Paraparaumu

Paraparaumu is a town in the south-western North Island of New Zealand. It lies on the Kāpiti Coast, 55 km north of the nation's capital city, Wellington. It is also known to residents as Pram or Paraparam.

Like other towns in the area, it has a partner settlement at the coast called Paraparaumu Beach, which is directly opposite Kapiti Island. The two towns form part of the Kāpiti Coast District. Together with the nearby Raumati Beach and Raumati South they are among the fastest-growing urban areas in New Zealand, and are major dormitory towns with workers commuting to the cities that make up the Wellington urban area. The four towns between them have a 2012 population of over 49,000 people. Inland behind Paraparaumu is the Maungakotukutuku area.

Paraparaumu is a Māori-language name meaning "scraps from an earth oven"; parapara means "dirt" or "scraps", and umu means "oven".

The village of Lindale is just north of the Paraparaumu town centre. It began as a Tourist and Agricultural Centre, but later gained a reputation for cheese and the Lindale Barnyard petting farm.

The old State Highway 1 and the Kapiti Line section of the North Island Main Trunk railway both pass through Lindale. The railway line was formerly owned by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, and construction of the line was completed when the ends from Wellington and Longburn (Palmerston North) met near Lindale in Otaihanga in 1886. There were proposals to extend the commuter train service operated by Transdev Wellington to a new station at Lindale, subject to Wellington Regional Council funding, but these were dropped when electrification for the commuter service was extended from Paraparaumu to Waikanae.

The majority of shops are located close to the town centre in the Coastlands Mall, close to the train station.

Name and etymology
"Parapara" refers in Māori to food waste, and "umu" is ovens that they are cooked in. The name Paraparaumu comes from an 1819–1820 expedition of Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Toa, who on the west coast of the North Island from Kāwhia to Cook Strait. As they arrived in the Kāpiti Coast, they found no useful resources.

Paraparaumu is sometimes known by the names "Pram", "Paraparam" or "Pram-Pram".

History
In August 1936 a train derailed in Paraparaumu as it approached a land slide in rainy weather.

Climate
Paraparaumu has an oceanic climate typical of New Zealand, with moderately warm summers and mild winters. It has a quite high rainfall frequency year round, although it is drier than many other coastal areas in the country.

Demographics
Paraparaumu is defined by Statistics New Zealand as a medium urban area and covers 28.38 km2, which includes Otaihanga, Paraparaumu Beach, Raumati Beach and Raumati South. It had an estimated population of as of  with a population density of  people per km2.

Before the 2023 census, the town had a larger boundary, covering 28.61 km2. Using that boundary, Paraparaumu had a population of 28,701 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 1,866 people (7.0%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 3,441 people (13.6%) since the 2006 census. There were 11,379 households, comprising 13,560 males and 15,138 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.9 males per female, with 5,199 people (18.1%) aged under 15 years, 4,302 (15.0%) aged 15 to 29, 12,489 (43.5%) aged 30 to 64, and 6,708 (23.4%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 89.1% European/Pākehā, 12.5% Māori, 3.1% Pasifika, 5.1% Asian, and 2.3% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

The percentage of people born overseas was 23.5, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 54.0% had no religion, 34.7% were Christian, 0.4% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.7% were Hindu, 0.1% were Muslim, 0.6% were Buddhist and 2.2% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 5,013 (21.3%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 3,876 (16.5%) people had no formal qualifications. 4,329 people (18.4%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 10,368 (44.1%) people were employed full-time, 3,333 (14.2%) were part-time, and 918 (3.9%) were unemployed.

Retail
Coastlands Shopping Town or Mall opened in Paraparaumu in 1969. It has 1400 carparks and 94 shops, including Pak'nSave, The Warehouse, Farmers and Countdown.

Sport
Paraparaumu was formerly represented in soccer/football by Paraparaumu United. They merged with the Raumati Hearts in 2003 to create Kapiti Coast United, which is based at Weka Park in Raumati.

The local athletics club is Paraparaumu Track and Field Club, which has both junior and senior members in conjunction with Athletics Wellington and Athletics New Zealand age grades. The club is based at the Paraparaumu Domain.

Paraparaumu Beach also has a golf course. It has hosted the New Zealand Open a total of 12 times, a record unsurpassed by any other course.

Airport
Kapiti Coast Airport has a few scheduled commercial flights and is a popular recreational airfield, hosting the Kapiti Aero Club. Air Chathams will have daily flights between the airport and Auckland from 20 August 2018, and Sounds Air operate to Blenheim and Nelson. Now defunct, locally based Air2there used operate to Blenheim and Nelson also. Prior to the mid 2010s Air New Zealand used to have scheduled services to Kapiti Coast Airport with their ATR-42s and Q-400/ DHC-8s. This was then cancelled in the mid 2010s.

Public transport
Paraparaumu is located on the North Island Main Trunk Railway (NIMT), on the Kapiti Line of Wellington's commuter railway network operated by Transdev under the Metlink brand. Electrified commuter services were extended to Waikanae on 20 February 2011. Korean built by Hyundai Rotem, FP/FT class electric multiple units operate the commuter trains.

Beyond Waikanae, KiwiRail's Great Journeys New Zealand division operates two diesel-hauled long distance passenger services: the Capital Connection between Palmerston North and Wellington, and the Northern Explorer between Auckland and Wellington.

There are also feeder and local commuter bus service operated by Metlink.

Primary schools
Paraparaumu School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 Students with a roll of as of

Paraparaumu Beach School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 Students with a roll of as of

Kapiti School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of  as of.

Kenakena School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of  as of

Our Lady of Kapiti School is a co-educational state-integrated Catholic primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of  as of  It is named after a large statue of the Virgin Mary located near by.

Secondary schools
Three secondary schools are located near the Paraparaumu township: Paraparaumu College in Paraparaumu Beach, Kāpiti College in Raumati Beach and Ōtaki College in Ōtaki.

Raised in Paraparaumu

 * Christian Cullen – rugby union footballer


 * Stephen Kearney – rugby league footballer and coach
 * Wayne McIndoe – field hockey player
 * Drew Ne'emia – former television presenter
 * Andrew Niccol – film director

Educated in Paraparaumu

 * Peter Jackson at Kāpiti College – film director


 * Dane Coles at Paraparaumu College – All Blacks player
 * Karl Kippenberger at Kāpiti College – bass player in Shihad