Churton Park

History

Churton Park is one of the youngest suburbs in Wellington and was farmland until 1970. In the 1850s Thomas Drake was running 200 sheep in what is now Churton Park. The suburb was developed by "John Dick Walker" (1926–1981). It was named after Jock Churton; Churton was a director of Fletchers which undertook a number of development projects in the 1960s and 1970s. Rodney Callender now (2024) owns much of the adjacent land awaiting development. The area of Churton Park near current Lakewood Avenue was originally a swamp Since being established, it is one of the fasted growing subdivisions in Wellington, with the population expected to grow to over 12,000 over the next two decades. In 2018, Wellington City Council purchased the 268 Ohariu Valley Rd property adding much of the ridge line overlooking Churton Park (from Ohariu Valley Rd to west of the Erlestoke Cres cul-de-sac) to the Outer Green Belt.

Geography

The topography is quite hilly and has regenerating bush in some areas that has not been excavated for housing sub-divisions. Steep hills extend west over to Ohariu Valley. Extensive cut and fill earthworks have been required in the construction of the subdivisions for housing.

Most-observed species

• Tui

  Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae (J.F.Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  22,952
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  20,710
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  17,960
• Kelp Gull

  Larus dominicanus M.H.K.Lichtenstein, 1823 · Aves
  17,638
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  12,893
• Silver-eye

  Zosterops lateralis (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  11,943
• New Zealand Fantail

  Rhipidura fuliginosa (Sparrman, 1787) · Aves
  11,155
• Gray Gerygone

  Gerygone igata (Quoy & Gaimard, 1830) · Aves
  10,197

Most recent

• M 5 — 2026-06-28
  65 km W of Foxton Beach, New Zealand
• M 4.4 — 2026-06-16
  30 km W of Titahi Bay, New Zealand
• M 4.2 — 2026-06-12
  27 km E of Marybank, New Zealand
• M 4.2 — 2026-06-12
  12 km NNW of Renwick, New Zealand
• M 4.5 — 2026-06-02
  28 km W of Titahi Bay, New Zealand
• M 4.5 — 2026-05-29
  42 km SE of Witherlea, New Zealand