Te Uku is a small, mainly farming, settlement on SH23 in the North Island of New Zealand, located from Hamilton and from Raglan. It has a 4-Square shop, church, coffee stall and art gallery, filling station, hall, school and Xtreme Zero Waste recycle bins.
Apart from a statistical area which also covers several other settlements, Te Uku has no defined boundaries. Until Te Uku Post Office opened in 1894, Te Uku was usually referred to as Waitetuna, a name now used for another small settlement to the east.
The name is said to be derived from a clay hill in the district. However, 'uku' also translates to a flat-fish, skate.
Demographics Te Uku settlement and its surrounds cover . It is part of the larger Te Uku statistical area.
Te Uku had a population of 348 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 84 people (31.8%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 99 people (39.8%) since the 2013 census. There were 180 males, 168 females and 3 people of other genders in 111 dwellings. 2.6% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. There were 81 people (23.3%) aged under 15 years, 54 (15.5%) aged 15 to 29, 165 (47.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 48 (13.8%) aged 65 or older.
People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 91.4% European (Pākehā); 18.1% Māori; 2.6% Pasifika; 1.7% Asian; 2.6% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 1.7% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 97.4%, Māori language by 6.0%, and other languages by 9.5%. No language could be spoken by 2.6% (e.g. too young to talk). The percentage of people born overseas was 17.2, compared with 28.8% nationally.
Religious affiliations were 19.8% Christian, 1.7% Hindu, and 0.9% Islam. People who answered that they had no religion were 65.5%, and 10.3% of people did not answer the census question.
Of those at least 15 years old, 75 (28.1%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 132 (49.4%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 60 (22.5%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. 36 people (13.5%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 141 (52.8%) people were employed full-time, 63 (23.6%) were part-time, and 3 (1.1%) were unemployed.
Te Uku statistical areas
Until the 2023 census, Te Uku statistical area covered all of Waikato District south of Whaingaroa Harbour, with the exception of Raglan, stretching from Waitetuna, through Okete, Kauroa and Te Mata to the coast at Ruapuke and Aotea Harbour. In 2023, the statistical area was split into Te Uku and Whale Bay, which cover and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2.
Te Uku statistical areas had a population of 2,901 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 207 people (7.7%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 675 people (30.3%) since the 2013 census. There were 1,440 males, 1,452 females and 9 people of other genders in 1,032 dwellings. 2.9% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. There were 615 people (21.2%) aged under 15 years, 429 (14.8%) aged 15 to 29, 1,479 (51.0%) aged 30 to 64, and 381 (13.1%) aged 65 or older.
People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 87.4% European (Pākehā); 23.5% Māori; 2.3% Pasifika; 2.1% Asian; 1.3% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 2.1% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 97.1%, Māori language by 6.5%, Samoan by 0.2%, and other languages by 9.6%. No language could be spoken by 2.5% (e.g. too young to talk). New Zealand Sign Language was known by 0.7%. The percentage of people born overseas was 19.4, compared with 28.8% nationally.
Religious affiliations were 22.0% Christian, 0.5% Hindu, 0.1% Islam, 0.7% Māori religious beliefs, 0.6% Buddhist, 0.7% New Age, 0.1% Jewish, and 0.8% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 66.9%, and 7.8% of people did not answer the census question.
Of those at least 15 years old, 633 (27.7%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 1,182 (51.7%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 471 (20.6%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. 300 people (13.1%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,143 (50.0%) people were employed full-time, 417 (18.2%) were part-time, and 51 (2.2%) were unemployed.
+Individual statistical areasName Area(km2) Population Density(per km2) Dwellings Median age Medianincome Te Uku 500.15 1,881 3.8 657 40.7 years $39,800 Whale Bay 46.42 1,020 22.0 375 41.0 years $35,200 New Zealand 38.1 years $41,500
Geology The village lies in the Matakotea valley, which is a tributary of the Waitetuna River. Most rocks in the area are volcanic. The village, and most of the land to the west, is on Hamilton Ash; a 350,000 year old, strongly weathered, mainly yellow-brown, clay-rich, airfall tephra, of rhyolitic and andesitic composition, which includes corroded quartz crystals, weathered hornblende and augite, halloysite nodules, and some manganese. The hills to the north are of Okete Volcanics. The vertical offsets of the Vanhoutte, Mangawhero and Mangakino Faults reach a maximum of over near Te Uku trig. The hills to the south of the fault line are of Coleman and Waiharakeke Conglomerates and Puti and Waikorea Siltstones, all of Puaroan age (about 150 million years ago), with 2 million year old Okete Volcanics forming the highest points.
History Pollen analysis in the sediments of the Waitetuna arm of the harbour shows that the original vegetation was kahikatea on the flats, and a mixed podocarp-hardwood forest on the slopes, with tōtara, maire, mataī, rimu, rātā, beech and tree ferns. Kauri was present, but not abundant.
Te Uku is part of the rohe of Ngāti Māhanga. The archaeology map shows that most pre-colonial settlement was around the harbour, with just three sites in the lower Waitetuna valley, and four sites in the Okete valley, only one of which was a pā site.
European settlement began in the 1850s. The Raglan County history said, "On 22 March 1851, eighteen chiefs of Ngati-Mahanga and Ngati-Hourua, headed by William Naylor, sold to Queen Victoria for the sum of £400 (modern equivalent about $50,000), of country bordering on the southern shores of the harbour. The western boundary of the Whaingaroa Block, as it came to be known, began at Putoetoe (the point on which the town of Raglan now stands) and followed the Opotoru Stream inland. Leaving that stream at its junction with the Hutewai, the line ran south beyond Te Mata to a point "marked by a hole dug by the side of the path to Aotea. Here it turned north-eastward to run (again in a straight line) for eight miles through dense forest to meet the Waitetuna River, the last few miles of which formed the eastern boundary."
In 1852 John and George Moon, walked to Te Uku from New Plymouth, introducing the first sheep, and the first horse-drawn vehicle. In 1856 Abraham Kescel bought at Okete and Charles Savage also came from Taranaki. James La Trobe settled in 1857.
Waitetuna Redoubt was built to the south of the Narrows, as part of Colonel Richard Waddy's end of December 1863 expedition to set up a supply line during the invasion of the Waikato. The route was too rugged and it and the redoubt were abandoned, probably before 7 February 1864. It remains as a well preserved earthwork, about across.
A 1915 guide said, "Te Uku is a small township in Raglan County, from Frankton by coach, and about from Raglan, being on the main coach road between Frankton and Raglan. Its principal industries are dairying, flax milling, and timber."
Roads There are three through roads serving Te Uku; the main east-west SH23, the road south to Te Mata and Kawhia, and the road north to Waingaro and State Highway 22.
The first road was built in 1863 from Raglan via Okete (Okete Rd remained the main road until 1906, or possibly 1913, or later) 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 a through road to Hamilton in 1879. It was metalled between 1914 and 1921 and sealing started in 1937, but wasn't completed until 1961.
From the formation of Raglan Town (1868) and Karioi (1870) Highways Boards, road building was paid for by local rates. After the Immigration and Public Works Act of 1870, government also contributed. In 1870 the Karioi Board decided to make a start on Kauroa Rd south to Te Mata. By 1880 it was described as "a more than ordinarily good road", with the bush "felled for some distance on either hand" and "several well cultivated farms". Metal was reported as being spread to Te Mata from Ponds Rd in 1906 and the road was reported as metalled through to Kawhia in 1928.
The road north to Waingaro developed with settlement from 1874. Bridges over the Ohautira and Rautawhairi creeks were tendered in 1887. It was metalled in 1937 and seal completed in 2006.
Dennis trucks were reported as replacing horses and bullock teams from 1922.R T Vernon: Around Raglan 1981
Railways Te Uku almost got a railway too. In 1923 the Waikato-West Coast railway district was set up under the 1914 Local Railways Act, which enabled cheaper construction of railways. It got a detailed survey done for a 2 ft 6in gauge railway and had a contractor ready to build a line through the Waitetuna valley, 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, the proposed local rate was defeated in an election in 1923 and the Board was wound up in 1928. The voting area included ratepayers who would have gained little from the railway, such as those in Ngāhinapōuri and south of Kawhia Harbour. Generally those areas which would have benefitted from the railway voted for it, the exception being Te Uku.
Buses Te Uku is served by the Raglan bus and school buses, but once also had services north and south. The first Hamilton-Raglan coach ran in 1880 and became a service car route about 1916. From March 1922 a two and a half hour, Pakoka Landing to Frankton, via Te Mata, "Silver Trail", bus service started, with a motor launch connection to Kawhia on Fridays.Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 62, 15 March 1922, Page 14 Pakoka-Te Mata-Frankton advert launching bus service Problems with rough roads and tides caused it to fail. In 1938 Western Highways started a service from Kawhia to Auckland via Makomako, Te Mata, Waingaro and Tuakau (via Highway 22) and back the next day. In 1946 Brosnan Motors started a daily run, leaving Kawhia at 5.45am, arriving at Auckland at 1pm, returning at 2 pm. and back at Kawhia about 9.30pm. In 1950 Brosnan Motors sold the Raglan-Kawhia run to Norman Rankin, who ended it in 1952. Brosnan Motors sold the Raglan-Auckland run to Pavlovich Motors in 1971. The first bus used on the Auckland-Kawhia run was a 7-seater Studebaker. Then a 10-seater Dodge used by Norman Collett later gave way to a 14-seater Oldsmobile. As the roads improved 18 and 21-seater Diamond T buses took over. Later 40-seaters ran from Raglan to Auckland,R T Vernon: Aotea Chapter 32 until Pavlovich closed the route in 1976.R T Vernon: Raglan
Churches On 29 January 1873 Abraham Kescel donated an acre or so of land to the Anglican Church. The church was also used as a school. The church was burnt down about 1880. In 1880 the Wesleyan and Anglican Churches were described as two tiny buildings near the Okete River ford.