.
• Eddie Durie was born here.
• Mason Durie was born here.
• Keith Elliott VC, recipient of the Victoria Cross medal, attended high school in Feilding.
• Jesse Sergent (cyclist).
• Aaron Smith All Black.
• George Whitelock, Sam Whitelock and Luke Whitelock All Blacks, born in 'Palmerston North', attended FAHS.
• Jed Brophy actor, Dwarf Nori in the The Hobbit trilogy.
• Michael Houstoun, CNZM, concert pianist.

References

External links

• Official Feilding website
• Feilding Weather Official Website
• Official Manawatu website
• Manawatu District Council website
• The Country Road touring routes