Paroa is a rural locality situated near
Whakatāne in the
Bay of Plenty
The Bay of Plenty () is a large bight (geography), bight along the northern coast of New Zealand's North Island. It stretches from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaway in the east. Called ''Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi'' (the Ocean ...
region of New Zealand. The small, predominantly
Māori community is located along
State Highway 30, and contains a school and a sports rugby club.
The New Zealand
Ministry for Culture and Heritage
The Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH; ) is the department of the New Zealand Government responsible for supporting the Creative New Zealand, arts, Culture of New Zealand, culture, New Zealand Historic Places Trust, built heritage, Sport Ne ...
gives a translation of "broad
fortified village" for ''Pāroa''.
Marae
Puawairua Marae, located in Paroa, is a traditional meeting ground for the
Ngāti Awa hapū
In Māori language, 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 ...
of
Ngāti Hikakino.
In October 2020, the Government committed $4,871,246 from the
Provincial Growth Fund
Shane Geoffrey Jones (born 3 September 1959) is a New Zealand politician and a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the New Zealand First party.
Jones' political career began 2005 New Zealand general election, in 2005 as a l ...
to upgrade Puawairua Marae and 11 other Ngāti Awa marae, creating 23 jobs.
Education
Te Kura o Te Paroa is a co-educational state
Māori language immersion primary school for Year 1 to 8 students,
with a roll of as of .
References
Whakatāne District
Populated places in the Bay of Plenty Region
{{BayofPlenty-geo-stub