Last updated October 2026
Raukawa is a rural locality in Hastings District, set on farmland west of the city rather than among the urban suburbs. Hastings District Council maps it inside the Maraekākaho community, beside the State Highway 50 corridor.
The land is a mix of pastoral farms, orchards, vineyards and lifestyle blocks, with houses scattered along country roads instead of grouped in a village. There is no shop, school or hall of its own.
For services and community life, people look to the neighbouring settlement of Maraekākaho, and to Hastings. It is a place to live or drive through for the open country, not a sightseeing stop with facilities.
Official Locality Facts
- Population (2023 Census)
- About 610, up 13% since 2018
- Land area
- 150.20 km²
- Location
- 16.8 km south-west of central Hastings
- Council
- Hastings District Council
- Ward or local board
- Mapped in the council’s Maraekākaho community area. Neighbouring Maraekākaho is in the Kahurānaki General Ward. Electors on the Māori roll vote in the Takitimu Māori Ward, which covers the whole district. Confirm a street address on the council ward finder.
- Getting there
- By car on Maraekakaho Road and Raukawa Road, with State Highway 50 nearby. No railway station, and no local bus stop has been confirmed.
- Main shopping
- No shopping centre in the locality. Hastings is the service town. Maraekākaho village is the nearest community hub, built around its hall and school rather than a retail strip.
- Schools
- None in the locality. The nearest state primary is Maraekākaho School, in the neighbouring village.
- Nearby landmarks
- Maraekākaho Hall, Maraekākaho School, the village war memorial, and the State Highway 50 rural corridor.
Who Lives in Raukawa
About 610 residents in 230 households. From the 2023 Census, with the New Zealand figure alongside for comparison.
About Raukawa
Raukawa Road has been part of Hastings District Council’s cyclone recovery programme. The council scheduled rebuild work at several sites, including culvert replacement, shoulder construction and sealing, and said the road would remain open, sometimes reduced to one lane under stop/go controls or temporary lights. Those works were programmed for a limited period, but rural road conditions on this side of the district can still change. Check the council’s Maraekākaho roading recovery page before you rely on a particular route.
Raukawa is not a village in the usual sense. The council’s Maraekākaho Community Plan map labels it as a named place in that rural community, beside State Highway 50.
On the ground it is farmland, lifestyle blocks and scattered houses, with vineyard country along the highway side of the plains. Nothing in the locality carries a Raukawa shop, hall or school name.
The same council plan describes this wider community as a mix of lifestyle blocks, vineyards and wineries, orchards and pastoral farms, with quarrying and forestry also part of the local economy. It names the local hapū as Ngāti Pōporo and Ngāti Whatuiāpiti.
A meaning for the locality name Raukawa is not set out in the council or heritage pages checked for this guide. The word is also a te reo Māori plant name, and the name of an iwi based outside Hawke’s Bay, so neither should be read as the origin of this place.
The neighbouring settlement of Maraekākaho is the social centre for this side of the district. Its name refers to an area of kākaho, the culm of the toetoe, once common here. In the 19th century Donald McLean held a pastoral station on this land, and his son Douglas later subdivided it for closer settlement.
The village grew around a school and hall. Maraekākaho School is a state full primary that opened in 1893. Maraekākaho Hall has been a meeting place since the 19th century; the hall trust has dated the first part of the building to 1877. A war memorial in the village commemorates local men killed in the First World War.
Living here means a car-based rural life within reach of Hastings, not a walkable neighbourhood. Community events, the school and emergency meeting points sit in the Maraekākaho village hub.
Hastings remains the place for supermarkets, health services and most work. The appeal is space and productive land, with the trade-off of country roads, limited local services and a landscape that is working farmland first.
Getting Around
Access is by rural road. Maraekakaho Road is the main link from Hastings to the village, and Raukawa Road runs through the locality that takes its name. State Highway 50 is the other arterial on this side of the district, and the council community map places the Raukawa label beside that highway corridor.
This is not a public-transport destination. There is no railway station, and no local bus stop has been confirmed. Most trips, including the school run to Maraekākaho School, are by car. During roadworks, expect short delays and temporary speed limits rather than an urban street.
Community Life
Day-to-day community life is organised through Maraekākaho rather than through facilities in Raukawa itself. The council community plan treats the church, the hall and related buildings as the hub for gatherings, training and emergency meetings. A local group, Focus MKK, works with the council on village projects, from planting to paths and road-safety ideas.
There is no café strip or supermarket to list here. The community plan has treated a possible local store as something still to be assessed, which matches a pattern of everyday shopping in Hastings. The hall remains the place for local functions, school activities and community meetings.
The Working Landscape
Raukawa is part of the productive plains and valley country west of Hastings, not a park or beach destination. Paddocks, shelter belts and vineyard rows are the view from the road.
The Ngaruroro River is the main waterway of the wider Maraekākaho landscape, and the community has been developing walking and cycle links from the village toward the river. Those tracks are a village project, not a formed reserve inside Raukawa.
Visitors passing through will not find public toilets, a playground or an information stop under the Raukawa name. If you want a reason to pause, the hall and war memorial at Maraekākaho are the nearby landmarks. Cellar doors in the wider district are private businesses, not community facilities.
Near Raukawa
Just outside Raukawa, within 10 km of its centre, nearest first.
Places
Businesses
Where to Learn More
Maraekākaho Community Plan, Hastings District Council: Council plan for the rural community whose map labels Raukawa, covering land use, the hall hub and local priorities.
Maraekākaho roading recovery, Hastings District Council: Council updates on cyclone road repairs, including the Raukawa Road rebuild and whether the road is under traffic management.
Maraekakaho, NZ History: Ministry for Culture and Heritage summary of the neighbouring settlement, its station history and the meaning of its name.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Raukawa part of Hastings?
Yes. It is a rural locality in Hastings District, west of the city, not an urban suburb with its own shops and street grid.
How do I get to Raukawa?
By car, using Maraekakaho Road and Raukawa Road. State Highway 50 runs nearby. There is no railway station in the locality, and no local bus stop has been confirmed.
Is there a school in Raukawa?
No school is based in the locality. The nearest state primary is Maraekākaho School, in the neighbouring village. It opened in 1893.
Where do people shop?
There is no shopping centre in Raukawa. Hastings is the service town. Maraekākaho village is the local community hub, centred on its hall and school.
Which council ward covers Raukawa?
Council maps the locality in the Maraekākaho community area. The neighbouring settlement is in the Kahurānaki General Ward, and electors on the Māori roll vote in the district-wide Takitimu Māori Ward. Use the council ward finder with a street address to confirm.
Is Raukawa Road open?
Council programmed cyclone recovery repairs at several sites and said the road would stay open, with one-lane sections under traffic management while work was underway. Check the council’s Maraekākaho roading recovery page before you travel, because works and temporary limits can change.
Is this the home of Ngāti Raukawa?
No. Ngāti Raukawa is an iwi with traditional bases outside Hawke’s Bay. For the Maraekākaho community that includes this locality, the council plan names Ngāti Pōporo and Ngāti Whatuiāpiti.
What is there to see?
Raukawa is a farming landscape, not a visitor precinct. The nearby village of Maraekākaho has a community hall and a war memorial, and the wider district has vineyards along the State Highway 50 side of the plains.
Spotted something incorrect on this page? Let us know.
Explore Hastings only lists suburbs officially recognised by Land Information New Zealand (LINZ), and Raukawa is one of them. Suburb boundary: LINZ, CC BY 4.0.