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Masterton
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Masterton is a town (and local government district) in the Wellington region of New Zealand. It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a geographical region that is separated from metropolitan Wellington by the Rimutaka ranges. It is 100 kilometres north-east of Wellington, 28 kilometres south of Eketahuna, and stands on the Ruamahanga River.
Masterton is a thriving community with an urban population of , and district population of It did not quite qualify to be a city by 1989 when the minimum population requirement for that status was lifted from 20,000 to 50,000.
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Encyclopedia
Masterton is a town (and local government district) in the Wellington region of New Zealand. It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a geographical region that is separated from metropolitan Wellington by the Rimutaka ranges. It is 100 kilometres north-east of Wellington, 28 kilometres south of Eketahuna, and stands on the Ruamahanga River.
Masterton is a thriving community with an urban population of , and district population of It did not quite qualify to be a city by 1989 when the minimum population requirement for that status was lifted from 20,000 to 50,000. The Wairarapa Line railway, which opened to Masterton on 1 November 1880, allows many residents easy access to work in the cities of Wellington, Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt.
Named after pioneer Joseph Masters, it was first settled by Europeans on 21 May 1854. It gained borough status in 1877, and the Masterton District is now part of the Greater Wellington Region.
Local industries involve service industries for the surrounding farming community. The town is the headquarters of the annual Golden Shears sheep-shearing competition.
Education
Following the reform of schools in 2004, the Masterton district has 12 primary schools (Douglas Park, Fernridge, Hadlow, Lakeview, Mauriceville, Masterton Primary, Opaki, Solway, St Patricks, Tinui, Wainuiouru, Whareama), an intermediate school (Masterton Intermediate), and 6 secondary schools (Chanel College, Makoura College, Rathkeale College, Solway College, St Matthew's Collegiate, Wairarapa College). There is also a Maori immersion school, Te Kura Kaupapa Maori O Wairarapa.
Masterton has its own polytechnic, run by UCOL.
Communications
Telephone
The Masterton telephone exchange opened in 1897 with 53 subscribers. On 31 May 1919, Masterton became the first town in New Zealand to have a completely automatic (Rotary) telephone exchange.
Masterton, along with nearby Carterton, was the first town in New Zealand to introduce the emergency number 111, in September 1958.
Before the 1991 to 1993 changes, the area code for Masterton was 059. Today, the area code is 06, and numbers begin with 370, 372, 377, 378, 379, and 946.
Internet
there are two Wireless Internet Service Providers based in Masterton, providing high speed broadband access to the towns and rural areas of the Wairarapa. (purchased by Orcon Internet Limited in 2006, and in January 2007 Canning & Associates purchased Orcon WiseNet Wireless Network) and . ADSL access is also widely available.
Television
Masterton is serviced by all the major national television channels, with the exception of C4.
The main television transmitter for the town, and most of the southern half of the district, is the Otahoua transmitter located atop Bennett's Hill, northwest of the township. TV3 does not transmit from Otahoua, but from the Popoiti transmitter east of Greytown. In the northern half of the district, Palmerston North's Mount Wharite transmitter provides the television service.
Transport
Masterton, being a relatively small rural town in New Zealand, is very well served by public transport with rail, bus and air links. Despite Masterton and the Wairarapa valley being reasonably close to Wellington, they are separated by the Rimutaka Ranges with State Highway 2 cutting a winding hill road through the range and the Rimutaka railway tunnel. Unlike other parts of the country, the Wairarapa has seen passenger rail services remain largely due to its proximity to Wellington and the Rimutaka Tunnel's advantage over the Rimutaka Hill road. There has been conjectural talk of constructing a road tunnel through the ranges for decades, but this has been ruled out due to the extremely high cost. According to the latest transportation plan from the Greater Wellington Regional Council, the only work planned is for upgrades to the existing Rimutaka Hill road and the addition of passing lanes between Featherston and Masterton.
Rail
Masterton is linked to Wellington and the Hutt Valley by the Wairarapa Connection, a Tranz Metro passenger service run by Greater Wellington Region's Metlink, primarily operating at peak times serving commuters from Masterton and the Wairarapa with five return services Monday to Thursday, six on Friday and two for weekends and public holidays. Unusually for a small town, there are three railway stations in the town with Masterton, Renall Street and Solway.
Bus
There is a local Metlink bus service in Masterton operated by Tranzit. The buses operate on 5 routes: 3 suburban routes and two regional routes including:
| Metlink Bus Services | Termini |
|---|
Route 200
Masterton/Featherston | Wairarapa Hospital
Featherston Station | Route 201
Masterton West | Masterton – Church Street
Worksop Road (Woolworths) | Route 202
Masterton South & East | Masterton – Church Street
Masterton – Church Street | Route 203
Masterton – Lansdowne Circuit | Masterton – Church Street
Worksop Road (Woolworths) | Route 205
Featherston/Martinborough | Featherston Station
Martinborough |
There is also the MPN: Masterton to Palmerston North (Via Woodville) service, which is not operated under the MetLink brand.
Air
The Hood Aerodrome, Masterton is south of Masterton. From late 2008, Air New Zealand will be offering flights from Masterton to Auckland. The flights will be operated by subsidiary Eagle Air flying six days a week mainly to serve business customers in the Wairarapa.. There have been a few unsuccessful attempts at commercial air travel in Masterton over the years mostly due to its proximity to major airports in Wellington and Palmerston North. The most significant being South Pacific Airlines of New Zealand (SPANZ) who operated daily flights using DC3s out of Hood Aerodrome with during the sixties to other destinations nationwide until the airline's closure in 1966.
Climate
Masterton enjoys a mild temperate climate. Due to the geography of the Wairarapa valley and the Taurarua Range directly to the west, the town's temperature fluctuates more than nearby inland city, Palmerston North for example. Masterton therefore experiences warmer, dry summers with highs above 30°C possible and colder winters with frequent frost and lows below 0°C.
Sister cities
Masterton has Sister City relationships with:
Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima, Japan
Changchun, China
Armidale, New South Wales, Australia
See also
External links
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