Aro Valley
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The Aro Valley forms a small inner-city suburb of
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 ...
in
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. It takes its name from the stream which originally flowed where modern Epuni Street is. The stream's Māori name was originally Wai-Mapihi, but it was commonly called Te Aro Stream due to it running through the
Te Aro Te Aro (formerly also known as Te Aro Flat) is an inner-city suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. It comprises the southern part of the central business district including the majority of the city's entertainment district and covers the mostly fla ...
flat.


Geography

The Aro Valley is 126 hectares running between the hills of
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
to the south, and Kelburn to the north, with the area of
Karori Karori is a suburb located at the western edge of the urban area of Wellington, New Zealand, 4 km from the city centre and is one of New Zealand's most populous suburbs, with a population of in History Origins The name ''Karori'' used ...
to the west and
Te Aro Te Aro (formerly also known as Te Aro Flat) is an inner-city suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. It comprises the southern part of the central business district including the majority of the city's entertainment district and covers the mostly fla ...
, the city centre to the east. Much of Wellington consists of the remnants of an old
peneplain 390px, Sketch of a hypothetical peneplain formation after an orogeny. In geomorphology and geology, a peneplain is a low-relief plain formed by protracted erosion. This is the definition in the broadest of terms, albeit with frequency the usage ...
, a flat expanse that rose from the sea about 20 million years ago. This land was heavily dissected by watercourses from that time and today the tops of the hills around Wellington indicate the general height of that eroded peneplain. During this time massive faults appeared that are still active today. Aro Valley formed from fault activity. One kilometre to the west of Aro Valley is the Wellington Fault running north-east along the foot of the Tinakori Hills and beyond. A series of splinter faults branch off from the Wellington Fault. Activity along these faults over millions of years caused tilting of the land to create valleys, including Aro Valley, south-east of the main fault. Aro Valley, and its tributary valleys, are well sheltered from the wind and have soil enriched by past alluvial deposits. The valley walls are steep in places and house sites are correspondingly uneven, in typical Wellington fashion. The valley comprises part of the bed of the Wai-Mapihi Stream. Aro Street runs through the whole valley, from Willis Street in the east to Raroa Road in the west; major side-streets include Devon Street, Epuni Street, Adams Terrace, Mitchelltown's Holloway Road and Taitville's Norway Street.


Parks

A prominent feature of Aro Valley is Aro Park, which is the site of the former Matauranga School, which was itself on the site of the original Catholic school – St Mary of the Angels. The Park was formerly known as Seed's Hill after an early (1864) resident, Mr. Wm. Seed. The Park has been extended and landscaped in recent years and is a focus for community recreation, especially on summer nights and weekends; the Aro Valley Community Centre stands on part of the park. in 2017 Wellington Council purchased a considerable area of land to the north west border of Aro Park which will form part of the Wellington Town Belt. Aro Valley is almost surrounded by parkland the Aro Park to the north, Polhill Gully Recreation Reserve to the Northwest and Tenera Reserve & Central Park to the Southeast.


Polhill Gully

Polhill Reserve - on the western end of Aro Street - was named for the early settler, Baker Polhill. After his arrival in 1841 aboard the ''Oriental'', Polhill started a business selling timber harvested from the gully. Although he did not own the land, it became known as Polhill's Gully. The area was originally a cultivation for Te Aro Māori. By the 1960s Victoria University was considering Polhill Gully and Holloway Road as potential sites for its own expansion and began buying houses but by the 1970s the plans were being actively challenged by a new generation of Mitchelltown residents who felt the houses and the neighbourhood were worth saving, and by others who envisaged the restoration of Polhill Gully for wildlife habitat and recreational use. Discussion, disagreement and protest went on for years, and the university finally abandoned its plans in the early 1980s. Polhill Gully became a City Council Recreation Reserve in 1989. Today the reserve is an attractive amenity used by more than a thousand cyclists, runners and walkers a week. It is also frequented by birds, including—thanks to the proximity of the
Zealandia Zealandia (pronounced ), also known as (Māori) or Tasmantis, is an almost entirely submerged mass of continental crust that subsided after breaking away from Gondwanaland 83–79 million years ago.Gurnis, M., Hall, C.E., and Lavier, L.L., ...
wildlife sanctuary—many tui and
kaka Kaka may refer to: People Nickname or given name Sports * Carlos Augusto dos Santos da Silva (born 1987), Brazil-born Italy international futsal player * Kaká (born 1982), Brazilian footballer Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite * Kaká (football ...
, and the occasional bellbird, grey warbler, North Island robin and saddleback.


History

The Aro Valley today is a largely untouched remnant of old Wellington, with the majority of its dwellings dating from the first two decades of the twentieth century, and a significant number from the nineteenth. The Wellington City Council notes: "The Valley projects a strong sense of place due to its geographical separation from other parts of the city, the enclosure of the valley walls and the relative consistency of development within."


Nineteenth century

Early tribal occupants of the Aro Valley included
Ngāti Mutunga Ngāti Mutunga is a Māori iwi (tribe) of New Zealand, whose original tribal lands were in north Taranaki. They migrated from Taranaki, first to Wellington (with Ngāti Toa and other Taranaki Hāpu), and then to the Chatham Islands (along with ...
,
Ngāti Ruanui Ngāti Ruanui is a Māori iwi traditionally based in the Taranaki region of New Zealand. In the 2006 census, 7,035 people claimed affiliation to the iwi. However, most members now live outside the traditional areas of the iwi. History Early hist ...
,
Muaūpoko Muaūpoko is a Māori iwi on the Kapiti Coast of New Zealand. Muaūpoko are descended from the ancestor Tara, whose name has been given to many New Zealand landmarks, most notably Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington). His people were known as Ngā ...
and Ngāti Mamoe. In the 1830s Taranaki iwi
Te Āti Awa Te Āti Awa is a Māori iwi with traditional bases in the Taranaki and Wellington regions of New Zealand. Approximately 17,000 people registered their affiliation to Te Āti Awa in 2001, with around 10,000 in Taranaki, 2,000 in Wellington and arou ...
settled at its western end. The stream itself was an important food source for Māori. It was called Waimapihi – in Maori, "the stream or bathing place" of Mapihi, a local chieftainess of Muaūpoko and Ngāti Mamoe descent. These small communities adapted as best they could to the influx of British settlers that began in 1840, but they took a blow in 1855 when 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 ...
raised the low-lying land draining the marshes and cutting off their main source of both food and flax for trading. This misfortune, combined with widespread illness, migration back to Taranaki to settle land disputes, and pressure from settlers for land, gradually saw the Māori population of Te Aro dwindle. The land was part of the
New Zealand Company The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model focused on the systematic colonisation of New Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principl ...
purchase in 1839. It was first developed by settler Wellingtonians as a working-class residential suburb in around 1860, the Aro Valley featured small, narrow
section Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sign ...
s with closely built wooden or corrugated-iron houses. In the 1840 Plan of Wellington, the Aro Valley consisted of Wordsworth, Aro and Epuni Streets, as well as St John Street, which connected Aro Street and what became known as The Terrace. Of the 13 freehold acres available for European settlers, nine were in Epuni Street. European settlement grew as Maori left the area, including Te Āti Awa who returned to Taranaki in the 1850–60s. Also, in 1855, the opening of the Old Bullock Track meant the valley became an access route for Karori settlers. The only other route to Karori followed what is now Glenmore Street from Thorndon. Devon Street in the north of Aro Valleys principal developer, William Adams and Elizabeth Adams, came from the Southern UK county of Devon. He purchased land here in 1885 and some of the houses built were occupied by his son and daughter in law Maxwell and Lila Adams.


Twentieth century

A route of the
Wellington tramway system The Wellington tramway system (1878–1964) operated in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. The tramways were originally owned by a private company, but were purchased by the city and formed a major part of the city's transport system. Tra ...
was opened in 1904, connecting Aro Street to the
Wellington railway station Wellington railway station, or Wellington Central station, is the main railway station serving Wellington, New Zealand, and is the southern terminus of the North Island Main Trunk, Wairarapa Line and Johnsonville Line. The station opened in ...
via the city center; it closed in 1957. In the 1960s, ''The Evening Post'' described Holloway Road (a street originally known as Mitchelltown on the western edge of Aro Valley) as "sagging stairways with most of the tread rotted away", leading to "sagging, open doors and damp, musty rooms where glass from broken windows crunches underfoot". Matauranga School was a progressive primary school set up by Marie Bell and parents of Aro Valley in 1963 and was a pioneer for the 'free-play' method of pre-schooling within New Zealand. In 1967 it became a full primary school. The school closed in 1982 after teachers Marie Bell and Mike Regan left the school. The site became the current Park and Community centre in 1983 after residents fought the City Council that had "promise to create community open space in the old asphalt schoolyard known as Matauranga chool Gentrification has been ongoing in Aro Valley from the 1970s, boosted by urban-renewal
planning Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. The evolution of forethought, the capacity to think ahead, is consi ...
(the Comprehensive Urban Renewal Area or CURA) after the rejection of a proposal to turn the valley into a main arterial road route: it became a desirable suburb, seen as close to the centre of Wellington and boasting notable community spirit. The Aro Valley Community Council was established in 1978 and was followed by the building of the Aro Valley Community Center. In 1974, the Aro Street public toilets were the scene of a Russian spy drama, when economist, historian and writer
Bill Sutch Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...
was caught and charged with attempting to pass
classified information Classified information is material that a government body deems to be sensitive information that must be protected. Access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of people with the necessary security clearance and need to know, ...
to the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. (Sutch was later acquitted.) Aro Valley contains the largest collection of unaltered working-class homes in Wellington, some built by local tradesmen for employees, many put up by professional builders and developers as speculative investments. Many of the buildings used as shops along Aro Street and a number of houses on Aro Street and Holloway Road are protected by designation on Wellington City Council Heritage List. Many of Aro Valley's older houses have serious problems with damp and mould, particularly those on the shadier side of the valley. One study found that as many as 40% of Aro Valley houses were damp. Despite this, Aro Valley remains a popular location for students to live due to its proximity to the University. As of 2021, 59% of homes in Aro Valley were non-owner occupied (rentals) and the median rental price was $631. Between 2017 and 2021 the median sale price for a house in Aro Valley increased from $680,000 to $1.15 million.


Demographics

Aro Valley statistical area, which includes Highbury, covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. Aro Valley had a population of 3,762 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 141 people (3.9%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 330 people (9.6%) 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 1,410 households. There were 1,890 males and 1,875 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.01 males per female. The median age was 27.9 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 303 people (8.1%) aged under 15 years, 1,764 (46.9%) aged 15 to 29, 1,440 (38.3%) aged 30 to 64, and 258 (6.9%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 84.8% European/Pākehā, 9.3% Māori, 3.1% Pacific peoples, 10.5% Asian, and 3.8% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 31.8%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 68.8% had no religion, 17.3% were Christian, 1.8% were Hindu, 1.0% were Muslim, 1.1% were Buddhist and 5.5% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 1,611 (46.6%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 120 (3.5%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $29,600, compared with $31,800 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,794 (51.9%) people were employed full-time, 684 (19.8%) were part-time, and 258 (7.5%) were unemployed.


Sociology

Aro Valley also adjoins parts of Victoria University (mainly to the north), and a large number of Valley residents study there or at
Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...
to the east. Despite the gentrification sometimes known as "yuppification" of the suburb, it keeps its reputation as a home to politico-social radicals. The area has a strong community council campaigning on a variety of issues such as eliminating plastic bag use in local shops. Alexandra Hollis writes in '' Salient'' that "although Aro is this liberal, artsy enclave, it is also very aware of this reputation." Illustrating this artiness young film-makers based in Wellington in the late 90s and 2000 were dubbed the Aro Valley movement, they made feature-length narrative dramas, which they edited and assembled on computer editing suites.


Politics

Politically, Aro Valley has become a stronghold or "spiritual home" of the
Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
. In the 2011 general election, the Aro Valley Community Centre was the polling station with the most number of ballots for the Green Party in the country (619), and also was amongst the top polling stations in terms of percentage support for the Greens (at 44%). Before every general election the Aro Valley candidates meeting is held in the Aro Valley community hall. The atmosphere of the meetings can make them intimidating for candidates, who often face heckling from the audience.


Education


School enrollment zone

Aro Valley is within the enrollment zones for
Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin * Wellington College, Wellington, Ne ...
,
Wellington Girls' College Wellington Girls' College was founded in 1883 in Wellington, New Zealand. At that time it was called Wellington Girls' High School. Wellington Girls' College is a year 9 to 13 state secondary school, located in Thorndon in central Wellington. H ...
, Wellington High School,
Wellington East Girls' College Wellington East Girls' College (WEGC, Maori name: Te Kura Kōhine o te Rāwhiti o Te Upoko o Te Ika) is a state single-sex girls' secondary school which sits directly above Mount Victoria Tunnel, Wellington, New Zealand. Serving Years 9 to 13 ...
, St Oran's College and Te Aro School.


Aro Valley Pre-School

Aro Valley Pre-School is a licensed early childhood education centre in a purpose-built building situated next to the Aro Valley Community Centre and Aro Park. The pre-school caters to children aged three and four years old, with some younger children attending accompanied by their parents. Once a week they also facilitate a parent-led playgroup for children under three.


Features of interest

* Aro Valley Community Centre (complex with public hall and pre-school; former site of Holy Family School) and the surrounding Aro park is the site of the Annual Aro Valley Fair, Arolympics and other events through the year. * Wesleyan Methodist Hall built in 1903 (restored in 2019) at western end of Aro Street has had many community uses and is now flats. *
William Booth Memorial Training College William Booth College on Champion Park, Denmark Hill in the London Borough of Southwark, is the headquarters of The Salvation Army leadership and officer training which delivers education and training programmes for the United Kingdom. Designed ...
(formerly a
Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
officer-training establishment, now the School of Practical Philosophy) * Mickey Mouse Motors (as featured in the film ''
Goodbye Pork Pie ''Goodbye Pork Pie'' is a 1981 New Zealand comedy film directed by Geoff Murphy, co-produced by Murphy and Nigel Hutchinson, and written by Geoff Murphy and Ian Mune. The film was New Zealand's first large-scale local hit. One book described it ...
'', ceased trading since 2003, and is now the brewer
Garage Project
* Aro Valley War Memorial (at beginning of Holloway Road and the western end of Aro Street)


References


External links


Aro Valley Community Centre
{{coord, 41, 17, 43, S, 174, 46, 3, E, region:NZ_type:city, display=title Suburbs of Wellington City Valleys of the Wellington Region