Pāuatahanui

History

Early settlement and history

After Te Rangihaeata was defeated in the 1846 Hutt Valley Campaign the area became safer as a route from the Hutt Valley via Belmont and Judgeford and on to the north, via Paekākāriki to the Manawatū and Wanganui. The road from Wellington reached Pāuatahanui in September 1848, and a reliable road to the north as far as Paekākāriki was completed by November 1849. Known nowadays as the "Paekākāriki Hill Road", it continued to be the main road north until the road bridge was built at Paremata in 1939. Access from the Hutt Valley was also upgraded to a road in 1873, and the road that was to become State Highway 58 from Haywards was established in the 1870s.

The first non-denominational Protestant chapel was built about 1856, and from 1861 Anglican services were held by a visiting clergyman once a fortnight. Congregations dwindled with an Anglican church built. It became tumbledown, and was demolished around 1910. Other churches were St Joseph's Catholic Church (1878) and St Alban's Anglican Church (1898).

The first hotel was constructed in 1847 by former whalers Edward Boulton and Thomas Wilson. Burned down in 1859, it was replaced by a fourteen-room Boultons Hotel. From 1865 other hotels were the Horokiwi Hotel, the Pauatahanui Hotel, the Empire Hotel and the Junction Hotel, largely to serve the Cobb and Co stagecoach traffic. In 1912 the area went "dry" and all the hotel bars closed. In the 1911 electoral redistribution the area was transferred from the electorate to the new electorate, and no longer had William Field as an MP. The new electorate was "dry" as the precursor electorate had already voted "dry" in the .

A community hall was built in 1904. It was demolished in 1966 and replaced.

In World War II the US Marines had four camps in the Pāuatahanui area; at Judgeford, at the Porirua side of the foot of the Haywards Hill, at Motukaraka, and in the Moonshine Valley. The Judgedford camp accommodated 3,755 men, the Moonshine camp had a recreation hall and a vehicle servicing depot, and the Haywards camp had a large theatre for the troops. Apart from a few huts for officers, most of the marines were in bell tents.

Environmental preservation

In the early 1970s the development of sections at Whitby on the south of the Pāuatahanui Inlet caused noticeable silting and raised community concerns. This ultimately led to a detailed 3-year environmental study in 1975–1977, which was published as a book in 1980. Subsequently the Pāuatahanui Wildlife Reserve was created, in 1984, in order to preserve the only large estuarine wetland left in the lower North Island. The wetland reserve is run by the Royal Forest and Bird Society with ongoing efforts to reduce human impact on the environment and to restore damaged areas. The reserve has several hides for viewing birdlife, boardwalks, and some barbecue / picnic areas for visitors.

Demographics

Pāuatahanui statistical area covers 75.73 km2 and also includes Judgeford. It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2.

Pāuatahanui had a population of 990 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 24 people (2.5%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 66 people (7.1%) since the 2013 census. There were 510 males, 480 females, and 3 people of other genders in 336 dwellings. 2.7% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 46.4 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 180 people (18.2%) aged under 15 years, 156 (15.8%) aged 15 to 29, 516 (52.1%) aged 30 to 64, and 138 (13.9%) aged 65 or older.

People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 92.4% European (Pākehā); 10.3% Māori; 2.1% Pasifika; 3.6% Asian; 1.2% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 3.6% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 97.9%, Māori by 2.1%, Samoan by 0.3%, and other languages by 7.6%. No language could be spoken by 1.5% (e.g. too young to talk). The percentage of people born overseas was 20.6, compared with 28.8% nationally.

Religious affiliations were 27.3% Christian, 0.6% Buddhist, 0.6% New Age, and 0.9% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 62.4%, and 9.1% of people did not answer the census question.

Of those at least 15 years old, 258 (31.9%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 435 (53.7%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 114 (14.1%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $63,700, compared with $41,500 nationally. 258 people (31.9%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was 486 (60.0%) full-time, 120 (14.8%) part-time, and 15 (1.9%) unemployed.

Education

Pauatahanui School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of as of .

It was established in 1855, originally in an undenominational chapel on the site of Rangihaeata's pā, and later in the military barracks vacated by the troops, making it one of the oldest schools in New Zealand.

The nearest secondary schools to Pāuatahanui are Aotea College in Aotea and Porirua College in Cannons Creek, both roughly 8.5 km away.

Road links

State Highway 58 skims the southern fringe of the village and State Highway 1 (as the Transmission Gully Motorway) lies just to the east of it; the two roads intersect at a diamond interchange to the south of Pāuatahanui. SH 1 links Pāuatahanui to Wellington in the south and the Kāpiti Coast District (and beyond to the rest of the North Island) to the north, while SH 58 to the east leads to Judgeford and SH 2 in the Hutt Valley, and to the west skirts the southern edge of the Pāuatahanui Inlet to meet SH 59 at Paremata.

Other significant road links include Paekākāriki Hill Road which leaves SH 58 at a roundabout just to the west of the Transmission Gully interchange, provides the main road through the village itself, and continues to the Horokiri Valley and Paekākāriki (but is a slower route to Paekākāriki than the Transmission Gully Motorway, despite being the shortest route). Grays Road branches off from Paekākāriki Hill Road a short distance to the north of the village, and follows the northern edge of the Pāuatahanui Inlet to meet SH 59 at Plimmerton.

Notable buildings

Pāuatahanui has a group of regionally significant 19th century buildings. They include St Alban's Church, St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, Thomas Hollis Stace Cottage, Barrys Place Historical Cottage and the Taylor-Stace Cottage.

Built in 1847, Taylor-Stace Cottage is the Wellington region's oldest surviving house, and is currently used as a beauty salon.

The former community hall (erected in 1967) was leased to a local company in 2003 and converted into the Light House Cinema, the only cinema in Porirua's northeastern area.

Climate

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References

References

1. {{LINZ. 54733
2. W. B. Healy, "Pauatahanui Inlet — an environmental study", New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1980. ISSN 0077-9636
3. Mark Sheehan, ''Pauatahanui and the Inlet''. The Porirua Museum, 1988
4. [http://www.lighthousepauatahanui.co.nz/About-Us.43.0.htmlAbout Us], [http://www.lighthousepauatahanui.co.nz/ Lighthouse Pauatahanui].
5. "Stats NZ Geographic Data Service".
6. {{NZ census 2018. Pāuatahanui (239400). pauatahanui. Pāuatahanui
7. "Totals by topic for dwellings, (RC, TALB, UR, SA3, SA2, Ward, Health), 2013, 2018, and 2023 Censuses". Stats NZ – Tatauranga Aotearoa – Aotearoa Data Explorer.
8. "Totals by topic for individuals, (RC, TALB, UR, SA3, SA2, Ward, Health), 2013, 2018, and 2023 Censuses". Stats NZ – Tatauranga Aotearoa – Aotearoa Data Explorer.
9. "Pauatahanui School Education Review Office Report". [[Education Review Office]].
10. "Pauatahanui School Ministry of Education School Profile". [[Ministry of Education (New Zealand).
11. "Pauatahanui School Official School Website".
12. "Find schools in Porirua City". [[Ministry of Education (New Zealand).
13. (23 June 1983). "St Alban's Church (Anglican)".
14. (2 July 1982). "St Joseph's Church (Catholic)".
15. (5 September 1985). "Cottage".
16. "Open evening at oldest cottage in Wellington". Wellington.scoop.co.nz.
17. (25 September 1986). "Taylor-Stace Cottage".
18. "New look for oldest house". [[Stuff (website).