Tūrangi is a small town on the west bank of the Tongariro River, 50 kilometres south-west of Taupō on the North Island Volcanic Plateau of New Zealand.

The town was designed to remain as a small servicing centre for the exotic forest plantations south of Lake Taupō and for tourists.

The Tūrangi area covers some 2273 km², and is located close to the edge of the Kaimanawa Ranges and ten kilometres north of the stretch of State Highway 1 known as the Desert Road.

[4] Built on the banks of the Tongariro River, Tūrangi and its surrounding countryside offers challenging hunting, fishing, mountain biking, hiking or leisurely bush walks, white water rafting, kayaking and sight seeing.

After the end of the Project in the 1980s the population declined but has since remained stable due to the town's handy location for tourists.

The town is also home to a Centre for Sustainable Practice at Awhi Farm, providing education and enterprise training.

From here they established a number of homesteads along both sides of the Tongariro River and its tributaries, including houses along the main Highway to Taumarunui (now Hirangi Road).

[12] In the 1950s, in response to post World War II needs for rapid expansion of energy resources to meet the growing industrialisation in New Zealand, the Tongariro Power Scheme proposal was developed.

The tourism potential of Lake Taupō was appreciated, as well as the economic benefits that could be captured by creating a permanent township.

Taking into account accessibility, climate, and adequacy of suitable land for development of a township, it was decided proceed with the Turangi West site.

[12] A model town with curving streets and cul-de-sacs, uniform houses, pedestrian shopping centre, car parks and separation from the traffic on the main highway was created.

Italian traditions such as a mass for Santa Barbara, patron saint of tunnellers and miners, were also acknowledged.

[16] A publicity pamphlet published by the Ministry of Works in 1969 described Tūrangi at that time as a pleasant and attractive town of 5000 people which offered a ‘balanced community life’.

The pamphlet enumerated the town's amenities, shops, and services, such as its mall, schools, sports facilities, library, maternity hospital, parks, and, not least, its wide, grassy verges and kerbing.

[17] Following the completion of the project in the late 1970s,[12] the Ministry of Works and other government departments began a process of selling assets[12] within the Turangi township.

The Tribunal found that the Crown had breached the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in a number of ways: In July 1998,[18] the Crown and Ngāti Tūrangitukua negotiated to achieve a full and final settlement of Ngāti Tūrangitukua's Treaty claims and to remove the continuing sense of grievance.