Waitetuna is a rural community in the

Waikato District Waikato District is a Territorial authorities of New Zealand, territorial authority of New Zealand, in the northern part of Waikato region, North Island. Waikato District is administered by the Waikato District Council, with headquarters in Ngā ...

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 on the valley of the Waitetuna River, upstream from the

Raglan Harbour Raglan ( or ) is a small beachside town located west of Hamilton, New Zealand on State Highway 23. It is known for its surfing, and volcanic black sand beaches. History The Ngāti Māhanga iwi occupied the area around Raglan in the late ...

History

Pollen analysis Palynology is the study of microorganisms and microscopic fragments of mega-organisms that are composed of acid-resistant organic material and occur in sediments, sedimentary rocks, and even some metasedimentary rocks. Palynomorphs are the mic ...

in the sediments of the Waitetuna arm of the harbour shows that the original vegetation of the valley was

kahikatea ''Dacrycarpus dacrydioides'', commonly known as kahikatea (from Māori language, Māori) and white pine, is a Pinophyta, coniferous tree endemism, endemic to New Zealand. A Podocarpaceae, podocarp, it is New Zealand's tallest tree, gaining hei ...

on the flats, and a mixed

podocarp Podocarpaceae is a large family of mainly southern hemisphere conifers, known in English as podocarps, comprising about 156 species of evergreen trees and shrubs.James E. Eckenwalder. 2009. ''Conifers of the World''. Portland, Oregon: Timber Pres ...

hardwood Hardwood is wood from Flowering plant, angiosperm trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostl ...

forest on the slopes, with

totara ''Podocarpus totara'' (), commonly known as the , is a species of podocarp tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island, South Island and rarely on Stewart Island / Rakiura in lowland, montane and lower subalpine forest at ...

, maire,

mataī ''Prumnopitys taxifolia'', the mataī () or black pine, is an endemic New Zealand coniferous tree that grows on the North Island and South Island. It also occurs on Stewart Island / Rakiura (47 °S) but is uncommon there. It grows up to high ...

rimu ''Dacrydium cupressinum'', commonly known as rimu, is a species of tree in the family Podocarpaceae. It is a dioecious evergreen conifer, reaching heights of up to , and can have a stout trunk (botany), trunk up to in diameter. It is endemis ...

, rata,

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

and

tree ferns Tree ferns are arborescent (tree-like) ferns that grow with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level, making them trees. Many extant tree ferns are members of the order Cyatheales, to which belong the families Cyatheaceae (scaly tree fern ...

Kauri ''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees, native to Australasia and Southeast Asia. It is one of three extant genera in the family Araucariaceae, alongside '' Wollemia'' and ''Araucaria'' (being ...

was present, but not abundant. Waitetuna is part of 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 ...

Ngāti Māhanga Ngāti Māhanga is a Māori iwi (tribe) that is part of the Waikato confederation of tribes (now called Tainui). The tribe's historical lands extended from Whaingaroa Harbour (Raglan Harbour) to the west bank of the Waikato River in the city of Ha ...

. Aramiro station covers of Māori freehold in the upper part of the valley. In September 1864, after the

invasion of the Waikato The invasion of the Waikato became the largest and most important campaign of the 19th-century New Zealand Wars. Hostilities took place in the North Island of New Zealand between the military forces of the colonial government and a federation ...

, the government bought the Waipā–Waitetuna block, stretching from the summit of

Pirongia Pirongia is a small town in the Waipā District of the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is 12 kilometres to the west of Te Awamutu, on the banks of the Waipā River, close to the foot of the 962 metre Mount Pirongia, which lies i ...

to Te Uku Landing, for £1,500. A 2018

Waitangi Tribunal The Waitangi Tribunal (Māori: ''Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi'') is a New Zealand permanent commission of inquiry established under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. It is charged with investigating and making recommendations on c ...

report said, "''The Waipa–Waitetuna purchase occurred during a Crown military occupation of land in Waikato (including the area covered by the purchase block) that was carried out with the express purpose of breaking down Māori authority, including customary rights to land. Although the evidence is not sufficient to draw firm conclusions, aspects of the purchase resemble the process of compensation for confiscated land''". Most of the farms were bought from the government in the 1900s and the bush on them was mostly felled, or burnt.

Roads

Three through roads serve Waitetuna. The main road, SH23, is served by the Hamilton to Raglan bus. It was formed as a deviation from Old Mountain Rd between 1907 and 1912. Waitetuna Valley Road runs south to

Te Pahu Te Pahu is a rural community in the Waipā District and Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island, located just north of Cambridge across State Highway 1. It is located north of Pirongia and south of Ngāhinapōuri just off State Highway 39 ...

and

Te Awamutu Te Awamutu is a town in the Waikato, Waikato region in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the council seat of the Waipā District and serves as a service town for the farming communities which surround it. Te Awamutu is located some south ...

. It follows the old Aramiro Track,C W Vennell & Susan Williams: Raglan County Hills and Sea 1876-1976 which was widened to a track in 1909 and to Fillery Rd about 1990. Old Mountain Road was originally the main road. It was formed as an extension to the first road, built in 1863 from Raglan via Okete to the Waitetuna River. The county history said, "''For a dozen years or more before the county was formed (1875), 10 miles of roughly formed dirt road, wide enough to carry horse-drawn drays, linked Raglan township with the Waitetuna River. From there the packhorse route (originally known as the Tikihouhou Track) made by the Army during the Waikato War, wound a tortuous way across the ranges, but it was too narrow, and too steep in parts, to carry vehicles''." It became the through road to Hamilton in 1879. The main road was

metalled A road surface (British English) or pavement (North American English) is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic, such as a road or walkway. In the past, gravel road surfaces, macadam, ho ...

between 1914 and 1921 and sealing started in 1937, but wasn't completed until 1961.

Railways

Waitetuna almost got a railway. In 1923 the Waikato-West Coast railway district was set up under th
1914 Local Railways Act
It got a detailed survey done for a 2 ft 6in gauge railway and had a contractor ready to build a line through the Kaniwhaniwha and Waitetuna valleys, joined by an tunnel, past Te Uku School and Okete Falls and along the edge of the harbour to Raglan. However, it was opposed by local MP

Alexander Young Alexander Young may refer to: *Alexander Young (bishop) (died 1684), 17th century Scottish prelate *Alexander Young (engineer) (1833–1910), Scottish engineer and businessman who became a citizen of the Kingdom of Hawaii *Alexander Young (musician ...

, the proposed local rate was defeated in an election in 1923 and the Board was wound up in 1928.

Demographics

Waitetuna School is in

meshblock Mesh blocks or meshblocks are a small geographic unit used in the census of several countries. New Zealand New Zealand's countrywide meshblock framework was first set up in 1976, although the term dates back to at least the 1916 census. The m ...

0861000, which had these census returns -

Education

Waitetuna School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of as of . It opened on 3 September 1962. Until 24 August 1903 Te Uku School was known as Waitetuna. Aramiro School closed in 1964 and its pupils transferred to Waitetuna.

References

{{Geographic Location, title=Neighbouring areas, Northwest=

Te Ākau Te Ākau is a small farming settlement in the North Island of New Zealand, located north west of Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, south west of Huntly, New Zealand, Huntly, south of Port Waikato and , or by ferry and road, north of Raglan, ...

, North= Waingaro, Northeast=

Glen Massey Glen Massey is a former mining village, west of Ngāruawāhia, which was, until 1958, terminus of the Glen Massey Line. It then went into decline, but is now becoming a home for Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton commuters. Name There is no New ...

, West=

Te Uku Te Uku is a small, mainly farming, settlement on New Zealand State Highway 23, SH23 in the North Island of New Zealand, located from Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton and from Raglan, New Zealand, Raglan. It has a Four Square (supermarket), 4-S ...

, Centre=Waitetuna, East=

Whatawhata Whatawhata, previously also spelt Whata Whata, is a small town in the Waikato region on the east bank of the Waipā River, at the junction of New Zealand State Highway 23, State Highways 23 and New Zealand State Highway 39, 39, from Hamilton, N ...

, South=''

Te Uku Wind Farm Te Uku Wind Farm is a wind farm located at Te Uku near Raglan. It has a capacity of 64 MW using 28 wind turbines. Construction was completed in March 2011, at a cost of $200 million. The farm covers an area of approximately . The wind f ...

'', Southeast=

, Southwest= Te Mata Waikato District Populated places in Waikato