Paraparaumu


Paraparaumu is a town in the south-western North Island of New Zealand. It lies on the Kāpiti Coast, north of the nation's capital city, Wellington. It is also known to residents as Pram or Paraparam.
Like other towns in the area, it has a partner settlement at the coast called Paraparaumu Beach, which is directly opposite Kapiti Island. The two towns form part of the Kāpiti Coast District. Together with the nearby Raumati Beach and Raumati South, they are among the fastest-growing urban areas in New Zealand, and are major dormitory towns with workers commuting to the cities that make up the Wellington urban area. The four towns between them have a 2012 population of over 49,000 people. Inland behind Paraparaumu is the Maungakotukutuku area.
The village of Lindale is just north of the Paraparaumu town centre. It began as a tourist and agricultural centre, but later gained a reputation for cheese and the Lindale Barnyard petting farm.
The old State Highway 1 and the Kāpiti Line section of the North Island Main Trunk railway both pass through Lindale. The railway line was formerly owned by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, and construction of the line was completed when the ends from Wellington and Longburn met near Lindale in Otaihanga in 1886. There were proposals to extend the commuter train service operated by Transdev Wellington to a new station at Lindale, subject to Wellington Regional Council funding, but these were dropped when electrification for the commuter service was extended from Paraparaumu to Waikanae.
The majority of shops are located close to the town centre in the Coastlands Mall, close to the train station.

Name and etymology

Paraparaumu is a Māori-language name meaning "scraps from an earth oven"; parapara means "dirt" or "scraps", and umu means "oven". The name comes from an 1819–1820 expedition of Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Toa, who travelled down the west coast of the North Island from Kāwhia to Cook Strait. As they arrived in the Kāpiti Coast, they found no useful resources.
Paraparaumu is sometimes known by the names "Pram", "Paraparam" or "Pram-Pram".

History

In August 1936, a train derailed in Paraparaumu as it approached a land slide in rainy weather.

Climate

Paraparaumu has an oceanic climate typical of New Zealand, with moderately warm summers and mild winters. It has a quite high rainfall frequency year round, although it is drier than many other coastal areas in the country.
Paraparaumu is one of four places in New Zealand where weather balloons are regularly launched for MetService.

Demographics

Paraparaumu is described by Stats NZ as a medium urban area, which covers, which includes Otaihanga, Paraparaumu Beach, Raumati Beach and Raumati South. It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2.
Paraparaumu had a population of 28,938 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 237 people since the 2018 census, and an increase of 2,100 people since the 2013 census. There were 13,749 males, 15,063 females, and 123 people of other genders in 11,661 dwellings. 3.6% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 46.4 years. There were 4,890 people aged under 15 years, 4,215 aged 15 to 29, 12,828 aged 30 to 64, and 7,005 aged 65 or older.
People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 87.5% European ; 13.5% Māori; 3.9% Pasifika; 7.3% Asian; 1.1% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders ; and 2.7% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 97.6%, Māori by 2.6%, Samoan by 0.5%, and other languages by 10.7%. No language could be spoken by 1.7%. New Zealand Sign Language was known by 0.7%. The percentage of people born overseas was 24.7, compared with 28.8% nationally.
Religious affiliations were 30.9% Christian, 1.1% Hindu, 0.3% Islam, 0.4% Māori religious beliefs, 0.6% Buddhist, 0.6% New Age, 0.1% Jewish, and 1.3% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 58.2%, and 6.6% of people did not answer the census question.
Of those at least 15 years old, 6,114 people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 12,876 had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 5,055 people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $40,100, compared with $41,500 nationally. 3,468 people earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was 11,175 full-time, 3,354 part-time, and 591 unemployed.
NameArea
PopulationDensity
DwellingsMedian ageMedian
income
Paraparaumu Beach5.129,2131,7993,76547.9 years$40,100
Paraparaumu 14.6710,6897294,28445.7 years$38,100
Raumati Beach and Raumati South8.599,0361,0523,61245.7 years$43,100
New Zealand38.1 years$41,500

NameArea
PopulationDensity
DwellingsMedian ageMedian
income
Otaihanga4.1685520630944.9 years$44,700
Paraparaumu North3.533,5761,0131,43148.6 years$40,500
Paraparaumu Central4.463,9668891,71344.5 years$36,300
Paraparaumu East2.512,29591482842.6 years$35,900
New Zealand38.1 years$41,500

Economy

Retail

opened in Paraparaumu in 1969. It has 1400 carparks and 94 shops, including Pak'nSave, The Warehouse, Farmers and Woolworths.

Sport

Paraparaumu was formerly represented in soccer/football by Paraparaumu United. They merged with the Raumati Hearts in 2003 to create Kapiti Coast United, which is based at Weka Park in Raumati.
The local athletics club is Paraparaumu Track and Field Club, which has both junior and senior members in conjunction with Athletics Wellington and Athletics New Zealand age grades. The club is based at the Paraparaumu Domain.
Paraparaumu Beach also has a golf course. It has hosted the New Zealand Open a total of 12 times, a record unsurpassed by any other course.

Transport

Airport

has a few scheduled commercial flights and is a popular recreational airfield, hosting the Kapiti Aero Club. Air Chathams will have daily flights between the airport and Auckland from 20 August 2018, and Sounds Air operate to Blenheim and Nelson. Now defunct, locally based Air2there used operate to Blenheim and Nelson also. Prior to the mid 2010s Air New Zealand used to have scheduled services to Kapiti Coast Airport with their ATR-42s and Q-400/ DHC-8s. This was then cancelled in the mid 2010s.

Public transport

Paraparaumu is located on the North Island Main Trunk Railway, on the Kāpiti Line of Wellington's commuter railway network operated by Transdev under the Metlink brand. Electrified commuter services were extended to Waikanae on 20 February 2011. Korean built by Hyundai Rotem, FP/FT class electric multiple units operate the commuter trains.
Beyond Waikanae, KiwiRail's Great Journeys New Zealand division operates two diesel-hauled long distance passenger services: the Capital Connection between Palmerston North and Wellington, and the Northern Explorer between Auckland and Wellington.
There are also feeder and local commuter bus service operated by Metlink.

Education

Primary schools

Paraparaumu School is a state primary school for Year 1 to 8 Students with a roll of It opened in a building "on skids" in 1889 and moved to a new building on the current site in 1890. A fire in 2014 caused extensive damage to the school.
Kapiti School is a state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of. The school was open by 1973.
Our Lady of Kapiti School is a state-integrated Catholic primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of It is named after a Our [Lady of Lourdes |large statue] of the Virgin Mary located near by. The school opened in 2017, replacing St Patrick's School, which had opened in 1954.
All these schools are co-educational. Rolls are as of
Paraparaumu Beach and Kenakena Schools are covered at Paraparaumu Beach#Education. Raumati Beach School is covered at Raumati Beach#Education. Raumati South and Te Rā Schools are covered at Raumati South#Education.

Secondary schools

Three secondary schools are located near the Paraparaumu township: Paraparaumu College in Paraparaumu Beach, Kāpiti College in Raumati Beach and Ōtaki College in Ōtaki.

Notable residents