Matatā


Matatā is a town in the Bay of Plenty in the North Island of New Zealand, to the north-west of Whakatāne.

History and culture

Recent history

In 2005 the town was inundated by two debris flows from the Awatarariki and Waitepuru Streams that devastated a number of buildings, but did not cause any casualties. The debris flows were caused by a band of intense rain, at a rate of over 2 mm per minute, that fell into the catchments southwest of Matata, dislodging a huge amount of debris that had built up behind a temporary dam.
From January 2005 the area was subject to hundreds of shallow, low intensity earthquakes, with the most intense swarms occurring in 2005 and 2007, but continuing to at least February 2009. The largest event was of magnitude 4.2 in May 2007.
In 2016, scientists discovered a large amount of volcanic activity, including "an inflating magma" buildup, below the surface of the town. In 2019, the name of the town was officially gazetted as "Matatā".

Marae

Matata has four marae:
Matata had a population of 645 at the 2013 New Zealand census, an increase of 3 people since the 2006 census. There were 309 males and 339 females. Figures have been rounded and do not add up to totals. 60.4% were European/Pākehā, 59.9% were Māori, 2.0% were Pacific peoples and 2.0% were Asian.

Education

Matata School is a decile 5 state primary school with a roll of 77 students. St Joseph's Catholic School is a decile 2 integrated primary school with a roll of 28 students. Both schools are coeducational and cater for years 1–8.