Ngarua is a rural community in the

Matamata-Piako District Matamata-Piako District is a Territorial Authorities of New Zealand, local government area in the Waikato List of regions in New Zealand, region of New Zealand. It lies to the east of the city of Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton. Geography The d ...

and

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

region of New Zealand's

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 ...

. It is located south-east of

Tatuanui Tatuanui is a settlement and rural community in the Matamata-Piako District and Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located north-east of Morrinsville, south-west of Te Aroha, Waihou and Waitoa, and north of Ngarua, at the in ...

, west of

Morrinsville Morrinsville () is a provincial town in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. Morrinsville is a service town for the local dairy industry; the area surrounding the town has the highest concentration of dairy cattle in New Zealand. ...

and north of

Waharoa A waharoa is an entrance gateway to a marae complex in New Zealand. Waharoa may refer to: * ''Waharoa'' (Aotea Square sculpture) (1990), a sculpture by Selwyn Muru in Aotea Square, Auckland * ''Waharoa'' (1990), a sculptural entranceway to the Auc ...

and

Matamata Matamata () is a town in Waikato, New Zealand. It is located near the base of the Kaimai Ranges, and is a thriving farming area known for Thoroughbred horse breeding and training pursuits. It is part of the Matamata-Piako District, which take ...

on State Highway 27. The Tatua Dairy factory, in Tatuanui, is an independent co-operative owned by 114 shareholder farms from the Tatuanui and Ngarua area, all located within a 12 kilometre radius of the processing site. It exports specialist dairy products to more than 60 countries.

History

20th century

Ngarua developed as a dairy farming community around its first community hall, opened in 1908. The hall was extended in 1913 and was doubled in size in 1932. It hosted dances, concerts and community gatherings. Ronald Candy began working on his father's Hubert Candy's farm in 1921, and took over the management of the farm in 1925. He turned the rough and poorly drained peat into productive farmland, tested his cows for butterfat production, and experimented with different fertilisers. In 1926, he started a Ngarua herd-testing group, becoming a pioneer in herd improvement. In the following years he became an early advocate for heavy top-dressing, adequate sub-division, good drainage and

rotational grazing In agriculture, rotational grazing, as opposed to continuous grazing, describes many systems of pasturing, whereby livestock are moved to portions of the pasture, called paddocks, while the other portions rest. Each paddock must provide all the ...

. A Ngarua unit of the Home Guard was established for the Second World War. In 1946 the Ngarua District Roll of Honour and Roll of Service was unveiled in the community hall, commemorating local men who had died in both world wars. In 1956, the Ngarua Memorial Hall was opened alongside the existing hall. Candy's Ngarua farm, Somersby, went on to become a showplace for high production and one of the first examples of dairy beef production. He and many of his farm workers became dairy industry leaders. Candy retired from many of his public positions in 1968 and committed suicide on his Ngarua farm in 1974.

21st century

The memorial hall was closed about 2005 and was sold to private owners in 2009. It was ultimately demolished in 2020. The settlement's roll of honour was moved to the Ngarua Community Church. It was later transferred to Morrinsville Museum. The area still consists of several dairy farms, like the fourth-generation Brown dairy farm.

Demographics

Ngarua and its surrounds cover . Ngarua is part of the larger Waitoa-Ngarua statistical area. Ngarua had a population of 186 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 ...

, an increase of 12 people (6.9%) since the 2018 census, and a decrease of 15 people (−7.5%) since the 2013 census. There were 102 males and 81 females in 69 dwellings. 1.6% of people identified as

LGBTIQ+ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group is ...

. The median age was 33.9 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 39 people (21.0%) aged under 15 years, 36 (19.4%) aged 15 to 29, 96 (51.6%) aged 30 to 64, and 15 (8.1%) aged 65 or older. People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 59.7%

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

(

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 ...

); 11.3%

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 ...

; 27.4% Asian; and 6.5% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA). English was spoken by 91.9%, Māori language by 3.2%, and other languages by 21.0%. No language could be spoken by 3.2% (e.g. too young to talk). The percentage of people born overseas was 33.9, compared with 28.8% nationally. Religious affiliations were 45.2%

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 ...

, 4.8%

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 ...

, and 6.5% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 33.9%, and 8.1% of people did not answer the census question. Of those at least 15 years old, 27 (18.4%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 69 (46.9%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 45 (30.6%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $57,400, compared with $41,500 nationally. 18 people (12.2%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 93 (63.3%) people were employed full-time, 15 (10.2%) were part-time, and 3 (2.0%) were unemployed.

Education

Te Wharekura o Te Rau Aroha is a co-educational state Māori immersion school for Year 1 to 13 students, with a roll of as of . There was previously a Ngarua School, established in 1907. It closed in 2001.

References

{{Matamata-Piako District Matamata-Piako District Populated places in Waikato