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Last Modified: 28 January 2011
Upper Hutt City
About our city
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38,500 people are proud to call Upper Hutt City home. The city is recognised as a capital gateway to the outdoors despite being situated only 25 minutes' drive or a 40-minute scenic train ride north from Wellington. From its southern boundary in Silverstream to its northern boundary at the top of the Rimutaka Hill, the city encompasses an area of 53,962 hectares, making Upper Hutt one of the largest city councils by area in New Zealand. Nestled by the Hutt River and set amongst bush-clad hills, its unique location provides easy access to recreational pursuits ranging from quiet native forest and riverside walks, fishing and hunting, tramping and mountain biking. The city is equally renowned for its many parks, recreation areas such as the prize-winning Maidstone Max, H²O Xtream and rural attractions which range from both native and exotic birds, animals to public gardens, art and heritage areas. The new Expressions Arts and Entertainment Centre hosts regular art exhibitions and live art performances, and is a focal point for the city’s art and culture fraternity. The city is home to the internationally-recognised Royal Wellington Golf Club atHeretaunga and the Wellington Racing Club at Trentham. Among other events, the city proudly hosts the annual Karapoti mountain-biking event which attracts competitors from around the world. The city offers an attractive lifestyle to families and residents. For residents it means relatively cheap housing and rental accommodation that is likely to have more space than most city housing. |
| For families, Upper Hutt has
many excellent preschools, primary schools and secondary schools.
Wellington’s Victoria University and the region’s many other tertiary
institutions are all within easy commuting distance for Upper Hutt
students. Visit our Maps page for links to Google, Yellow Pages, Wises and Zoom In Street Maps. The history of our cityUpper Hutt derives its name from an English Member of Parliament, Sir William Hutt, who was a director of the New Zealand Company (formed in the late 1830s) that organised the settlement of the Wellington and Hutt Valley areas beginning with the arrival of the first immigrant ships from 1840.
Orongomai is the old Maori name of the area where Upper Hutt now stands. It means "the place of Rongomai". He was an ancestor and patron of the tribes whose ancestors came in the Kurahaupo canoe. According to their traditions the captain was Whatonga, ancestor of the Ngai Tara and Rangitane tribes. By his first wife Whatonga had a son, Tara-ika and his descendants, the Ngai Tara, were the first people known to live in the Wellington/Hutt Valley area and the harbour was named for Tara. |
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| The Ngati Rangi came and were defeated by the Ngati Ira, who in turn were defeated by Tamiti Waka Nene of Ngapuhi and Te Rauparaha of Ngati Toa at Pa-Whakataka across the bank from what is now Te Marua. Eventually the Taranaki people, Te Atiawa, occupied all of the Hutt Valley shortly before the Europeans came, with villages at Te Hau-Karetu (Maoribank) and Whirinaki (Silverstream). Early Maori names for the river were Te-Awa-Kairangi and Heretaunga. Upper Hutt was settled right at the beginning of the European colonisation of Wellington. Richard Barton, its first resident, arrived in 1840 on the "Oriental", the second of what is known as the first four ships. He made his home at Trentham in 1841 in the area now known as Bartons Bush. The first town settler was James Brown in 1848. Upper Hutt was originally part of the Hutt County, constituted in 1877. On 24 April 1908, it was proclaimed a Town Board and the first seven Commissioners were farmer GI Benge (first chairman), milkman RH Williams, farmers A Martin and JT Craig, butcher WR Keys, builder J Harrison and painter FH Wilkie. The first secretary was AJ McCurdy, an outstanding character in this areas local politics. He became first Mayor when Upper Hutt became a Borough on 26 February 1926. On 28 May 1966 it was proclaimed a city. The northern areas of Rimutaka Riding of Hutt County were brought into the city on 1 April 1973 to give Upper Hutt the second largest land area of any New Zealand city. It grew in size again on 1 November 1988 when the former Heretaunga-Pinehaven Riding was incorporated upon the abolition of the Hutt County Council. Exactly a year later the City of Upper Hutt as it is today was constituted with the abolition of the Heretaunga/Pinehaven District Community Council. |
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Upper Hutt River |
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