Petone
Petone is a large suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand. It stands at the southern end of the Hutt Valley, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour. Europeans first settled in Petone in January 1840, making it the oldest European settlement in the Wellington Region. It became a borough in 1888, and merged with Lower Hutt in 1989.
Etymology
The Māori name Pito-one has long been taken to mean the end of the sand, referring to the long sandy beach at Petone with pā at each end of the beach. However in 2024 The New Zealand Geographic Board suggested that Pito-one means "an umbilical cord buried in the sand ", as a symbolic tethering of a newborn to the whenua in Māori culture.On 6 September 2024, the Hutt City Council voted to officially name the suburb "Pito One". This proposed name change was supported by the New Zealand Geographic Board, The Wellington Tenths Trust and the Palmerston North Māori Reserve Trust. On 19 December 2024, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk chose to decline the change, stating that "people feel strongly about the name of their home and each proposal received a range of submissions both for and against".
Geography
Petone is on flat land, between Hutt River to the north and east, hills on the west and Wellington Harbour to the south. The land along the foreshore was uplifted by a metre or more in the 1855 Wairarapa earthquake, which improved drainage around the mouth of Hutt River. The foreshore has a shallow sandy beach, formed by sediment from the Hutt River, which is a popular family swimming spot. Korokoro Stream enters Wellington Harbour at the western end of the Petone foreshore, and drains a catchment in Belmont Regional Park.As a low-lying suburb, Petone is vulnerable to tsunami and flooding. During a severe storm on 20 December 1976, Korokoro Stream caused flooding almost a metre deep in the industrial area of Petone around Cornish Street, and more than 40 people had to be rescued from factory roofs.
History
There were two Māori pā, belonging to Te Āti Awa, at Pito-one near the beach when the first European settlers arrived in the region. At the western end of the beach was the Pito-one pā, and at the other end near the mouth of the Hutt River stood Hikoikoi pā. In 1850 the pā at Pito-one was described as "the largest and best fortified within the District of Wellington... their cultivations of kumara and maize look well and the residents, in point of comfort and wealth, are better off than any of the Port Nicholson natives... total population 136".Around 1840, Edward Jerningham Wakefield described the locality as a "sandy beach, which is about two miles long. The main river falls into the sea at the eastern end... and is called the Heretaunga . A merry brawling stream, called the Korokoro, or "throat", flows between and the western hills. The valley... bounded on either side by wooded hills from 300 to 400 feet in height. It was covered with high forest to within a mile and a half of the beach, when swamps full of flax and a belt of sand hummocks intervened."
Petone was the first European settlement in the Wellington region and retains many historical buildings and landmarks. The first European settlers in large numbers arrived on 22 January 1840 on the ship Aurora, which brought 25 married couples, 36 single people and 40 children. The Aurora is commemorated in the Petone Settlers Museum, which has a sculpture shaped like the bow of the ship protruding from the front of the building. Māori from the nearby Pito-one pā came to meet the new arrivals, with one passenger recording in his diary: "The first great object of attraction was the venerable old chief Te Puni, his interesting and beautiful wife 'Victoria,' and his handsome daughter Aena, the princess, together with sons and endless relatives and a pa full of natives who were delighted to greet us with 'Kapai te Pakeha,' Tena-koe, and other expressions of greeting."
A beach settlement of small wooden houses and tents was established, which was initially called Britannia. The earliest European settlers found life hard. Nevertheless, the settlement grew: the population of "Pito-one and Hutt" in 1845 was given as 649, compared to, "Town of Wellington" of 2,667. There was horse racing at Pito-one Beach on 20 October 1842, attracting a crowd of five or six hundred people from Wellington.
After repeated flooding, most settlers moved south around the harbour to Thorndon. Thorndon is at the shore of what is now the city of Wellington, New Zealand's capital.
From the late 19th century and for much of the 20th century, Petone was a thriving, largely working-class town. It was the location of several large industrial sites, including car assembly plants, a meat processing plant, a wool processing plant, a tobacco processing plant, a soap factory and a toothpaste factory. The majority of these closed in the 1970s and 1980s, resulting in gradual economic decline in the area.
Defunct industries
- Petone Railway Workshops 1876–1929
- Gear Meat Company 1882–1981
- Wellington Woollen Manufacturing Company 1883–1968
- Lever Brothers soap factory 1919–2015
- W.D. & H.O. Wills tobacco factory 1919–2020
- New Zealand Motor Bodies vehicle assembly plant 1926–1978
- General Motors vehicle assembly plant 1926–1984
- Todd Motors vehicle assembly plant 1935–1974. The company closed the Petone factory after building a new plant at Porirua in the early 1970s.
- Colgate-Palmolive toothpaste and toiletries factory 1939–2007
- Austin Motor Industries vehicle assembly plant 1946–1983
Petone is home to the Petone Rugby Club founded in 1885.
Railway employee, fireman, and photographer Albert Percy Godber photographed railway infrastructure and trains, industries, Māori artworks, sights, and workers in Petone capturing a perspective from an earlier era. The Alexander Turnbull Library has a collection of his photographs.
State housing
New Zealand's first state housing was constructed at the east end of Petone in 1906. Historian Ben Schrader has identified that this housing may be the first national government-led housing development in the world. The Heretaunga Settlement has been declared a Historic Area by Heritage New Zealand. Some of the original houses remain in good condition, and the local tourist office provides a guide showing where they are located. Some of the houses in Patrick Street are listed as Historic Places by Heritage New Zealand.Star Flats are located in Jackson Street and East Street.
Demographics
Petone, comprising the statistical areas of Petone Central, Petone East and Petone Esplanade, covers. It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2.Petone had a population of 7,491 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 816 people since the 2013 census, and an increase of 945 people since the 2006 census. There were 2,955 households, comprising 3,753 males and 3,738 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.0 males per female, with 1,167 people aged under 15 years, 1,650 aged 15 to 29, 3,492 aged 30 to 64, and 1,188 aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 71.6% European/Pākehā, 15.5% Māori, 8.2% Pasifika, 16.1% Asian, and 2.4% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
The percentage of people born overseas was 28.0, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 48.4% had no religion, 35.0% were Christian, 1.2% had Māori religious beliefs, 4.9% were Hindu, 0.8% were Muslim, 0.9% were Buddhist and 3.3% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 2,046 people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 852 people had no formal qualifications. 1,440 people earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 3,468 people were employed full-time, 795 were part-time, and 261 were unemployed.
| Name | Area | Population | Density | Households | Median age | Median income |
| Petone Central | 1.30 | 954 | 734 | 339 | 34.7 years | $39,900 |
| Petone East | 1.63 | 3,906 | 2,396 | 1,569 | 39.4 years | $34,600 |
| Petone Esplanade | 0.97 | 2,631 | 2,712 | 1,047 | 36.1 years | $39,500 |
| New Zealand | 37.4 years | $31,800 |