over a comparable time. For the Taranaki hapu, conflict and struggle have been present since the first European settlement in 1841 ... Taranaki Maori were dispossessed of their land, leadership, means of livelihood, personal freedom, and social structure and values. As Maori, they were denied their rights of autonomy, and as British subjects, their civil rights were removed. For decades, they were subjected to sustained attacks on their property and persons." In its report, the tribunal observed that to the offence of local Maori, many street names in Waitara honoured the architects of the illegal land confiscation, including chief crown purchasing agent Donald McLean, Land Purchase Commissioner Robert Parris, Governor Thomas Gore Browne and military officers Charles Emilius Gold and Peter Cracroft. It said: "It is our view that name changes are needed. It is when leaders like Kingi, who understood the prerequisites for peace, are similarly memorialised on the land and embedded in public consciousness that those names will cease to stand for conquest and the Waitara war will end." In November 1999 the New Zealand Government signed a Heads of Agreement with Te Āti Awa to settle its claims, a process that would provide financial compensation and an apology for the confiscation of land. Marae Waitara has two marae. Kairau Marae features Te Hungaririki meeting house, and is a meeting ground for the Pukerangiora hapū of Te Āti Awa. In October 2020, the Government committed $300,080 from the Provincial Growth Fund to upgrade the marae, creating 15 jobs. Ōwae or Manukorihi Marae features Te Ikaroa a Māui meeting house and is a marae of Te Āti Awa hapū of Manukorihi, Ngāti Rāhiri and Ngāti Te Whiti. In October 2020, the Government committed $360,002 to upgrade the marae and another marae, creating 15 jobs. Demographics Waitara, comprising the statistical areas of Waitara West and Waitara East which cover and respectively, had a population of 6,918 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 435 people (6.7%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 627 people (10.0%) since the 2006 census. There were 2,613 households. There were 3,369 males and 3,543 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.95 males per female, with 1,512 people (21.9%) aged under 15 years, 1,311 (19.0%) aged 15 to 29, 2,799 (40.5%) aged 30 to 64, and 1,296 (18.7%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 72.4% European/Pākehā, 43.1% Māori, 3.5% Pacific peoples, 1.5%