Feilding

Feilding
Kawakawa (Māori)
Town
Manchester Square
Nickname(s): 'Friendly' Feilding
Feilding
Coordinates: 40°13′S 175°34′E / 40.217°S 175.567°E / -40.217; 175.567Coordinates: 40°13′S 175°34′E / 40.217°S 175.567°E / -40.217; 175.567
Country New Zealand
Region Manawatu-Wanganui Region
Territorial authority Manawatu District
Ward Feilding
Named for Colonel William Henry Adelbert Feilding
Electorate Rangitikei
Government
 • MP Ian McKelvie (New Zealand National Party)
 • Mayor Helen Worboys
Elevation[1] 70 m (230 ft)
Population (June 2017)[2]
 • Total 16,550
Time zone UTC+12 (NZST)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+13 (NZDT)
Postcode 4702
Telephone 06
Website www.feilding.co.nz

Feilding (Māori: Kawakawa) is a town in the Manawatu District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 54, 20 kilometres north of Palmerston North. The town is the seat of the Manawatu District Council.

Feilding has won the annual New Zealand's Most Beautiful Town award 16 times.[3][4] It is an Edwardian-themed town. The town is currently extending its CBD beautification featuring paving and planter boxes on the footpaths on the main streets in the CBD, including the realignment and beautification of Fergusson Street to the South Street entrance of Manfeild Park.

The town is a service town for the surrounding farming district. The Feilding Saleyards have been a vital part of the wider Manawatu community for over 125 years. As transport systems improved and farming practices changed, the need for small, local saleyards all but disappeared, leaving few major selling complexes in New Zealand. Manawatu is a diverse and fertile farming area with high production, high stock-carrying capacity and a stable climate. These factors make Feilding Saleyards a popular medium for many farmers. A unique aspect of Feilding Saleyards is their location in the centre of town.[5]

The Manawatu Plains, on which the town is sited, are very fertile land, and as such it is a prosperous agricultural area. Being located on the floodplain of a major river has its problems, however, and in February 2004 the town suffered extensive flooding. In 2009 the Horizons Regional Council commissioned a new flood protection scheme to prevent extensive flooding in the future.[6]

Feilding Hotel
Feilding Clocktower
A reminder to keep Feilding's tidy and attractive image

History

The town was named after Colonel William H. A. Feilding, a director of the Emigrants and Colonists Aid Corporation Ltd. who negotiated the purchase of a 100,000 acre (400 km²) block of land from the Wellington provincial government in 1871. The first settlers arrived from Great Britain on 22 January 1874.

The Feilding Edwardian Project Inc. was established in September 1993 by local businesses with the aim of revitalising the central business area of Feilding. Many of the commercial buildings were built in the 1900s (Edwardian era) and have been restored and preserved over time.

Feilding is home to a number of historic collections, buildings, monuments and museums, including:

  • The Coach House Museum
  • St Johns Church
  • The Feilding Club
  • Feilding Hotel
  • Feilding & Districts Steam Rail Society[7]

Military presence

In recent years there has been a steady increase in military families from the Royal New Zealand Air Force buying property and living in Feilding. This is mainly due to the close proximity of RNZAF Base Ohakea. In 2017 it was announced that the Republic of Singapore Air Force is looking at establishing a permanent F-15 fighter jet training base at Ohakea with an estimated presence of 500 Singaporian personnel. This would see a steady influx of Singaporian military families living in Feilding.

Features

  • One of New Zealand's main motor racing circuits, Manfeild, is located at the southern edge of the town
  • There is an active light aircraft airfield at the eastern edge of the town
  • The depot of the Feilding and District Steam Rail Society is located in the town and it runs railway excursions from this base.
  • Feilding's stock saleyards were once one of the largest in the southern hemisphere and are right in the central business area.[8]
  • The Coach House Museum
  • Focal Point Cinema Feilding
  • There are no traffic lights and no parking meters

Economy

Employing about 30 people with a payroll of $1.5m in 2015, Proliant, an Iowa based firm privately held by the father and son team of Wally and Nix Lauridsen, constructed a $24m factory on the outskirts of Feilding for the production of a byproduct from cattle blood plasma, bovine serum albumin (BSA), which is used in pharmaceuticals, vaccines and medical research. Proliant produces about half of the world's BSA.[9][10][11][12]

In the Manawatu District of the people aged 15 years or over:

  • 40% earn $20,000 or less (NZ 38.8%)
  • 14% earn more than $50,000 (NZ 16.2%)
  • the unemployment rate is 3.8% (NZ 7.3%)
  • 73.4% of permanent private dwellings are owned with or without a mortgage by the occupant(s) (NZ 66.9%)[13]

Education

Secondary schools

Primary and intermediate schools

  • Feilding Intermediate School is a state, coeducational intermediate (years 7–8) school with a decile rating of 5 and a roll of 312. It was established in 1964.[14]
  • Lytton Street School is a state, coeducational contributing primary (years 1–6) school with a decile rating of 4 and a roll of 498.[15]
  • Manchester Street School is a state, coeducational contributing primary (years 1–6) school with a decile rating of 6 and a roll of 288.[16]
  • North Street School is a state, coeducational full primary (years 1–8) school with a decile rating of 4 and a roll of 481.[17]
  • St Joseph's School is an integrated coeducational full primary (years 1–8) school with a decile rating of 6 and a roll of 124.[18]

Notable personalities

Famous people from Feilding include:

Groups

See also

References

  1. ↑ New Zealand Topo50 map BM34: [www.linz.govt.nz]
  2. ↑ "Subnational Population Estimates: At 30 June 2017 (provisional)". Statistics New Zealand. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2017. For urban areas, "Subnational population estimates (UA, AU), by age and sex, at 30 June 1996, 2001, 2006-16 (2017 boundary)". Statistics New Zealand. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  3. ↑ Kilmister, Sam (18 October 2017). "Feilding wins most beautiful town for a 15th time". Manawatu Standard.
  4. ↑ Beleski, Jake (14 October 2017). "Revealed: NZ's most beautiful city". New Zealand Herald.
  5. ↑ "Feilding Saleyards 125 Years of Success 1880–2005" (June 2005) Adapted by Foreword authored by Ian McKelvie.
  6. ↑ "Flood protection scheme opens". infonews.co.nz. New Zealand. 25 March 2000.
  7. ↑ "Feilding & Districts Steam Rail Society". Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  8. ↑ "Feilding Saleyards Guided Tours". Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  9. ↑ Galuszka, Jono (10 May 2013). "US biofirm to build factory near Feilding". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  10. ↑ Proliant Inc. website
  11. ↑ Proliant Biologicals website
  12. ↑ "Proliant Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) New Zealand Source". Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  13. ↑ "Live – Feilding". www.feilding.co.nz. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  14. ↑ Te Kete Ipurangi schools database: Feilding Intermediate
  15. ↑ Te Kete Ipurangi schools database: Lytton Street school
  16. ↑ Te Kete Ipurangi schools database: Manchester Street school
  17. ↑ Te Kete Ipurangi schools database: North Street school
  18. ↑ Te Kete Ipurangi schools database: St Josephs (Feilding)
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