. Patea .

Patea has retained a strong community focus and enjoys many services including a well-resourced medical center, public swimming pool and trust-owned rest home. The town is also the location of Aotea Utanganui - Museum of South Taranaki.

The breakwaters at Patea were started in 1878 and are being refurbished by the South Taranaki District Council.

Patea and surrounding community has a South Taranaki District Council LibraryPlus, which provides a full library service and Council-related services, including dog registration, payment of rates, and building permit enquiries. Other services include a Tot Time for the under 5s, a regular crossword morning and a book club for intermediate and high school children. The LibraryPlus has six APN computers, offering free internet and Skype.

Several kilometres east of Patea is the small community of Whenuakura, where New Zealand golfer Michael Campbell lived as a child. He learned to play golf at the Patea Golf Club, on the cliffs overlooking the Tasman Sea. He crowned his professional career by winning the U.S. Open in June 2005, and three months later the HSBC World Match Play Championship.

History

Patea, called Carlyle or Carlyle Beach for a time by European settlers, was originally nearer the Patea River mouth than the present town. During the New Zealand land wars Patea was an important military settlement. General Cameron's force arrived at the river mouth on 15 January 1865 and constructed redoubts on both sides of the river.

Patea became a market town when hostilities ended. The first of the sections on the present town site were sold in 1870. A local shipping company was established in 1872, and harbour improvements began. The Marton-New Plymouth railway line via Patea was completed in March 1885. The Carlyle Town Board, created about 1877 to administer town affairs, was succeeded by a borough council constituted on 13 October 1881 under the name Patea.

In the 1920s Patea was the largest cheese exporting port in the world. The Grader Cool Store received cheese for grading from all over South Taranaki and as far south as Oroua Downs near Himatangi. After grading it was loaded into coastal ships at the grader wharf for transport to Wellington where it was transhipped into overseas ships for export. The port closed in July 1959.

Patea became known in 1982 as the home of singer Dalvanius Prime and the Patea Māori Club. Their single, "Poi E", indicated renewed impetus in contemporary Māori popular music The town again came to national attention in 1982 when the main employer, the Patea Freezing Works, was closed.

 Patea Freezing Works

In the early 1880s the predecessor to the Patea Freezing Works was established on the eastern bank of the Patea River. Cool stores for handling dairy produce followed in 1901 with later additions evolving into what became known as the Patea Freezing Co-Op, South Taranaki's primary employer. Strategic reforms, inefficiencies and nationwide over-processing resulted in closure in September 1982. In February 2008 the derelict buildings suffered severe fires. Damage was extensive and with the health hazard presented by asbestos insulation throughout the freezer walls, the town sought demolition. As of March 2010 the site was being split into owners blocks as private property.

Statistics

Patea is the fourth-largest town in South Taranaki. It is on the western bank of the Patea River, 61 kilometres north-west of Wanganui on State Highway 3. Hawera is 27 km to the north-west, and Waverley 17 km to the east. The Patea River flows through the town from the north-east and into the South Taranaki Bight.

 

Patea House Sales On The Move (Video)

 

 

 

 

Population

1250 in 2019, 1098 in 2013, in the 2006 Census was 1143

Weather

Average temperature 13°C
Average rainfall 1009mm

Patea area school

Patea Area School

Secondary & Primary

https://pateaarea.school/

Patea Area School is a composite (years 1-13) school with a roll of 178. Until 2005 the school was Patea High School. It became an area school when Patea Primary School closed.The primary school was founded in 1875.

 Is coeducational and has a decile rating of 1.

St josephs school Patea

St Joseph's School

Primary

https://www.stjoespatea.school.nz/

St Joseph's School is a state integrated Catholic contributing primary (years 1-6) school with a roll of 17.The school was established in January 1904.

With  a decile rating of 1.

Patea museum

Aotea Utanganui - Museum of South Taranaki

https://museumofsouthtaranaki.wordpress.com/

The museum offers a rich and varied history of the area. The central section of the museum is the oldest colonial building in South Taranaki. It was built in 1869 and housed Taplin and Muir's General Store at the time of the first government sale of town sections in 1870

Patea Waka

Aotea Memorial Waka

The Aotea Waka, a key feature as you drive through Patea, was constructed in 1933 to commemorate the settlement of the area by Turi and his hapu.