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Te Miro is an area in the
Waipā District Waipā District (or Waipa District) is a municipality in the Waikato region of New Zealand that is administered by the Waipā District Council. Its most populous town is Cambridge. The seat of the council is at the second most populous town, Te ...
of the Waikato Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Te Miro is situated 31 kilometres east 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 ...
, and 24 kilometres northeast of
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
.


History

The name Te Miro for the area first became used in 1916, when it was surveyed and developed for European settlement. Translations of the Maori word ''miro'' are a twist, or alternatively a torrent of water, which may have originated from the many streams that twist through the hills of the area. Prior to that, the area was known as
Maungakawa Maungakawa is located in the Waipa District, in the present-day Te Miro settlement, northeast of the town of Cambridge, New Zealand. It was once the meeting place of the Kauhanganui, the parliament of the Kīngitanga and Waikato Tainui governmen ...
. The first Maori
The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori people, Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive :wikt:terrace, terraces – and also to fo ...
settlement in the Te Miro area was by the
Ngāti Hauā Ngāti Hauā is a Māori iwi of the eastern Waikato of New Zealand. It is part of the Tainui confederation. Its traditional area includes Matamata, Cambridge, Maungakawa, the Horotiu district along the Waikato River and the Maungatautari ...
people at Te Kawehitiki (37 49 20; 175 34 50), located on the lower reaches of the Maungakawa volcanic cone, which is on the present day Hopehill farm,Hewitt, Joslyn (1995). ''Te Miro a history book to commemorate the 75th school and district reunion 1975''. Te Miro. at 789 Te Miro Road. There is a history of large Maori gatherings beginning at the site in the 1880s, with a notable large gathering in 1893. Maungakawa became a focal point for the Waikato King movement led by King Tawhiao. A Maori Parliament meeting house was established at the pā site in 1891, but was only used for large formal meetings a few times. The structure was badly damaged by fire in 1898. The damaged structure was still physically present but abandoned in 1902 before it was dismantled shortly after. Original access from Cambridge to the Maungakawa pā area before 1920 was by Maungakawa Road up what is now known as Sanatorium Hill. The arrival of the first missionaries in New Zealand in 1814 eventually led to European settlers arriving in the Waikato. In the 1850s missionaries and farmers from Britain settled in the Te Miro area and introduced modern farming practices to local Maori, helping them set up two flour mills and importing grinding wheels from England and France. During this time, wheat was a profitable crop, but when merchants in Auckland began purchasing cheaper grain from Australia the market went into decline. In 1868, Daniel Thornton was the first settler to buy land near Te Miro,Parker, Sally K. (1986). ''Cambridge An illustrated history 1886–1986'', p. 4. Cambridge Borough Council, Cambridge New Zealand. . and around 1894, his widow established a large residence at what is now known as Sanatorium Hill. In 1916, the government purchased most of the 12,000 acre farm of James Taylor, which was surveyed, named the Te Miro Settlement, and opened up to settlement after the First World War. 72 newly surveyed sections, ranging in size from 1 to 323 acres, were balloted to returning servicemen. The new settlement initially used Maungakawa Road (south of the village and formerly called Taylor Road) to access Cambridge via Sanitorium Hill, but eventually Te Miro Road (west of the village, and formerly known as Valley Road) was linked at the bottom of the hill to Flume Road, and that route has now become the main access road. The focal village of Te Miro (37 48 35; 175 32 50) township was surveyed at the intersection of present day Te Miro and upper Maungakawa roads, with an initial 20 small lots and a designated school reserve site. A school was built on the designated school reserve in 1920, and a post office started operating out of a back room in a local residence in 1921. The first industry was a Rimu sawmill, located in the bush above the school, which was supported by a bush tramway. A community hall was built in 1956. Much of the original balloted farmland required scrub clearing, and for the new settlers, there was little financial support from the government for the settlers. A plague of rabbits, and the depression of 1921 caused many of the initial soldier-settlers to abandon their allotments. However, some persisted, and established farms which have survived and prospered, and passed down through the generations. In 2020, Te Miro celebrated its centennial, and a history of the school and district was published. It is presently a community of approximately 280 properties, made up of several dozen dairy and drystock farms over 50 acres in size, around 40 lifestyle blocks of between 2 and 50 acres, and the balance residences on less than 2 acres.


Demographics

Te Miro locality covers . It is part of the larger Karapiro statistical area. Te Miro had a population of 690 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 63 people (10.0%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 120 people (21.1%) since the 2013 census. There were 348 males and 345 females in 243 dwellings. 2.2% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. There were 144 people (20.9%) aged under 15 years, 93 (13.5%) aged 15 to 29, 366 (53.0%) aged 30 to 64, and 78 (11.3%) aged 65 or older. People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 96.5% 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 ...
), 6.5%
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 ...
, 0.9% Pasifika, 2.6% Asian, and 3.5% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 97.8%, Māori by 0.4%, and other languages by 9.1%. No language could be spoken by 2.2% (e.g. too young to talk).
New Zealand Sign Language New Zealand Sign Language or NZSL () is the main language of the deaf community in New Zealand. It became an official language of New Zealand in April 2006 under the New Zealand Sign Language Act 2006. The purpose of the act was to create rights ...
was known by 0.4%. The percentage of people born overseas was 21.7, compared with 28.8% nationally. Religious affiliations were 25.7%
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 ...
, 0.4%
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 ...
, 0.9%
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 0.9% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 67.4%, and 5.7% of people did not answer the census question. Of those at least 15 years old, 165 (30.2%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 288 (52.7%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 96 (17.6%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. 117 people (21.4%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was 318 (58.2%) full-time, 87 (15.9%) part-time, and 6 (1.1%) unemployed.


Geography

The most visible point in the Te Miro district is the extinct volcanic cone known as Ruru (37 47 45; 175 34 50), which is 482 metres high. A 59-metre telecommunications tower is situated on the top of Ruru. From Ruru, two other extinct volcanic cones, Maungakawa (496 metres) (37 48 50; 175 36 40), and Te Tapui (495 metres) (37 50 30; 175 34 50) extend in a south easterly direction for approximately 10 kilometres. The contour of the district is gently rolling hills, from 40 to 496 metres above sea level. Land use is mainly pastoral and dairy farming, some areas of native bush and reserves, and some small blocks of Radiata pine forestry plantations. There is negligible industrial or commercial land use.


Geology

There are three main rock types in the Te Miro area, which are
Greywacke Greywacke or graywacke ( ) is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness (6–7 on Mohs scale), dark color, and Sorting (sediment), poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or sand-size Lith ...
(sediments deposited on the ocean floor about 140 million years ago);
Andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...
(lava flow from volcanic cones such as Mt Ruru, which erupted 6.2 million years ago); and
Ignimbrite Ignimbrite is a type of volcanic rock, consisting of hardened tuff. Ignimbrites form from the deposits of pyroclastic flows, which are a hot suspension of particles and gases flowing rapidly from a volcano, driven by being denser than the surrou ...
(consolidated volcanic ash from the Mangakino caldera complex, from about 1 million years ago). The soil on top of the rock is largely yellow brown earth, a clay rich soil with coverings of volcanic ash. The bush regions are rich in fertile black loam.


Governance

Te Miro is administered by the Waipā District Council, which has its seat at Te Awamutu. Te Miro is part of the Waikato general parliamentary electorate and the Hauraki-Waikato Māori electorate.


Economy

Te Miro's main sources of local employment and income today come from dairy and drystock farming. Most other residents commute to jobs in Cambridge and Hamilton.


Transport

The main access to Te Miro is from Te Miro Road, which provides access through Cambridge to the
Waikato Expressway The Waikato Expressway is a dual carriageway section of (SH 1) in New Zealand's Waikato region. Constructed in stages, it forms part of the link between Auckland and Hamilton. Currently stretching from Auckland to south of Cambridge, the firs ...
, a 4 lane motorway to Auckland. State Highway 1 south of Cambridge connects to
Tauranga Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...
,
Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authorities of New Zea ...
and
Taupō Taupō (), sometimes written Taupo, is a town located in the central North Island of New Zealand. It is situated on the edge of Lake Taupō, which is the largest freshwater lake in New Zealand. Taupō was constituted as a borough in 1953. It h ...
in the southeast. Hamilton Airport, 25 minutes drive from Te Miro, is the nearest airport and provides daily flights to all New Zealand's main centres. Auckland International Airport is about a 2-hour drive from Te Miro.


Media

Cambridge has two local newspapers, the Cambridge News and the Cambridge Edition. There is a
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page that is used to share and request information and resources.


Sport

Te Miro is the home of the Te Miro Mountain Bike Park which provides 7 kilometres of mountain bike and jogging trails of various levels of difficulty.


Education

Te Miro School is a co-educational state primary school located in Te Miro Village. The school was built in 1920.Te Miro Jubilee Committee (1970). ''1920–1970 Te Miro school and district jubilee 11 & 12 April'' Te Miro, NZ Te Miro Jubilee Committee It currently has three classes: a junior class (years 0–2 named "Rata"), an intermediate class (years 3-4 named "Kowhai") and a senior class (years 5–8 named "Rimu"). The combined roll is as of . Two secondary schools are located in
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
, serviced by school buses from Te Miro. The University of Waikato and
Wintec Wintec Saddles was launched in 1916 and is a saddle brand known for the first nonsynthetic saddles. History The company is a subsidiary of Saddlery Brands International. (formerly Bates Australia), originally established in 1934, Saddles The E ...
are major tertiary institutions in nearby
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 ...
.


Notable residents

Past or present residents include: * Wiremu Tamihana, Ngati Haua chief * King Tawhiao, Waikato King Movement * Dick Tonks, Olympic medalist rower, Olympic rowing coach * Sarah Cowley, Track and field athlete, TV presenter


References

{{Waipa District Waipa District Populated places in Waikato