GROWTH OF POPULATION IN HASTINGS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 94, 7 May 1937, Page 36 (Supplement)

GROWTH OF POPULATION IN HASTINGS

Second Only to Lower Hutt for Big Boroughs 607 IN 1884; NOW IT IS 12,754. There is a world of meaiiing in tlie prosaic census figure if you care to analyse' it". THink, for instance, of wliat it means to read that. in 1884, when Hastings took nnto itself tlie dignified status of a town district, ihe population was only 607 : that by 1886 it had grown" to a little beyond the 1500 rcquired for the constitution of a borongh ; and tbat at the last census return {1936) the figure had become 12,754. Indeed. if one takes into account the whole of the urban area — the area within a three-mile radius of the borough — the figure at the last census return was - 17,959. That to a certain extl ent is justified for purposes of comparison because, in the first decade of this century, the area of the borough was reduced from 5760 acres to 2601 acKes.

It is interesting to read, too, that for the ten years between the censuses of 1926 "and 1936 the xate of growtli of Hastings 's population was second only to that of Lower Hutt among the boroughs with populations ranging between 10,000 and 20,000. It must *be borne in Blind that Lower Hutt owes its preeminence in this respect to the establishment of several seeondary industries, largely because of the closeness of the borough to such an important centre as Wellington Behind the baTe figures of Hastings 's growth there are many contributing factors. First, Hastings is the hub of % rich agrieultural and pastoral district; it owes a great deal to the establishment of the freezing industry at Whakatu and Tomoana; subdivided lands near the borough have enabled the development of a proliiic fruitgrowing area. These important commercial factors have attracted population and have begun the cyele of progress. Census xeturns since the establishment i of the town district in 1884 have been as follow: — 1884 ........ bU7 1886 1,504 1891 2,303 1S96 3,190* 1901 3,650 ^1906 4.594 1911 6,286 .1916 ......... 7,909 1921 • 9,115 1926 10,148 1936 12,754 It is to be noted that at the last census the population in what is known as the urban area was 17,959.The figures are revealing enough in themselves. They are - more striking, thongh, in comp'arison, with the rate of growtli of other boroughs of • about the

same size. The following table is gleaned from the last (1936) census Teturns: 1926. 1936. Inc. Dec. Lower Hutt 7,962 15,953 7,991 — Hastings . . 10,148 12,754 2,606 — ISTew » Plymouth 14,022 16,584 2,562 — Petone ... 9,309 10,93§ 1,626 — Mt. Albert 17,516 19,715 2,199 — Timaru ... 15,507 17,428 1,921 — Hamilton . 14,018 16,127 2,109 — Onehunga . 10,120 11,056 936 — Gisborne .. 13,130 13,581 „ 451 — Mt .Eden . 18,037 18,489 452 — Napier ... 15,534 15,270 — 264 Percentage Increases. Lower Hutt ...... 100.3 Hastings 25.6 New Plymouth .... 18.2 Petone 17.4 Mt. Albert 12.5 Timaru 12.3 Hamilton 11.9 Onehunga 9-2 , Gisborne 3.4 Mt. Eden ..... 2.5 Percentage Decrease. Napier 1.7 The census taken in Hastings in June, 1931, under special provision by the Government, showed a total borough population of 12,713, including Maoris. That total was an increase of • 2565 over the borough population in 1926. ' ~ " * During the period from 1921 to 1926 the Tate -of incTease in the borough was 12.68, making the population 10,148 in 1926. From 1926 to June, 1931, the rate of increase was 25.27 per cent., making a total population of 12,713. The sudden increase that appears in the figures for 1926 and 1931 was evidently more apparent than real, and

was no doubt accounted for by special circumstances connected with the aftermath of the earthquake. The 1931 special census was taken in June, at which time there were large numbers of workers and their families living heTe temporarily while the work of reconstruction was going on. The first census in which Hastings is shown in comparison with Napier was taken in 1878, when Napier 's population was 5415, *and Hastings 's 391. It is interesting to note that in that year the population of the city of Auckland

was 13,758, or little more than 1000 greater than the present population in Hastings. . To have kept pace with the Dominion rate of natural increase, or the preponderance of births over deaths, during the ten-year period covered by the census, any community should have increased in population by 9 per cent. Hastings 's rate of 20.4 per cent. shows therefore that the increase of population derived from outside sources has been over 11 per cent. Taking -9 per cent. of natural increase as a basis, 1460 persons from without the borough have been added to the population since 1926, and 1146 have been derived from natural increase.