Petone (Hutt Valley) Technical Institute

The Petone Technical College was an institution that operated from 1930-c.1936, and is one of several predecessors to the current technical institute WelTec (part of Te Pūkenga). It grew out of the Petone Technical School (1904-1930), which was the first institution to occupy the campus at Kensington Avenue, which was opened by then-Minister of Education, the Hon. G. Fowlds on 26 February 1909. Since that time the campus has grown to accommodate various skills based training such as automotive and computer engineering. The institution has also spread, opening campuses for construction trades, and a Creative Industries Campus in Wellington.

Petone Technical College became the Hutt Valley Technical College in the late 1930s, operating under this title until 2001 when it was merged with the Central Institute of Technology (CIT - Heretaunga) to form WelTec. This organisation, in turn, merged with Whitireia Institute (Porirua), in 2020 as part of the nationwide government-led vocational education reform project, Te Pūkenga.