Fairfield
Suburb
Coordinates: 41°12′46″S 174°56′14″E / 41.2127°S 174.9371°E / -41.2127; 174.9371
CountryNew Zealand
CityLower Hutt City
Population
 (2006) approx.[1]
 • Total2,976
Avalon Naenae
Epuni
Fairfield
Waterloo Arakura

Fairfield is an eastern suburb of Lower Hutt, New Zealand, situated in the south of the North Island of New Zealand.

Demographics

Fairfield is included in the demographics for Epuni East.[2]

Education

Epuni School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 6 students,[3][4] with a roll of 129 as of April 2023.[5] See photo of Epuni School, 1970s[6]

Community

The Common Unity Project Aotearoa located at 310 Waiwhetu Road was founded in 2012 by Julia Milne based on a philosophy of strengthening the community through collaboration.[7]

Epuni Boys Home

Epuni Boys Home was opened on 29 January 1959 at 441 Riverside Drive as a state-run home for "troubled' boys aged between eight and 17. It closed in February 1990. Numerous allegations of physical and sexual abuse have been made by former residents during their time at the Home and these are among allegations under examination by the Royal Commission of Enquiry into State Care.[8][9][10]

Waiwhetū Stream

The Waiwhetū Stream is a small watercourse that flows through Fairfield and drains the eastern side of the Hutt Valley. It enters Wellington Harbour at the Hutt River estuary. Development and urbanisation of the Hutt Valley since the arrival of settlers led to increasing pollution and degradation of the stream environment. The stream was diverted into concrete culverts in many sections in an attempt to reduce flooding. Industrial development in the area around the lower reaches of the stream led to that section becoming an industrial sewer. In 2010, the stream was described as one of the most polluted waterways in New Zealand.[11]

Pressure from the community beginning around 2003 helped to trigger a major project to clean up the lower reaches. This project was declared complete in June 2010, after the removal of 56,000 tonnes of toxic waste. In 2010-11, a community group was formed to lead restoration of the upper reaches of the stream. Over a period of 10 years, volunteers cleared invasive aquatic weeds and rubbish from 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) of the stream bed and established around 34,000 locally-sourced native plants on the banks of the stream.[12]

Flock mill

View of weir and mill with water wheel
The flock mill with water wheel prior to the 1901 fire

A flock mill was established in 1898 in Fairfield, adjacent to the Waiwhetū Stream at the intersection of what is now Rumgay Street and Riverside Drive. It used a weir in the stream and a breastshot water wheel as a source of mechanical power. The flock mill operated for around 50 years, but was the subject of litigation in 1909-1910 that was heard in the Supreme Court over the effects of the flooding caused by the construction of the weir in the stream.[13]

Notable residents

References

  1. ↑ Hutt City Council - 2006 Hutt City Demographic Profile Archived December 27, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved: 7 January 2009
  2. ↑ "2018 Census place summary: Epuni East". www.stats.govt.nz. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  3. ↑ "Epuni School Official School Website". epuni.school.nz.
  4. ↑ "Epuni School Education Review Office Report". ero.govt.nz. Education Review Office.
  5. ↑ "Epuni School Ministry of Education School Profile". educationcounts.govt.nz. Ministry of Education.
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ Klein-Nixon, Kylie (21 December 2019). "Down to Earth: Common Unity founder Julia Milne's love of the Remakery". Stuff. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  8. ↑ Somerset, Guy (4 March 2011). "The lost boys of Epuni Boys Home". NZ Listener.
  9. ↑ Cohen, David (5 May 2018). "Inside Epuni: The hard life served to us as state wards". NZ Listener.
  10. ↑ Cohen, David (5 October 2020). "Victims, IHC and lawyers combine in new chapter of never-ending process". RNZ. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  11. ↑ "Budget blowout in cleanup of toxic Waiwhetu Stream". Dominion Post. 1 February 2010. ProQuest 507114045.
  12. ↑ Boyack, Nicholas (6 September 2023). "Friends win battle against South African invasive weeds". The Post. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  13. ↑ "Hutt Flock Mills, Norton Park, Lower Hutt, New Zealand". Windmill World. Archived from the original on 22 May 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  14. ↑ Mason, Allan (2000). "Ongley, Montague". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 28 September 2020.

Further reading

  • Fairfield, formerly the hamlet of Epuni in the city of Lower Hutt, Peters, Edna, Lower Hutt, N.Z. New Zealand Country Women's Institute, 1990, Unpublished manuscript. NLNZ ALMA 995119123502836.
  • A history of the Epuni School compiled by Lance Hall, a pupil of the school from 1904, and added to by headmasters since 1953. (NLNZ ALMA 99993263502836)
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