Napier ( ; mi, Ahuriri) is a city on the eastern coast of the
North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...
of New Zealand and the seat of the
Hawke's Bay region
Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...
. It is a beachside city with a
seaport
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
, known for its sunny climate,
esplanade
An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cle ...
lined with
Norfolk Pines
''Araucaria heterophylla'' (synonym ''A. excelsa'') is a species of conifer. As its vernacular name Norfolk Island pine (or Norfolk pine) implies, the tree is endemic to Norfolk Island, an external territory of Australia located in the Pacifi ...
and extensive
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
architecture. Napier is sometimes referred to as the "
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
of the
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
".
The population of Napier is about About south of Napier is the inland city of
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
. These two neighbouring cities are often called "The Bay Cities" or "The Twin Cities" of New Zealand, with the two cities and the surrounding towns of
Havelock North
Havelock North ( mi, Te Hemo-a-Te Atonga) is a town in the Hawke's Bay region of the North Island of New Zealand, situated less than 2 km south-east of the city of Hastings. It was a borough for many years until the 1989 reorganisation of local ...
and
Clive
Clive is a name. People and fictional characters with the name include:
People Given name
* Clive Allen (born 1961), English football player
* Clive Anderson (born 1952), British television, radio presenter, comedy writer and former barrister
* ...
having a combined population of . The City of Napier has a land area of and a population density of 540.0 per square kilometre.
Napier is the nexus of the largest
wool
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool.
As ...
centre in the
Southern Hemisphere, and it has the primary export seaport for northeastern New Zealand – which is the largest producer of apples, pears, and
stone fruit
In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...
in New Zealand. The
Hawke's Bay wine region
The Hawke's Bay wine region is New Zealand's oldest and second-largest wine-production region, on the east coast of the North Island. Production reached 41,000 tonnes in 2018 from of planted vines, representing 10.2% of total national productio ...
is now the second largest in New Zealand after
Marlborough
Marlborough may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Marlborough, Wiltshire, England
** Marlborough College, public school
* Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England
* The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England
Austral ...
, and grapes grown around Hastings and Napier are sent through the
Port of Napier
Napier Port is in Napier, New Zealand, Napier, New Zealand, on Hawke Bay. It is the North Island's second largest export port by tonnage, and is owned by Napier Port Holdings Limited ().
The port is connected to the rail network via the Napier P ...
for export. Large amounts of sheep's wool, frozen meat, wood pulp, and timber also pass through Napier annually for export. Smaller amounts of these materials are shipped via road and railway to the large metropolitan areas of New Zealand itself, such as
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
, Wellington and
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
.
Napier is a popular tourist city, with a unique concentration of 1930s
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
, and to a lesser extent
Spanish Mission, architecture, built after much of the city was razed in the
1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake
Events
January
* January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics.
* January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa.
* January 22 – Si ...
. It also has one of the most photographed tourist attractions in the country, a statue of the figure in local
Ngāti Kahungunu
Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions.
The tribe is organised into six geographical and administrative di ...
mythology,
Pania Statue of Pania
Pania, often styled "Pania of the Reef", is a figure of Māori mythology, and a symbol of the New Zealand city of Napier. There is a statue of Pania on Napier's Marine Parade.
The legend of Pania of the Reef
Pania was a beautifu ...
, on Marine Parade,
''Pania of the Reef''. Thousands of people flock to Napier every February for the Tremains Art Deco Weekend event, a celebration of its Art Deco heritage and history.
Other notable tourist events attracting many outsiders to the region annually include F.A.W.C! Food and Wine Classic events, and the Mission Estate Concert at
Mission Estate Winery
Mission Estate Winery is New Zealand's oldest surviving winemaking concern, first established in the Hawke's Bay in 1851 by French Catholic Marist missionaries for producing sacramental wine. It is one of the largest wineries in the Hawke's Ba ...
in the suburb of
Taradale.
History
Māori history
Napier has well-documented
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
history. When the
Ngāti Kahungunu
Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions.
The tribe is organised into six geographical and administrative di ...
party of Taraia reached the district many centuries ago, the Whatumamoa, Rangitane and the Ngāti Awa and elements of the Ngāti Tara
iwi
Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...
existed in the nearby areas of Petane, Te Whanganui-a-Orotu and Waiohiki. Later, the Ngāti Kahungunu became the dominant force from
Poverty Bay
Poverty Bay (Māori: ''Tūranganui-a-Kiwa'') is the largest of several small bays on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island to the north of Hawke Bay. It stretches for from Young Nick's Head in the southwest to Tuaheni Point in the north ...
to Wellington. They were one of the first Māori tribes to come in contact with European settlers.
Chief Te Ahuriri cut a channel into the lagoon space at Ahuriri because the
Westshore entrance had become blocked, threatening cultivations surrounding the lagoon and the fishing villages on the islands in the lagoon. The rivers were continually feeding freshwater into the area.
European settlers' history
Captain James Cook
James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...
was one of the first Europeans to see the future site of Napier when he sailed down the east coast in October 1769. He commented: "On each side of this bluff head is a low, narrow sand or stone beach, between these beaches and the mainland is a pretty large lake of salt water I suppose."
He said the harbour entrance was at the Westshore end of the shingle beach. The site was subsequently visited and later settled by European traders, whalers and missionaries. By the 1850s, farmers and hotel-keepers arrived.
The Crown purchased the Ahuriri block (including the site of Napier) in 1851. In 1854
Alfred Domett
Alfred Domett (20 May 18112 November 1887) was the fourth premier of New Zealand, a close friend of the poet Robert Browning and author of the epic poem ''Ranolf and Amohia, a South Sea Day Dream''. Born in England, he emigrated to New Zealan ...
, a future
Prime Minister of New Zealand
The prime minister of New Zealand ( mi, Te pirimia o Aotearoa) is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, took office on 26 October 2017.
The prime minister (inform ...
, was appointed as the Commissioner of Crown Lands and the resident
magistrate
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...
at the village of Ahuriri. It was decided to place a planned town here, its streets and avenues were laid out, and the new town named for
Sir Charles Napier, a military leader during the "Battle of Meeanee" fought in the country of
Sindh
Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...
, in the Indian subcontinent. Domett named many streets in Napier to commemorate the colonial era of the
British Indian Empire
The British Raj (; from Hindi language, Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Q ...
.
Napier was designated as a
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
in 1874, but the development of the surrounding marshlands and
reclamation
Reclaim, reclaimed, reclaimer, reclaiming or reclamation means "to get something back".
It may refer to:
* Land reclamation, creating new land from oceans, riverbeds, or lake beds
* Dedesertification, reversing of the land degradation in arid ...
proceeded slowly. Between 1858 and 1876 Napier was the administrative centre for the
Hawke's Bay Province
The Hawke's Bay Province was a province of New Zealand. The province separated from the Wellington Province following a meeting in Napier in February 1858, and existed until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. At the time of its es ...
, but in 1876 the "Abolition of Provinces Act", an act of the
New Zealand Parliament
The New Zealand Parliament ( mi, Pāremata Aotearoa) is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the King of New Zealand ( King-in-Parliament) and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by h ...
, dissolved all provincial governments in New Zealand.
20th century
In the beginning of 20th century, New Zealand development was generally confined to the hill and to the port area of Ahuriri. In the early years, Napier covered almost exclusively an oblong group of hills (the
Scinde Island
Napier Hill ( mi, Mataruahou) is a limestone outcrop and suburb rising above the lowland districts of the city of Napier on New Zealand's North Island.
The north-east end, Bluff Hill, has a steep cliff face overlooking the Port of Napier. It f ...
) which was nearly entirely surrounded by the ocean, but from which ran out two single spits, one to the north and one to the south. There was a swamp between the now Hastings Street and Wellesley Road and the sea extended to "Clive Square".
On 3 February 1931, most of Napier and nearby Hastings was levelled by an
earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
. The collapses of buildings and the ensuing fires killed 256 people. The centre of the town was destroyed by the earthquake, and later rebuilt in the
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
style popular at that time. Some 4000 hectares of today's Napier were undersea before the earthquake raised it above sea level.
The earthquake uplifted an area of 1500 km
2 with a maximum of 2.7 m of uplift. In Hastings about 1 m of ground subsidence occurred.
Although a few Art Deco buildings were replaced with contemporary structures during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, most of the centre remained intact for long enough to become recognised as architecturally important, and beginning in the 1990s it had been protected and restored. Napier and the area of
South Beach
South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south of Dade Boulevard.
This area was the fi ...
, Miami, Florida, are considered to be the two best-preserved Art Deco towns (with the town of
Miami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and artificial island, man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the ...
, being mostly decorated in the somewhat later
Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial design ...
style of Art Deco).
Beginning in 2007, Napier was nominated as a
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
with
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
. This is the first cultural site in New Zealand to be so nominated. It was denied World Heritage status in 2011 as it did not meet the appropriate criteria. Still, the report of the application acknowledged the Art Deco heritage as "first and foremost of outstanding value to all New Zealanders".
Modern history
In January 1945, the entered and departed from the port of Napier undetected. This event became the basis of a widely circulated postwar
tall tale
A tall tale is a story with unbelievable elements, related as if it were true and factual. Some tall tales are exaggerations of actual events, for example fish stories ("the fish that got away") such as, "That fish was so big, why I tell ya', it n ...
that the
captain of this U-boat,
Heinrich Timm
Heinrich Timm (30 April 1910 in Bremen – 12 April 1974 in Axstedt) was a German U-boat commander in World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.
In 1944-45 Timm commanded the U-862, the only U-boat to conduct a patrol in th ...
, had led crewmen ashore near Napier to milk cows to supplement their meagre rations.
Napier was the scene of an
armed attack by cannabis dealer Jan Molenaar on three police officers searching his home in May 2009. He killed one officer, and wounded two others and a civilian. He continued to fire shots from his house, which police besieged until he committed suicide 40 hours later.
On 9 November 2020, a local state of emergency was declared in Napier after the region received 237 mm of rainfall across 24 hours – the most daily rainfall in the city since 1963 and the second most since records began. The event caused widespread flooding, slips, power cuts and evacuations.
Geography and climate
The city is on
Napier Hill
Napier Hill ( mi, Mataruahou) is a limestone outcrop and suburb rising above the lowland districts of the city of Napier, New Zealand, Napier on New Zealand's North Island.
The north-east end, Bluff Hill, has a steep cliff face overlooking the P ...
and the surrounding
Heretaunga Plains
:''There are two places in New Zealand called Heretaunga. For the suburb of Upper Hutt, see Heretaunga, Wellington.''
The Heretaunga Plains is a alluvial plain at the southern end of Hawke Bay on the east coast of the North Island of New Zeala ...
at the southeastern edge of
Hawke Bay
Hawke Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui), formerly named ''Hawke's Bay'', is a large bay on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand, surrounded by the Hawke's Bay region. It stretches from Māhia Peninsula in the northeast to Cape Kidnapp ...
, a large semi-circular bay that dominates the east coast of New Zealand's
North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...
. The coastline of the city was substantially altered by a large
earthquake in 1931. The topography puts Napier in danger from a tsunami, as the centre of the commercial city is near sea level – should the sea ever crest Marine Parade the sea would run through to Ahuriri. Furthermore, by virtue of its pre 1931 existence, the bulk of Napier is susceptible to soil liquefaction, the risk classed as Very High for the main urban area excluding the hill.
Under the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
, Napier has an
oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
(''Cfb''). The climate is warm and relatively dry resulting from its location on the east coast of the North Island. Most of New Zealand's weather patterns cross the country from the west, and the city lies in the
rain shadow
A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side.
Evaporated moisture from water bodies (such as oceans and large lakes) is carrie ...
of the
North Island Volcanic Plateau
The North Island Volcanic Plateau (often called the Central Plateau and occasionally the Waimarino Plateau) is a volcanic plateau covering much of central North Island of New Zealand with volcanoes, lava plateaus, and crater lakes. It contains ...
and surrounding ranges such as the
Kaweka Range
The Kaweka Range (also known as the ''Kaweka Ranges'') of mountains is located in inland Hawke's Bay in the eastern North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) of New Zealand. It forms part of the mountainous spine of the North Island which extends from Welli ...
.
Suburbs
![Napier, New Zealand numbered suburbs map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Napier%2C_New_Zealand_numbered_suburbs_map.png)
Suburbs of Napier include:
*Ahuriri Ward:
**
Ahuriri
Ahuriri is a suburb of the city of Napier, in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand's eastern North Island.NOTE: the term Ahuriri is also used as an alternative Māori language name for the city of Napier overall.
The area was a major site of ...
**
Bay View
**
Napier Port
Napier Port is in Napier, New Zealand, on Hawke Bay. It is the North Island's second largest export port by tonnage, and is owned by Napier Port Holdings Limited ().
The port is connected to the rail network via the Napier Port Branch (Ahuriri ...
**
Bluff Hill
**
Hospital Hill
**
Onekawa
Onekawa is a suburb of the city of Napier, in the Hawke's Bay Region of the eastern North Island of New Zealand.
The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "salty soil" for ''Onekawa''.
Onekawa houses a high pro ...
(north part)
**Pandora
**
Westshore
*Nelson Park Ward:
**
Awatoto
Awatoto is a coastal suburb area located near Napier, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand.
The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "stream for hauling canoes" for ''Awatōtō''.
Awatoto had a population of 309 at the 2013 ...
(north part)
**
Maraenui
**
Marewa (south part)
**
Napier CBD
**
Napier South
**
Onekawa
Onekawa is a suburb of the city of Napier, in the Hawke's Bay Region of the eastern North Island of New Zealand.
The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "salty soil" for ''Onekawa''.
Onekawa houses a high pro ...
(south part)
**
Pirimai
Pirimai is a suburb of the city of Napier, in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand's eastern North Island.
It includes Pirimai Park and playground.
Demographics
Pirimai, comprising the statistical areas of Pirimai West and Pirimai East, had ...
(south part)
*Onekawa-Tamatea Ward:
**
Marewa (north part)
**
Onekawa
Onekawa is a suburb of the city of Napier, in the Hawke's Bay Region of the eastern North Island of New Zealand.
The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "salty soil" for ''Onekawa''.
Onekawa houses a high pro ...
(rest)
***Onekawa Central
***Onekawa West
**
Pirimai
Pirimai is a suburb of the city of Napier, in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand's eastern North Island.
It includes Pirimai Park and playground.
Demographics
Pirimai, comprising the statistical areas of Pirimai West and Pirimai East, had ...
(north part)
**
Tamatea
Tamatea is a suburb in the west of the city of Napier, in the Hawke's Bay Region of New Zealand's eastern North Island.
Demographics
Tamatea, comprising the statistical areas of Tamatea West, Tamatea North and Tamatea East, had a population o ...
***Tamatea North
***Tamatea South
*Taradale Ward:
**
Awatoto
Awatoto is a coastal suburb area located near Napier, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand.
The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "stream for hauling canoes" for ''Awatōtō''.
Awatoto had a population of 309 at the 2013 ...
(south part)
**
Greenmeadows
**Jervoistown
**Lagoon Farm
**
Meeanee
Miani Maluk or Meeanee (Urdu: میانی, Sindhi language, Sindhi: مياڻي) is a village in Sindh, Pakistan, on the east side of Indus river, river Indus. It was the site of the Battle of Miani, which British won and made Sindh a part of Briti ...
**Orutu Park
**
Poraiti
Poraiti is a semi-rural suburb of the city of Napier, in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand's eastern North Island.
The area is vulnerable to scrub fires.
Demographics
Poraiti, comprising the statistical areas of Poraiti Hills and Poraiti ...
**
Taradale
***Taradale North
***Taradale South
**
Te Awa
Demographics
The Napier urban area, as defined by
Statistics New Zealand
Statistics New Zealand ( mi, Tatauranga Aotearoa), branded as Stats NZ, is the public service department of New Zealand charged with the collection of statistics related to the economy, population and society of New Zealand. To this end, Stats ...
, is coterminous with the Napier City territorial authority and covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km
2.
Napier City had a population of 62,241 at the
2018 New Zealand census
Eighteen or 18 may refer to:
* 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19
* one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018
Film, television and entertainment
* ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...
, an increase of 5,001 people (8.7%) since the
2013 census, and an increase of 6,882 people (12.4%) since the
2006 census
6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number.
In mathematics
Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...
. There were 23,670 households. There were 29,766 males and 32,478 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.92 males per female. The median age was 42.0 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 12,321 people (19.8%) aged under 15 years, 10,740 (17.3%) aged 15 to 29, 26,712 (42.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 12,465 (20.0%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 81.2% European/Pākehā, 22.2% Māori, 3.4% Pacific peoples, 5.0% Asian, and 1.9% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
The percentage of people born overseas was 16.3, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people objected to giving their religion, 52.3% had no religion, 34.3% were Christian, 0.6% were Hindu, 0.3% were Muslim, 0.7% were Buddhist and 4.6% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 8,622 (17.3%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 10,116 (20.3%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $28,900, compared with $31,800 nationally. 6,660 people (13.3%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 23,535 (47.1%) people were employed full-time, 7,422 (14.9%) were part-time, and 1,755 (3.5%) were unemployed.
Tourism and architecture
![National Tobacco Company Ltd building in Napier, New Zealand](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/National_Tobacco_Company_Ltd_building_in_Napier%2C_New_Zealand.jpg)
Napier's major tourist attraction is its architecture, which draws
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
and architecture enthusiasts from around the world. The rebuilding period after the 1931 earthquake coincided with the short-lived and rapidly changing Art Deco era and the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, when little "mainstreet" development was being undertaken elsewhere. As a result, Napier's architecture is strikingly different from any other city; the other notable Art Deco city,
Miami Beach
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...
, has
Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial design ...
Art Deco. The whole centre of Napier was rebuilt simultaneously.
Other tourist attractions in Napier include
MTG Hawke's Bay
MTG Hawke's Bay Tai Ahuriri (formerly Hawke's Bay Museum & Art Gallery) is a museum, theatre and art gallery in Napier in New Zealand. MTG Hawke's Bay occupies three buildings that were redeveloped in 2013.
History
The first building on the m ...
(the museum, art gallery and theatre) which features information on both the 1931 earthquake and Napier's redesign as an Art Deco city, the
National Aquarium, the
Napier Prison
Napier Prison is a visitor attraction and former prison in Napier, New Zealand. Built in 1862 and decommissioned as a prison in 1993, it is the country's oldest prison complex.
History
Napier Prison was constructed on Napier Hill in 1862 and ...
, the Soundshell and the ''
Pania of the Reef'' statue. The
Pania Statue of Pania
Pania, often styled "Pania of the Reef", is a figure of Māori mythology, and a symbol of the New Zealand city of Napier. There is a statue of Pania on Napier's Marine Parade.
The legend of Pania of the Reef
Pania was a beautifu ...
statue on Marine Parade is regarded in Napier in much the same way that the ''
Little Mermaid
"The Little Mermaid" ( da, Den lille havfrue) is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a h ...
'' statue is regarded in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
. In October 2005 the statue was stolen, but it was recovered a week later, largely unharmed.
Marineland was a tourist attraction from 1965 until it closed in 2009.
The
National Aquarium is one of the foremost aquariums in New Zealand. The historic
Napier Prison
Napier Prison is a visitor attraction and former prison in Napier, New Zealand. Built in 1862 and decommissioned as a prison in 1993, it is the country's oldest prison complex.
History
Napier Prison was constructed on Napier Hill in 1862 and ...
is the oldest prison in New Zealand and visitors can learn about the history of prisons as well as witness the path of the 1931 earthquake. It is the only place in Napier where some of the earthquake damage has been left in place. Tourists flock to Napier in February for Art Deco weekend. In 2018, the festival celebrated its 30th year, attracting an estimated 45,000 people.
The Mission Estate Winery Concert in the Napier suburb of Greenmeadows which has featured Chris De Burgh, Olivia Newton-John, Eric Clapton, Kenny Rogers, Ray Charles, Rod Stewart, Sting performing with the NZ Symphony Orchestra, Shirley Bassey, Beach Boys, Doobie Brothers, Tom Jones, and in 2013 Barry Gibb with Carol King.
Attractions nearby include the
Cape Kidnappers
for "''the jawbone of Māui''"
* for "''the fish hook of Māui''" ,
, type = Cape
, photo = Cape Kidnappers.jpg
, photo_width =
, photo_alt =
, photo_caption = Looking northeast towards Cape K ...
Gannet Colony and many vineyards bordering
Taradale, Hastings City, and north of Napier around Bay View and the Esk Valley.
Many people use Napier as a gateway to Hawke's Bay, flying in to
Hawke's Bay Airport
Hawke's Bay Airport , commonly referred to as Napier Airport, is Hawke's Bay's main commercial airport, serving domestic flights to the main centres of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch as well as smaller centres such as Gisborne, Wairoa ...
at
Westshore from
Wellington City
Wellington City Council is a Territorial authorities of New Zealand, territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the country's capital city Wellington, and ''de facto'' second-largest city (if the commonly considered parts of Wellington, ...
,
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
and
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
. Tourists also enter Napier by
State Highway 2 along the coast and
State Highway 5 from
Taupo. The rail line in and out of Hawke's Bay has not had a passenger service since 2001.
Culture and entertainment
![Entrance of Napier historic prison](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Entrance_of_Napier_historic_prison.jpg)
Napier markets itself as the ''Art Deco Capital''. The
Hawke's Bay wine region
The Hawke's Bay wine region is New Zealand's oldest and second-largest wine-production region, on the east coast of the North Island. Production reached 41,000 tonnes in 2018 from of planted vines, representing 10.2% of total national productio ...
is important to Napier's economy, with over 70 wineries located in the area. The region featured in ''
Wine Enthusiast Magazine
''Wine Enthusiast'' magazine is an American wine magazine published by Wine Enthusiast Companies in Valhalla, New York. Founded in 1979 by Adam and Sybil Strum, Wine Enthusiast Companies engages in the wine accessories, storage, information, educat ...
'' as one of the 10 Best Wine Travel Destinations in 2015. The region is New Zealand's largest apple, pear and stone fruit producer. The
Port of Napier
Napier Port is in Napier, New Zealand, Napier, New Zealand, on Hawke Bay. It is the North Island's second largest export port by tonnage, and is owned by Napier Port Holdings Limited ().
The port is connected to the rail network via the Napier P ...
and rail network provides quick export of these goods.
A large attraction is the Art Deco building designs. Marine Parade is one of Napier's most famous highlights – a tree-lined ocean boulevard with fountains, gardens, mini golf, statues and spas.
The
National Aquarium of New Zealand
The National Aquarium of New Zealand, formerly Napier Aquarium, is a public aquarium on Marine Parade in Napier, New Zealand. It was started in 1957 and moved to its present location in 1976. It is owned by Napier City Council. In addition to ma ...
is at the south end of Marine Parade. The historic
Napier Prison
Napier Prison is a visitor attraction and former prison in Napier, New Zealand. Built in 1862 and decommissioned as a prison in 1993, it is the country's oldest prison complex.
History
Napier Prison was constructed on Napier Hill in 1862 and ...
is located off the northern end of Marine Parade. Recent redevelopments of Marine Parade have seen the addition of shaded picnic areas and playgrounds. Napier's theatre scene includes productions put on by the
Napier Operatic Society, based at the Tabard Theatre and putting on musicals at the Napier Municipal Theatre, another notable example of Art Deco architecture. There are high street and boutique stores as well as antique shops, art galleries, and studios of potters, wood turners and craftsman.
The marina and waterfront in Ahuriri is a sea-tourism attraction. Swimming and family activities are popular in Pandora Pond – a salt water inlet by the inner harbour in Ahuriri – or on the beaches and playgrounds of Marine Parade, Westshore and Ahuriri. The several rivers that flow through the region are used for water activities, such as jet boating, jet skiing, rowing, kayaking, fishing, whitebaiting and swimming.
Development of the region's cycleways and walkways has included dedicated cycle lanes being established on urban streets in the Napier-Hastings urban areas, as well as a large variety of off-road pathways, which are often used as mixed use pathways for cyclists and pedestrians, such as the paths that stretch from Bay View to Clifton. The Hawke's Bay Trails contain nearly 200 km of cycleways that meander through and around the cities, and link the Napier-Hastings urban areas with surrounding suburbs and the local district.
McLean Park
McLean Park is a sports ground in Napier, New Zealand. The two main sports played at the ground are cricket and rugby union. It is one of the largest cricket grounds in New Zealand.
McLean Park is a sports ground of international standards w ...
is the main sporting venue in Hawke's Bay. The main sports played at the venue are
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
and
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
. It was used to host matches during the
1987 Rugby World Cup
The 1987 Rugby World Cup was the first Rugby World Cup. It was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia – New Zealand hosted 21 matches (17 pool stage matches, two quarter-finals, the third-place play-off and the final) while Australia hosted 11 ...
, the
2011 Rugby World Cup
The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...
and the
2015 Cricket World Cup
The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 11th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was jointly hosted by Aust ...
.
The annual model aircraft show 'Warbirds over Awatoto' takes place on the outskirts of Napier. The 2013 gathering attracted 48 pilots and 120 planes.
Economy
The largest industry in Napier and its environs is processing/manufacturing, the major products being food, textiles, wood, metal products and machinery/equipment. Other significant industries for the region include property/business services, rural production/rural services and retail.
Napier was once home to one of New Zealand's largest
smoking tobacco plants. On 9 September 2005
British American Tobacco
British American Tobacco plc (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, England. As of 2019, it is the large ...
announced it would close the Rothmans factory, due to diminished demand. Production has moved to Australia. The Art Deco-style factory had been producing up to 2.2 billion cigarettes a year for the New Zealand and Pacific Island markets. In March 1999, 19 people lost their jobs there because "fewer people are smoking".
Government
Local
Napier has been governed by
Napier City Council since 1950.
Local government reform was mooted in the late 1990s and a referendum was held in 1999 proposing an amalgamation of the Hastings District Council with the Napier City Council. Although supported by approximately two-thirds of Hastings voters, Napier voters rejected the proposal by a similar number and the proposal was defeated.
The National Government amended the Local Government Act in 2012 to determine a reorganisation proposal by a majority vote over the entire proposed area, rather than a majority over each existing area as was previously the case. Yet another change was to allow private submissions to the commission to trigger the process, whereas previously only local councils themselves could request a change in structure or boundary. The legislative restrictions on councils using public funds to support or challenge a final proposal did not apply to private lobby groups or individuals however.
After a lengthy and divisive regional campaign to restructure local government in Hawke's Bay, in 2015 the Local Government Commission put forward a final reorganisation proposal to amalgamate Napier City Council with Wairoa District Council, Hastings District Council and Central Hawke's Bay District Council to form a proposed 'Hawke's Bay Council'. A postal ballot was established to maximise voter returns, and the vote closed on 15 September 2015. An interim count was available later that day, that saw the proposal defeated across the region by about 66%. In Napier the proposal was rejected by 84% of voters.
National
The city is part of the general electorate and the Māori electorate. After the 2020 general election, Napier is held by
Stuart Nash
Stuart Alexander Nash (born August 1967) is a politician from New Zealand. He was a list member of the House of Representatives for the Labour Party from to 2011, and was re-elected in the as representative of the Napier electorate. He ente ...
while Ikaroa-Rāwhiti is held by
Meka Whaitiri
Melissa Heni Mekameka Whaitiri (born 11 January 1965) is a New Zealand Labour Party politician and Member of the New Zealand House of Representatives. She was elected to Parliament in the 2013 Ikaroa-Rāwhiti by-election and is currently Minis ...
, both of the governing
Labour Party.
Sport
![McLean Park, Napier](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/McLean_Park%2C_Napier.jpg)
The city is home to the professional basketball team
Hawke's Bay Hawks
The Hawke's Bay Hawks are a New Zealand basketball team based in Napier. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Pettigrew Green Arena. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the Taylor Hawks ...
, which plays in the
National Basketball League. It plays its home games in the
Pettigrew Green Arena
Pettigrew Green Arena is a multi-purpose indoor sports and entertainment centre in Taradale, a suburb of Napier in New Zealand, that opened in April 2003. It regularly hosts volleyball, basketball and netball matches for Hawke's Bay representati ...
.
Transportation
Air
Hawke's Bay Airport
Hawke's Bay Airport , commonly referred to as Napier Airport, is Hawke's Bay's main commercial airport, serving domestic flights to the main centres of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch as well as smaller centres such as Gisborne, Wairoa ...
is the main airport in the Hawke's Bay region and has domestic flight services. It is jointly owned by the government, Napier City Council, and Hastings District Council, and is operated by Hawke's Bay Airport Ltd. The airport is located in the Napier suburb of
Westshore.
Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier airline of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 30 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily around and within the Pacific ...
provides frequent direct flights to and from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
Jetstar
Jetstar Airways Pty Ltd, operating as Jetstar, is an Australian low-cost airline (self-described as "value-based") headquartered in Melbourne. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas, created in response to the threat posed by airline Virgi ...
, a
Qantas
Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...
subsidiary, used to serve Auckland from 2015 to 2019.
Sounds Air
Sounds Air is a New Zealand airline based at Picton. The airline was founded in 1986 by Cliff and Diane Marchant to provide low cost flights to the Marlborough Sounds. The airline has a maintenance facility at Omaka aerodrome with its Soun ...
previously used to operate direct flights to
Blenheim daily and smaller charter companies also operate including Air Napier. The airport was historically referred to as Napier Airport and its
IATA
The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...
code reflects that: NPE. It is situated on land that was formerly the Ahuriri Lagoon, an area that was raised above sea level by the massive 1931 Napier earthquake.
The airport is located approximately 22 km north of
Hastings Aerodrome, a smaller airport located close to Hastings that caters mainly for flight training and general aviation.
Pathways
The Hawke's Bay region has extensive cycleways and footpaths that originally began as the 'Rotary Pathways' between Napier and Hastings, and is now known as the 'Hawke's Bay Trails'. The network of pathways link the urban areas of Napier and Hastings, as well as many of the other outlying suburbs of the two cities. Some of the cycleways include dedicated cycling lanes on roads within the city, as well as separate dedicated pathways on roadsides and through parks and other areas, many of which are mixed use pathways for cyclists and pedestrians, such as the paths that stretch from Bay View to Clifton. The Hawke's Bay Trails contain over 200 km of cycleways that meander through and around the Napier-Hastings twin cities. The Napier Rotary Pathway creates a loop that encompasses the city from Esk River, to Westshore, Napier Central, Awatoto, Taradale, Poraiti, and looping back to the Esk Valley. This rotary also has several links to the Hastings Rotary Pathway.
Roads
State Highway 2 is the principal state highway serving Napier, connecting it to
Wairoa
Wairoa is a town and territorial authority district in New Zealand's North Island. The town is the northernmost in the Hawke's Bay region, and is located on the northern shore of Hawke Bay at the mouth of the Wairoa River and to the west of ...
and
Gisborne to the north, and, via
Dannevirke
Dannevirke ( "Earthworks (archaeology), work of the Danes", a reference to Danevirke; mi, Taniwaka, lit= or ''Tāmaki-nui-a-Rua'', the area where the town is), is a rural service town in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of the North Island, New ...
, to
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
,
Masterton
Masterton ( mi, Whakaoriori), a large town in the Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand, operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a r ...
and
Palmerston North
Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...
to the south. Between Napier and Hastings, SH 2 follows the
Hawke's Bay Expressway
The Hawke's Bay Expressway, known also as the Napier-Hastings Expressway, runs from Hawke's Bay Airport, through Napier and Hastings, and ends at Pakipaki, just south of Hastings, a total length of 24 km. It is part of State Highway 2 (S ...
, also known as the Napier-Hastings Expressway, which provides a direct and efficient link between the two cities. Although the Hawke's Bay Expressway bypasses Napier itself, it has connections to many of Napier's arterial roads that lead to the city centre and the Port (such as the junctions at Kennedy Road, Taradale Road, Prebensen Drive and Meeanee Quay) and also intersects with the access road to Hawke's Bay Airport.
State Highway 5, known as the Napier-Taupo Road, begins at a junction on SH 2 just north of the Napier suburb of Bay View, and connects Napier and the Hawke's Bay region to Taupo and the central North Island. It is also the main route used for traffic travelling from Napier-Hastings to Auckland, Hamilton, Rotorua and Tauranga, as it is quicker than the route through Gisborne taken by SH 2.
State Highway 50 connects Napier to the southwestern Hawke's Bay, going through many small settlements. It also connects Napier to many of Hawke's Bay's wineries, of which the region is well known for. It makes up part of the Hawke's Bay Wine Trail.
State Highway 51 is an alternative connection between Napier and Hastings, and largely follows the original route of SH 2 between the two cities prior to the completion of the Hawke's Bay Expressway, and SH 2 being shifted to run along it. While the original route followed Meeanee Quay through the suburbs of Westshore and Ahuriri before bridging across the Pandora Pond area of the Napier Inner Harbour marina, the SH 51 route follows Taradale Road instead, meeting up with the original SH 2 route at the southern base of Napier Hill at Hyderabad Road. The route then moves onto Georges Drive, where it borders the southern and western edges of the Napier city centre. It meets up with Marine Parade south of the CBD, and then follows the coast south from Napier through Clive to Hastings.
Buses
Go Bus operates 9 ''Go Bay'' routes in Napier, with funding from Regional Council.
Bee Cards replaced goBay cards in August 2020.
Rail
The
Palmerston North–Gisborne Line
The Palmerston North–Gisborne Line (PNGL) is a secondary main line railway in the North Island of New Zealand. It branches from the North Island Main Trunk at Palmerston North and runs east through the Manawatū Gorge to Woodville, where i ...
runs through Napier. The southern portion of the line between Napier and Palmerston North was built between 1872 and 1891, and the northern portion between Napier and Gisborne from 1912 to 1942. The line from Gisborne enters Napier via the coast, making its way through the city, before eventually turning inland towards Hastings, and onwards to
Woodville (where the
Wairarapa Line
The Wairarapa Line is a secondary railway line in the south-east of the North Island of New Zealand. The line runs for , connects the capital city Wellington with the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line at Woodville, via Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt ...
branches off) and
Palmerston North
Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...
.
The
Napier Port Branch, formerly known as the Ahuriri Branch, is a 2 km railway branch line off the Palmerston North-Gisborne Line that serves the Port of Napier.
Napier Railway Station was the main railway station in Napier and an intermediate stop on the Palmerston North-Gisborne Line. It opened on 12 October 1874, when the station and the first section of the line between Napier and Hastings was opened. The line through the
Manawatu Gorge to Palmerston North and hence to Wellington was opened on 9 March 1891. The line north of Napier to Gisborne was opened on 3 August 1942, with passenger services from 7 September. Napier was the terminus for both Gisborne and Wellington goods trains, though some passenger trains ran straight through.
The original Napier station building was on the corner of Station Street and Millar Street, close to the centre of Napier. The facilities on the site increased to include the passenger station plus a goods yard, locomotive depot, workshop and a way and works branch. The line was on a curve and difficult to work, and the site was limited by level crossings at each end and with no room for expansion.
Hence in a two-year programme to 1991 most functions followed the Way and Works to Pandora Point, at the start of the
Ahuriri Branch
The Ahuriri Branch, now named the Napier Port Branch, is a 2 km railway branch line off the Palmerston North–Gisborne Line, in Napier, New Zealand. The branch serves the Port of Napier.
Ahuriri by the Inner Harbour, originally called S ...
, leaving only a new InterCity coach and train terminal on the city site, fronting Munroe Street. The old station was closed on 6 October 1990, and was replaced by a new station on 9 June 1991.
[''Names & Opening & Closing Dates of Railway Stations in New Zealand'' by Juliet Scoble (2012)] The existing station and three-story administrative block built in the late 1950s and early 1960s were demolished and some three hectares of land was available for retail development.
A marshalling yard, freight terminal, locomotive depot and other facilities were established at Pandora Point, with a triangle provided to turn trains and giving direct access north and south from the port branch. The Ahuriri yard was closed. The old main line north to Gisborne was realigned to the east to allow a new link road to the Tamatea area of Napier, and railways land was redeveloped as an industrial subdivision. On 7 October 2001 the
Bay Express
The ''Bay Express'' was a passenger train between Wellington and Napier in New Zealand's North Island, operating from Monday, 11 December 1989 until Sunday, 7 October 2001. It was operated by New Zealand Railways Corporation's InterCity Rail d ...
from
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
to Napier was cancelled and passenger services on the line ceased.
Infrastructure and services
Health
Napier Hospital opened on what is now Hospital Hill in 1880. During the 1990s, hospital services in the Hawke's Bay were rationalised, culminating in Napier Hospital closing in 1998 and most services transferred to Hastings Hospital (now Hawke's Bay Fallen Soldiers' Memorial Hospital).
In addition to the services provided by Hawke's Bay Hospital, the
Hawke's Bay District Health Board
The Hawke's Bay District Health Board (Hawke's Bay DHB or HBDHB) was a district health board with the focus on providing healthcare to Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. In July 2022, it was merged into the national health service Te Whatu Ora (Health Ne ...
operates a 24-hour
urgent care An urgent care center (UCC), also known as an urgent treatment centre in the United Kingdom, is a type of walk-in clinic focused on the delivery of urgent ambulatory care in a dedicated medical facility outside of a traditional emergency department ...
and outpatient clinic located in central Napier.
Energy
Town gas
Coal gas is a flammable gaseous fuel made from coal and supplied to the user via a piped distribution system. It is produced when coal is heated strongly in the absence of air. Town gas is a more general term referring to manufactured gaseous ...
supply to Napier began in January 1876 following the completion of the Napier gas works on the corner of Wellesley Road and Sale Street. The Napier Borough Council established its first gas street lights in 1879.
The Napier Municipal Electricity Department (MED) established the city's first public supply in September 1913, using town gas and later diesel engines for generation and supplied consumers with 230/460 volts DC.
Street lighting switched to electricity in 1915.
Conversion to the now-standard 230/400 volts AC began in 1925 with the commissioning of a 400 kW Fullager diesel generator, ahead of the arrival of grid power from
Mangahao in 1927 and from
Waikaremoana in 1929. The Fullager generator remained in service as a peaking plant until it was decommissioned in 1970. Taradale and rural areas around the city were supplied by the Hawke's Bay Electric Power Board, formed in 1924.
Natural gas arrived in Napier and Hastings in 1983, with the completion of the high-pressure pipeline from
Kapuni
Kapuni is an onshore natural gas-condensate field located in the Taranaki Basin, a ~100,000 km2 partially-inverted rift basin on the Taranaki Peninsula in the North Island, New Zealand. Discovered in 1959 and brought into production in 1970 ...
gas field in Taranaki via Palmerston North to the cities. Town gas consumers were converted to natural gas over the next five years, culminating in the Napier gas works closing on 21 March 1988.
In 1991, the MED merged with the Electric Power Board, later renamed Hawke's Bay Power. The 1998 electricity sector reforms saw the retail base sold to
Contact Energy
Contact Energy Limited is a New Zealand electricity generation, electricity generator, a wholesaler of natural gas, and a retailer of electricity retailing, electricity, natural gas, broadband and Liquefied petroleum gas, LPG.
It is the second- ...
, with the remaining lines business renamed Hawke's Bay Networks and later
Unison Networks
Unison Networks Limited (Unison) is an electricity distribution and fibre optic network company, based in Hastings, New Zealand.
Unison owns and manages the electricity lines network and the fibre optic network in the Hawke's Bay, Rotorua and ...
.
In February 2004, the city and wider Hawke's Bay region lost natural gas supply for six days after a flood washed away a bridge near
Ashhurst
Ashhurst ( mi, Whārite) is a town and outlying suburb of Palmerston North, in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island.
Location
Ashhurst is sited 14 kilometres northeast of the Palmerston North city centre. The town s ...
supporting the high-pressure pipeline to the region.
Water supply and sanitation
Napier's reticulated water supply is drawn from the Heretaunga Plains
artesian aquifer
An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer containing groundwater under positive pressure. An artesian aquifer has trapped water, surrounded by layers of impermeable rock or clay, which apply positive pressure to the water contained within th ...
below the city through seven bores. The city's water demand averages per day, with demand in summer peaking at per day.
The city's wastewater plant is at Awatoto, and treated wastewater is discharged into Hawke Bay via a outfall pipe. The Awatoto wastewater plant and outfall were opened in 1973, replacing the previous outfall at Perfume Point in Ahuriri. The wastewater plant was initially a communitor station and was upgraded in 1991 with milliscreens and in 2014 with
biological trickling filters.
Schools and higher education
Napier has five state secondary schools:
Napier Boys' High School
Napier Boys' High School is a secondary boys' school in, Napier, New Zealand. It currently has a school roll of approximately pupils. The school provides education from Year 9 to Year 13.
Notable alumni
Business
* Rod Drury – chief execu ...
,
Napier Girls' High School
Napier Girls' High School is a state secondary school on Clyde Road, Napier, New Zealand. It is one of the oldest schools in New Zealand for girls, and has a current school roll of about 1000.
History
In July 1883 plans were submitted to the b ...
,
William Colenso College,
Tamatea High School and
Taradale High School
Taradale High School ( Māori: ''Te Haikura o Otatara'') is a co-educational secondary school situated in Taradale, a suburb of Napier in the Hawkes Bay region of New Zealand. It caters for years 9–13. The school has an attendance roll of appr ...
. Other secondary schools include
Sacred Heart College and
St Joseph's Māori Girls' College
St Joseph's Māori Girls' College or Hato Hōhepa is a Catholic, integrated, boarding and day college in Taradale, New Zealand, for girls in Year 7 to Year 13. It is the largest Māori girls' boarding secondary school in New Zealand.
History
St ...
, both state integrated Catholic girls' schools, and Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Ara Hou, a Māori language immersion school.
The
Eastern Institute of Technology
The Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT) is a government owned tertiary education institution with three campuses: Hawke’s Bay, Auckland, and Gisborne, New Zealand. It is also referred to as EIT Hawke's Bay, EIT Tairāwhiti, and EIT Auckland ...
in
Taradale is the main tertiary education provider for Napier and the Hawke's Bay.
Media
The Hastings-based ''
Hawke's Bay Today
''Hawke's Bay Today'' is a daily compact newspaper published in Hastings, New Zealand and serving Hastings, Napier and the Hawke's Bay region. It is owned by APN News & Media. The ''Hawke's Bay Today'' is New Zealand's youngest newspaper, fo ...
'' is the main daily newspaper serving Napier. The newspaper was established in 1999 following the merger of the Napier-based ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'' with the Hastings-based ''
Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune
The ''Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune'' was a New Zealand newspaper which published from 1937 until 1999. Covering the Hawke's Bay region, it was based in Hastings.
History
The paper was formed in 1937 from the merger of the Napier-based ''Hawke's Bay ...
''.
The city's main television and FM radio transmitter is the Mount Erin transmitter atop
Kohinurākau, south-southwest of central Napier. Television arrived in the city in 1962 with the commissioning of a private
translator
Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...
relaying Wellington's WNTV1 (now part of
TVNZ 1
TVNZ 1 ( mi, Te Reo Tātaki Tahi) is the first national television channel owned and operated by the state-owned broadcaster Television New Zealand (TVNZ). It is the oldest television broadcaster in New Zealand, starting out from 1960 as indep ...
). Official coverage came in 1966 with the commissioning the Mount Erin transmitter.
Notable people
*Sir
Ian Axford
Sir William Ian Axford (2 January 1933 – 13 March 2010) was a New Zealand space scientist who was director of Germany's Max Planck Institute for Aeronomy from 1974 to 1990. Axford's research was focused on the interaction of the sun with the ...
– space scientist
*
Mike Boon – comedian
*
Adele Broadbent
Adele Broadbent (born 17 April 1968) is a New Zealand children's author.
Biography
Broadbent was born in Napier, New Zealand, Napier, New Zealand, on 17 April 1968.
Work
Broadbent's early book publications include ''The Bike Race'' (2008), ...
(born 1968), children's author
*
Ashley Bloomfield
Sir Ashley Robin Bloomfield (born March 1966) is a New Zealand public health official. He served as the chief executive of the Ministry of Health (New Zealand), Ministry of Health and the country's Director-General of Health from 2018 to 2022. ...
– Chief Executive of the
Ministry of Health and the country's Director-General of Health, born in Napier
*
Archibald George William Dunningham – one of founders of modern librarianship in New Zealand
*
Spencer Gollan
Spencer Herbert Gollan (22 January 1860 – 27 January 1934) was a sportsman who excelled in rowing and golf, and who was also a race horse owner.
Gollan was born at Napier in the Colony of New Zealand, the son of Donald Gollan, an engineer and ...
– sportsman and racehorse owner
*
Debbie Harwood
When the Cat's Away is a New Zealand female vocal group, supergroup and covers band formed in 1985. They are best known for their cover of the Blue Mink assimilationist song " Melting Pot", which became a New Zealand number one hit for them ...
– singer with When The Cat's Away
*
Paul Henare – basketball player for the
New Zealand Breakers
The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Sky Sport Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at ...
and the
Tall Blacks
The New Zealand men's national basketball team is the senior men's national basketball team of New Zealand. The team is nicknamed the Tall Blacks. The ''Tall Blacks'' name is one of many New Zealand national team nicknames related to the All ...
*
Alfred Hindmarsh
Alfred Humphrey Hindmarsh (18 April 1860 – 13 November 1918) was a New Zealand politician, lawyer and unionist. He died in the 1918 influenza epidemic. He served as the first leader of the modern New Zealand Labour Party.
Early life
Hindmars ...
– politician
*
Chris Jackson – former New Zealand international and
Napier City Rovers
Napier City Rovers is a football team based in Napier, New Zealand, competing in the Central Premier League.
Club history
The team was founded in 1973 via a merger of Napier Rovers and Napier City.
Napier City Rovers have won New Zealand's p ...
association football player
*
Anna Kavan
Anna Kavan (born Helen Emily Woods; 10 April 1901 – 5 December 1968) was a British novelist, short story writer and painter. Originally publishing under her first married name, Helen Ferguson, she adopted the name Anna Kavan in 1939, not onl ...
, British novelist, lived in Napier in 1942–43
*
Phil Lamason
Phillip John Lamason, (15 September 191819 May 2012) was a pilot in the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) during the Second World War, who rose to prominence as the senior officer in charge of 168 Allied airmen taken to Buchenwald concentrat ...
– WWII pilot – born in Napier
*
Simon Mannering
Simon Alexander Mannering (born 28 August 1986) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He played for the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL. A New Zealand international second row forward, ...
–
New Zealand Warriors
The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...
rugby league player and captain
*
Paratene Matchitt – artist
*
Stuart Nash
Stuart Alexander Nash (born August 1967) is a politician from New Zealand. He was a list member of the House of Representatives for the Labour Party from to 2011, and was re-elected in the as representative of the Napier electorate. He ente ...
– politician
*
Dean Parker
Dean Leo Parker (20 August 1947 – 14 April 2020) was a New Zealand screenwriter, playwright, journalist and political commentator based in Auckland. Known for the screenplay of iconic film ''Came a Hot Friday'' which he co-wrote with Ian Mune, th ...
– writer and political commentator (born in Napier)
*
Nyree Dawn Porter
Nyree Dawn Porter OBE (born Ngaire Dawn Porter; 22 January 1936 – 10 April 2001) was a New Zealand–British actress.
Early life and career
Porter was born in Napier, New Zealand in 1936. Her first professional work was touring with the Ne ...
– actress
*
John Psathas
John Psathas, (born Ioannis Psathas, el, Ιωάννης Ψάθας; 1966) is a New Zealand composer. He has works in the repertoire of such high-profile musicians as Evelyn Glennie, Michael Houstoun, Michael Brecker, Joshua Redman and the New ...
– composer
*Major General Sir
Andrew Hamilton Russell
Major General Sir Andrew Hamilton Russell (23 February 1868 – 29 November 1960) was a senior officer of the New Zealand Military Forces who served during the First World War.
Born in Napier, New Zealand, Russell spent most of his youth in Engl ...
KCB, KCMG – born in Napier
*
Darren Smith – field hockey player
*
Anna Elizabeth Jerome Spencer- Educator
*
Percy Storkey
Percy Valentine Storkey, VC (9 September 1893 – 3 October 1969) was a New Zealand-born Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonw ...
– soldier and
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...
winner
*
Chris Tremain
Christopher James Tremain (born 1966) is a New Zealand businessman and retired politician. He served as member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the National Party from until his retirement in 2014.
Family and personal life
Bo ...
– politician
*
Kel Tremain – rugby player
*
Shane Young
Shane Karlarnee Young (born 31 July 1993) is a New Zealand mixed martial artist (MMA) who currently competes in the Featherweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Young is affiliated with the Māori tribe Ngāti Kahungunu. ...
– Mixed Martial Arts fighter
*
Jamie Curry
Jamie Curry (born 26 July 1996) is a New Zealand YouTube personality, vlogger, and comedian, best known for creating Jamie's World.
Early life
Curry grew up in Taradale and attended Sacred Heart College, which she graduated from in 2014.
C ...
– YouTube Personality
Sister cities
Napier City Council recognises three
sister city
A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there are early examples of inter ...
relationships:
*
Lianyungang
Lianyungang () is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Jiangsu province, China. It borders Yancheng to its southeast, Huai'an and Suqian to its south, Xuzhou to its southwest, and the province of Shandong to its north. Its name derives from ...
,
Jiangsu
Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...
, China
*
Tomakomai
is a city and port in Iburi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the largest city in the Iburi Subprefecture, and the fourth largest city in Hokkaido. As of 29 February 2012, it had an estimated population of 174,216, with 83,836 households, ...
, Japan
*
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, Canada
References
External links
City of Napier official website
{{Authority control
Art Deco
Port cities in New Zealand
Populated places in the Hawke's Bay Region
Former provincial capitals of New Zealand
Art Deco architecture in New Zealand
Populated places established in 1854
1854 establishments in New Zealand