Mangakino
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Mangakino is a small town on the banks of the
Waikato River The Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand, running for through the North Island. It rises on the eastern slopes of Mount Ruapehu, joining the Tongariro River system and flowing through Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake. It th ...
in the
North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...
of New Zealand. It is located close to the
hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
power station at Lake Maraetai, southeast of
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...
. The town and its infrastructure are administered as the Mangakino Pouakani
ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
by the Taupō District Council.


History and culture

In 1896, (after 40 years of resistance) the British Crown acquired the Wairarapa Lakes from
Ngāti Kahungunu Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi (tribe) located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions. The Kahungunu iwi also comprises 86 hapū (sub-tribes ...
and in 1915, gave in return land in middle North Island, land known as part of the Pouakani Block. At that time the land where Mangakino lies today was described as native bush and pumice wastelands, barren, unoccupied and unfarmed. In 1946, as the Karapiro Dam neared completion, workers were to transfer to the next dam construction site – 'Maraetai I', near Mangakino. The Crown, under the Public Works Act, reacquired a portion of the unoccupied Pouakani Block alongside the Waikato River to build a "hydroelectric station" and a temporary township, ''Mangakino'', was established to house the hundreds of construction workers needed. The town was only ever meant to be there on a temporary basis until the completion of the proposed dams. The city planner
Ernst Plischke Ernst Anton Plischke (June 26, 1903 – 23 May, 1992) was an Austrian-New Zealand modernist architect, town planner and furniture designer whose work is well known throughout Europe and New Zealand. Early years Plischke was born in the town ...
who emigrated from Austria in 1939 developed a plan for the town centre of Mangakino, which was put into action in 1947–1948. His plan included a pedestrian area in the town centre free from through traffic. In 1952 the population exceeded 5,000. Mangakino also serviced the construction of
Ātiamuri Ātiamuri is a former hydro village in the central North Island of New Zealand. It lies alongside State Highway 1 about 27 km south of Tokoroa and 38 km north of Taupō. It is bordered by the Waikato River and surrounded by pine planta ...
and
Ohakuri Ohakuri is a rural community in the Taupō District and Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It features the Orakei Korako Geothermal Area, the artificial Lake Ohakuri and the Ohakuri Dam. Marae The area also includes Maroanui Mara ...
hydro schemes further upstream which were commissioned in 1959 and 1961 respectively. Mangakino and to a lesser extent
Whakamaru Whakamaru is a town in the central region of the North Island of New Zealand. The Māori words 'whaka' and 'maru' literally mean to give shelter to, or safeguard. The town is adjacent to a hydroelectric power station on the Waikato River, and ...
and Ātiamuri, owe their existence to the hydro schemes and the roads constructed gave access which allowed development of the land for farming in the 1960s. The decline for Mangakino occurred after the hydro dams were commissioned and over time communities such as Maraetai and Waipapa disappeared altogether. In 2001, the Mangakino Township Incorporation obtained approval through the
Māori Land Court The Māori Land Court () is the specialist court of record in New Zealand that hears matters relating to Māori land. Established in 1865 as the Native Land Court, its purpose was to translate customary communal landholdings into individual ti ...
to legally change the title of the majority of residential sections in Mangakino from Māori land to General title. They then put Mangakino’s 500+ leasehold sections on the market as a single purchase. In July 2002, the majority of the town’s sections were sold to MV Properties of Pukekohe. A stipulation of the tender was that residents would be given the first opportunity to purchase their perpetually leased sections. The land valuations that had been exceedingly low for decades, then skyrocketed. Some locals chose to freehold their homes immediately, empty sections without current leases were sold on the open market. Many residents continue to remain perpetual leaseholders.


Marae

Pouākani Marae and its meeting house, Tamatea Pokai Whenua, is a meeting place for Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa. The marae was first built in 1972 on land exchanged for Lake Wairarapa for Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa members and other Māori who were working on the dam. The marae was destroyed by arson in 2007 but reopened in 2012 after five years of reconstruction. In October 2020, the Government committed $4,525,105 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 Pouākani Marae and 9 other marae, creating 35 jobs. Miringa te Kakara Marae and Te Whetū Marama o Ngā Tau o Hinawa meeting house are a meeting place of
Ngāti Maniapoto Ngāti Maniapoto is an iwi (tribe) based in the Waikato-Waitomo region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the Tainui confederation, the members of which trace their whakapapa (genealogy) back to people who arrived in New Zealand on th ...
and Rereahu.


Demographics

Statistics New Zealand describes Mangakino as a rural settlement, which covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. The settlement is part of the larger Marotiri statistical area. Mangakino had a population of 822 in the
2023 New Zealand census The 2023 New Zealand census, which took place on 7 March 2023, was the thirty-fifth national census in New Zealand. It implemented measures that aimed to increase the Census' effectiveness in response to the issues faced with the 2018 census, i ...
, a decrease of 9 people (−1.1%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 81 people (10.9%) since the 2013 census. There were 417 males and 405 females in 369 dwellings. 2.2% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 50.7 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 132 people (16.1%) aged under 15 years, 108 (13.1%) aged 15 to 29, 366 (44.5%) aged 30 to 64, and 213 (25.9%) aged 65 or older. People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 56.9% European (
Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...
); 52.2%
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
; 3.6% Pasifika; 3.3% Asian; 0.7% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 2.6% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 97.1%, Māori by 13.5%, and other languages by 3.6%. No language could be spoken by 1.5% (e.g. too young to talk). The percentage of people born overseas was 12.4, compared with 28.8% nationally. Religious affiliations were 24.8%
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
, 0.7%
Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
, 8.8%
Māori religious beliefs Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
, 0.4%
Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
, 0.4%
New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...
, and 0.7% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 51.5%, and 12.0% of people did not answer the census question. Of those at least 15 years old, 51 (7.4%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 378 (54.8%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 264 (38.3%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $26,000, compared with $41,500 nationally. 21 people (3.0%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was 234 (33.9%) full-time, 87 (12.6%) part-time, and 33 (4.8%) unemployed.


Education

Mangakino School is a co-educational Year 1–8 state primary school, with a roll of as of It opened in 1946, and Mangakino District High School opened in 1948. The two were merged into Mangakino Area School in 1994. It became a full primary school at the beginning of 2019.


Notable residents

Prominent former citizens of Mangakino include: *
Willie Apiata Bill Henry "Willie" Apiata, VC (born 28 June 1972) is an honorary warrant officer class one in the New Zealand Army Reserve Forces. As a corporal in the New Zealand Special Air Service, he became the first recipient of the Victoria Cross for N ...
VC, who was born there in 1972 *
Mike Rann Michael David Rann (born 5 January 1953) is an Australian former politician who was the 44th premier of South Australia from 2002 to 2011. He was later Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2013 to 2014, and List of Australi ...
, Australian Ambassador and former Labor Premier of South Australia * Ron Rangi, former All Black *Sir
Basil Arthur Sir Basil Malcolm Arthur, 5th Baronet (18 September 1928 – 1 May 1985) served as Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 1984 to 1985. He was a member of the Labour Party. Biography Early life and career Arthur was born in T ...
, former Minister of Transport, Labour Government. * Hori Ahipene, actor * Annabel Langbein, celebrity cook and food writer, born there in 1958 * Jimmy Hunter, former New Zealand football international. New Zealand team captain in 1954 while playing for Mangakino United.


References


External links


Mangakino Official Visitor Information SiteMangakino, Lakeside VillageNZ Historic Places Trust Mangakino feature 2002
{{Authority control Populated places in Waikato Taupō District Pouākani Populated places on the Waikato River