Porirua Harbour

Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour, commonly known as Porirua Harbour, is a natural inlet in the south-western coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The city of Porirua, one of the four cities in the Wellington conurbation, surrounds it. The city centre is to the south of the harbour. The harbour has an entrance only a few hundred metres in width, close to the suburb of Plimmerton. It opens up into two arms, Porirua Inlet to the south and Pauatahanui Inlet to the north-east. Each arm is around three kilometres in length.

Part of the Porirua Inlet was reclaimed for a causeway carrying the North Island Main Trunk Railway when the section between Porirua and Mana was straightened and double tracked. The new section of the Kapiti Line was opened on 7 November 1960. A new Paremata Railway Station and bridge over the entrance to the Pauatahanui Inlet were required.

The line no longer followed the curves of the shoreline bays north of Porirua, and three shallow lagoons on the land side of the new causeway were created. When State Highway 1 was re-aligned and straightened in the 1970s to run alongside the rail line, these lagoons were partially filled in. Aotea Lagoon was developed into a recreational area, albeit very polluted.

Porirua

Porirua is a city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. It almost completely surrounds Porirua Harbour at the southern end of the Kapiti Coast. Pauatahanui Inlet, the eastern inlet of the harbour, is notable for its world-class estuarine values. The population at the June 2015 estimate was 54,300.

History

The name "Porirua" has a Māori origin: it may represent a variant of pari-rua ("two tides"), a reference to the two arms of the Porirua Harbour. In the 19th century the name designated a land-registration district that stretched from Kaiwharawhara (or Kaiwara) on the north-west shore of Wellington Harbour northwards to and around Porirua Harbour. The road climbing the hill from Kaiwharawhara towards Ngaio and Khandallah still bears the name "Old Porirua Road".

In the 19th century a small European settlement grew up, partly because of the need for a ferry across the harbour. At the time a small Māori settlement already existed.

Porirua (New Zealand electorate)

Porirua was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate in the North Island. It existed during two periods; from 1860 to 1870, and then from 1963 to 1996.

Population centres

This electorate is based on Porirua City, north of Wellington.

History

The electorate was first created in 1860 for the term of the 3rd New Zealand Parliament. It existed until the end of the 4th Parliament in 1870.Alfred Brandon was the representative during that period.

The electorate was recreated in 1963 for the 34th Parliament. In 1996 with MMP, the electorate was replaced by the new Mana electorate. The holder of Porirua, Graham Kelly chose to become a list MP.

From 1963 to 1996, the electorate was held by three Labour Party representatives: Henry May,Gerard Wall, and Graham Kelly.

Election results

Key

  Independent     Labour  

Notes

References