Waimangaroa is a small town located on the West Coast of New Zealand. The township lies on the south-west bank of the

Waimangaroa River The Waimangaroa River is located on the West Coast of New Zealand. The river passes through tussock, scrub and forested areas before draining into the Karamea Bight in the Tasman Sea. It passes through the town of Waimangaroa and is crossed ...

, at the western foot of the Denniston Plateau. It is to the north east of Westport and 13 km south-east of

Granity Granity is a small town on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, north-east of Westport on State Highway 67. Karamea is further north. The town is on a narrow strip of land between the Tasman Sea to the west and steep, mountains to ...

. The abandoned coaltown of Denniston is about to the south-east. The Bridle Track, a scenic bush track, leads south-east along the Denniston Incline into the foothills of the Mt William Range, to Denniston. The Stockton mine, a large open cast

coal mine Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

, is operated in the vicinity by

Solid Energy Solid Energy was the largest coal mining company in New Zealand and is a state owned enterprise of the New Zealand Government. The company was formed from the former government department State Coal Mines. It was then established as a state ow ...

. The Ngakawau Branch, a

branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

, runs through the town. It opened to Waimangaroa on 5 August 1876; it formerly ran to

Seddonville Seddonville is a lightly populated locality on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is most famous for the historical role it played in New Zealand's coal mining industry. Geography Seddonville is in the isolated north of the Wes ...

but now terminates in

Ngakawau Hector and Ngakawau are two lightly populated settlements located at the mouth of the Ngākawau River in the West Coast region of New Zealand. Both settlements are situated on State Highway 67 between Westport and Karamea. Despite a low popul ...

. From 1877 until 1967, Waimangaroa was also the junction for the

Conns Creek Branch The Conns Creek Branch was a 2.7 kilometre (1.7 mile) branch line railway in the West Coast, New Zealand, West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island. It diverged from the Seddonville Branch at Waimangaroa and followed the southern bank of ...

, which ran east alongside the Waimangaroa River to the foot of the Denniston Incline. Passenger services ceased on the Conns Creek Branch in 1931 and Ngakawau Branch on 14 October 1946. Since this time, the railway through Waimangaroa has almost solely conveyed coal. The beaches to the west have dangerous currents and are not safe for swimming.

Demographics

Waimangaroa is described by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement and covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². It is part of the larger Buller Coalfields statistical area. Waimangaroa had a population of 228 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 ...

, a decrease of 24 people (−9.5%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 3 people (1.3%) since the 2006 census. There were 99 households, comprising 123 males and 105 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.17 males per female, with 45 people (19.7%) aged under 15 years, 21 (9.2%) aged 15 to 29, 105 (46.1%) aged 30 to 64, and 54 (23.7%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 89.5% 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 ...

, 10.5%

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 ...

, 1.3%

Pasifika Pasifika may refer to: *Pacific Islander people, indigenous peoples of the Pacific Islands **Pasifika New Zealanders, Pacific peoples living in New Zealand *Pacific Islands, including Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia *The Pasifika Festival, an a ...

, and 2.6% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 56.6% had no religion, 28.9% 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 ...

and 1.3% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 12 (6.6%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 51 (27.9%) people had no formal qualifications. 12 people (6.6%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 66 (36.1%) people were employed full-time, 18 (9.8%) were part-time, and 9 (4.9%) were unemployed.

Education

Waimangaroa School was a coeducational full primary school (years 1-8). The school celebrated its 125th jubilee in 2004. It closed permanently in 2012 and is now in private ownership. Waimangaroa children now attend schools in Westport.

Notable people

Becky Manawatu Becky Manawatu (born 1982) is a New Zealand writer. In 2020, she won two Ockham New Zealand Book Awards for her first novel, ''Auē'' and Best Crime Novel at the 2020 Ngaio Marsh Awards. Biography Manawatu was born Becky Wixon in June 1982 ...

(born 1982), writer

References

{{Buller District Buller District Populated places in the West Coast Region