Maungaraki

History

Housing increased rapidly in the area during the 1960s, at the time it was the largest local-government subdivision in New Zealand. The main road through the suburb, Dowse Drive, honours the Lower Hutt Mayor Percy Dowse (in office: 1950–1970), who led the development of housing in Maungaraki. Most of the other roads in the suburb feature the names of trees. Reese Jones Grove is named after Thomas and Myrtle Reese Jones, a Korokoro farming couple who sold a proportion of their land in Maungaraki to the Lower Hutt City Council in 1957. Puketiro School opened in 1967 and was situated where Maungaraki School is now. Otonga School opened in 1977 and most of the land which Otonga School occupied is now private housing.

Most-observed species

• Tui

  Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae (J.F.Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  23,169
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  20,983
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  18,188
• Kelp Gull

  Larus dominicanus M.H.K.Lichtenstein, 1823 · Aves
  17,664
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  13,024
• Silver-eye

  Zosterops lateralis (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  12,152
• New Zealand Fantail

  Rhipidura fuliginosa (Sparrman, 1787) · Aves
  11,359
• Gray Gerygone

  Gerygone igata (Quoy & Gaimard, 1830) · Aves
  10,364

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
  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
• M 4.3 — 2026-05-16
  36 km SE of Witherlea, New Zealand