Temuka

Temuka is a town on New Zealand's Canterbury Plains, 15 kilometres north of Timaru and 142 km south of Christchurch. It is located at the centre of a rich sheep and dairy farming region, for which it is a service town. It lies on the north bank of the Temuka River, just above its confluence with the Ōpihi River.

Temuka is the second largest town in South Canterbury after Timaru. Temuka is home to three schools, two primary schools and one secondary school. Temuka is accessed by New Zealand's State Highway Number 1 and the Main South Line railway allowing for major cargo handling. Temuka is north of the Opihi and Temuka rivers. The local secondary school, Opihi College, takes its name from the Opihi River. Both rivers are popular with locals and tourists. Almost all traffic passing north or south goes through or around Temuka. Temuka has recently had the redevelopment of the local Domain by incorporating a skate park to join the other facilities which include a swimming pool, mini golf, golf, netball, outdoor bowls and tennis. There are also rugby and football fields, a stadium complex and a holiday park.

History


The name Temuka, or Te Muka, is a corruption of Te Umu-kaha, which is thought to mean either 'fierce ovens' or 'strong current'. The fierce ovens would be the large earth ovens (umu) that Māori used to cook the roots of plentifully-growing cabbage trees. Temuka was originally called Wallingford.

Temuka was gazetted as a town in 1858. The first survey was conducted in 1863. The first buildings were erected in 1860. Initial industries included a tannery works, a cheese factory, a flour mill and potteries. The police barracks were built in 1863 and the telegraph office was opened in 1868. In 1878, the Oddfellows lodge and the St George Masonic lodge were opened. The Temuka town board was constituted in 1884. In 1899, Wallingford and Arowhenua town districts were incorporated into the borough of Temuka.

The population of Temuka was 1465 people in 1901. Temuka was described in 1903 as having two doctors, two chemists and one dentist in the town, which has a well kept park and domain, with a bicycle track, and tennis, cricket and football grounds. The two storied post and telegraph office was opened in 1902 by Sir Joseph Ward.

Temuka was a stop on the Main South Line until passenger services were discontinued. At one time Temuka supported wool scouring plants, it had a flour mill and manufactured electric power transmission insulators.

Temuka was hit by a significant flood on March 13, 1986, with Temuka being isolated after the bridge crossing State Highway 1 being washed out.

Temuka previously had its own council system in place, but has been under the administration of Timaru District Council since 1989. Recently, the council has been redeveloping Temuka in the form of cleaning waterways, new walkways, redeveloping of existing walkways, new gardens, domains, new tennis courts, complete skate park and general modernisation of the large service town.

Marae
Arowhenua marae, a marae (tribal meeting ground) of Ngāi Tahu and its Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua branch, is located south of Temuka. It includes Te Hapa o Niu Tireni wharenui (meeting house).

In October 2020, the Government committed $50,232 from the Provincial Growth Fund to upgrade the marae, creating 16 jobs.

Demographics
The population of Temuka was 2212 people in 1951, 2254 people in 1956 and 2430 people in 1961.

Temuka is described by Statistics New Zealand as a small urban area. It covers 8.34 km2 and had an estimated population of as of  with a population density of  people per km2.

Temuka had a population of 4,470 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 216 people (5.1%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 225 people (5.3%) since the 2006 census. There were 1,911 households, comprising 2,205 males and 2,265 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.97 males per female, with 789 people (17.7%) aged under 15 years, 678 (15.2%) aged 15 to 29, 1,917 (42.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 1,083 (24.2%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 90.0% European/Pākehā, 12.1% Māori, 1.5% Pasifika, 3.5% Asian, and 1.7% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

The percentage of people born overseas was 10.2, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 50.3% had no religion, 39.0% were Christian, 0.3% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.7% were Hindu, 0.1% were Muslim, 0.1% were Buddhist and 0.9% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 228 (6.2%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 1,260 (34.2%) people had no formal qualifications. 474 people (12.9%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,749 (47.5%) people were employed full-time, 495 (13.4%) were part-time, and 81 (2.2%) were unemployed.

Presbyterian church
The Trinity Presbyterian church was damaged in the 2010 Canterbury earthquakes and was subsequently demolished. The church was 120 years old. The Sunday school hall was built after 1915 and funded by the Guild family, of Temuka. It was used as a hospital during the 1918 influenza epidemic. It was sold in 2002.

Saint Peters Anglican church
Saint Peters was built in 1899 and has seating for 300 parishioners. It also sustained damage in the 2010 Canterbury earthquakes.

Education
There are currently three primary and secondary schools in Temuka.

Temuka Primary School is a contributing primary for years 1 to 6 with a roll of students. A public school for both primary and secondary students opened in 1866, and moved to the current site in the late 1870s. The secondary school moved to a separate site in 1968.

St. Joseph's School is a Catholic state-integrated full primary for years 1 to 8 with a roll of students. The school opened in 1883.

Opihi College is a secondary school for years 7 to 13 with a roll of students. It was originally called Temuka District High School, then Temuka High School when it moved to its current site, and in 2005 the name was changed to Opihi College.

All these schools are coeducational. Rolls are as of

Rugby
The Temuka Rugby Club was established in 1875 with four players representing the All Blacks: Lachie Grant, Tom Coughlan, Archie Strang and Gus Spillane.

Temuka golf club
The Temuka golf club was established in 1907. Originally a 9 hole golf course, it has expanded to 18 holes. The Temuka golf course suffered significant flooding in May 2021 after the Temuka river burst its banks and flood waters were up to two metres high on the golf course. Flooding also closed the golf course for six months in 1986.

Temuka bowling club
The Temuka bowling club was founded in 1906. It is located in the Temuka Domain. It holds a number of tournaments throughout the year including the Temuka 3000 at New Years.

Swimming pool
The Temuka summer pool is open between mid November and late March each year. It is located at the Temuka Domain on Ferguson Drive. It has a 25 metre pool with 6 lanes and a toddlers pool. The pools are heated and outdoors.

Museum
The Temuka courthouse museum has over 6000 items detailing the local history of Temuka. It is located in the former courthouse, which was built between 1900 and 1901 and used as a courthouse until 1979. The building required earthquake strengthening in 2020. This was funded by a grant from the New Zealand Lottery Environment and Heritage Fund.

Business
Temuka is home to a large trucking company, Temuka Transport. This company has about 40 trucks which are used to service the South Canterbury area. Also located in the town is Temuka Homeware. This company produces ceramic crockery. Currently, the older and traditional items are seeing an increase of demand from collectors. Located in Temuka are various businesses including supermarkets, takeaways, collectors, hardware stores, office supply stores, and art galleries.

Temuka is home to New Zealand Insulators (NZI), the major supplier of insulators to New Zealand's power industry. Temuka houses NZI's corporate headquarters, South Island warehouse, and local factory. Temuka is also home to the only bagpipe bag manufacturing business in New Zealand, Gannaway New Zealand, manufacturing cowhide, goatskin, and sheepskin bagpipe bags exported worldwide.

Notable residents

 * Rachel Armitage (1873–1955), welfare worker
 * Ned Barry (1905–1993), rugby union player
 * Horace Fildes (1875–1937), postmaster, book collector and bibliographer
 * John Lister (born 1947), professional golfer
 * Richard Pearse (1877–1953), aviation pioneer
 * Hipa Te Maihāroa (?–1886), tribal leader, tohunga and prophet
 * Jeremiah Twomey (1847–1921), member of the New Zealand Legislative Council
 * Lachie Grant (1923–2002), rugby union player