Horotiu

Horotiu
Township
Horotiu
Coordinates: 37°41′55″S 175°11′44″E / 37.69861°S 175.19556°E / -37.69861; 175.19556Coordinates: 37°41′55″S 175°11′44″E / 37.69861°S 175.19556°E / -37.69861; 175.19556
Country	New Zealand
Region	Waikato Region
District	Waikato District
Elevation	25 m (82 ft)
Population (2013 census)
• Territorial	771
Time zone	NZST (UTC+12)
• Summer (DST)	NZDT (UTC+13)

Horotiu is a small township on the west bank of the Waikato River in the Waikato District of New Zealand. It is on the Waikato Plains 13 km (8.1 mi) north of Hamilton and 5 km (3.1 mi) south of Ngāruawāhia. From early in the 20th century it developed around a freezing works and other industries.

The North Island Main Trunk railway runs through the town, as did State Highway 1 until opening of part of the Waikato Expressway in 2013. An hourly bus runs between Huntly and Hamilton.^[1]

remnant of Grade II bridge demolished 2001

Name

The name, Horotiu, seems to have been used interchangeably with Waikato River, or Pukete. Its first use for the current township seems to occur in 1864, shortly after the invasion of the Waikato.^[2] Until then, Horotiu was the name of the upper Waikato river, where its current became faster^[3] and of Horotiu pā, on its banks, near Cambridge.^[4] An 1858 map only shows the name as Horotiu Plains in the area near the pā.^[5] The name, Horotiu, for the Waikato River,^[6] upstream from Ngāruawāhia,^[7] seems to have remained in use until the 1920s,^[8] though the 1859 map named it as Waikato.^[5]

Horotiu and Pukete parishes existed from at least 1867,^[9] but, until the 1900s, Horotiu was often referred to as Pukete, a name now used for the Hamilton suburb 6 km (3.7 mi) upstream. The railway station changed its name on 23 June 1907,^[10] when the proposed post office was referred to as Horotiu (Pukete),^[11] and the name of the school was changed from Pukete to Horotiu in 1911.^[12] The post office closed in 1988.^[13]

Demographics

Horotiu area unit had the census figures shown in the table below.^[14] Growth to 1,390 is planned by 2040.^[15] In the 2013 census, 24.5% of the population were Māori, 6.8% spoke te reo Māori, 10.2% were born overseas, 77.1% were owner-occupiers, 12.4% held a degree, unemployment was 5.3%, 77.4% had Internet access and 560 worked in factories.^[16]

Geology

1:250,000

Taupo Pumice Alluvium (Q1a) was deposited on the Hinuera Formation (Q2a) until about 15,000 years ago. Some of the alluvium has been dug for sand and gravel. The Hinuera formation is also sand and gravel, interbedded with silt and some peat.^[17] In the last 14,000 years the Waikato River has cut into these formations, forming a low terrace and then cutting deeper.^[18]

The low ridge between the Waikato and Waipa rivers is made of Walton Subgroup (eQa – pumiceous fine-grained sand and silt with interbedded peat, pumiceous gravelly sand, diatomaceous mud, and non-welded ignimbrite and tephra), covered in places by Piako Subgroup (1Qa – Late Pleistocene, mainly locally derived, stream and coastal alluvium, and minor fans, with up to 20 m (66 ft) of unconsolidated to very soft, thinly to thickly bedded, yellow-grey to orange-brown, pumiceous mud, silt, sandy mud and gravel, with muddy peat in some valleys).^[18]

History

AFFCO opening year

Ngāti Hauā had a pā named Horotiu near Cambridge^[19] and they also had land in this area.^[20] The 1858 census put the Ngāti Hauā population at 1,399.^[21] By then they had seeded this area with European grasses.^[2] Their land was confiscated in 1864.^[6]

Education

Horotiu Playcentre and Horotiu Primary School provide local education.^[22] In 2016 Horotiu had years 1–8, with a roll of 346.^[23] The 2012 report on the school said, "The vast majority of students are achieving at or above National Standards" and noted it was in a Decile 3 area.^[24] The school dates back to 1879,^[25] following a government grant of the land in 1878.^[26]

Freezing works and dairy

Auckland Farmers Cooperative (later Allied Farmers – AFFCO)^[27] bought 80 acres (32 ha) in 1914^[27] and a riverside gravel pit in 1915.^[28] Horotiu Freezing Works opened on 17 January 1916.^[29] Horotiu still has AFFCO’s head office^[30] and its largest beef processing plant.^[31] The parent company, Talley's, plan to open a Waikato Dairy Co dried milk plant on the same site in 2018.^[32] The area has long been associated with dairying, a casein factory having opened in 1919.^[33] AFFCO has long been involved with strikes^[34] and pollution.^[35][36]

Business park

2005 Horotiu landfill

Northgate business park, between Horotiu and Te Rapa, covers 109 ha (270 acres)^[22] and opened in 2013.^[37] Ports of Auckland have 33ha in Northgate for a freight hub.^[38]

Gravel, landfill and power station

1921 bridge in 1963

2001 bridge in 2014

By 1904 the area was recognised as a source of gravel^[39] and pits were established by 1907,^[40] especially on the east bank,^[41] and continue to produce aggregates and take in clean fill.^[42] Other landfilling ended in 2006, when a 1999 consent^[17] for a Hamilton City Council landfill expired. It had been started in October 1985 on a 95 ha (230 acres) sand pit (worked from about 1970 to 2000) and was replaced by Hampton Downs. It was closed earlier than originally planned, due to leachate problems.^[43] The 1999 consent required use of a vacuum to extract gas from the bores and leachate.^[17] Therefore, from November 2004 until 2012, when the emissions declined, methane from the landfill ran a 900kWe Waukesha VHP5904LTD Enginator gas engine generator set.^[44]

Cycleway

The Horotiu-Pukete section of Te Awa River Ride opened in 2013 and extension to Ngāruawāhia is planned in 2017.^[45]

Bridges

Near Horotiu the Waikato is bridged by 2 roads and Te Awa cycleway.

The next bridge upstream is Pukete sewer bridge and downstream, Ngāruawāhia road bridge.

1921 Horotiu Bridge Rd

Construction started about 1920 of a reinforced concrete bridge, with a 25 ft (7.6 m) high arch, a main span of 126 ft (38 m), plus six approach spans of 24 ft (7.3 m), carrying a 16 ft (4.9 m) wide road. It was designed by Toogood and Jones, of Auckland, for £7900, paid by Waikato and Waipa County Councils,^[46] though government contributed £1,728.^[47][48] The bridge was completed in 1921,^[49] though the approaches took longer.^[50]

2001 Horotiu Bridge Rd

The Category II listed bridge was deemed unsafe and replaced in 2001.^[51]

2013 Te Rehu O Waikato Bridge in 2014

2013 Waikato Expressway bridge

The need for the 2001 bridge was reduced by the 142 m (466 ft) long 2013 Waikato Expressway Te Rehu O Waikato Bridge, built 400 m (1,300 ft) upstream. As part of the $200m road section,^[52] it used 800 tonnes of steel, including 56 tonne girders, resting on 4 x 'V'-shaped piers,^[53] which allowed the main span to be reduced about 20m to 55 m (180 ft).^[54] Concrete pre-cast panels were added to them to carry the concrete deck and barriers.^[53]

2017 cycleway

The Te Awa cycle bridge is planned to be a $1.3m cable network arch bridge,^[55] 140m long, 2.5m wide and open in 2017.^[56]

Te Awa cycle trail bridge being prepared for lifting into position July 2017, as seen from Hakarimata Range. Te Rehu O Waikato and Horotiu bridges in background.

See also

• Horotiu Railway Station

References

External links

• Horotiu on 1:50,000 map
• Horotiu on Google Street View
• Horotiu school
• Waikato River swimming water quality and LAWA water quality
• National Library aerial photos 1930 (works), 1955 (bridge, town, station, works), 1959 (town, station and works), 1963 (bridge, town, works), 1979 (works)