Bunnythorpe is a village in the Manawatu-Wanganui region of New Zealand's North Island, 10 km north of the region's major city,Palmerston North. Dairy farms predominate the surrounding area but the community facilities include Bunnythorpe School, with a roll of about 80 pupils as of 2010 as well as a Rugby Football Club, Country Club and several manufacturing plants.
National grid operator Transpower has a large electrical substation near the village. It is the major switching point for high voltage lines in the lower central North Island, and also is responsible for local supply to the northern Palmerston North and Manawatu areas.
History
Bunnythorpe takes its name from Henry Bunny, Secretary-Treasurer of the Wellington Provincial Council, which functioned from 1853 to 1876.
Bunnythorpe gave birth to the Glaxo company and its products. In 1904 Joseph Nathan and Sons founded a baby-food manufacturer which processed local milk into a baby food named Glaxo (sold in the 1930s under the slogan Glaxo builds bonny babies). As of 2010, still visible on the main street of Bunnythorpe is the factory for drying and processing cows' milk into powder, with the original Glaxo logo clearly visible, but nothing to indicate the birthplace of a major multinational. Products were made in Bunnythorpe until 1973. As of 2010 the building is commercially owned.
The Glaxo company became a major pharmaceutical manufacturer and after a series of mergers it became part of the United Kingdom's GlaxoSmithKline in 2000. In 1979 the Glaxo factory was transformed into the Pantha BMX manufacturing plant, which was the first BMX plant in New Zealand and also the home of the first BMX track.