Whakamarama

Whakamarama is a rural area in the Western Bay of Plenty District and Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island.

It includes a section of State Highway 2 between Ōmokoroa and Te Puna that underwent major maintenance work in early 2020.[1]

The area is dominated by orchards and avocado growers, and has been targeted by avocado thieves.[2]

History and culture

Māori settlement

Whakamarama was one of the Māori villages attacked during the New Zealand Land Wars in 1867.

The event is marked with a commemorative pouwhenua at Tawhitinui Marae, unveiled on the 150th anniversary in April 2017.[3]

Whakamārama is the Māori word for illumination or explanation.[4]

Recent history

The Atrium Art Gallery opened in Whakamarama in May 2019.[5] It featured a steampunk exhibition later that year.[6]

A missing 85-year-old man was found dead in Whakamarama in July 2019.[7]

In September 2019, police began pursuing a driver in Whakamarama, following through Te Puna before eventually stopping them with road spikes in Bethlehem.[8]

A search operation was launched in Whakamarama in January 2020, after a Taraunga man went missing.[9] The case was featured on Police reality TV series Police Ten 7 four months later, in May 2020.[10]

Several fires broke out in early 2020 in a bark processing plant,[11] a bark pile,[12] a garage and rental home,[13] and a large area of scrub.[14]

Coronavirus pandemic

During the 2020 coronavirus lockdown, nine-year-old Whakamarama girl Lucinda Finnimore wrote a letter to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, asking if the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy were deemed essential workers during lockdown.[15]

Ardern responded that they were essential workers, resulting in international media coverage from the Washington Post,[16] the New York Times,[17] CNN,[18] BBC News,.[19] and others.[20]

Salon published an opinion piece, criticising American media for reporting Finnimore's question and Ardern's response, while failing to cover the pandemic in Asia, and what the United States could learn from what was happening in Asia.[20]

Marae

Tawhitinui Marae is located in the Ōmokoroa area. It is a tribal meeting ground of the Ngāti Ranginui hapū of Pirirākau, and includes the Kahi meeting house.[21][22]

In October 2020, the Government committed $68,682 from the Provincial Growth Fund to upgrade the marae, creating an estimated 13 jobs.[23]

Education

Whakamarama School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students,[24] with a roll of 88 as of April 2023.[25]

References
  1. Staff reporter (3 February 2020). "Delays on SH2 between Katikati and Tauranga". New Zealand Media and Entertainment. Bay of Plenty Times.
  2. Kelway, Sam (10 June 2019). "Tauranga couple appeal for information after at least 1000 avocados stolen from their orchard". Television New Zealand. 1 News.
  3. Liddle, Rosalie (8 April 2017). "Memorial pou raised in Whakamārama". Sun Media. Sun Live.
  4. Moorfield, John. "whakamārama". maoridictionary.co.nz. Te Aka Online Māori Dictionary.
  5. Liddle, Rosalie (5 May 2019). "Anything goes at Atrium Gallery". Sun Media. Sun Live.
  6. Liddle, Rosalie (31 August 2019). "Steampunk art at Atrium Gallery". Sun Media. Sun Live.
  7. Staff reporter (5 July 2019). "Man missing on rural outskirts of Tauranga found dead". stuff.co.nz.
  8. Liddle, Rosalie (23 September 2019). "Police pursuit ends in capture". Sun Media. Sun Live.
  9. Fleming, Caroline (29 January 2020). "Family's frantic search for missing Tauranga man Julian Varley". New Zealand Media and Entertainment. Bay of Plenty Times.
  10. Staff reporter (15 May 2020). "Police reveal new details in case of missing Tauranga man Julian Varley". New Zealand Media and Entertainment. Bay of Plenty Times.
  11. "Bark processing plant fire in Whakamarama". Sun Media. Sun Live. 25 February 2020.
  12. "Large Whakamarama bark fire sends smoke across Tauranga city". New Zealand Media and Entertainment. Bay of Plenty Times. 31 March 2020.
  13. Conchie, Sandra (5 March 2020). "Te Puna fire guts garage and rental home". New Zealand Media and Entertainment. Bay of Plenty Times.
  14. "Large scrub fire in Whakamarama". Sun Media. Sun Live. 12 April 2020.
  15. Staff writer (9 April 2020). "Tauranga school girl delighted Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy deemed essential by PM". Television New Zealand. 1 News.
  16. "Tooth fairy and Easter Bunny are 'essential workers,'". Washington Post. 6 April 2020.
  17. "Jacinda Ardern: Easter Bunny "Essential Worker"". New York Times. 6 April 2020.
  18. "New Zealand PM adds 2 crucial figures to list of essential workers: The Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny". CNN. 6 April 2020.
  19. "Jacinda Ardern: 'Tooth Fairy and Easter bunny are essential workers'". BBC News. 6 April 2020.
  20. Demause, Neil (12 April 2020). "Mainstream media favors Easter Bunny news over global lessons of pandemic". Salon.
  21. "Te Kāhui Māngai directory". tkm.govt.nz. Te Puni Kōkiri.
  22. "Māori Maps". maorimaps.com. Te Potiki National Trust.
  23. "Marae Announcements" (Excel). growregions.govt.nz. Provincial Growth Fund. 9 October 2020.
  24. "Whakamarama School Ministry of Education School Profile". educationcounts.govt.nz. Ministry of Education.
  25. "Whakamarama School Education Review Office Report". ero.govt.nz. Education Review Office.

37.717043°S 175.994892°E / -37.717043; 175.994892

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