Porirua, Wellington Region, North Island, New Zealand

History | Economy : Industry | Transport : Rail : Road | Suburbs | Onepoto | Pāuatahanui | Shopping and retail | Transport | Education | Arts and culture | Sport and recreation

🇳🇿 Porirua, a city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area; thus it is considered a part of Wellington as a whole. The name 'Porirua' is a corruption of 'Pari-rua', meaning "the tide sweeping up both reaches". It almost completely surrounds Porirua Harbour at the southern end of the Kapiti Coast.

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History Tradition holds that, prior to habitation, Kupe was the first visitor to the area, and that he bestowed names of significant sites such as Te Mana o Kupe ki Aotearoa (Mana Island). In addition, it is said that Kupe left his anchor stone, Te Punga o Matahouroa at Whitireia, which is now held at Te Papa Tongarewa.

There is evidence of human habitation in Porirua since 1450 at the latest, during the "moa hunter" period of Māori history. The forests, sea, estuaries and swamps provided abundant food and materials. The Porirua area came to be occupied by a succession of tribes, including Ngāti Tara and Ngāti Ira.

Ngāti Toa people migrated south from Kawhia, and took control of the Porirua coast in the 1820s. By the 1840s they had established 12 pā, with Takapūwāhia and Hongoeka still occupied by marae today.

From the late 1830s, European settlers began to express interest in the Porirua region, culminating in the controversial sale of most of the region in 1847. In 1839, the New Zealand Company signed an agreement with Ngāti Toa from which it claimed to have acquired the entire southern part of the North Island. Following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, an inquiry by Land Claims Commissioner William Spain found that most of the alleged purchase, including Porirua, was invalid. However, rising tensions with European settlers led to Ngāti Toa chief Te Rauparaha being captured by 200 British troops and police in July 1846. Shortly afterwards, the Hutt Valley campaign led to chief Te Rangihaeata's retreat to Poroutawhao in the Horowhenua. In April 1847, eight remaining chiefs, including Tamihana Te Rauparaha, Matene Te Whiwhi and Rawiri Puaha, signed a deed for the sale of 69,000 acres for £2,000, comprising almost the entire area from Mākara in the south to Paekākāriki in the north. Three reserves totalling 10,000 acres were left aside for Ngāti Toa. Ngāti Toa hold that the deed was coerced by the holding of Te Rauparaha and that the chiefs signing sought his release.

In the 19th century, a small European settlement grew up, partly because of the need for a ferry across the harbour.

The 1880s and 1890s saw the establishment of the Porirua Lunatic Asylum on the hill south-west of Porirua village. Following the Mental Defectives Act of 1911, the Asylum became Porirua Mental Hospital.

In the late 1940s state planning envisaged Porirua becoming a satellite city of Wellington with state housing. This required improved rail and road links with Wellington and rail and road development has contributed much to the growth of the Porirua area by reducing travel times, making it possible to live in the Porirua area and work in Wellington, and by making day-trips from Wellington to the beaches at Paremata, and Plimmerton relatively easy.

Since the 1940s, Porirua has grown to a city population approaching 57,000, with state housing no longer in the majority. Major territorial additions to the city occurred in 1973 and 1988 as part of the reduction and eventual abolition of Hutt County.

On 7 June 1976, New Zealand's first McDonald's restaurant opened in Porirua, on the corner of Cobham Court and Hagley Street. The original restaurant closed on 24 April 2009, and the store relocated to Kenepuru Drive.

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Economy: Industry Substantial industrial areas, generally west of the city centre, have evolved. During the 1960s Kodak, UEB Industries and many small businesses opened at Elsdon. During the following decade, Ashley Wallpapers developed the former UEB property and after favourable negotiations with the government, Todd Motors (later Mitsubishi) moved from Petone to Porirua.

Todd Motors was a vehicle assembly company which moved from Petone and opened a large factory in Porirua in 1975. The factory covered 5.2 hectares (13 acres) on a 33-hectare (82-acre) site known as Todd Park. At its peak there were 1500 employees building 22,000 vehicles per year. The company was sold to Mitsubishi in 1987 and the factory closed in 1998.

Hills Hats (established in 1875) set up premises in Porirua in the 1950s. By 1996 it employed 80 people at Porirua and was exporting 75% of its production to 23 countries. The company was sold to overseas investors in 1997, then went into receivership and was bought by Wellington investors in 1998. In 2003, the company shifted from Porirua to Petone.

Bonds Hosiery (later Hilton Bonds, then Sara Lee Apparel, part of Pacific Dunlop) was established in Porirua in the 1960s or early 1970s. In 2001, the factory closed with the loss of 55 jobs, the result of declining hosiery sales worldwide.

Whittaker's confectionery manufacturers moved their business from Wellington to Porirua in 1969 and as of 2022, have around 160 employees at the Porirua factory.

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Transport: Rail The development of the rail through Porirua, part of the Kapiti Line, has contributed significantly to the development of Porirua as a satellite city of Wellington. The Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company opened a railway line through Johnsonville from Wellington to Porirua in 1885. The railway reached Longburn (south of Palmerston North) in 1886 to connect with the Government's lines to Taranaki and Napier. With the acquisition of the company by the government in 1908, the line to Porirua and northward to Longburn became part of the North Island Main Trunk railway. The railway provided regular passenger services between Wellington and Porirua and linked Porirua to other North Island centres. A shunting service from Wellington delivered goods wagons to sidings at Porirua, Paremata, Plimmerton, and Pukerua Bay and brought timber for the construction of houses in the area.

The Tawa Flat railway deviation providing double-track railway with double line automatic signalling as far as Tawa opened to passenger services on 19 June 1937, reducing travel time for passenger trains from Wellington to Porirua by 15 minutes, to 27 minutes rather than 43 to 48 minutes.

During 1940, Centralised Train Control (CTC), which allowed direct control of signals and train movements by Train Control in Wellington, was progressively installed on the single line sections of track north of Tawa, replacing tablet working and allowing more efficient, flexible, and rapid control of train movements. CTC between Plimmerton and Paekākāriki applied from 25 February 1940, Paremata to Plimmerton from 30 June, and Tawa to Porirua from 4 December 1940.

On 24 July 1940, the line through Porirua, from Wellington to Paekākāriki, was electrified, and double track completed from Plimmerton to South Junction, just north of Muri railway station. Electrification allowed the introduction of electric ED class locomotives, first introduced in 1938 for use on this line, to haul passenger and goods trains. Electric locomotives eliminated the smoke nuisance in the tunnels on the line and allowed longer trains to run. DM/D electric multiple units first ran to Porirua on 5 September 1949 and replaced the majority of locomotive-hauled passenger trains and allowed a more frequent and faster train service. The duplication of the line from Plimmerton to South Junction allowed a more frequent train service between Porirua and Paekākāriki

Duplication of the track from Tawa to Porirua station opened on 15 December 1957. This completed double line automatic signalling from Wellington distant junction, just south of Kaiwharawhara, to Porirua, and eliminated CTC between Tawa and Porirua. This work and the provision of additional signals between Kaiwharawhara and Tawa, allowed close following of trains and more frequent and faster train services between Wellington and Porirua. During peak periods, many multiple unit trains were now terminated at Porirua and returned to Wellington to provide a more frequent service between Wellington and Porirua than was provided for stations north of Porirua.

Extension of the double track and automatic signalling continued with the Porirua to Mana section opened on 7 November 1960. The work involved harbour reclamation to construct a straight tack from Porirua to Papakōwhai, just south of Paremata, eliminating the tight curves as the former railway followed the coastline, and creating three lagoons on the eastern side of the harbour. The central lagoon, now known as Aotea Lagoon, remains but is reduced in size. From Paremata to Mana, the track was realigned to the West of the original track and a new double-track bridge was built across the entrance to the Pauatahanui Inlet. The original single-track railway bridge, built in 1885, was removed to allow room for the construction of a second road bridge in 2004. The railway stations at Porirua, Paremata, and Dolly Varden were replaced with new stations, with Dolly Varden station renamed Mana.

Mana to Plimmerton double track and automatic signalling were completed on 16 October 1961, completing the double track and automatic signalling from Wellington to South Junction, and allowing more frequent train services north of Porirua station. Crossovers at Plimmerton allowed some trains to terminate at Plimmerton and return to Wellington during peak periods.

By 2016, the introduction of electric multiple units with more rapid acceleration, EM/ET class from 1982 and Matangi FP class from 2010, had reduced rail travel time for stopping trains between Wellington and Porirua by another 6 minutes to 21 minutes, despite extra stops at Redwood, Linden, and Kenepuru which each add 48 seconds to the travel time. For non-stopping trains, the time had reduced to 17 minutes. Off-peak passenger services between Wellington and Porirua stations ran every thirty minutes, with more frequent services during peak periods and a less frequent during the night. From 15 July 2018, off-peak day services were increased to one every twenty minutes.

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Transport: Road Wellington and Porirua are linked by the Johnsonville–Porirua Motorway, part of State Highway 59 within Porirua and State Highway 1 beyond Porirua. Road improvements have progressively reduced travel times between Wellington and Porirua and increased the demand for housing development in Porirua. In 1940, the Centennial Highway developments saw the opening of a four-lane high-speed highway in Ngauranga Gorge bypassing the slower routes through Ngaio and Khandallah. During the 1950s, the high-speed Johnsonville–Porirua Motorway was built through Tawa on the eastern side of the valley. The first section from Johnsonville to the Tawa turnoff at Takapu Road at the southern entrance to Tawa opened on 15 December 1951, broadly following the line of the old North Island Main Trunk railway. It reduced road travel times and considerably improved access between Wellington and Porirua by eliminating the need to use the narrow, winding road through the bottom of the Tawa valley in the Glenside area. The second section, from Takapu Road to Porirua, opened about 1956 and allowed through traffic to bypass the lower speed road through Tawa. The Johnsonville bypass connecting the south end of the motorway to the top of Ngauranga Gorge opened about 1958, completing the four-lane road link between Wellington and Porirua.

On 3 October 1936, a road bridge was opened across the entrance to the Pauatahanui Inlet connecting Paremata to Dolly Varden, known as Mana from 1960, eliminating a 22-kilometre journey around Pauatahanui Inlet to Plimmerton. The bridge became part of SH 1 when centennial highway developments saw the completion of a highway from Pukerua Bay to Paekākāriki. A second bridge was built in 2004 allowing two lanes of traffic in each direction.

In the late 1960s, reclamation work began to the east of the 1960 rail reclamation from Porirua to Paremata, allowing the construction of a four-lane expressway alongside the railway. The expressway opened in the early 1970s, with room allowed for a future interchange at Whitford Brown Avenue. The reclamation work largely eliminated the north and south lagoons created by the rail reclamation on the east side of the harbour and reduced the size of the central lagoon, known as Aotea Lagoon. An intersection between SH 1 and Mungavin Avenue remained at Porirua until 1989 when the intersection was replaced with a grade-separated roundabout interchange with State Highway 1 passing under the interchange.

The Transmission Gully Motorway was constructed between 2014 and 2021, providing an eastern bypass of Porirua. On 7 December 2021, shortly before its opening, SH 1 was shifted to the Transmission Gully Motorway and the former SH 1 route through Porirua was renumbered SH 59.

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Suburbs Porirua is largely formed around the arms of the Porirua Harbour, and the coastline facing out to Cook Strait and the north-eastern parts of the South Island. Most of the populated areas of Porirua are coastal: Camborne, Karehana Bay, Mana, Onepoto, Papakōwhai, Paremata, Pāuatahanui, Plimmerton, Pukerua Bay, Takapūwāhia, Tītahi Bay and Whitby all have direct access to coastal parks and recreation reserves. Several suburbs without direct coastal access, including Aotea, Ascot Park and Ranui Heights, have substantial portions with good views over the harbour. Elsdon, formerly known as Prosser Block, lost access to the harbour as a result of reclamation work, especially during the 1960s. Much of the existing city centre, north of Parumoana Street and east of Titahi Bay Road, was built upon this landfill.

The suburbs include the following, grouped by council ward:

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Onepoto • Rangituhi / Colonial Knob • Elsdon – named after writer Elsdon Best • Kenepuru – industrial area south-west of the centre, adjoining Linden • Mana Island • Onepoto - Locality, part of the suburb of Titahi Bay • Porirua City Centre – Porirua's central business district • Takapūwāhia – a Ngāti Toa settlement • Tītahi Bay – where pro golfer Michael Campbell grew up • Aotea • Ascot Park • Cannons Creek • Rānui • Waitangirua

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Pāuatahanui • Camborne • Hongoeka – a Ngāti Toa settlement • Judgeford – a rural locality • Karehana Bay - Locality • Mana - Locality • Paekākāriki Hill • Papakōwhai – a locality where kōwhai trees are prominent on headlands • Paremata – probably named after Sydney's Parramatta • Pāuatahanui • Plimmerton – named for a director of the railway company • Pukerua Bay – where film-maker Peter Jackson grew up • Whitby – street names commemorate James Cook.

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Shopping and retail North City Shopping Centre (originally Kmart Plaza and then North City Plaza) is Porirua's largest indoor shopping complex. The two-level mall first opened in 1990, was extended in 1996 and was refurbished in 2004. With over 80 stores, the centre includes Wellington's first Kmart Department store, which opened in the mall as an anchor tenant in 1990. The second Kmart in the Wellington area was opened in Petone, Lower Hutt, in 2017.

The Megacentre shopping complex in Porirua opened in November 1999.

Before North City and the Megacentre were built, shopping centred around the Cobham Court area of central Porirua. In 1996, large white canopies were erected over Cobham Court, Serlby Place and Harham Place to freshen up the area and provide protection from the weather. The project cost $4.2 million and won three architectural awards. Judges for the awards described the canopies as "spare, crisp, potent and elegant" with "rich cultural and architectural relevance". The canopies were removed in 2015 as part of a major revitalisation project by Porirua City Council. A report to the Council in 2017 stated that crime in the area had decreased by 25% after the canopies were removed.

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Transport State Highway 59 is the main route through Porirua itself, passes north–south through the middle of the city, linking Porirua southwards to Wellington and northwards to the Kapiti Coast and the bulk of the North Island. Porirua is the northern terminus of the Johnsonville–Porirua motorway (opened progressively from 1950), with the section of motorway within Porirua being part of the SH 59 route. Until 7 December 2021, the SH 59 route was part of State Highway 1.

State Highway 1, the most significant route in the New Zealand state highway network, forms an eastern bypass of Porirua as the Transmission Gully Motorway. There are link roads between the Transmission Gully Motorway and Kenepuru, Waitangirua and Whitby.

State Highway 58 links Paremata via Whitby and Pāuatahanui (where an interchange with the Transmission Gully Motorway is located) with Haywards in the Hutt Valley to the east.

The Ara Harakeke is a pathway that runs alongside SH 59 and the Taupō Swamp, north of Plimmerton. The first section was opened in 2002. Porirua City Council won a Cycle Friendly Award for this project from the Cycling Advocates' Network in 2003.

The North Island Main Trunk railway line passes through Porirua, mostly close to State Highway 59, with six stations including the main Porirua Railway Station inside the city and one on the Wellington City border. The railway stations from south to north are Kenepuru, Porirua, Paremata, Mana (known as Dolly Varden before 1960), Plimmerton, Pukerua Bay, and Muri (closed 30 April 2011). Kapiti Line suburban passenger trains run between Wellington and Waikanae (generally half-hourly during the day before 15 July 2018 and every twenty minutes during the day after that date, more frequently during peak periods, and less frequently at night). The Northern Explorer long-distance passenger train between Auckland and Wellington passes through Porirua. This train was known as the Overlander before 25 June 2012 which stopped southbound but not northbound.

The nearest airports are Wellington Airport to the south (the closest), and Paraparaumu Airport to the north.

Ferry services ran between Paremata and Picton for short periods but appeared unable to compete with Wellington-based services despite the shorter distance.

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Education The Royal New Zealand Police College, where all the country's police recruits receive some 19 weeks' training, is at Papakōwhai.

Just up the road from Aotea Lagoon is Aotea College, the secondary school closest to the northern suburbs. Other colleges include Mana College and Bishop Viard College near the city centre and to the east, Porirua College. Tertiary education is provided by Whitireia Polytechnic, which has its main campus north of the city centre.

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Arts and culture The local culture, history and artists are represented at the Pātaka Museum of Arts & Cultures located conveniently next to the public library.

The indie rock radio station andHow.FM broadcasts locally at 107.5 FM from the suburb of Papakōwhai.

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Sport and recreation As early as 1883, Porirua began to hold regular horse racing events on the harbour's Southern beach. Towards the end of a meeting, competing riders would also have to combat the incoming tide. The Porirua Jockey Club was quickly established with Mr W. Jillett the first secretary and local butcher, John Rod, the treasurer. Joshua Prosser built stables on his nearby property 'Prosser Block' (now Elsdon) and became a notable trainer of Dominion race-horses. The beach now lies beneath Porirua city centre.

Porirua is home to the powerful Northern United RFC, the current Wellington regional champions, and the smaller Paremata-Plimmerton RFC. Both clubs play in the Wellington Rugby Football Union club rugby competition.

Porirua is also home to the three-time Chatham Cup winning Capital Football team Western Suburbs FC. Well known as a dominant force in New Zealand club football, and for producing many former and current All Whites, they were officially recognised as Porirua City's 2006 Team of the Year for their Chatham Cup Grand Final triumph over Auckland's Eastern Suburbs.

Watersports, fishing and other boating activities are popular in the area, well served by a large marina in Mana and Sea Scouts, yachting, power-boating, rowing, and water-skiing clubs. The harbour entrance from Plimmerton or Mana is popular with experienced windsurfers and kitesurfers while beginners find the shallow, enclosed waters of the Pauatahanui arm of the harbour a forgiving environment in which to develop their skills. Aotea Lagoon is a popular recreational area on the south-eastern shore of the Porirua Inlet.

Porirua was the host of the 2010 Oceania Handball Championship. Australia won the tournament from hosts New Zealand. The Cook Islands finished third.

A branch of Adrenalin Forest, an adventure park where paying visitors navigate rope bridges, swings and flying foxes strung between trees up to 31 metres off the ground, opened in Porirua in 2010. The park is located on the east side of Porirua Harbour near the Gear Homestead.

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Wellington, New Zealand 
Wellington, New Zealand
Image: Adobe Stock dudlajzov #355554288

Porirua has a population of over 60,200 people. Porirua also forms one of the centres of the wider Wellington Region which has a population of over 415,000 people.

To set up a UBI Lab for Porirua see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork

Twin Towns, Sister Cities Porirua has links with:

🇦🇺 Blacktown, Australia 🇦🇺 Bungarribee, Australia 🇯🇵 Nishio, Japan 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Whitby, England 🇨🇳 Yangzhou, China
Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license

Antipodal to Porirua is: -5.16,41.131

Locations Near: Porirua 174.84,-41.1314

🇳🇿 Hutt 174.917,-41.217 d: 11.5  

🇳🇿 Lower Hutt 174.917,-41.217 d: 11.5  

🇳🇿 Wellington 174.767,-41.283 d: 18  

🇳🇿 Upper Hutt 175.05,-41.133 d: 17.6  

🇳🇿 Masterton 175.664,-40.95 d: 72  

🇳🇿 Palmerston North 175.61,-40.357 d: 107.8  

🇳🇿 Whanganui 175.05,-39.932 d: 134.6  

🇳🇿 Nelson 173.284,-41.269 d: 131.1  

🇳🇿 Richmond 173.183,-41.333 d: 140.4  

🇳🇿 Stratford 174.283,-39.333 d: 205.5  

Antipodal to: Porirua -5.16,41.131

🇪🇸 Chamartín -4.957,40.702 d: 19964.4  

🇪🇸 Salamanca -5.664,40.964 d: 19968.9  

🇪🇸 Valladolid -4.732,41.654 d: 19946.9  

🇪🇸 Avila -4.683,40.65 d: 19948.2  

🇪🇸 Zamora -5.75,41.483 d: 19952.2  

🇪🇸 Segovia -4.117,40.933 d: 19924.8  

🇪🇸 Palencia -4.539,42.01 d: 19904.5  

🇪🇸 Talavera de la Reina -4.833,39.959 d: 19881.8  

🇪🇸 La Bañeza -5.9,42.283 d: 19873  

🇪🇸 Las Rozas de Madrid -3.873,40.492 d: 19885.5  

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