Melling is a suburb of
Lower Hutt
Lower Hutt () is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropoli ...
, to the north of
Wellington
Wellington 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 third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
in the
North Island
The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...
of New Zealand. It is on the west bank of the
Hutt River, on
State Highway 2, the Wellington-Hutt main road, and directly across the river from the centre of Lower Hutt. It is also the name of the three-lane bridge connecting the Hutt City central business district with State Highway 2, a route subject to extensive congestion at peak times. From the Melling Bridge it is possible to drive straight ahead into the hill suburbs of
Harbour View and
Tirohanga.
Improved interchanges are planned for the Melling and Kennedy-Good bridges.
History
Melling was named after William Melling, a former
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
mentor of
Richard Seddon
Richard John Seddon (22 June 1845 – 10 June 1906) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 15th premier (prime minister) of New Zealand from 1893 until his death. In office for thirteen years, he is to date New Zealand's longest-ser ...
in the foundry where he worked prior to leaving for New Zealand. Seddon and Melling remained in touch, with gifts of New Zealand lamb being sent to Melling at his home in St Helens at Christmas time. The name came about after then-Premier Seddon revisited England and his friend Melling in 1897. Melling had never visited New Zealand, and the local settlers intended to change the name to one of greater significance.
The original
Melling railway station opened on 26 May 1908,
[ Hoy, D.G. ''Rails out of the Capital'' ( NZRLS, 1970) pp. 13,63,80 ] while the Melling bridge opened in 1909.
Melling Line
The
Melling Railway Station is the terminus of the
Melling Line which provides a suburban commuter service to Wellington. This line was originally part of the
Hutt Valley Line through to
Upper Hutt
Upper Hutt () is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area.
History
Upper Hutt is in an area originally known as Orongo ...
and the
Wairarapa
The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service t ...
, but became a separate (electrified) branch line on 1 March 1954, when the section north of Melling to Haywards (now
Manor Park) was closed and replaced by a new double-tracked line on the eastern side of the
Hutt River (the old Melling-Haywards section could not be double-tracked).
Demographics
Melling is included in the
Alicetown-Melling statistical area.
External links
Statistics New Zealand - Melling Community Profile
References
{{Lower Hutt
Suburbs of Lower Hutt
Populated places on Te Awa Kairangi / Hutt River