Meremere is a small town in the northern

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 Peninsula, t ...

region in the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-larges ...

of New Zealand. It is located on the east bank 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 ...

, 50 kilometres north of Hamilton and 63 km south of

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

. Meremere was the site of fighting in 1863 during the

New Zealand Wars The New Zealand Wars took place from 1845 to 1872 between the New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori on one side and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. They were previously commonly referred to as the Land Wars or the ...

, at which time the settlement (then known as Mere Mere) was the site of a Māori defensive outpost. For a number of years a coal-fired power station operated in Meremere, and much of the workforce lived in the town. The station was the first government-built large scale thermal power station, opening in 1958 and was a notable landmark for travellers along

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 numbered S ...

, which runs past the town. An aerial ropeway carried buckets of coal to the station from the Maramarua coal mine. The station closed in 1991 and there were plans during the 1990s to convert the station into a waste to energy plant, using waste from Auckland. These plans, known as the Olivine project, did not eventuate. The site was used as a recycling centre from 2007 to at least 2017.

Demographics

Statistics New Zealand describes Meremere as a rural settlement, which covers . Meremere is part of the larger Maramarua statistical area. Meremere had a population of 543 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 sh ...

, an increase of 78 people (16.8%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 81 people (17.5%) since the 2006 census. There were 162 households, comprising 288 males and 267 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.08 males per female, with 165 people (30.4%) aged under 15 years, 102 (18.8%) aged 15 to 29, 246 (45.3%) aged 30 to 64, and 33 (6.1%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 47.5% 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 ...

, 51.4% Māori, 11.0% Pacific peoples, 7.2% Asian, and 3.3% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 58.0% had no religion, 27.6% were

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

, 2.2% had Māori religious beliefs, 1.1% were Hindu, 2.2% 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 2.8% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 27 (7.1%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 108 (28.6%) people had no formal qualifications. 30 people (7.9%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 186 (49.2%) people were employed full-time, 51 (13.5%) were part-time, and 48 (12.7%) were unemployed.

Drag strip

Meremere Dragway, New Zealand's only permanent drag racing facility, is nearby and hosts many popular motorsports events throughout the year including Import All-Stars, 4&Rotary Nationals, Nostalgia Drags, the IHRAIHRA
/ref> Championships and Nightspeed Dragwars. A new motorsports circuit has also been constructed alongside State Highway 1 to the south of Meremere, at Hampton Downs.

Education

Meremere School is a co-educational state primary school, with a roll of as of . The school became a full primary school in 2019, introducing classes for Year 7 and 8.

Panorama

References

{{Waikato District Populated places in Waikato Waikato District Populated places on the Waikato River