Waituna West is a village and rural community in the

Manawatū District Manawatū District (officially Manawatu District) is a Districts of New Zealand, territorial authority district in the Manawatū-Whanganui Regions of New Zealand, local government region in the North Island of New Zealand, administered by Manaw ...

and Manawatū-Whanganui region in New Zealand's central

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 State Highway 54.

History

European settlement

English settlers arrived in the late 1880s expecting to see "eternal lush meadows" to farm. They instead encountered endless thick forest, which they cleared over several years with axes and handshaws. The timbers, stump and logs were then burnt. Some of this work was done by cheap labourers on farming cadetships. A meeting of residents at a stump led to the opening of a school in 1894. The school house was the first public building in the area. By about 1895, the farming community had its own rugby team. A bridge was also built over the

Rangitikei River Rangitikei may refer to the following in New Zealand: * Rangitīkei River, one of country's longest rivers * Rangitikei District, a district council in the Manawatu-Wanganui Region * Rangitīkei (New Zealand electorate), a current general electorate ...

about this time.

Recent history

The Hare family, an original English settler family who arrived in Waituna West from

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

in the 1880s, was still farming in the area in 2023. The family remained on one farm, Tuatahi, from 1894 to 2017. Another farm, which has been in the same family since the 1920s, has panoramic views of Mt Ruapehu,

Mt Taranaki Mount Taranaki (), officially Taranaki Maunga and also known as Mount Egmont, is a dormant stratovolcano in the Taranaki region on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island. At , it is the second highest mountain in the North Island, afte ...

, and

Kapiti Island Kapiti Island (), sometimes written as Kāpiti Island, is an island nature reserve located off the west coast of the lower North Island of New Zealand and within the Kāpiti Coast District. Parts of the island were previously farmed, but it is ...

. Tourists often enter the farm to play with newborn lambs, pitch a tent or play golf.

Facilities

Waituna West Cemetery, a small cemetery for burials and ash interments, is located in the village. The first recorded burial was in January 1901. The village also has a community hall, built in 1909. The community raised funds in 1996 to move the hall from the main highway to the school for traffic and pedestrian safety. The present hall has an unsealed carpark, and can accommodate up to 180 people.

Education

Waituna West School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of as of . The school was formed in 1894. Over the years, Tapuae, Pakihikura, Rewa and Dunolly schools were merged into Waituna West School. The school celebrated its 125th jubilee in 2019 with a three-day event, including a barbeque, tree plantings, netball and soccer games, a church service, and a picnic lunch. The village also has a

Playcentre Playcentre is an early childhood education and parenting organisation which operates cooperative parent-led early childhood education centres throughout New Zealand. While the concept originated in New Zealand, it is now also established in Japan ...

early childhood centre.

References

{{coord, -40.041539, 175.637898, display=title Populated places in Manawatū-Whanganui Manawatū District