Seaview is a centre for bulk liquid fuel storage for the lower half of the North Island, and a site for heavy industry.

It is also a base for support services for trucks and transportation businesses and the location of the wastewater treatment plant for drainage from the Hutt Valley.

Ngāti Ira people lived at a pā called Ohiti or Owhiti which was later taken over by Te Āti Awa.

[4] Te Āti Awa had another settlement, Waiwhetū Pā, which was on a sandy, windswept spit at the eastern side of the mouth of the Waiwhetu Stream where it joined the Hutt River.

The population decreased in the 1840s after a local chief was murdered by Māori from the Wairarapa, and by 1850 only 48 people lived at Waiwhetū Pā.

[13] However, disaster struck when the 1855 Wairarapa earthquake occurred, changing the river into the low-lying stream it is today, and making the area a desolate strip of swampland.

[18] Between 1936 and 1939, an additional 94 acres of land was reclaimed from swamp and estuary at the mouth of the Hutt River,[21] and more manufacturing industries started moving into the area.

The New Zealand government agreed to buy the vehicles and spare parts from the United States, with a view to on-selling them to New Zealand car assemblers, but the car assemblers were not interested because of the state of the vehicles, the difficulty of getting spare parts and their specialised military nature.

As of 2024, Seaview is a centre for bulk liquid fuel storage and heavy industry, and is also a base for support services for trucks and transportation businesses.

[28] In 1936, the Ford Motor Company built a large, modern vehicle assembly plant on a 13 acre site in Seaview Road.

Imported car parts were welded together, finished, upholstery was made and fitted and the whole vehicle assembled in the 3.5 acre building.

The largest neon sign in the southern hemisphere was mounted on the roof, facing Seaview Road and out over the harbour.

[30] Over the years the factory produced various models of car including the Prefect, Anglia, Cortina, Zephyr and Zodiac, and Fordson tractors.

[42] Lowry Bay Yacht Club is based at the marina, which has 360 berths for vessels of up to 26 m long and storage for 250 trailer boats.

[46][47] In 2001, despite 20 years having passed since the stopping of trade waste discharges from industries in the area, the river was still highly polluted with toxic sediments.

[48] Mud in the stream bed down to a depth of 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) was heavily contaminated with lead, zinc, DDT and hydrocarbons including diesel, oil and petrol.

In 2003, it was estimated that there was 30,000 cubic metres (1,100,000 cu ft) of heavily contaminated sediment in a short section of the stream between Seaview Road and the rail bridge just north of Hutt Park Holiday Village.

[47][49] A major clean-up project commenced in 2009 to remove 12,000 cubic metres (420,000 cu ft) of contaminated mud from the lower reaches of the stream.