Paparangi

Paparangi is one of the northern suburbs of Wellington, New Zealand. It lies approximately 10 km north of the city centre, north-east of Johnsonville, north-west of Newlands and south of Grenada and Woodridge. The population was 2,841 at the time of the 2013 census, an increase of 96 from the 2006 census population.[1]

Paparangi
Suburb
Country	New Zealand
Local authority	Wellington City
Electoral ward	Northern Ward
Population  (2013)
• Total	2,841
Postcode(s)	6037

	Glenside, Grenada
Johnsonville	Paparangi	Woodridge
	Johnsonville

The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "flat sky" for Paparangi.[2]

The suburb has a small local shopping centre and a low decile primary school.[3][4]

The area, originally small farms and part of Newlands became a dormitory suburb of Wellington with major subdivisions in the early 1960s adding about a hundred houses a year. Beazley Homes of Tauranga (owned by Barry Beazley) was a major developer.[5]

Some of the street names are the first names of children living in the area then or of children whose parents were involved in development of the suburb (Cara Crescent, Mark Avenue and Lynda Avenue were named after a son and daughter of Barry Beazley).[6][7]

In 1991 a new landfill was opened in Grenada, with direct access via an overbridge to the adjacent motorway. A road extension would give Newlands and Paparangi access to the motorway, but the Grenada Village Progressive Association was concerned about any increase in traffic and car speeds. From 1994 the WCC consulted with residents, and in 2009 the "Mark Avenue Extension" connecting the two roads was opened by the Mayor.[8]

History

The area was settled by a farmer Thomas Drake from Devonshire who was a descendant of John Drake, brother to Sir Francis Drake. He obtained a Crown Grant of 332 acres of land in 1861. His widow Ceres Selina Drake sold the land to the Crown on 3 August 1897, and it was broken into small farms of the Paparangi Estate, as one of the Small Farms Settlements of Richard Seddon’s Liberal Government.[9] Working men got a 2 hectare (5 acre) lease-in-perpetuity section on which they could grow fruit and vegetables and keep pigs, bees and fowls.[10]

In the 1920s and 1930s there were five dairy farms in Newlands and Paparangi, supplying town milk to Wellington. Sam Styles had a 90 acre (36 ha) dairy farm, Ocean View Farm in Horokiwi Road, Paparangi supplying milk and cream. He was a Makara County Councillor, and later ran 200 sheep on 200 acres (80 ha) at the top of Horokiwi. The farm was sold to Mr McKinley after Styles' death in 1935.[11][12]

Education

Paparangi School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 6 students,[13][14] with a roll of 251 as of March 2020.[15]

References

1. These figures combine the statistical areas of Paparangi (2013 Census QuickStats about a place : Paparangi) and Paparangi West (2013 Census QuickStats about a place : Paparangi West)
2. "1000 Māori place names". New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 6 August 2019.
3. "Paparangi School". Paparangi School. 17 May 2015.
4. "Paparangi pupils back at school after fire". Stuff/Fairfax. 3 May 2015.
5. • Robertson, Lawson & Louise (2012). Up in the Breezy Hills: The History of the suburb Newlands-Paparangi. Wellington: Robertson. p. 58. ISBN 978-1-877572-48-7.
6. Northern Suburbs: Wellington City p39 (Heritage Trail booklet by Wellington City Council, undated)
7. • Robertson, Lawson & Louise (2012). Up in the Breezy Hills: The History of the suburb Newlands-Paparangi. Wellington: Robertson. pp. 119, 120. ISBN 978-1-877572-48-7.
8. Robertson, Lawson & Louise (2012). Up in the Breezy Hills: The History of the suburb Newlands-Paparangi. Wellington: Robertson. p. 85. ISBN 978-1-877572-48-7.
9. Carman, Arthur (1982) [1956]. Tawa Flat and the Old Porirua Road: 1840-1982 (3 ed.). Wellington: Wright and Carman. p. 59.
10. Bremner, Julie (1987). Wellington’s Northern Suburbs 1919-1945. Wellington: Millwood Press. p. 23. ISBN 0-908582-80-3.
11. Robertson, Lawson & Louise (2012). Up in the Breezy Hills: The History of the suburb Newlands-Paparangi. Wellington: Robertson. p. 105. ISBN 978-1-877572-48-7.
12. Bremner, Julie (1987). Wellington’s Northern Suburbs 1919-1945. Wellington: Millwood Press. pp. 98, 99, 101. ISBN 0-908582-80-3.
13. "Paparangi School Official School Website". paparangi.school.nz.
14. "Paparangi School Education Review Office Report". ero.govt.nz. Education Review Office.
15. "Paparangi School Ministry of Education School Profile". educationcounts.govt.nz. Ministry of Education.