Te Mārua

Te Mārua (previously also known as Te Marua) is the easternmost urban suburb of Upper Hutt. The usual resident population in the 2006 census was 1,068. For reasons of location and distance from the city, the area is often classified as rural. Te Mārua is well known for its Plateau Reserve where remnants of the old Rimutaka Railway path can be found, which now form part of a historic walk. Mt Climie, the highest peak of the Remutaka Range, can also be reached from the reserve.[1] The suburb is also the location of the Wellington Speedway, a nationally important venue for stock car racing,[2] and of the Wellington Naturist Club's club grounds, venue of the historic 2016 World Congress of the International Naturist Federation.[3]

Te Mārua is situated on State Highway 2, and is the last significant township (and shop) on the road before it reaches the head of the Hutt Valley and crosses the Remutaka Range into the Wairarapa. Te Mārua is situated in the original floodplain of the Hutt River and parts, particularly the Golf course, have been subject to flooding.

Just north of Te Mārua is the Te Mārua water treatment plant and the twin Stuart Macaskill Lakes. Water is taken from the Hutt River at Kaitoke, and either goes directly to the treatment plant or is stored in the lakes for future use. The water treatment plant supplies 40 percent of Wellington's water requirements, including all of Upper Hutt, Manor Park and Stokes Valley in Lower Hutt, all of Porirua, and the northern and western suburbs of Wellington City.[4]

Te Mārua residents are represented by the local community body, the Upper Hutt Rural Residents Association, and served by Maymorn railway station.

In December 2019, the approved official geographic name of the locality was gazetted as "Te Mārua".[5]