New Plymouth
Ngāmotu (Māori) | |
|---|---|
 New Plymouth city skyline looking south from the foreshore with Mount Taranaki on the horizon. | |
  New Plymouth  New Plymouth .svg) New Plymouth | |
| Coordinates: 39°03′28″S 174°04′27″E / 39.05778°S 174.07417°E | |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Region | Taranaki |
| Territorial authority | New Plymouth District |
| Settled | 31 March 1841 |
| NZ Parliament | New Plymouth Te Tai Hauāuru (Māori) |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Neil Holdom |
| • Deputy Mayor | David Bublitz |
| • MPs | Debbie Ngarewa-Packer (Te Pāti Māori) David MacLeod (National) |
| Area | |
• Territorial | 2,205.6 km2 (851.6 sq mi) |
| • Urban | 74.79 km2 (28.88 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• Territorial | 90,000 |
| • Density | 41/km2 (110/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 60,100 |
| Time zone | UTC+12 (NZST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+13 (NZDT) |
| Postcode(s) | 4310, 4312 |
| Area code | 06 |
| Website | newplymouthnz |
New Plymouth (Māori: Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in Devon, from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Plymouth District, which includes New Plymouth City and several smaller towns, is the 10th largest district (out of 67) in New Zealand, and has a population of 90,000 – about two-thirds of the total population of the Taranaki Region and 1.7% of New Zealand's population. This includes New Plymouth City (60,100), Waitara (7,680), Inglewood (3,960), Ōakura (1,720), Ōkato (561) and Urenui (429).[2]
The city itself is a service centre for the region's principal economic activities, including intensive pastoral activities (mainly dairy farming) as well as oil, natural gas and petrochemical exploration and production. It is also the region's financial centre as the home of the TSB Bank (formerly the Taranaki Savings Bank), the largest of the remaining non-government New Zealand-owned banks.
Notable features are the botanic garden (i.e. Pukekura Park), the critically acclaimed Len Lye Centre and Art Gallery, the 13 km (8.1 mi) New Plymouth Coastal Walkway alongside the Tasman Sea, the Len Lye-designed 45-metre-tall (148 ft) artwork known as the Wind Wand, Paritutu Rock, and views of Mount Taranaki.
New Plymouth was awarded the most liveable city (for a population between 75,000–150,000) by the International Awards for Liveable Communities in 2021. In 2023, New Plymouth was awarded New Zealand's most beautiful small city by Keep New Zealand Beautiful.[3] It also won multiple awards in 2008. The city was in 2010 chosen as one of two walking & cycling "Model Communities" by the government. Based on New Plymouth's already positive attitude towards cyclists and pedestrians, the city received $3.71m to invest into infrastructure and community programmes to boost walking and cycling.[4]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Areawas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b "Aotearoa Data Explorer". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
- ^ "Beautiful Awards 2023 winners". Keep New Zealand Beautiful. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
- ^ "Big bucks for bike paths". Taranaki Daily News. 28 June 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2010.