Moera

Suburb of Lower Hutt, New Zealand

Suburb in Lower Hutt, New Zealand

Moera

Suburb

Randwick Road, Moera

Coordinates: 41°13′48″S 174°54′18″E﻿ / ﻿41.230°S 174.905°E﻿ / -41.230; 174.905
Country| New Zealand
City| Lower Hutt
Local authority| Hutt City Council
Electoral ward| Harbour
Community board| Petone Community Board[1]
Established| 1920s
Area

[2]

• Land| 63 ha (156 acres)
Population

(June 2024)[3]

• Total

| 1,840

Ava | Woburn | Waiwhetū

|
|

Petone |

Moera

| Gracefield
| Seaview |

Moera, a suburb of the city of Lower Hutt in New Zealand, forms part of the urban area of greater Wellington.

## Location

[edit]

Located at the south-eastern end of the Hutt River, the suburb's name Moera is thought to be a simplification of Moe-i-te-ra, meaning "sleeping in the sun".

## History

[edit]

Prior to European settlement, the Moera area was part of a large tidal estuary at the mouth of the Awamutu and Waiwhetū Streams. The southern side of Waiwhetū Stream contained a number of Ngati Ira villages.

In 1843 William Trotter settled in the area and established a fruit garden and nursery. The 1855 Wairarapa earthquake raised the Hutt Valley from 1 to 2 metres, thus draining the swampy estuary.

The area remained farmland up until 1926 when the Petone Railway Workshops were moved to Moera and Government sponsored prefabricated workers housing, built by the Railways Department, were sold to families.[4]

## Influence

[edit]

Typical Moera railway Cottage

To house workers almost 600 kitset homes were built to a simple 5 room layout. The whole project was completed by May 1927. These provided a template for State housing developments in later years.

Many of the current houses are original Railways Department built prefabricated cottages dating from that era.

## Features

[edit]

Moera was home to the Hutt Park Raceway from the 1860s,[5] until Harness and Greyhound racing ceased at the park in 2003,[6] The 12 Hectare park area has since been established as a sports and recreation ground, including a 7 court indoor sports centre and indoor children's playground.[7]

The park lies between the southern industrial area of Lower Hutt and the residential suburb of Moera and is bounded by the Waiwhetu Stream, Gracefield railway line and Randwick Road.

A number of neighbouring facilities, sites and properties are complementary to the park. These include private commercial properties between Seaview Road and the Waiwhetu Stream, the Seaview Urupa, and walkways that link to the Hutt River and Waiwhetu Stream.[8]

## Demographics

[edit]

Moera statistical area covers 0.63 km2 (0.24 sq mi).[2] It had an estimated population of 1,840 as of June 2024,[3] with a population density of 2,921 people per km2.

Historical populationYear| Pop.| ±% p.a.

|
|

2006| 1,608| —
2013| 1,533| −0.68%
2018| 1,626| +1.18%
Source: [9]

Moera had a population of 1,626 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 93 people (6.1%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 18 people (1.1%) since the 2006 census. There were 645 households, comprising 822 males and 807 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.02 males per female. The median age was 36.4 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 312 people (19.2%) aged under 15 years, 345 (21.2%) aged 15 to 29, 789 (48.5%) aged 30 to 64, and 183 (11.3%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 50.0% European/Pākehā, 26.6% Māori, 15.7% Pasifika, 21.4% Asian, and 4.4% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

The percentage of people born overseas was 31.0, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 42.6% had no religion, 35.1% were Christian, 2.4% had Māori religious beliefs, 8.1% were Hindu, 2.2% were Muslim, 0.7% were Buddhist and 3.0% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 264 (20.1%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 297 (22.6%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $23,800, compared with $31,800 nationally. 159 people (12.1%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 606 (46.1%) people were employed full-time, 180 (13.7%) were part-time, and 84 (6.4%) were unemployed.[9]

## Education

[edit]

Randwick School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students,[10][11] with a roll of 109 as of March 2025.[12]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Hutt City Wards and Suburbs" (PDF). Hutt City Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 February 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
2. ^ a b "ArcGIS Web Application". statsnz.maps.arcgis.com. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
3. ^ a b "Aotearoa Data Explorer". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
4. ^ Johnston, Warwick (2001). Moera Sleeping in the Sun. Lower Hutt: Hutt City Libraries. pp. 13–15.
5. ^ Moera, Sleeping In the sun, Warwick Johnston (2001)
6. ^ ' ' http://www.nzherald.co.nz/racing/news/article.cfm?c_id=53&objectid=3509834.'
7. ^ "New $6m Hutt Park stadium opens". 7 September 2011.
8. ^ http://www.huttcity.govt.nz/Documents/a-z/Hutt Park management plan.pdf) Archived 14 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine
9. ^ a b "Statistical area 1 dataset for 2018 Census". Statistics New Zealand. March 2020. Moera (245800). 2018 Census place summary: Moera
10. ^ "Randwick School Official School Website". randwick.school.nz.
11. ^ "Randwick School Education Review Office Report". ero.govt.nz. Education Review Office.
12. ^ "Randwick School Ministry of Education School Profile". educationcounts.govt.nz. Ministry of Education.

* v
* t
* e

Lower Hutt, New Zealand

Seat: Hutt Central

Populated places|

| Western Ward|

* Alicetown
* Belmont
* Harbour View
* Haywards
* Kelson
* Manor Park
* Maungaraki
* Melling
* Normandale
* Tirohanga

|

Northern Ward|

* Stokes Valley
* Taitā (Pomare \- Wingate)

Central Ward|

* Avalon
* Boulcott
* Epuni
* Hutt Central
* Woburn

Eastern Ward|

* Fairfield
* Naenae
* Waterloo

Harbour Ward|

* Ava
* Days Bay
* Eastbourne
* Gracefield
* Korokoro
* Lowry Bay
* Māhina Bay
* Moera
* Petone
* Point Howard
* Seaview
* Sorrento Bay
* Sunshine Bay
* Waiwhetū
* York Bay

Wainuiomata Ward|

* Wainuiomata (Arakura \- Glendale \- Homedale \- Parkway)
* Pencarrow Head
* Wainuiomata Coast

Geographic features|

* Baring Head / Ōrua-pouanui
* Hutt Valley
* Pencarrow Head
* Remutaka Forest Park
* Te Awa Kairangi / Hutt River
* Waiwhetū Stream

Facilities and attractions|

* Baring Head Lighthouse
* Belmont Regional Park
* Central Fire Station
* Christ Church
* Dowse Art Museum
* East Harbour Regional Park
* Hutt Workshops
* Pencarrow Head Lighthouse
* Petone Settlers Museum
* Queensgate Shopping Centre
* The Glebe
* Vogel House
* Wainuiomata Recreation Area
* Wainuiomata Water Collection Area
* War Memorial Library

| Railway stations|

* Andrews
* Ava
* Beach
* Belmont
* Epuni
* Manor Park
* Melling
* Naenae
* Petone
* Pitcaithly's
* Pomare
* Taitā
* Waterloo
* Western Hutt
* Wingate
* Woburn

|

Rail lines|

* Haywards–Plimmerton
* Hutt Expressway
* Hutt Park
* Hutt Valley
* Melling

Government|

* City Council
* Mayor
* Regional Council

Education|

| Schools|

* Chilton Saint James School
* Hutt Intermediate School
* Hutt Valley High School
* Kimi Ora School
* Naenae College
* Raphael House Rudolf Steiner School
* Sacred Heart College
* St Bernard's College
* St Oran's College
* Wainuiomata High School
* Wellesley College

|

Tertiary|

* Open Polytechnic
* Wellington Institute of Technology

*[Pop.]: Population
*[±% p.a.]: Per annum growth rate
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