Onepu is a rural community in the

Whakatāne District Whakatāne District is a territorial authority district on the North Island of New Zealand. The Whakatāne District Council is headquartered in the largest town, Whakatāne. The district falls within the Bay of Plenty Region. Victor Luca has ...

and

Bay of Plenty Region The Bay of Plenty Region is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region in the North Island of New Zealand. Also called just the Bay of Plenty (BOP), it is situated around the Bay of Plenty, marine bight of that same name. The bay was name ...

of 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 situated between

Kawerau Kawerau is a town in the Bay of Plenty Region on the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated 100 km south-east of Tauranga and 58 km east of Rotorua. It is the seat of the Kawerau District Council, and the only town in Kawerau Distr ...

and

Te Teko Te Teko is a small inland town along the banks of the Rangitaiki River in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The township includes a racecourse, golf course, police station, and a primary school. The primary school was est ...

along State Highway 34, and lies immediately north-east of the Norske Skog Tasman pulp and paper mill. The community lies on the

Murupara Branch The Murupara Branch is a long branch railway line from the East Coast Main Trunk (ECMT) at Kawerau to Murupara, built to serve a new pulp and paper mill harvesting the radiata pine trees of the Kaingaroa Forest on the Kaingaroa Plateau in ...

railway and is serviced by Rural Delivery route 2. A small airfield was located in Onepu, but it is no longer operational due to the geothermal projects running nearby. The name "Onepu" comes from local

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 ...

oral traditions. 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 "loose sandy soil" for ''Onepū''. Historically, Onepu was also the name of the surrounding district, including the site of the present town of Kawerau. Onepu is within the ''

rohe The Māori people of New Zealand use the word ' to describe the territory or boundaries of tribes (, although some divide their into several . Background In 1793, chief Tuki Te Terenui Whare Pirau who had been brought to Norfolk Island drew ...

'' (tribal area) of the

Ngāti Tūwharetoa Ngāti Tūwharetoa is an iwi descended from Ngātoro-i-rangi, the priest who navigated the Arawa canoe to New Zealand. The Tūwharetoa region extends from Te Awa o te Atua ( Tarawera River) at Matatā across the central plateau of the North ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

. The Hahuru Marae and meeting house, located west of Onepu, is a tribal meeting place for the

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 Irawharo, Ngāi Tamarangi, Ngāti Peehi, Ngāti Poutomuri, Ngāti Umutahi and Te Aotahi. It is named after the mother of Tūwharetoa, the eponymous ancestor of the iwi.

Demographics

Onepu Spring statistical area, which includes Onepu, covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Onepu Spring had a population of 1,221 at the

2018 New Zealand census The 2018 New Zealand census, which took place on Tuesday 6 March 2018, was the thirty-fourth national census in New Zealand. The population of New Zealand was counted as 4,699,755 – an increase of 457,707 (10.79%) over the 2013 census. Resu ...

, an increase of 135 people (12.4%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 96 people (8.5%) since the 2006 census. There were 405 households, comprising 618 males and 603 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.02 males per female. The median age was 44.4 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 237 people (19.4%) aged under 15 years, 207 (17.0%) aged 15 to 29, 600 (49.1%) aged 30 to 64, and 177 (14.5%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 74.7% 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 ...

, 41.5%

, 1.2% Pacific peoples, 2.5% Asian, and 1.0% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 11.5, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 52.6% had no religion, 30.5% were

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 ...

, 5.2% had

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 ...

, 0.2% were

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 ...

, 0.2% were

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, 0.2% were

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 ...

and 1.5% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 108 (11.0%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 174 (17.7%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $32,400, compared with $31,800 nationally. 201 people (20.4%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 534 (54.3%) people were employed full-time, 147 (14.9%) were part-time, and 51 (5.2%) were unemployed.

References

External links

* {{Whakatāne District Whakatāne District Populated places in the Bay of Plenty Region