Newlands
The Newlands area was once known as Pukehuia. The New Zealand Company sold off 100 acre sections to settlers. Newlands may have been named after Thomas Newland who settled in Wellington in 1875, or it may have simply meant “new land”.
Newlands was a dairy and pig farming area and was the main source of Wellington’s milk supply. It was hard to get road improvements until the late 1900′s. Newlands got running water in 1926, before that the water came from rivers and streams. Water was only available to houses built after 1926 and others had to use tank water.
Despite reasonable proximity to shops, public transport, good schools and some new high-value housing subdivisions it has one of the lowest average house valuations in Wellington. It has some small grocery shops (”dairies”), with the nearest supermarket being in Johnsonville but there is much talk and speculation regarding the future of the Newlands Mall. Local talk is that a New World or Pac n Save could be on the cards with the development of the Newlands shopping mall. A new Community Centre has just been completed behind the current Mall area.
An early impediment to growth of the area was the so-called ‘Baby Farm Scandal’ in 1923, when Newlands residents Daniel and Martha Cooper were accused of the murder of four children (two of them his own by their maid). Cooper had offered pregnant single women a discreet retreat to have their babies, and adoption arranged, for a fee of £50. Three bodies were found after the police were alerted to the activities taking place there. The subsequent trial was a sensation. Cooper was found guilty and hanged in June 1923. His wife was acquitted. The legacy of the scandal was such that, even as late as 1953, the Newlands Paparangi Times was calling for a change in the suburb’s name to help remove the association in people’s minds. Large-scale subdivison of Newlands did not come until the late 1950s. In the following decades the suburb became known as the ‘first home owners’ suburb’ as hundreds of young couples built houses in the area. One of the biggest beneficiaries of this influx was farmer Bill Miles who, from the late 1950s onwards, sold sections of his property as demand allowed.
Woodridge Estate
Woodridge Estate began when the landowning family of Woodridge Farm, the Wrights, began to cut a portion of their farm into lots in the 1980′s. Woodridge is still actively growing under the guiding hand of the Wright family members in the form of Woodridge Developments and Wrightway Homes.
Mr Wright took the ‘wood’ theme from the family farm and named many of the streets in keeping with this theme. Examples are Peppertree Lane, Cedarwood St, Ashwood St, Kentwood Drive, White Pine Ave, and Cabbage Tree Lane.
Bellevue Estate
The harbour side of the ridgeline that runs along the East side of Newlands was developed in the 1990′s. Affording spectacular views of Petone, Eastbourne, The Harbour Entrance and the City, this area now houses executive dwellings with the last of the available bare land being developed further down the hill towards the Hutt motorway since 2007.
Newlands was a dairy and pig farming area and was the main source of Wellington’s milk supply. It was hard to get road improvements until the late 1900′s. Newlands got running water in 1926, before that the water came from rivers and streams. Water was only available to houses built after 1926 and others had to use tank water.
Despite reasonable proximity to shops, public transport, good schools and some new high-value housing subdivisions it has one of the lowest average house valuations in Wellington. It has some small grocery shops (”dairies”), with the nearest supermarket being in Johnsonville but there is much talk and speculation regarding the future of the Newlands Mall. Local talk is that a New World or Pac n Save could be on the cards with the development of the Newlands shopping mall. A new Community Centre has just been completed behind the current Mall area.
An early impediment to growth of the area was the so-called ‘Baby Farm Scandal’ in 1923, when Newlands residents Daniel and Martha Cooper were accused of the murder of four children (two of them his own by their maid). Cooper had offered pregnant single women a discreet retreat to have their babies, and adoption arranged, for a fee of £50. Three bodies were found after the police were alerted to the activities taking place there. The subsequent trial was a sensation. Cooper was found guilty and hanged in June 1923. His wife was acquitted. The legacy of the scandal was such that, even as late as 1953, the Newlands Paparangi Times was calling for a change in the suburb’s name to help remove the association in people’s minds. Large-scale subdivison of Newlands did not come until the late 1950s. In the following decades the suburb became known as the ‘first home owners’ suburb’ as hundreds of young couples built houses in the area. One of the biggest beneficiaries of this influx was farmer Bill Miles who, from the late 1950s onwards, sold sections of his property as demand allowed.
Woodridge Estate
Woodridge Estate began when the landowning family of Woodridge Farm, the Wrights, began to cut a portion of their farm into lots in the 1980′s. Woodridge is still actively growing under the guiding hand of the Wright family members in the form of Woodridge Developments and Wrightway Homes.
Mr Wright took the ‘wood’ theme from the family farm and named many of the streets in keeping with this theme. Examples are Peppertree Lane, Cedarwood St, Ashwood St, Kentwood Drive, White Pine Ave, and Cabbage Tree Lane.
Bellevue Estate
The harbour side of the ridgeline that runs along the East side of Newlands was developed in the 1990′s. Affording spectacular views of Petone, Eastbourne, The Harbour Entrance and the City, this area now houses executive dwellings with the last of the available bare land being developed further down the hill towards the Hutt motorway since 2007.