Feilding

Feilding (Māori: Aorangi) is a town in the Manawatu District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 54, 20 kilometres north of Palmerston North. The town is the seat of the Manawatu District Council.

Feilding
Town
Manchester Square
Nickname(s): 
'Friendly' Feilding
Feilding
Coordinates: 40°13′S 175°34′E
CountryNew Zealand
RegionManawatū-Whanganui region
Territorial authorityManawatu District
WardFeilding
Named forColonel William Henry Adelbert Feilding
ElectorateRangitikei
Government
 • MPIan McKelvie (New Zealand National Party)
 • MayorHelen Worboys
Elevation70 m (230 ft)
Population
 (June 2019)[2]
 • Total16,450
Time zoneUTC+12 (NZST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+13 (NZDT)
Postcode
4702
Telephone06
Websitewww.feilding.co.nz

Feilding has won the annual New Zealand's Most Beautiful Town award 16 times.[3][4] It is an Edwardian-themed town. The town is currently extending its CBD beautification featuring paving and planter boxes on the footpaths on the main streets in the CBD, including the realignment and beautification of Fergusson Street to the South Street entrance of Manfeild Park.

The town is a service town for the surrounding farming district. The Feilding Saleyards have been a vital part of the wider Manawatu community for over 125 years. As transport systems improved and farming practices changed, the need for small, local saleyards all but disappeared, leaving few major selling complexes in New Zealand. Manawatu is a diverse and fertile farming area with high production, high stock-carrying capacity and a stable climate. These factors make Feilding Saleyards a popular medium for many farmers. A unique aspect of Feilding Saleyards is their location in the centre of town.[5]

The Manawatu Plains, on which the town is sited, are very fertile land, and as such it is a prosperous agricultural area. Being located on the floodplain of a major river has its problems, however, and in February 2004 the town suffered extensive flooding. In 2009 the Horizons Regional Council commissioned a new flood protection scheme to prevent extensive flooding in the future.[6]

Feilding Hotel
Feilding Clocktower
A reminder to keep Feilding's tidy and attractive image

History

European settlement

The town was named after Colonel William H. A. Feilding, a director of the Emigrants and Colonists Aid Corporation Ltd. who negotiated the purchase of a 100,000 acre (400 km²) block of land from the Wellington provincial government in 1871. The first European settlers arrived from Great Britain on 22 January 1874.

The Feilding Edwardian Project Inc. was established in September 1993 by local businesses with the aim of revitalising the central business area of Feilding. Many of the commercial buildings were built in the 1900s (Edwardian era) and have been restored and preserved over time. Feilding is home to a number of historic collections, buildings, monuments and museums, including THE Coach House Museum, St Johns Church, Feilding Club, Feilding Hotel, AND Feilding & Districts Steam Rail Society.[7]

Military presence

In recent years there has been a steady increase in military families from the Royal New Zealand Air Force buying property and living in Feilding, mainly due to the close proximity of RNZAF Base Ohakea. In 2017 it was announced that the Republic of Singapore Air Force was looking to establish a permanent F-15 fighter jet training base at Ohakea, but this was scrapped in December 2018 due to "excessive costs involved".[8]

Marae

Feilding has two marae, connected to the Iwi of Ngāti Kauwhata: Aorangi Marae and its Maniaihu meeting house; and Kauwhata Marae or Kai Iwi Pā and its Kauwhata meeting house.[9][10]

Features
  • One of New Zealand's main motor racing circuits, Manfeild, is located at the southern edge of the town
  • There is an active light aircraft airfield at the eastern edge of the town
  • The depot of the Feilding and District Steam Rail Society is located in the town and it runs railway excursions from this base.
  • Feilding's stock saleyards were once one of the largest in the southern hemisphere and are right in the central business area.[11]
  • The Coach House Museum
  • Focal Point Cinema Feilding
  • There are no traffic lights and no parking meters

Economy

Employing about 30 people with a payroll of $1.5m in 2015, Proliant, an Iowa based firm privately held by the father and son team of Wally and Nix Lauridsen, constructed a $24m factory on the outskirts of Feilding for the production of a byproduct from cattle blood plasma, bovine serum albumin (BSA), which is used in pharmaceuticals, vaccines and medical research. Proliant produces about half of the world's BSA.[12][13][14][15]

In the Manawatu District of the people aged 15 years or over:

  • 40% earn $20,000 or less (NZ 38.8%)
  • 14% earn more than $50,000 (NZ 16.2%)
  • the unemployment rate is 3.8% (NZ 7.3%)
  • 73.4% of permanent private dwellings are owned with or without a mortgage by the occupant(s) (NZ 66.9%)[16]
    Cheltenham Co-Operative Dairy Factory, Makino, Feilding

Education

Secondary schools

Primary and intermediate schools
  • Feilding Intermediate School is a state, coeducational intermediate (years 7–8) school with a roll of 344. It was established in 1964.[17]
  • Lytton Street School is a state, coeducational contributing primary (years 1–6) school with a roll of 523.[18]
  • Manchester Street School is a state, coeducational contributing primary (years 1–6) school with a roll of 374.[19]
  • North Street School is a state, coeducational full primary (years 1–8) school with a roll of 276.[20]
  • St Joseph's School is an integrated coeducational full primary (years 1–8) school with a roll of 131.[21]
  • Taonui School, located south-east of the Feilding township, is a state, coeducational full primary (years 1–8) school with a roll of 103.[22]

Notable personalities

Famous people from Feilding include:

Groups

See also

References
  1. New Zealand Topo50 map BM34: [www.linz.govt.nz]
  2. "Subnational Population Estimates: At 30 June 2019". Statistics New Zealand. 22 October 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  3. Kilmister, Sam (18 October 2017). "Feilding wins most beautiful town for a 15th time". Manawatu Standard.
  4. Beleski, Jake (14 October 2017). "Revealed: NZ's most beautiful city". The New Zealand Herald.
  5. "Feilding Saleyards 125 Years of Success 1880–2005" (June 2005) Adapted by Foreword authored by Ian McKelvie.
  6. "Flood protection scheme opens". infonews.co.nz. New Zealand. 25 March 2000. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  7. "Feilding & Districts Steam Rail Society". Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  8. Sam Sachdeva. "Singapore F-15 base scrapped for Ohakea". Newsroom. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  9. "Te Kāhui Māngai directory". tkm.govt.nz. Te Puni Kōkiri.
  10. "Māori Maps". maorimaps.com. Te Potiki National Trust.
  11. "Feilding Saleyards Guided Tours". Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  12. Galuszka, Jono (10 May 2013). "US biofirm to build factory near Feilding". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  13. Proliant Inc. website
  14. Proliant Biologicals website
  15. "Proliant Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) New Zealand Source". Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  16. "Live – Feilding". www.feilding.co.nz. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  17. Education Counts: Feilding Intermediate
  18. Education Counts: Lytton Street school
  19. Education Counts: Manchester Street school
  20. Education Counts: North Street school
  21. Education Counts: St Josephs (Feilding)
  22. Education Counts: Taonui School
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