Himatangi is a small settlement in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located at the junction of State Highways 1 and 56, 25 kilometres west of

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

, and seven kilometres east of the coastal settlement of Himatangi Beach. The area has two

marae A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term a ...

: * Motuiti Marae and its Rakau or Paewai meeting house is affiliated with the Rangitāne

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 Mairehau and the

Ngāti Raukawa Ngāti Raukawa is a Māori iwi with traditional bases in the Waikato, Taupo and Manawatu/Horowhenua regions of New Zealand. In 2006, 29,418 Māori registered their affiliation with Ngāti Raukawa. History Early history Ngāti Raukawa rec ...

hapū of Ngāti Rākau. * Paranui Marae and its Turanga meeting house is affiliated with the

hapū of

Ngāti Te Au Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

and Ngāti Tūranga. About 50 Māori land blocks are located between Himatangi and Foxton to the south.

History

The area was largely undeveloped with rough terrain in 1942, according to a photograph held in the National Library of New Zealand. Himatangi was once the location of the junction between the

New Zealand Railways Department The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR (New Zealand Government Railways) and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway ...

Foxton Branch The Foxton Branch was a railway line in New Zealand. It began life as a tramway, reopened as a railway on 27 April 1876, and operated until 18 July 1959. At Himatangi there was a junction with the Sanson Tramway, a line operated by the Manawa ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

and the Manawatu County Council's

Sanson Tramway The Sanson Tramway in the Manawatu region of New Zealand operated from 1885 until 1945. Owned by the Manawatu County Council, it connected with the national railway network at Himatangi on the Foxton Branch. It was never part of the national ...

. Both lines are now closed; use of the Tramway ceased in 1945, followed by the Branch in 1959. In 2005, a study found agricultural pesticides were being rapidly leached into the sandy soil at Himatangi. In 2009, planning approval was granted for the building of a piggery after the landowner agreed to reduce from what he originally proposed. In 2014, the community was used as a trial community for the Horizons Regional Council's emergency readiness plan. The landowner and New Zealand Pork Board had been considering legal action through the

Environment Court The Environment Court of New Zealand ( mi, Te Kōti Taiao o Aotearoa) is a specialist court for plans, resource consents and environmental issues. It mainly deals with issues arising under the Resource Management Act, meaning that it covers a ...

. In 2019 a regional bus service between Levin and

was introduced, providing a weekly return service between Himatangi and Foxton.

Demographics

The statistical area of Oroua Downs, which covers , also includes Himatangi Beach and

Tangimoana Tangimoana is a community in the Manawatū-Whanganui Region of the North Island of New Zealand. It had a population of 303 permanent residents in 2018. It is located 15 kilometres southwest of Bulls, and 30 kilometres west of Palmerston North. Th ...

. It had a population of 1,254 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 210 people (20.1%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 87 people (7.5%) since the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. There were 540 households. There were 642 males and 612 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.05 males per female. The median age was 48 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 207 people (16.5%) aged under 15 years, 192 (15.3%) aged 15 to 29, 606 (48.3%) aged 30 to 64, and 249 (19.9%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 88.8% European/Pākehā, 16.0% Māori, 1.9% Pacific peoples, 2.9% Asian, and 2.2% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 10.0%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 57.7% had no religion, 26.8% were Christian, 0.2% were Hindu and 3.6% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 120 (11.5%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 327 (31.2%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $26,700, compared with $31,800 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 477 (45.6%) people were employed full-time, 147 (14.0%) were part-time, and 42 (4.0%) were unemployed.

Education

Oroua Downs School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of as of .

References

{{Manawatu District Manawatu District Populated places in Manawatū-Whanganui