2.1 History of Settlement and Development
The District is 182,150ha in area of which 3,560ha is held in Maori title. The administrative boundaries of the Matamata-Piako District Council traverse the tribal areas of Hauraki, Raukawa and Waikato. Te Whenua, the land, is to the Maori one of their most important taonga (treasures) and they regard themselves as kaitiakitanga (custodians or care givers) of the land for future generations. The District Plan must aim to acknowledge the traditional concepts of turangawaewae (a place to stand, a sense of belonging, a home marae), ahi ka or hohokainga (keeping the home fires burning) , and the strong trend toward whakamahana nga marae (a return to rural areas and strengthening of rural marae communities). An essential element to the sustainable management process is embodied in the Maori proverb or whakatauki: “Whatungarongaro te tangata, to itu te whenua” - “People come and go but the land remains”. In a world where men and women and their possessions have no permanence, the land remains the one “possession” which never changes nor is ever destroyed. People’s welfare depends on the land and everything related to it: water, fauna and flora.
Little is known of the history of pre-European life in the District. It appears that inter tribal tension was common and still underway at the time of the arrival of the first Pakeha. This was replaced by conflict between Maori and Pakeha as the European steadily encroached on Maori territory.
In 1833 missionaries established the first mission at Puriri, and then Matamata. Traders arrived during the 1850’s via the Waihou River.
The first permanent European settlement was in 1865 when J C Firth established an estate of approximately 22,700 ha in size. He broke the land in for agriculture, built a number of roads and cleared the Waihou River for steam navigation to serve his estate. The Waihou and Piako rivers provided the major routes for freight and passenger traffic at this time. In 1874 Thomas and Samuel Morrin purchased an estate, setting up a sheep and cattle station which led to the development of Morrinsville. About the same year Thomas Russell also purchased a large tract of land on condition that he construct 25 miles of road connecting the Waikato, Piako and Thames districts. This required reclamation of large tracts of swamp. It was found that effective reclamation resulted in land suitable for farming.
Meanwhile Firth established the first cheese and butter factory at Waharoa and laid the foundation of the family dairy industry by selling 20 hectare blocks of his land near the factory.
In 1880 Te Aroha became the centre of a short lived gold rush initiated by Hone Werahiko. In 1881 when the prospectors started to leave, the hot springs were developed. A regular boat service and permanent bath houses were provided, and in 1886 a rail link with Hamilton completed the link to Auckland. In the year ending 31 March 1887, 28,553 baths were taken compared with 4,878 in Rotorua.
By 1900 there were 22 springs discovered and the Hot Springs Domain passed into the control of the Department of Tourist and Health Resorts in 1903. The Department later handed over control of the area to a joint Piako County/Te Aroha Borough administrative body which today continues to be administered by the Council.
