Founded in 1953, Kawerau was designed to accommodate the specialist workforce brought in to the area to work in a new mill producing pulp and newsprint.
Unlike most other towns of its size, Kawerau was carefully planned before construction started. It was purpose-built, rather than developed in an ad hoc fashion.
Today, the benefits of this forward thinking are plain for all to see - a compact shopping centre, plenty of parks and reserves, wide tree-lined streets, pockets of flower gardens and a sense of community which would be hard to match anywhere.
Kawerau house prices are climbing steadily providing a secure environment for investment. However, the price of housing in Kawerau is still affordable and many first-time buyers and retirees are finding Kawerau's prime location in the heart of the Eastern Bay of Plenty hard to resist.