Waipawa

Waipawa
Minor urban area
Coordinates: 39°56′S 176°35′E / 39.933°S 176.583°E / -39.933; 176.583
Country	New Zealand
Region	Hawke's Bay
Territorial authority	Central Hawke's Bay District
Ward	Ruataniwha
Electorates	Wairarapa Ikaroa-Rāwhiti (Māori)
Government
• Territorial Authority	Central Hawke's Bay District Council
• Regional council	Hawke's Bay Regional Council
Area [1]
• Total	6.80 km2 (2.63 sq mi)
Population  (June 2023)[2]
• Total	2,400
• Density	350/km2 (910/sq mi)
Postcode(s)	4210

Waipawa is the second-largest town in Central Hawke's Bay in the east of the North Island of New Zealand. It has a population of 2,400 (June 2023).^[2]

The town is located 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) northeast of Waipukurau and 46 km (29 mi) southwest of Hastings, on the northern bank of the Waipawa River, a tributary of the Tukituki River.^[3][4] Waipawa was settled in the early 1860s.

It holds the main office of the Central Hawke's Bay District Council, and is New Zealand's oldest inland European settlement.^[5]

Frederick Abbot was one of the early settlers^[6] and Waipawa was originally called Abbotsford, when the township was being sold in 1859,^[7] and there is still a children's home in Waipawa named Abbotsford.^[8] However, it was often shown as Abbotsford, Waipawa^[9] and Waipawa was more commonly used alone after the opening of the Waipawa railway station and Waipawa Mail in the late 1870s.^[10]

A local newspaper, the Waipawa Mail, was published for most of the period from 1878 to 1980. It was one of 45 started by Joseph Ivess. In 1980 it merged to become the CHB Mail,^[11] which is now a free weekly paper, published in Waipukurau.^[12]