The suburb of Plimmerton lies in the northwest part of the city of Porirua in New Zealand, adjacent to some of the city's more congenial beaches. State Highway 59 and the North Island Main Trunk railway line pass just east of the main shopping and residential area.
Plimmerton has its modern origins as a late 19th century seaside resort. It is named after John Plimmer, an English settler and entrepreneur who, through the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, helped to fund and direct construction of the railway line. The estimated population is 2,180 as of June 2022.[1]
Ngāti Toa people took control of the Porirua coast in the 1820s.[3] In the 1840s the area where Plimmerton is situated was the home of Te Rauparaha, who had his main residence at Taupō pā. Te Rauparaha was captured by 200 British troops and police on 23 July 1846 near the southern end of Motuhara Road. A tiny historic reserve contains a cabbage tree that may be descended from the one he was said to have been captured near, and a plaque. In 1847, most of Ngāti Toa’s land in Porirua was sold to the Crown for the New Zealand Company by a group of eight chiefs, and Taupō was retained as part of a Māori reserve (one of three) that extended from Paremata to Paekākāriki.[4] However, the following year Te Rauparaha was released and retired to Ōtaki; by 1850 Taupō pā was deserted.[5][6]
Taupō village, George French Angas, 1822–1886
The area continued to be referred to as Taupō, after the pā, and was leased by Ngāti Toa for farming by European settlers over the following decades. These included William Cooper, Canington (possible Carrington), and then Levi Tandy (from 1859).[2] James Walker farmed from Paremata to Plimmerton beginning in 1875.[7]
In the late 19th Century Ngāti Toa’s land holdings around Taupō began to rapidly decline as land was by converted to individual title by the Native Land Court and then sold, transferred to the Public Trustee or taken for public works and reserves.[4]
When the Horokiwi Valley Road was opened fewer travellers followed the Taua Tapu track through Taupō to Pukerua Bay. So Pauatahanui grew at the expense of Taupō until the railway line was opened in 1885.[8]
In the 1880s the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company decided to build a railway link from the capital, Wellington, to Longburn, near Palmerston North. Several towns, including Plimmerton, were established along the way to encourage settlements that would contribute to the line's business. John Plimmer, after whom Plimmerton was named, was a director of the company.
View of Taupō Kainga from the Taua Tapu (Pukerua) Track, Plimmerton
In 1885 the first excursion train journeyed from Wellington to Plimmerton on 3 September, and regular services began from 10 October. With the railway's arrival, Plimmerton became accessible to holidaymakers, and evolved into a seaside resort. Plimmerton House, a two-storied hotel, was built alongside the railway station in 1886 (and burnt down in 1907). Sections began to be sold in 1888 and by the late 1890s Plimmerton had become a popular holiday destination. In 1900 Plimmerton consisted of 30 summer cottages, two private hotels and one general store.[2]
Plimmerton was originally part of Hutt County. On 1 April 1973 the still-growing area became one of the northern suburbs of Porirua. Though small, it was one of the most lively. For a time it had the only active Residents' Association in the city.
The name Plimmerton was used in promoting the railway[10] and advertising of sections for sale from the mid-1880s.[2]
Plimmerton was gazetted as an official geographic name on 3 November 2011. The suburb amalgamated the previous recorded suburb names of Plimmerton and Karehana Bay.[11] It excludes the largely Māori (Ngāti Toa) settlement of Hongoeka to the west, which was gazetted on 16 December 2010.[12]
Demographics and census information
The Plimmerton statistical area covers 5.13km2 (1.98sqmi),[13] and includes Hongoeka. It had an estimated population of 2,180 as of June 2022, with a population density of 424.95 people per km2.
Plimmerton had a population of 2,142 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 27 people (1.3%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 90 people (4.4%) since the 2006 census. There were 840 households. There were 1,062 males and 1,080 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.98 males per female. The median age was 44 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 399 people (18.6%) aged under 15 years, 339 (15.8%) aged 15 to 29, 1,026 (47.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 378 (17.6%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 90.2% European/Pākehā, 13.4% Māori, 3.1% Pacific peoples, 3.2% Asian, and 2.0% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities).
The proportion of people born overseas was 23.0%, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people objected to giving their religion, 58.5% had no religion, 32.6% were Christian, 0.3% were Hindu, 0.6% were Muslim, 0.4% were Buddhist and 2.2% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 687 (39.4%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 150 (8.6%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $47,500, compared with $31,800 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 969 (55.6%) people were employed full-time, 252 (14.5%) were part-time, and 42 (2.4%) were unemployed.[14]
A shopping area about two blocks long adjoins Plimmerton Railway Station on Steyne Avenue and includes two churches, a medical centre, Plunket rooms, a craft shop, a beauty salon, real estate agents, a grocery store and several eateries.
To the north alongside the railway line is Plimmerton Domain, comprising 3 football fields, home to the Mana Archery Club, Wellington 29th Boys' Brigade and the Mana Arts Society.[15] Beyond is the Plimmerton Industrial Estate, which includes numerous businesses, the Plimmerton Croquet Club, and a storage facility for the New Zealand Film Archive.[16]
The Mainline Steam railway preservation group have their extensive restoration facilities located behind Plimmerton Railway Station.
North of the industrial area is the Taupō Swamp, a flax swamp, one of the largest of its type in the southern half of the North Island. Taupō Stream passes south through the swamp, along the east edge of Plimmerton Domain, between Steyne Avenue and St Andrews Road, and then flows into the sea at the north end of South Beach.
Plimmerton Library, which was part of Porirua City Council's library system, closed on 27 July 2012.[17] It opened in the late 1940s and operated from a single-room building near the school from November 1951 until December 2007.[18] It then shifted to the Plimmerton Pavilion, opposite the Plimmerton Volunteer Fire Brigade building, until its closure.
South-west of the shopping area is Plimmerton Beach, a fairly sheltered, gently graded beach, which has been a popular recreation area for over a century. It is popular with windsurfers; some world champions have trained there. At the southern end is South Beach. Recreational water quality at Plimmerton Beach is rated "fair" by the Greater Wellington Regional Council; water quality at South Beach is rated "poor", however, due to periodic faecal contamination.[19] This contamination may originate from Taupō Swamp (via Taupō Stream), which often supports a large waterfowl population.[20]
Another popular beach is Karehana Bay, at the foot of the Airlie Road/Cluny Road valley about 1.5 kilometres north-west of the shops. Poet Denis Glover mentioned the settlement in his poem Threnody: "In Plimmerton, in Plimmerton, the little penguins play, and one dead albatross was found at Karehana Bay".[21]
Panorama of Plimmerton from Camborne
Education
Plimmerton School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students,[22][23] with a roll of 416 as of April 2023.[24]
St Theresa's School is a co-educational state-integrated Catholic primary school for Year 1 to 6 students,[25][26] with a roll of 189.[27]
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. 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. As of June 2022, Porirua had a population of 60,200.
The Hutt Valley campaign was an armed conflict in the lower North Island of New Zealand between indigenous Māori and British settlers and military forces in 1846. The campaign was among the earliest of the 19th century New Zealand Wars that were fought over issues of land and sovereignty. It was preceded by the Wairau affray and followed by the Wanganui campaign and was triggered by much the same pressures—the careless land purchasing practices of the New Zealand Company, armed government support for settler land claims, and complex intertribal tensions between local Māori. The three conflicts also shared many of the same combatants.
Whitby, a large suburb of Porirua City, New Zealand, located along much of the southern shore of the Pauatahanui Inlet of Porirua Harbour was comprehensively planned in the 1960s and it has been continuously developed since, with current landscaping and expansion in the hills behind the eastern part of Whitby to facilitate the future growth of the suburb.
Paremata is a suburb of Porirua, on the Tasman Sea coast to the north of Wellington, New Zealand.
Pukerua Bay is a small seaside suburb at the southern end of the Kapiti Coast, New Zealand. In local government terms it is the northernmost suburb of Porirua City, in the Wellington Region. It is 12 km north of the Porirua City Centre on State Highway 59, and 30 km north of central Wellington. In Māori, the words puke rua literally mean two hills but it is not clear to which hills the name refers.
Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Toarangatira or Ngāti Toa Rangatira, is a Māori iwi (tribe) based in the southern North Island and in the northern South Island of New Zealand. Its rohe extends from Whanganui in the north, Palmerston North in the east, and Kaikoura and Hokitika in the south. Ngāti Toa remains a small iwi with a population of only about 4500. It has four marae: Takapūwāhia and Hongoeka in Porirua City, and Whakatū and Wairau in the north of the South Island. Ngāti Toa's governing body has the name Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira.
Camborne, New Zealand is a hilltop and seaside suburb of Porirua.
Paekākāriki is a town in the Kapiti Coast District in the south-western North Island, New Zealand, and one of the northernmost suburbs of Wellington. It lies 22 km (14 mi) north of Porirua and 45 km (28 mi) northeast of the Wellington CBD. The town's name comes from the Māori language and can mean "parakeet perch". Paekākāriki had a population of 1,665 at the time of the 2013 census, up 66 from the 2006 census.
Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour, commonly known as Porirua Harbour, is a natural inlet in the south-western coast of the North Island of New Zealand.
Tītahi Bay, a suburb of Porirua in the North Island of New Zealand, lies at the foot of a short peninsula on the west coast of the Porirua Harbour, to the north of Porirua city centre.
Pāuatahanui is a village in New Zealand's North Island. It is at the far eastern end of what was known as the Pāuatahanui Inlet, an arm of the Porirua Harbour, northeast of Wellington. In local government terms, Pāuatahanui is part of the Northern Ward of Porirua City.
Mana is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate in the Wellington metropolitian area. It has been held by Barbara Edmonds of the Labour Party since the 2020 election.
Mana is a locality of Porirua City in New Zealand, part of the Suburb of Paremata. It is a narrow isthmus bounded to the west by the entrance to Porirua Harbour, and to the east by the Pauatahanui inlet of the Porirua Harbour. Mana Island lies about three kilometres west of the isthmus.
Karehana Bay is a bay and nearby residential area at the western end of Plimmerton, a northern coastal locality of Porirua. It is located near the entrance to the Porirua Harbour, to the south-east of Hongoeka. It is about 5 minutes drive to Karehana Bay from the State Highway 59 turnoff to Plimmerton. The area looks out towards Mana Island and across Cook Strait to the South Island.
Taupō Swamp is a lowland freshwater swamp located three kilometres (1.9 mi) north of Plimmerton and 20 kilometres (12 mi) north-northeast of Wellington. In 1986 the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust purchased Taupō Swamp with the aim of both protecting and restoring the wetland. Taupō Swamp is home to largely indigenous vegetation including sedges, flax, ferns, shrubs, herbaceous plants, and grasses. Flax leaves shelter and shade the swamp providing a habitat that is favourable for eels and native fish including galaxiid species. There are invasive plant species present that threaten the swamp including Darwin's barberry, Blackberry, Gorse, Broom, Pussy Willow and Japanese honeysuckle. Another possible threat is development of nearby land as this may cause silt to run off into the swamp as well as fire.
Paremata railway station on the Kapiti Line section of the North Island Main Trunk Railway (NIMT) in Paremata in the city of Porirua, New Zealand, is part of the Wellington Region's Metlink suburban rail network.
Hongoeka is a community in the city of Porirua in New Zealand. It is northwest of Plimmerton and adjacent to Hongoeka Bay. It extends from an urupā (cemetery) boundary at the end of Moana Road, to Haukōpua. A residential area is situated in Hongoeka Bay itself and takes up flat land and lower hillsides. It is bordered by bush clad hills and farmland, and looks out over a broad sweep of rugged coastline towards Whitireia and Mana Island, and to the South Island beyond.
Takapūwāhia, also known as Porirua Pa, was originally built on one of the oldest settlements in the Porirua basin called Te Urukahika, a small hamlet located on the western shore of Porirua harbour in the lower (southern) North Island of New Zealand.
The Haywards–Plimmerton Line was a railway development proposed several times between 1879 and the 1960s to connect the Hutt Valley and Porirua areas of Wellington via Haywards.
State Highway 59 (SH 59) is a New Zealand state highway in the Wellington Region linking Mackays Crossing to Linden. It came into existence on 7 December 2021, prior to the opening of the Transmission Gully Motorway and consists of the former route of State Highway 1 between Mackays Crossing and Linden.
↑ Falkner, A., The Wellington & Manawatu Railway Co. Ltd., "Map of country between Wellington and Manawatu District opened up by railway, shewing townships & land to be sold by Company". August 1885. Ref: MapColl-r832.4gme/1885/Acc.2705. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/23065176
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Plimmerton
