Paparangi is one of the northern suburbs of Wellington, New Zealand. It lies approximately 10 km north of the city centre, north-east of Johnsonville, north-west of Newlands and south of Grenada and Woodridge. The population was 2,841 at the time of the 2013 census, an increase of 96 from the 2006 census population. The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "flat sky" for Paparangi. The suburb has a small local shopping centre and a low decile primary school. The area, originally small farms and part of Newlands became a dormitory suburb of Wellington with major subdivisions in the early 1960s adding about a hundred houses a year. Beazley Homes of Tauranga was a major developer. Some of the street names are the first names of children living in the area then or of children whose parents were involved in development of the suburb. In 1991 a new landfill was opened in Grenada, with direct access via an overbridge to the adjacent motorway. A road extension would give Newlands and Paparangi access to the motorway, but the Grenada Village Progressive Association was concerned about any increase in traffic and car speeds. From 1994 the WCC consulted with residents, and in 2009 the "Mark Avenue Extension" connecting the two roads was opened by the Mayor.
History
The area was settled by a farmer Thomas Drake from Devonshire who was a descendant of John Drake, brother to Sir Francis Drake. He obtained a Crown Grant of 332 acres of land in 1861. His widow Ceres Selina Drake sold the land to the Crown on 3 August 1897, and it was broken into small farms of the Paparangi Estate, as one of the Small Farms Settlements of Richard Seddon’s Liberal Government. Working men got a 2 hectare lease-in-perpetuity section on which they could grow fruit and vegetables and keep pigs, bees and fowls. In the 1920s and 1930s there were five dairy farms in Newlands and Paparangi, supplying town milk to Wellington. Sam Styles had a 90 acre dairy farm, Ocean View Farm in Horokiwi Road, Paparangi supplying milk and cream. He was a Makara County Councillor, and later ran 200 sheep on 200 acres at the top of Horokiwi. The farm was sold to Mr McKinley after Styles' death in 1935.
Education
Paparangi School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 6 students, with a roll of as of.
