# Wellington Lower Hutt



## sam12345 (Jan 24, 2014)

Hello everyone!

Well my husband has just been offered a job in Wellington based in the Lower Hutt. As soon as his work visa comes through he will be going ahead of us. We want to make sure that he is happy with the job before the rest of us arrive in NZ.

I have some time to plan our move some I wanted to know if anyone has any idea/info on the best areas to live and best schools to consider in the are. I have 3 children Mia (11yrs) Milo (8yrs) and Felix (5yrs). Any info will be greatly appreciated.

We are currently based in Leicestershire in the UK.

Many thanks
Sam


----------



## escapedtonz (Apr 6, 2012)

sam12345 said:


> Hello everyone! Well my husband has just been offered a job in Wellington based in the Lower Hutt. As soon as his work visa comes through he will be going ahead of us. We want to make sure that he is happy with the job before the rest of us arrive in NZ. I have some time to plan our move some I wanted to know if anyone has any idea/info on the best areas to live and best schools to consider in the are. I have 3 children Mia (11yrs) Milo (8yrs) and Felix (5yrs). Any info will be greatly appreciated. We are currently based in Leicestershire in the UK. Many thanks Sam


Hi,
Welcome to the forum and congratulations.
Whereabouts in Lower Hutt is the job ?
You have many options and all hinges on what you are used to and how far away from work you want to be.
If you have transport you could even live up in the Northern suburbs and commute.
Lower Hutt city is probably the best place for shopping in all of Wellington as it has a big shopping mall with multi screen cinema etc.
We lived there temporarily when we first arrived in an older tree lined suburb called Woburn. Was gorg and walking distance to Lower Hutt city with its own train station so easy access up the Hutt valley or into Wellington.

Not really big on schools yet as our boy just coming up to 3yrs but I believe the best are nearer to the city and you would need to live in the Northern suburbs to be in the zone for entry into them ?
A couple of guys I work with have recently moved to Churton Park in the Northern suburbs specifically to ensure their kids got entry into good schools.

Regards,


----------



## sam12345 (Jan 24, 2014)

*Thanks*

Many thanks for your reply. I guess that its going to take time to understand where will be best. He will be in Petone, well thats where his office will be. He will also be travelling between Melbourne and also all over NZ on occasions so I would quite like to be in a place where I can feel self sufficient.

Any advice that I get given will be gratefully received.
Sam x


----------



## escapedtonz (Apr 6, 2012)

sam12345 said:


> Many thanks for your reply. I guess that its going to take time to understand where will be best. He will be in Petone, well thats where his office will be. He will also be travelling between Melbourne and also all over NZ on occasions so I would quite like to be in a place where I can feel self sufficient. Any advice that I get given will be gratefully received. Sam x


Ok.
I'd assume you'll want to be living in the zone for good schools and on that score I'm led to believe your only option would be the Northern suburbs to ensure you're in the zoning for them - Crofton Downs, Ngaio, Khandallah, Johnsonville, Churton Park.
I suppose you need to decide what is the most important factor which determines location.
There is very little at Crofton Downs although it's not far to a new Countdown supermarket, petrol station and a Mitre10 store (like B & Q).
Ngaio is only a small village but there's a good selection of small shops, convenience store, cafés, chippy, petrol station on the Main Street.
Khandallah has a small village centre with a few shops, supermarket, cafés etc - just slightly more than Ngaio.
Johnsonville is the biggest for shopping with all the required stores, a small shopping mall, a few supermarkets, fast food outlets, many banks etc with easy access onto the Motorway North & South.
Churton Park was an old subdivision but in the last 3 or 4 years it has more than tripled in size after many new homes have been built. There's also a new primary school and shopping area with a supermarket, chemist, gp's clinic, cafe, community centre, Indian takeout and a chippy plus an estate agents.
There's always houses for sale or rent on this now massive suburb. We've only just recently left there after 18 months in a rental and really liked it.

Wouldn't recommend Petone as a place to live. It is an area with a lower socio-economic class with lots of state housing and very industrial. Many businesses base themselves there. On the plus side though it has decent shopping and has quite a nice Main Street (Jackson Street) with many independent shops, cafés, restaurants, bars plus a few of the bigger stores. It also has a pebble beach, a great golf course and near to the best motorbike shop in Wellington (TSS Red Baron) 

Sent from my iPad using ExpatForum


----------

