Hāwera


Hāwera is the second-largest centre in the Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island, with a population of. It is near the coast of the South Taranaki Bight. The origins of the town lie in a government military base that was established in 1866, and the town of Hāwera grew up around a blockhouse in the early 1870s.
Hāwera is 75 kilometres south of New Plymouth on State Highway 3 and 30 minutes' drive from Mount Taranaki. It is located on State Highway 45, known as Surf Highway 45 for its numerous surf beaches. State Highway 45 passes through Manaia, Opunake and Oakura en route to New Plymouth. Kaponga is a 20-minute drive to the north-west. The Marton–New Plymouth Line railway passes through Hāwera and has served the town since 1 August 1881, though it has been freight-only since the cancellation of the last railcar passenger service between Wellington and New Plymouth on 30 July 1977.

History

Pre-European history

The Māori-language name Hāwera means "burnt place"; it arose as a result of fighting between two local sub-tribes, which culminated in the setting ablaze of the sleeping whare of the tribe under attack. An older Māori name was Tau-patatē, referring to the patatē or seven-finger tree Schefflera digitata. Spelled "Hawera" for most of its European history, a macron was added to the official name by the New Zealand Geographic Board in June 2019.

European settlement

The town's name meaning "burnt place" became apt when the town suffered extensive blazes in 1884, 1888, and 1912.
For this reason a large water tower was built in the centre of town to increase water pressure; and this became one of Taranaki's best-known landmarks. After falling into disrepair the tower was closed to the public in 2001, but after an extensive restoration program it opened again in 2004.

Marae

There are four marae in the Hāwera area:
The Whareroa dairy factory, 4 km south-southwest of the township, is the largest dairy complex in the world in terms of output. The complex is owned by Fonterra, having been built by the former Kiwi Co-operative Dairies, whose original plant opened on that site in 1975.
During peak season, the complex employs 1,000 people and processes up to 14 million litres of milk per day. Electricity and heat used at Whareroa is generated by an on-site gas-fired power plant, with excess electricity fed into the national grid.
Hāwera is home to Tawhiti Museum, well known for its hand-crafted life-sized mannequins depicting scenes of local heritage and history, and its scale models of local Māori pā.

Education

Hawera Primary School was established in 1875. It developed into a District High School in 1901. The current high school opened as Hawera Technical High School in 1919, and moved to its present site in 1921. The intermediate school opened in 1961.
The Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki has a campus in Hāwera, established in 1990.
Hawera High School is a secondary school with a roll of approximately. Hawera Intermediate is an intermediate school with a roll of.
Hawera Primary School, Ramanui School, Tawhiti School and Turuturu School are contributing primary schools with rolls of,, and respectively. Hawera Primary celebrated its 125th jubilee in 2000. Ramanui school celebrated its 50th jubilee in 2003.
Hawera Christian School and St Joseph's School are state integrated full primary schools with rolls of and respectively.
Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Ngati Ruanui is a full primary school with a roll of. It is a Kura Kaupapa Māori school which teaches in the Māori language.
All these schools are coeducational.

Politics

Hāwera is in the South Taranaki district. After serving four terms as mayor of South Taranaki, Ross Dunlop did not stand in the 2019 election, and was replaced as mayor by District Councillor Phil Nixon.

Notable people