- Hutt Valley, New Zealand
The Hutt Valley is the large area of fairly flat land in the Hutt River valley in the Wellington region of
New Zealand . Like the river that flows through it, it takes its name from Sir William Hutt, a director of theNew Zealand Company in early colonial New Zealand.The river flows roughly along the course of an active
geologic fault , which continues to the south to become the main instrument responsible for the uplift of theSouth Island 'sSouthern Alps . For this reason, the land rises abruptly to the west of the river; to the east two floodplains have developed. The higher of these is between 15 and 22 km from the mouth of the river. Beyond this, the river is briefly confined by a steep-sided gorge near Taita (aptly pronounced "tighter"), before the land opens up into a long triangular plain close to the outflow intoWellington Harbour .The lower valley contains the city of
Lower Hutt , administered byHutt City Council , while the adjacent, larger but less populous city ofUpper Hutt has its centre on the smaller plain above theTaita Gorge . The valley forms a major dormitory suburban area forWellington , and is a location for manufacturing and heavy industry, educational and recreational facilities, and the region's motor camps.Petone , on theWellington Harbour shoreline, was proposed as the initial site for the settlement of Wellington by the Wellington Company. However, as the chosen site was soon seen to be prone to river flooding, early settlement was relocated to Wellington. A small settlement remained at the Petone site as the whole valley was believed to be well suited as farm land.In 1846 there was fighting between
Māori tribes and the Government, known as theHutt Valley Campaign .Almost the whole valley was clearfelled and converted to pasture or
market garden s before the urbanisation of the 20th century. A small remnant of the earlypodocarp forest is preserved inBarton's Bush inUpper Hutt .External links
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&ll=-41.165732,174.973068&spn=0.409913,0.604248&t=h&z=11&om=1 Google Maps imagery of the Hutt Valley]
* [http://www.huttcity.govt.nz/ Hutt City Council]
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