Editing Upper Hutt (section)

=== Tyre factory ===
In 1945, [[Dunlop Tyres|Dunlop]] was granted a government licence to manufacture tyres. A site in Upper Hutt was purchased for a factory,<ref>{{Cite news |date=23 June 1945 |title=Dunlop factory planned for Upper Hutt |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19450623.2.65 |work=[[The Press]] |volume=LXXXI |issue=24600}}</ref> and the first Dunlop tyres were produced on 11 March 1949.<ref>{{Cite news |date=12 March 1949 |title=First tyre produced: New factory at Upper Hutt |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19490312.2.131 |work=[[Otago Daily Times]] |page=9 |via=PapersPast}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Dunlop/South Pacific Tyres factory; people and events |url=https://uhcl.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/16015 |access-date=2024-09-17 |website= |publisher=Upper Hutt City Library |language=en}}</ref> South Pacific Tyres was subsequently formed as a joint venture between Pacific Dunlop and the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.<ref>{{Cite news |date=16 June 1989 |title=Scope for tyre price cuts - firm |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19890616.2.155.3 |work=[[The Press]] |via=Papers Past}}</ref> In November 1987, the company laid off around 120 of its 500 workers  citing deregulation of the tyre industry that had led to reductions in the tariffs imposed on imported tyres.<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 November 1987 |title=Tyre factory to lay off 120 staff |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19871111.2.60 |work=[[The Press]] |page=8 |via=Papers Past}}</ref> In June 2008, the company announced that the plant would be closing within 8 months.<ref>{{Cite web |date=30 June 2006 |title=Tyre factory to close with loss of 430 jobs |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/tyre-factory-to-close-with-loss-of-430-jobs/RQKJ6HBKXWOL3D33TI2RCX4D7E/ |access-date=17 September 2024 |website=[[New Zealand Herald]] |language=en-NZ}}</ref>