Hawera

Hawera

Hawera from the Water Tower
Hawera
Coordinates: 39°35′36″S 174°16′42″E / 39.59333°S 174.27833°E
Country New Zealand
Region Taranaki
District South Taranaki District
Government
  Mayor Ross Dunlop
Population (June 2014 estimate)
  Total 11,600
The water tower at Hawera

Hawera is the second-largest town in the Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island, with a population of 11,600.[1] It is near the coast of the South Taranaki Bight.

Description

Hawera is 75 kilometres south of New Plymouth on State Highway 3 and 20 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 Hawera 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.

Hawera is Māori for burnt place, from fighting between two local sub-tribes, which culminated in the setting ablaze of the sleeping whare (house) of the tribe under attack.[2] The name became apt when the town suffered extensive blazes in 1884, 1888, and 1912.[3] 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 (appearing, for example, on the cover of the 1974 telephone directory). After falling into disrepair the tower was closed to the public in 2001, but after an extensive restoration program it opened again in 2004.

Hawera is the site of the largest dairy factory complex in the world, "Whareroa",[4] which has its own gas-fired power plant.[5] The complex is owned by Fonterra, having been built by the former Kiwi Co-operative Dairies Limited (whose original plant opened on that site in 1975).

Hawera is also home to Tawhiti Museum,[6] well known for its hand-crafted life-sized wax sculptures depicting scenes of local heritage and history, and its scale models of local Maori pa.[7]

Coordinates: 39°35′S 174°17′E / 39.583°S 174.283°E

Born in Hawera

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.[8] The intermediate school opened in 1961.[9]

The Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki has a campus in Hawera,[10] established in 1990.[11]

Hawera High School is a secondary (years 9-13) school with a roll of 782.[12] Hawera Intermediate is an intermediate (years 7-8) school with a roll of 352.[13] Both have a decile rating of 5.

Hawera Primary School, Ramanui School, Tawhiti School and Turuturu School are contributing primary (years 1-6) schools with rolls of 202,[14] 80,[15] 194,[16] and 281,[17] respectively. Hawera Primary and Tawhiti have decile ratings of 4. Ramanui has a decile rating of 2, and Turuturu School has a decile of 6. Hawera Primary celebrated its 125th jubilee in 2000.[18] Ramanui school celebrated its 50th jubilee in 2003.[19]

Belmont Christian Academy and St Joseph's School are state integrated full primary (years 1-8) schools with decile ratings of 6 and rolls of 35[20] and 250[21] respectively.

Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Ngati Ruanui is a full primary (years 1-8) school with a decile rating of 1 and a roll of 61.[22] It is a Kura Kaupapa Māori school which teaches in the Māori language.

All these schools are coeducational.

References

  1. "Subnational Population Estimates: At 30 June 2014 (provisional)". Statistics New Zealand. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2014. Also "Infoshare; Group: Population Estimates - DPE; Table: Estimated Resident Population for Urban Areas, at 30 June (1996+) (Annual-Jun)". Statistics New Zealand. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  2. Because of differing oral traditions, translations such as "breath of fire" and "burning plains" have also been offered. See "'HAWERA' From An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A.H. McLintock, originally published in 1966. Te Ara - The Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, updated 18 September 2007". Retrieved 2008-01-01.
  3. For a near-contemporary account of the damage these fires caused, see D. Nimmo Scott (c. 1895), Views of Hawera: before and after the fire, Hawera, [N.Z.]: D. Nimmo Scott; a more recent one is Arthur Fryer; Nigel Ogle (ill.) (2003), Hawera's on fire, Hawera, [N.Z.]: Hawera Historical Society. For details of Hawera's Fire Brigade, see Trevor N. Moore (1982), Hawera Fire Brigade, 1882-1982: a centennial history, Hawera, [N.Z.]: The Brigade
  4. "Largest dairy factory in the world", Te Ara
  5. The Whareroa Co-generation plant, www.toddenergy.co.nz
  6. For an account of the Museum by the man who built it, see Nigel Ogle (199–?), Nigel Ogle's Tawhiti Museum, Hawera, [N.Z.]: The Museum Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. Perhaps Hawera's most famous example of a nineteenth-century Maori pa is the Turuturu-Mokai complex, on Turuturu Road. See John Houston (1958), Turuturu-Mokai: historic reserve near Hawera: an historical survey, Hawera, [N.Z.]: Hawera Star Print. For information upon a modern pa, see Gloria Kerehoma (1984), Commemorative centennial [i.e. centennial] booklet, 1884-1984, Hawera, [N.Z.]: Centennial Committee; Shore Print on Aotearoa Pa.
  8. Fryer, Arthur (1994), The Beginnings of Hawera High School, Hawera High School Jubilee Magazine
  9. School Info, Hawera Intermediate
  10. Campus Maps, Western Institute of Technology
  11. WITT History, Western Institute of Technology
  12. Te Kete Ipurangi - Hawera High School, Ministry of Education
  13. Te Kete Ipurangi - Hawera Intermediate, Ministry of Education
  14. Te Kete Ipurangi - Hawera Primary School, Ministry of Education
  15. Te Kete Ipurangi - Ramanui School, Ministry of Education
  16. Te Kete Ipurangi - Tawhiti School, Ministry of Education
  17. Te Kete Ipurangi - Turuturu School, Ministry of Education
  18. "Jubilees & reunions - Hawera Primary School", Education Gazette New Zealand 78 (10), 14 June 1999
  19. "Ramanui Primary School 50th Jubilee", Education Gazette New Zealand 82 (5), 24 March 2003
  20. Te Kete Ipurangi - Belmont Christian Academy, Ministry of Education
  21. Te Kete Ipurangi - St Joseph's School, Hawera, Ministry of Education
  22. Te Kete Ipurangi - Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Ngati Ruanui, Ministry of Education

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hawera.