Last updated October 2026
Omahu is a small village in Hastings District, on the Heretaunga Plains northwest of Hastings. It lies on State Highway 50, on the north bank of the Ngaruroro River, in country long tied to Ngāti Kahungunu and the hapū of Omāhu Marae. This is a rural settlement, not a city suburb: farmland, the marae, a church and a primary school shape it more than shops or housing estates.
The Māori name is written Ōmāhu or Omāhu, and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage translates Ōmahu as the place where Mahu ran out of food.
Visitors reach it on a short drive from Hastings into plains country with a deep Māori and church history. Residents live with that history, and with a river that has flooded the settlement in living memory.
Official Locality Facts
- Population (2023 Census)
- About 140, about the same as 2018
- Land area
- 4.12 km²
- Location
- 10.8 km north-west of central Hastings
- Council
- Hastings District Council
- Neighbouring suburbs
- Crownthorpe, Pukehamoamoa, Fernhill
- Ward or local board
- Heretaunga Ward; Takitimu Māori Ward
- Getting there
- State Highway 50 (Korokipo Road) through Fernhill, northwest of Hastings. Omahu Road links the plains toward Hastings. No regular public bus stop in the village was confirmed.
- Schools
- Omahu School, a state co-educational primary school. It opened in 1899 as Fernhill School and has been known as Omahu School since the 1950s.
- Nearby landmarks
- Omāhu Marae, St John’s Anglican Church, the Ngaruroro River, and the Ōmāhu war memorials
Who Lives in Omahu
About 140 residents in 10 households. From the 2023 Census, with the New Zealand figure alongside for comparison.
About Omahu
Omahu sits on the north bank of the Ngaruroro River and has a known flood risk. In February 2023, Cyclone Gabrielle caused the river to burst its banks and inundate the settlement, destroying houses and badly damaging Omahu School.
Students were able to return after rebuilding. Anyone living here, or visiting low-lying land, should treat river warnings seriously and follow Hastings District Council and Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence advice.
The village is part of the fertile Heretaunga Plains, the orchard, cropping and pastoral country that surrounds Hastings. State Highway 50 runs through the settlement as Korokipo Road. Hastings District Council lists Omāhu Marae at 1857 Korokipo Road, Fernhill, so Fernhill is the address most people will see for the marae and the nearby school.
The wider name Omahu also appears on Omahu Road, the plains route back toward Hastings, where council has rezoned land on the northern side for industrial use. That industrial strip is not the character of the village itself.
Māori Maps places Omāhu Marae with Ngāti Kahungunu, and records hapū including Ngāi Te Ūpokoiri. The meeting house is Kahukuranui and the dining hall is Ruatapuwahine. The marae connects to the maunga Puketapu and the awa Ngaruroro.
Other hapū, including Ngāti Hinemanu, Ngāti Honomōkai and Ngāti Mahuika, are also recorded in association with the marae. The settlement was a major centre for the rangatira Rēnata Kawepō and his people in the nineteenth century, on land that remained a political and cultural base as European farming spread across the plains.
Day to day, Omahu is quiet rural Hastings District. There is no town centre of shops and cafes. Life gathers around the marae, the school, the church and the working land. The river is the defining edge of the place: a source of identity, and a hazard when it rises.
History and Heritage
Local tradition links the name to the ancestor Mahutapoanui and a crossing of the river near the present marae. The Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives the translation of Ōmahu as the place where Mahu ran out of food.
Wikipedia, citing primary directories, describes the settlement as established in 1850 by Rēnata Kawepō, a Ngāti Te Upokoiri leader who made Omahu a political and economic centre on the Heretaunga Plains.
In 1872 Kawepō gifted land for a school because he wanted Māori and European children taught together, not in a separate native school. Lessons first took place in the Anglican church and the marae dining hall. Fernhill School opened on the gifted land in 1899.
By the 1950s it was being called Omahu School, and in 1980 it became a bilingual school, described at the time as the country’s first. Author Sylvia Ashton-Warner taught there. Cyclone Gabrielle later destroyed most of the school buildings; enough was rebuilt for students to return in early 2024.
St John’s Anglican Church stands across the road from the marae. The stone wall around its churchyard and cemetery is the district’s First World War memorial, dedicated on 20 August 1924, with tablets in English and te reo Māori remembering Pākehā and Māori dead.
The cemetery is also the site of the Renata Kawepo memorial, erected in October 1929. At the marae, a marble statue of a soldier at ease was unveiled on 24 January 1946 during a welcome home for Hawke’s Bay soldiers of the Māori Battalion. A wooden roll of honour for 1939 to 1945 is held in the dining hall.
Getting Around
The practical way in is by car or bike on State Highway 50. From Hastings, Omahu Road runs northwest across the plains toward the Ngaruroro and the Fernhill bridge area, where Korokipo Road continues through the village.
The marae, church and school sit close together on that road, so the historic core is easy to find once you are on State Highway 50. A regular public bus service to the village was not confirmed, so do not rely on a city bus to get there.
There is no shopping centre in the settlement. Groceries, services and most secondary schooling are in Hastings. Along Omahu Road, closer to the city, Hastings District Council has completed a district plan variation that makes some 63 hectares on the northern side of the road available for industrial use, aimed at dry industry rather than the village itself.
Traffic on State Highway 50 can be steady, including trucks serving plains farms and that industrial land, so take care at the marae and school frontages.
Community and the River
Omāhu Marae is the community anchor. It is a living marae, not a public museum. Phone the marae office on (06) 879 6890 before visiting, and follow tikanga on arrival. The churchyard memorials are part of the roadside landscape opposite the marae, but building access should not be assumed.
Omahu School remains the local primary. Families looking at the area should contact the school directly about enrolment, transport and how the grounds have been rebuilt since the cyclone.
The Ngaruroro is not a casual swimming spot to treat lightly: it is a large braided river with a record of sudden flooding. Check official warnings before spending time on the banks, and do not drive through floodwater on the highway or side roads.
Near Omahu
Just outside Omahu, within 10 km of its centre, nearest first.
Places
Businesses
Where to Learn More
Hastings District Council: Omahu Marae: council address and location details for Omāhu Marae on Korokipo Road.
Māori Maps: Omāhu: iwi and hapū links, wharenui, wharekai, maunga, awa and contact details.
NZ History: Ōmāhu war memorials: the marae soldier statue, the churchyard memorial wall, and the Kawepo memorial.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Omahu?
Omahu is a village in Hastings District, northwest of Hastings on State Highway 50, on the north bank of the Ngaruroro River. The marae address used by council is 1857 Korokipo Road, Fernhill.
What does the name mean?
The Ministry for Culture and Heritage translates Ōmahu as the place where Mahu ran out of food. Local tradition also ties the name to the ancestor Mahutapoanui and a river crossing near the marae. Spellings vary between Ōmāhu, Omāhu and Omahu.
Which iwi and hapū are connected to the marae?
Māori Maps links Omāhu Marae to Ngāti Kahungunu, with hapū including Ngāi Te Ūpokoiri. Other hapū, including Ngāti Hinemanu, Ngāti Honomōkai and Ngāti Mahuika, are also recorded in association with the marae. The wharenui is Kahukuranui and the wharekai is Ruatapuwahine.
Can visitors go onto the marae?
Only with permission and according to tikanga. Contact the marae on (06) 879 6890 before you visit. Do not treat it as a public park or walk onto the ātea uninvited.
What school is in Omahu?
Omahu School is the state primary school. It opened in 1899 as Fernhill School, took the Omahu name from the 1950s, and became a bilingual school in 1980. Most of the buildings were destroyed in the 2023 cyclone and later rebuilt enough for students to return.
How do I get there from Hastings?
Drive northwest on Omahu Road toward the Ngaruroro, then continue on State Highway 50 (Korokipo Road) through Fernhill. A regular public bus to the village was not confirmed.
Is Omahu safe from flooding?
No. The Ngaruroro burst its banks in Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023 and flooded the settlement, destroying houses and damaging the school. Low-lying land remains exposed. Follow council and Civil Defence warnings, and never drive through floodwater.
Is there shopping in the village?
No shopping centre was confirmed in Omahu. Everyday shops and services are in Hastings. The historic cluster to look for is the marae, St John’s Anglican Church and the war memorials on Korokipo Road.
Spotted something incorrect on this page? Let us know.
Explore Hastings only lists suburbs officially recognised by Land Information New Zealand (LINZ), and Omahu is one of them. Suburb boundary: LINZ, CC BY 4.0.