Western Bay of Plenty District Western Bay of Plenty District Western Bay of Plenty District is a territorial authority within the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand. The district envelops Tauranga City by land, and includes Matakana Island, at the entrance to Tauranga Harbour. The district's population at the census was , of whom 16% are Maori. Of these, 1773 live in Waihi Beach, 3579 in Katikati, and 7080 in Te Puke. The district has a land area of 2,120.675 km² (818.797 sq mi). The seat of the Western Bay of Plenty District Council is at Greerton in Tauranga City (which is a separate
Bay of Plenty become a popular attraction as the number of whales such as blue whales and humpback whales migrating into bay waters began to recover. The Bay of Plenty has 227 km of rail network and 4,460 km of roads. The main rail line in the region is the East Coast Main Trunk Railway, which extends from Hamilton in the Waikato region to Kawerau via Tauranga, with the Murupara Branch Railway extending the Kawerau terminus to Murupara, and the Mount Maunganui Branch connecting the Mount Maunganui terminus with the East Coast Main Trunk. Rail networks in the region are used exclusively for