09/09/2026
Next suburb, Broadmeadows.
You'd think with the name "Broadmeadows" there'd be flat, open fields. Nope, Broadmeadows is one of Wellington's steepest and highest suburbs. Located on the western hills between Johnsonville and Khandallah, it was developed on challenging terrain with some streets sitting more than 300 metres above sea level.
The history runs from ancient Māori transit routes and resource gathering to 19th-century deforestation and late 20th century suburbia.
The steep slopes did not host major permanent pā (settlements) but the land is deeply integrated into the history of Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington). Broadmeadows sits on the ridges above the Ngauranga Gorge. The gorge and its river, the Waitohi Stream, formed a vital overland route for Māori travelling between the harbour and the Porirua basin. Originally the area was inhabited by Ngāi Tara, then under the mana of Te Āti Awa.
Before European settlement, the hills encompassing Broadmeadows and Mount Kaukau were covered in a dense broadleaf podocarp forest. The area functioned as a resource zone where Māori gathered timber, harvested rongoā (medicinal plants), and hunted native birds.
In the mid-to-late 1800s, pioneer loggers stripped the hills of tōtara, rimu, and mataī to feed Wellington's growing timber demands. The cleared land was subsequently converted into steep farms.
The suburb itself is a relatively modern creation. As Wellington's population expanded in the late 20th century, developers pushed roads up the steep terrain.
Today, it remains a small, quiet, low-density neighbourhood bordered by the city's green belt.
Broadmeadows has become the backdrop for a major conservation milestone. Thanks to years of intensive pest trapping by local volunteers, iwi, and landowners under the Capital Kiwi Project, wild kiwi have recently been captured on security cameras exploring Broadmeadows backyards near the Skyline track. This marks the first time the taonga (treasured) birds have roamed these specific hills in roughly 150 years!
