Tawa, New Zealand
Tawa is the northernmost suburb within the Wellington city boundary, located roughly 15 km north of Wellington's CBD between Churton Park and Porirua in the North Island of New Zealand. It takes its name from the broadleaf tree, which was once prolific throughout the area, although its most famous tree is the Bucket Tree, a large macrocarpa with the topiary of an upside-down bucket. Tawa is also known for its large number of churches, representing a wide range of Christian denominations.
Within Tawa, there are a number of named areas: Lindenvale, Westhaven, Redwood and Southgate to the west and Linden, Greenacres and Sundale to the east of the central Tawa area.
Geography and transportation
Tawa lies in a wide section of a roughly north/south valley which opens up on the north into the Porirua Basin. The valley is about 4.5 km in length and 2.5 km wide. The Belmont range, to the east, separates the Tawa valley from the Hutt Valley, while the Ohariu Valley is located to the west of Tawa. The northern entrance to Tawa is where Kenepuru Drive becomes Main Road, and its southern entrance is the Tawa exit of the Johnsonville-Porirua Motorway. The Porirua Stream flows northwards along the valley, fed by a number of tributaries, including the Takapu Stream.Loosely following the path of the Porirua Stream through the valley is the North Island Main Trunk line; the Kāpiti Line of the Wellington suburban railway, operated by Transdev Wellington. Slightly to the east, the Johnsonville-Porirua Motorway, a dual-carriageway section of State Highway 1, follows a similar path. Both have played an important role in the suburb's development and in providing access. The literally named Main Road runs down the centre of the suburb and provides access to the smaller suburban streets. Main Road and Kenepuru Drive were part of State Highway 1 before the building of the motorway in the 1950s.
Tawa has five suburban passenger railway-stations: Kenepuru, Linden, Tawa, Redwood and Takapu Road. A significant number of commuters travel daily by train into the Wellington CBD to work. As a result, trains are a significant component of Tawa's public transport, but the suburb is also served by a bus route linking Porirua and Johnsonville. Despite these bus and train services, a substantial area on Tawa's fringes remains over 400 metres from public transport, particularly in Redwood, Greenacres and Linden. Measured this way, while the parts of Tawa near the railway and Main Road are among the best-served suburbs in Wellington in terms of public transport, these areas on the fringes are among the worst served. As a result, park-and-ride facilities provided at Takapu Road, Redwood, and Tawa railway stations are normally full on weekdays and parking near Linden station is at a premium, with all on-street parks close to the station occupied.
In 2009 the Wellington City Council commenced work on a shared pedestrian/cycle trail through Tawa to Porirua City Centre. The trail comprises a combination of new paths following the Porirua Stream and rail corridor, and some widened existing footpaths. The Wellington City section of the trail, between Takapu Road railway station in the south and Kenepuru railway station in the north, was completed in 2013. The Porirua City section of the trail was built on an existing unsealed trail and completed about March 2014.
Name origin and local government
Before 1959, Tawa was known as Tawa Flat, thought to be a reference to the Tawa trees that grew there and the flat and arable floor of the valley as it widened out in the Tawa area. The first known use of the name "Tawa Flat" was by John Woodman who used it as his address in the electoral roll for the Wellington Country District, published in the Wellington Provincial Gazette of 28 August 1854. As others living in the area gave their address in the 1854 roll as "Porirua Road", it is possible that John Woodman was the originator of the name.When New Zealand became a separate Colony from New South Wales in 1841, the royal charter established three provinces. The Tawa area became part of New Munster which included that part of the North Island south of the Patea River and the whole of the South Island. In 1846 the British Parliament passed the first constitution act, the New Zealand Constitution Act 1846 which reformed the provinces and the Tawa area became part of New Ulster which now included all of the North Island. The provinces were reformed again with the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 which established six provinces with Tawa included in the Wellington Province. Provincial Government was abolished in 1876 and replaced with 36 borough councils and 63 county councils. The Tawa area became part of the Porirua Riding of the Hutt County, formed in 1877. The Hutt County covered all the area south of the Waikanae River and West of the Remutaka Ranges that lay outside of Wellington City. As the population of local areas grew, a number of local boroughs were split off from the Hutt County. In 1908, a smaller Makara County with offices in Porirua was formed from the Mākara and Porirua Ridings or the south-western part of the Hutt County. The new Makara County included Porirua, Tītahi Bay, and Tawa Flat, and all of the area to the south lying to the west of Wellington City outside the areas covered by Wellington City and the new and independent boroughs of Miramar, Karori, Onslow, and Johnsonville.
In 1939, northern Tawa valley residents seeking to give a separate name to the northern part of the Tawa district met. They chose "Linden", from "Linden Vale", the name of the home of Mr Stuart Duncan, but originally named by Mr. Charles Duncan, a nurseryman. The name "Linden" was adopted in 1940 and the first Linden railway station was opened on 30 April 1941. In 1948, the Tawa Flat and Linden Progressive Associations and Porirua interests, led by Arthur Carman and Percy Clark, made a representation to the Local Government Commission asking for a single borough covering the whole of the Porirua Basin.
The commission did not accept this proposal but responded by giving the Tawa Flat-Linden area the status of a town district able to elect its own town board. A roll of 1,700 electors was compiled and on 16 May 1951 the first town board was elected. Urbanisation and population growth continued in the Tawa valley and in 1953 the population had reached 3,900, sufficient for an upgrade of the town district to a borough. The upgrade to the Borough of Tawa Flat was approved in October 1953.
Starting at the time of the Tawa Flat School and Tawa Flat District Centennial in 1955, there was a popular move to change the name of the "Borough of Tawa Flat" to the "Borough of Tawa" as more people now lived in the hilly areas on the sides of the valley or in Linden and only a minority lived in the area previously known as Tawa Flat. The New Zealand Geographic Board decided on 24 November 1958 "that on and after the 23rd of February 1959 the name of the Borough of Tawa Flat shall be Borough of Tawa." From 1959, the area became known as Tawa and usage of Tawa Flat has been discontinued.
In 1988 the Local Government Commission proposed that Tawa amalgamate with Porirua City or Wellington City with no option to remain an independent borough allowed. The proposal was opposed by the Tawa Borough Council and a majority of residents. Despite efforts by Porirua City to entice Tawa residents to amalgamate with Porirua City many Tawa citizens indicated a preference for amalgamation with Wellington City. On 3 October 1988, the Local Government Commission decreed that the Borough of Tawa would amalgamate with Wellington City. The Tawa Community Board was set up in 1989 to replace the Borough Council.
Tawa now contributes, as part of Wellington city's Northern Ward, to elect three Wellington city councillors. Tawa retains a community board, which represents the suburb in matters of local and community affairs. The former Mayor of Wellington, Kerry Prendergast, originally came on to the Wellington City Council following time as a Tawa Borough councillor.
As of the 2025 local elections the Tawa Community Board members are:
History
Early history
The iwi with mana whenua in Tawa are Ngāti Toa Rangatira and Taranaki Whānui. Ngāti Toa Rangatira have had parcels of land in Tawa and Linden returned to them as part of a housing partnership with the Crown.Though Māori people had not previously settled in the Tawa valley, they would have passed through it when travelling between the centuries-old established populations at Porirua and Te Whanganui a Tara. A Māori track, later developed in the 1840s for the Old Porirua Road, ran between the two harbours, while another such track ran from Willowbank to the Horokiwi Ridge and Petone.
As with the rest of Wellington, Tawa was colonised by the New Zealand Company in the mid-19th century under the direction of Edward Gibbon Wakefield. The Company claimed to have purchased the land from local Māori - this claim "did not take into account of Maori existing land use, and was further undermined by the New Zealand Company and later by the government." It was divided into 100-acre blocks, providing some of the 100-acre "in the country" blocks that accompanied the one-acre "in town" blocks, similar to other Company settlements. Much of the eastern side of the Tawa valley came to be owned by a single family until the demand for housing land overtook the benefits of farming the land. In 1951, a Town District was established covering Tawa and Linden. Within two years this had become Tawa Flat Borough.
Development
The development of Tawa, like many population centres, has been strongly tied to the development of transportation networks. It was initially a rural settlement established along the Old Porirua Road. During construction of the road in 1846-47, the road-making soldiers used two stockades, built a kilometre apart from each other, to sleep in and for protection from potential attacks. The initial settlers had to clear the surrounding heavy forests before they could begin building and farming on the land.In 1851 the first church opened, and in 1855 the first school opened, but Tawa remained predominantly rural into the 20th century. While there were early efforts at housing subdivisions, first in 1896 and in 1906 with the establishment of the Tawa Land Company, they failed to attract much interest. Tawa didn't grow significantly until just before World War II, when it began to lose its semi-rural character.
A single-track railway line built by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company connected Tawa to Wellington from September 1885, and to Palmerston North from November 1886. It followed a circuitous route from Wellington via the Ngaio Gorge and Johnsonville. This line was incorporated into the New Zealand Railways Department network in December 1908. Tawa's first railway station, Tawa Flat station, opened on 24 September 1885. The station was located on the hillside above the valley floor on what is now Duncan Street, on the straight section of road about 180 metres north of the intersection of Duncan Street with the junction of Tawa Street and Tawa Terrace.