Mākara

In the nineteenth century there was a small amount of gold-mining at Terawhiti Station but no large-scale workable deposits were ever found. Tunnels associated with mining activity still exist on the hillside.^[7]

In 1921 the Makara War Memorial was unveiled, built in memory of local residents who died in World War 1, and another name was added after World War II.^[8][9]

There are gun emplacements at Fort Opau which still remain. These were built as part of the coastal fortifications of New Zealand due to fears of invasion during the second world war. A small foreshore reserve of sand dunes was bulldozed during this time as it was felt these could be hiding places for an invading army. This destroyed ecosystem is slowly being restored by local community groups.^[10]

The Cook Strait Cable comes ashore from the South Island at Oteranga Bay in the suburb of Mākara. The HVDC line came into operation in April 1965 and was at the time the world's largest submarine cable.^[11]

A radio receiving station was set up in 1944 in the region, at Quartz Hill, to receive overseas shortwave broadcasts for re-transmission by the New Zealand Broadcasting Service, close to the NZ Post Office Makara Radio receiving station. Subsequently from 1997 to 2007 the site was leased to a local amateur radio club, who installed equipment and multiple antennae to contact operators all over the world. The station's callsign was ZL6QH.

In 1973 Makara Riding, formerly under the jurisdiction of a County Council, came under the administration of the Wellington City Council.^[12]

West Wind, a proposal for a $380-million wind farm by Meridian Energy was approved by Wellington City Council in 2005. Opponents claimed that the project was too close to a populated area. In 2007 construction began on West Wind along Terawhiti Ridge. A temporary wharf was constructed in Oteranga Bay to move turbine parts into the area without going through Wellington's Central Business District.

The 62 turbine farm was completed in 2009 and includes a recreation area.^[13] The turbines are 111 metres high and cover a 56 square-kilometre area including Quartz Hill and Terawhiti Station.

In 2019, the name of the locality was officially gazetted as Mākara.^[14]

Mākara covers 74.58 km² (28.80 sq mi).^[3] It is part of the Mākara-Ohariu statistical area.^[15]

Mākara had a population of 249 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 3 people (1.2%) since the 2018 census, and a decrease of 3 people (−1.2%) since the 2013 census. There were 129 males, 114 females, and 3 people of other genders in 99 dwellings.^[16] 6.0% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. There were 42 people (16.9%) aged under 15 years, 33 (13.3%) aged 15 to 29, 150 (60.2%) aged 30 to 64, and 27 (10.8%) aged 65 or older.^[4]

People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 91.6% European (Pākehā); 18.1% Māori; 1.2% Pasifika; 2.4% Asian; 2.4% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 3.6% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 97.6%, Māori by 4.8%, and other languages by 13.3%. No language could be spoken by 2.4% (e.g. too young to talk). The percentage of people born overseas was 24.1, compared with 28.8% nationally.^[4]

Religious affiliations were 22.9% Christian, 1.2% New Age, and 2.4% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 65.1%, and 9.6% of people did not answer the census question.^[4]

Of those at least 15 years old, 69 (33.3%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 108 (52.2%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 24 (11.6%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. 51 people (24.6%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was 132 (63.8%) full-time and 27 (13.0%) part-time.^[4]

Mākara Model School, a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, is located in Mākara.^[22] It has a roll of 72 as of October 2025.^[23]

The school is a community emergency hub.^[24]

• Project West Wind wind farm and Makara Guardians
• Terawhiti Station