Wairau Valley

European settlement J. S. Cotterell surveyed the Wairau Valley in November 1842, and reported it contained rich land. Settlers from Nelson, led by Arthur Wakefield, tried to take possession of the land but the Ngāti Toa, led by Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata objected. The dispute escalated into the Wairau Affray at Tuamarina on 23 June 1843, in which 22 settlers and four Māori were killed. An enquiry held in 1844 by Governor Robert FitzRoy decided that the settlers were in the wrong. In November 1846, Nelson farmers Nathaniel Morse and John Cooper drove sheep into the Wairau valley and established settlements. Governor Sir George Grey purchased the land in the same year, but legal title to the land for the settlers was sorted out later. In the 1855 Wairarapa earthquake, the eastern end of the Wairau valley subsided by over a metre. Marae Parerarua Marae is located in Wairau Valley. It is a marae (meeting ground) of Ngāti Rārua and includes the Parerarua wharenui (meeting house). In October 2020, the Government committed $246,418 from the Provincial Growth Fund towards renovating the marae, creating an estimated 7 jobs. ==Demographics==

Wairau Valley town is described by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement. It covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. It is part of the larger Upper Wairau statistical area. Wairau Valley town had a population of 231 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 21 people (10.0%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 51 people (28.3%) since the 2006 census. There were 96 households, comprising 108 males and 123 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.88 males per female. The median age was 47.4 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 39 people (16.9%) aged under 15 years, 36 (15.6%) aged 15 to 29, 108 (46.8%) aged 30 to 64, and 48 (20.8%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 96.1% European/Pākehā, 6.5% Māori, 2.6% Pasifika, and 1.3% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 63.6% had no religion, 23.4% were Christian and 3.9% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 33 (17.2%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 42 (21.9%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $29,300, compared with $31,800 nationally. 21 people (10.9%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 108 (56.2%) people were employed full-time, 33 (17.2%) were part-time, and 3 (1.6%) were unemployed. Upper Wairau The statistical area of Upper Wairau covers . ==Education==

Wairau Valley School is a coeducational full primary (years 1–8) school with a roll of students as of A school first opened in the Wairau valley in 1861. ==Climate==

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