Tūrangi is a small town on the west bank of the
Tongariro River, 50 kilometres south-west of
Taupō
Taupō (), sometimes written Taupo, is a town on the north-eastern shore of Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake, in the central North Island. It is the largest urban area of the Taupō District, and the second-largest urban area in the Wa ...
on the
North Island Volcanic Plateau
The North Island Volcanic Plateau (often called the Central Plateau and occasionally the Waimarino Plateau) is a volcanic plateau covering much of central North Island of New Zealand with volcanoes, lava plateaus, and crater lakes. It contains ...
of New Zealand. It was built to accommodate the workers associated with the
Tongariro hydro-electric power development project and their families. The town was designed to remain as a small servicing centre for the exotic forest plantations south of
Lake Taupō
Lake Taupō (also spelled Taupo; mi, Taupō-nui-a-Tia or ) is a large crater lake in New Zealand's North Island, located in the caldera of the Taupō Volcano. The lake is the namesake of the town of Taupō, which sits on a bay in the lake's no ...
and for tourists. It is well known for its
trout
Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salm ...
fishing and calls itself "The trout fishing capital of the world". The major
Māori ''
hapū
In Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or " clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief and normally op ...
'' (tribe) of the Tūrangi area is
Ngāti Tūrangitukua.
Geography
The Tūrangi area covers some 2273 km², and is located close to the edge of the
Kaimanawa Ranges and ten kilometres north of the stretch of
State Highway 1
The following highways are numbered 1.
For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads.
For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads.
For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads.
For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads.
For roads numbere ...
known as the ''Desert Road''.
The streets around Tūrangi in autumn are lined with "brilliant" foliage.
Built on the banks of the Tongariro River, Tūrangi and its surrounding countryside offers challenging hunting, fishing, mountain biking, hiking or leisurely bush walks, white water rafting, kayaking and sight seeing.
Population and demographics
Tūrangi covers
and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km
2. It is the second largest population centre in the Taupō District after
Taupō
Taupō (), sometimes written Taupo, is a town on the north-eastern shore of Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake, in the central North Island. It is the largest urban area of the Taupō District, and the second-largest urban area in the Wa ...
. Tūrangi's population peaked at 9,000 during the 1970s. After the end of the Project in the 1980s the population declined but has since remained stable due to the town's handy location for tourists.
![Turangi Sign](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Turangi_Sign.JPG)
Tūrangi had a population of 3,444 at the
2018 New Zealand census
Eighteen or 18 may refer to:
* 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19
* one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018
Film, television and entertainment
* ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...
, an increase of 492 people (16.7%) since the
2013 census, and an increase of 204 people (6.3%) since the
2006 census. There were 1,224 households, comprising 1,713 males and 1,728 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.99 males per female. The median age was 40.0 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 795 people (23.1%) aged under 15 years, 546 (15.9%) aged 15 to 29, 1,413 (41.0%) aged 30 to 64, and 693 (20.1%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 51.6% European/
Pākehā
Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non- Māori New Z ...
, 62.8%
Māori, 4.4%
Pacific peoples, 2.9%
Asian, and 1.4% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
The percentage of people born overseas was 10.7, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 41.1% had no religion, 29.2% were
Christian, 19.4% had
Māori religious beliefs, 0.3% were
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
, 0.1% were
Muslim, 0.6% were
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
and 1.9% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 279 (10.5%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 642 (24.2%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $22,900, compared with $31,800 nationally. 189 people (7.1%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,041 (39.3%) people were employed full-time, 444 (16.8%) were part-time, and 177 (6.7%) were unemployed.
Economy
Tourism and forestry are the mainstay of the community with the Department of Corrections two prisons, Genesis Energy, the Department of Conservation and farming being the main employers. The town is also home to a Centre for Sustainable Practice a
Awhi Farm providing education and enterprise training.
History
Māori settlement
The area was settled by the people of
Ngāti Tūwharetoa
Ngāti Tūwharetoa is an iwi descended from Ngātoro-i-rangi, the priest who navigated the Arawa canoe to New Zealand. The Tūwharetoa region extends from Te Awa o te Atua ( Tarawera River) at Matatā across the central plateau of the North Is ...
, descendants of those who had originally settled in the
Kawerau
Kawerau is a town in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated 100 km south-east of Tauranga and 58 km east of Rotorua. It is the seat of the Kawerau District Council, and the only town in Kawerau Distri ...
area. The
Ngāti Tūwharetoa invasion of Taupō occurred from about the 16th century with a war party under command of
Tūrangitukua who engaged in a number of battles against earlier inhabitants of the
Taupō
Taupō (), sometimes written Taupo, is a town on the north-eastern shore of Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake, in the central North Island. It is the largest urban area of the Taupō District, and the second-largest urban area in the Wa ...
,
Rotoaira and
Kaimanawa area. Following these battles a variety of settlements were established in the area with major pa established on the cliff overlooking the
Tongariro River and at
Waitahanui on the Tongariro Delta. Another important settlement was at
Tokaanu.
The people who eventually become known as
Ngāti Tūrangitukua associate mainly with
Waitahanui pā. From here they established a number of homesteads along both sides of the Tongariro River and its tributaries, including houses along the main Highway to
Taumarunui
Taumarunui is a small town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand. It is on an alluvial plain set within rugged terrain on the upper reaches of the Whanganui River, 65 km south of Te Kuiti and 55 km west of T ...
(now Hirangi Road). In 1910 construction of a wharepuni begun which eventually became the
Hirangi Marae complex.
Non-Māori settlement
The first Europeans reached the Tūrangi area in the 1830s,
however it was not until the 1850s that European settlement occurred with the construction of a Mission Station at
Pukawa.
In the 1880s and 1890s brown and rainbow trout were introduced into the lake and rivers of the area. A small fishing camp was established at Taupahi on the
Tongariro River bank (now Taupahi Road). European settlers used the camp for recreational fishing.
In the 1920s two
prison farm
A prison farm (also known as a penal farm) is a large correctional facility where penal labor convicts are forced to work on a farm legally and illegally (in the wide sense of a productive unit), usually for manual labor, largely in the open ai ...
s were opened at
Rangipo
Te Onetapu, commonly known as the Rangipo Desert, is a barren volcanic desert, desert-like environment in New Zealand, located in the Ruapehu District on the North Island Volcanic Plateau; to the east of the three active peaks of Mount Tongariro, ...
and
Hautu because of the isolated nature of the area. Also during this period the Morar family arrived from India, settling and establishing a store in Tokaanu.
By 1960, the population was about 500.
Tongariro power development
In the 1950s, in response to post
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
needs for rapid expansion of energy resources to meet the growing industrialisation in New Zealand, the
Tongariro Power Scheme
The Tongariro Power Scheme is a 360 MW hydroelectricity scheme in the central North Island of New Zealand. The scheme is currently operated by electricity generation company Genesis Energy.
The scheme takes water from tributaries of the Rangit ...
proposal was developed. The scheme would require a large construction force, and provide accommodation for that force for the duration of the project.
Four sites were considered for the township to accommodate the project workers:
Rotoaira,
Rangipo
Te Onetapu, commonly known as the Rangipo Desert, is a barren volcanic desert, desert-like environment in New Zealand, located in the Ruapehu District on the North Island Volcanic Plateau; to the east of the three active peaks of Mount Tongariro, ...
, Tūrangi West, and Tūrangi East. The tourism potential of
Lake Taupō
Lake Taupō (also spelled Taupo; mi, Taupō-nui-a-Tia or ) is a large crater lake in New Zealand's North Island, located in the caldera of the Taupō Volcano. The lake is the namesake of the town of Taupō, which sits on a bay in the lake's no ...
was appreciated, as well as the economic benefits that could be captured by creating a permanent township. Taking into account accessibility, climate, and adequacy of suitable land for development of a township, it was decided proceed with the Turangi West site.
Construction of the modern town began late in 1964.
The Government invested
$16 million
in the development and by May 1966, the population of Tūrangi had jumped from 500 to 2,500
people. By 1968 the population reached a high of 6,500.
A model town with curving streets and cul-de-sacs, uniform houses, pedestrian shopping centre, car parks and separation from the traffic on the main highway was created.
A publicity pamphlet published by the Ministry of Works in 1969 described Tūrangi at that time as a pleasant and attractive town of 5000 people which offered a ‘balanced community life’. The pamphlet enumerated the town's amenities, shops, and services, such as its mall, schools, sports facilities, library, maternity hospital, parks, and, not least, its wide, grassy verges and kerbing.
Following the completion of the project in the late 1970s,
the
Ministry of Works and other government departments began a process of selling assets
within the Turangi township.
Treaty settlement
In 1989 Ngāti Tūrangitukua registered with the
Waitangi Tribunal
The Waitangi Tribunal (Māori: ''Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi'') is a New Zealand permanent commission of inquiry established under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. It is charged with investigating and making recommendations on cla ...
(Wai 84). The claim was heard under urgency between April and October 1994, and the Tribunal's Report was released in September 1995.
The Tribunal found that the Crown had breached the principles of the
Treaty of Waitangi
The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the History of New Zealand, history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in ...
in a number of ways:
* The Crown acquired Māori land at Tūrangi West when Crown land at Tūrangi East was available:
* The Crown did not adequately consult with Ngāti Tūrangitukua regarding the construction of the township:
* The land taken for the township was in excess of the maximum area that the Crown promised it would take:
* The land the Crown undertook to lease for industrial purposes and return to the people after 10 to 12 years was compulsorily acquired and not returned:
*
Wahi tapu were destroyed or damaged in the construction of the township:
* Adequate compensation was not paid for land acquired:
* The Crown did not give full effect to conservation values:
* The Crown did not pay Ngāti Tūrangitukua the respect due its mana as tangata whenua:
* The provisions of the
Public Works Act 1928 and the
Tūrangi Township Act 1964, relied on by the Crown in entering and taking the claimants' land, are inconsistent with the basic guarantee in Article II of the Treaty of Waitangi that Māori may keep their land until such time as they wish to sell it.
* The Tribunal found that, as a result of the Crown's breaches of the principles of the Treaty, Ngāti Tūrangitukua lost much of its ancestral land. Its social and economic base was seriously eroded causing spiritual, cultural, and economic prejudice to Ngāti Tūrangitukua.
In July 1998, the Crown and Ngāti Tūrangitukua negotiated to achieve a full and final settlement of Ngāti Tūrangitukua's Treaty claims and to remove the continuing sense of grievance.
The Crown and Ngāti Tūrangitukua entered into a deed of settlement on 26 September 1998,
resulting in a full and final settlement of Ngāti Tūrangitukua's Treaty claims relating to the development and construction of the Tūrangi Township and its after effects.
In 1999 the
Ngāti Tūrangitukua Claims Settlement Act 1999 was passed to:
:(a) To record the apology given by the Crown to Ngāti Tūrangitukua in the deed of settlement executed on 26 September 1998 by the Minister in Charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, the
Right Honourable Sir Douglas Arthur Montrose Graham, for the Crown, and Ngāti Tūrangitukua; and
:(b) To give effect to certain provisions of that deed of settlement, being a deed that settles the Ngāti Tūrangitukua claims.
Marae
The local Hīrangi Marae and Tūwharetoa i te Aupōuri meeting house, located in the Tūrangi township, is a meeting place
Ngāti Tūrangitukua and
Ngāti Tūwharetoa
Ngāti Tūwharetoa is an iwi descended from Ngātoro-i-rangi, the priest who navigated the Arawa canoe to New Zealand. The Tūwharetoa region extends from Te Awa o te Atua ( Tarawera River) at Matatā across the central plateau of the North Is ...
.
Rongomai Marae and meeting house, located east of the township, is a meeting place of the
Ngāti Tūwharetoa
Ngāti Tūwharetoa is an iwi descended from Ngātoro-i-rangi, the priest who navigated the Arawa canoe to New Zealand. The Tūwharetoa region extends from Te Awa o te Atua ( Tarawera River) at Matatā across the central plateau of the North Is ...
hapū
In Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or " clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief and normally op ...
of
Ngāti Rongomai.
Korohē Marae Rereao meeting house, located further east, is a meeting place of the
Ngāti Tūwharetoa
Ngāti Tūwharetoa is an iwi descended from Ngātoro-i-rangi, the priest who navigated the Arawa canoe to New Zealand. The Tūwharetoa region extends from Te Awa o te Atua ( Tarawera River) at Matatā across the central plateau of the North Is ...
hapū of
Ngāti Hine
Ngāti Hine is an iwi with a rohe in Northland, New Zealand. It is part of the wider Ngāpuhi iwi.
Its rohe (tribal area) covers the areas of Waiomio, Kawakawa, Taumarere, Moerewa, Ruapekapeka, Motatau, Waimahae, Towai, Akeramaa, Pakara ...
.
In October 2020, the Government committed $1,338,668 from the
Provincial Growth Fund
Shane Geoffrey Jones (born 3 September 1959) is a New Zealand politician. He served as a New Zealand First list MP from 2017 to 2020 and was previously a Labour list MP from 2005 to 2014.
Jones was a cabinet minister in the Fifth Labour Gove ...
to upgrade the marae and 4 other Ngāti Tūwharetoa marae, creating 19 jobs.
Government
![Tongariro River (2)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Tongariro_River_%282%29.JPG)
Tūrangi is located in the administrative areas of the
Taupō District Council
Taupō District Council is a territorial authority that administers the Taupō District in the Central North Island of New Zealand. The district stretches from the small town of Mangakino in the northwest to the Tongariro National Park in the ...
and three of the
council's eleven representatives are elected directly from a
Tūrangi Tongariro ward.
Tūrangi is administered
by the
Turangi/Tongariro Community Board under delegated powers from the Taupō District Council. This ensures that all locally important decisions are made by local residents.
The role of the Tūrangi Tongariro Community Boards is to:
* Represent and act as an advocate for, the interests of its communities.
* Consider and report on all matters referred to it by Council, or any matter of interest to the community board.
* Maintain an overview of services provided by Council within the community.
* Prepare an annual submission to Council on expenditure within the community.
* Communicate with community organisations and special interest groups within the community.
The Taupō District is itself part of the
Waikato
Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsul ...
region, controlled administratively by the
Environment Waikato.
Tūrangi is part of the
Taupō
Taupō (), sometimes written Taupo, is a town on the north-eastern shore of Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake, in the central North Island. It is the largest urban area of the Taupō District, and the second-largest urban area in the Wa ...
electorate
Electorate may refer to:
* The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate''
* The dominion of a Prince-elector
The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, ...
in New Zealand's general elections. The electorate is currently represented in the
New Zealand Parliament
The New Zealand Parliament ( mi, Pāremata Aotearoa) is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the King of New Zealand (King-in-Parliament) and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by hi ...
by
Louise Upston
Louise Claire Upston (née McGill, born 14 March 1971) is a New Zealand politician of the National Party. She has represented the Taupō electorate in the House of Representatives since the . In the Fifth National Government, led by Prime Mini ...
(
National
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
).
Education
There are three schools in the Tūrangi area. Within the Tūrangi township are two schools, both
area school
In New Zealand and Australia, an area school is a school that takes children from kindergarten age (usually 4 or 5 years old) all the way through to tertiary entrance exams (at about age 18). They tend to be built in small towns where the cost of ...
s which cater for Year 1 to 13 students. The schools opened in February 2004, following the Tūrangi Education Network Review that resulted in the closure
of four schools: Hirangi Primary, Turangi Primary, Tongariro High and Tauranga-Taupo Primary Schools were closed. Previously Pihanga Primary existed, but was closed in the mid 1980s.
A single Year 1 – 15 composite state area school, Tongariro School, was established in their place.
with a roll of as of
A
Kura Kaupapa Māori
Kura Kaupapa Māori are Māori-language immersion schools () in New Zealand where the philosophy and practice reflect Māori cultural values with the aim of revitalising Māori language, knowledge and culture. Kura kaupapa Māori are establish ...
for Year 1 – 13 students, Te Kura o Hirangi, was established for those who wish to receive their education in
te reo Māori.
with a roll of .
There is also a rural school at
Kuratau
Kuratau is a small village north of Pukawa, on the western side of New Zealand's Lake Taupō.
The Kuratau Power Station was built on the Kuratau River near the town and completed in 1962.
The local Poukura Marae and Parekawa meeting house ...
, approximately 30 km west of Tūrangi on SH 41 to
Taumarunui
Taumarunui is a small town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand. It is on an alluvial plain set within rugged terrain on the upper reaches of the Whanganui River, 65 km south of Te Kuiti and 55 km west of T ...
.
Sister city
*
Kitashiobara,
Japan
References
The District Council's siteTūrangi Web SiteNgati Turangitukua Deed of Settlement (pdf) NZ Gazette - Schools Closure Notice->
External links
Tūrangi Official Visitor Information siteTūrangi and Lake Taupō websiteTūrangi Kiwi Tourism
Awhi Farm Centre for Sustainable Practice
{{Taupō District
Populated places in Waikato
Taupō District
Ngāti Tūrangitukua