1.
Territorial authorities of New Zealand
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Territorial authorities are the second tier of local government in New Zealand, below regional councils. There are 67 territorial authorities,12 city councils,53 district councils, Auckland Council, six territorial authorities also perform the functions of a regional council and thus are unitary authorities. A unitary authority may also have local boards, currently only Auckland Council has them, territorial authority districts are not subdivisions of regions, and some of them fall within more than one region. Taupo District has the distinction of straddling the boundaries of four different regions, Regional council areas are based on water catchment areas, whereas territorial authorities are based on community of interest and road access. Some activities are delegated to council-controlled organisations, the boundaries of councils tended to follow the edge of the built-up area, so little distinction was made between the urban area and the local government area. Regional councils were reduced in number from 20 to 13, territorial authorities from 200 to 75, the new district and city councils were generally much larger and most covered substantial areas of both urban and rural land. Many places that once had a city council were now being administered by a district council, as a result, the term city began to take on two meanings. The word city came to be used in a formal sense to describe major urban areas independent of local body boundaries. This informal usage is jealously guarded, gisborne, for example, adamantly described itself as the first city in the world to see the new millennium. Gisborne is administered by a council, but its status as a city is not generally disputed. Under the current law the minimum population for a new city is 50,000, since the 1989 reorganisations, there have been few major reorganisations or status changes in local government. Incomplete list,1991, Invercargill re-proclaimed a city,1992, Nelson-Marlborough Regional Council abolished by a Local Government Amendment Act. Of its territorial authorities, Kaikoura District was transferred to the Canterbury Region,2004, Tauranga became a city again on 1 March. 2006, Banks Peninsula District merged into Christchurch City as a result of 2005 referendum,2010, Auckland Council, a unitary authority, replaced seven local councils and the regional council. Reports on completed reorganisation proposals since 1999 are available on the Local Government Commissions site, the split areas as well as the current North Shore City would form a Waitemata local council. Waitakere local council would consist of the current Waitakere City as well as the Avondale area, tamaki Makaurau would consist of the current Auckland City and Otahuhu Manukau local council would consist of the urban parts of the current Manukau City and of the Papakura District. Hunua local council would consist of the entire Franklin District, much of which is currently in the Waikato Region, along with areas of the current Papakura District. The entire Papakura District would be dissolved between urban and rural councils, the National-led Government responded within about a week
2.
Regions of New Zealand
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New Zealand is divided into sixteen regions for devolved local government. Eleven are administered by councils, and five are administered by unitary authorities. The Chatham Islands Council is similar to an authority, authorised under its own legislation. The regional councils are listed in Part 1 of Schedule 2 of the Local Government Act 2002, the Act requires regional councils to promote sustainable development – the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of their communities. The current regions and most of their councils came into being through a government reform in 1989 that took place under the Local Government Act 1974. In addition they took over roles that had previously been performed by county councils. Auckland Regional Council, formed in 1989, was replaced by Auckland Council, the boundaries of the regions are based largely on drainage basins. This anticipated the responsibilities of the Resource Management Act 1991, most regional boundaries conform with territorial authority boundaries but there are a number of exceptions. An example is Taupo District, split between four regions, although most of its area is in the Waikato region, property rates are used to fund both regional and territorial government activities. There is often a degree of co-operation between regional and territorial councils as they have complementary roles. Regional councils have these specific functions under the Resource Management Act 1991, notes, These regions have unitary authorities. The Gisborne Region is still widely but unofficially known by its name or as East Coast. Some outlying islands are not included within regional boundaries, the Chatham Islands is not in a region, although its council has some of the powers of a regional council under the Resource Management Act. Councils may use a first past the post or single transferable vote system, the chairperson is selected by the elected council members. The Auckland Regional Council was preceded by the Auckland Regional Authority, the Wellington Regional Council was first formed in 1980 from a merger of the Wellington Regional Planning Authority and the Wellington Regional Water Board. In 1978, legislation was passed enabling the formation of regions with united councils, twenty regions were designated, excluding the Auckland and Wellington areas. For most of the country this was the first regional level of government since the abolition of provinces in 1876, councillors were not elected directly – they were appointed from the various territorial local authorities within the region. For example, in a number of cases the united council took responsibility for the allocation of revenue from regional petrol taxes, the united councils were based in the facilities of the largest TLA in the region and largely dependent on the TLAs for resources
3.
Hawke's Bay Region
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Hawkes Bay Region is a region of New Zealand on the east coast of the North Island. It is recognised on the stage for its award-winning wines. Hawkes Bay Regional Council sits in both the cities of Napier and Hastings and it derives from Hawke Bay which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke who decisively defeated the French at the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759. The region is situated on the east coast of the North Island and it bears the former name of what is now Hawke Bay, a large semi-circular bay that extends for 100 kilometres from northeast to southwest from Mahia Peninsula to Cape Kidnappers. Five major rivers flow down into the coast of Hawkes Bay, from north to south, they are the Wairoa River, Mohaka River, Tutaekuri River, Ngaruroro River and Tukituki River respectively. Lake Waikaremoana is situated in northern Hawkes Bay roughly 35 km from the coast and it is the largest lake in Hawkes Bay, 4th largest in the North Island and 16th largest in New Zealand. In June 2015, the Local Government Commission proposed the amalgamation of the four local councils with the Hawkes Bay Regional Council and this proposal was rejected by the affected communities. The region has a hill with the longest place name in New Zealand, taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu is an otherwise unremarkable hill in southern Hawkes Bay, not far from Waipukurau. The regions population is 161,500 as of June 2016,3.4 percent of New Zealands population, around 81 percent of the regions population lives in the Napier-Hastings conurbation. Below is a list of areas that contain more than 1,000 population. The region has a significant Māori population,24.3 percent of the population identified as of Māori ethnicity at the 2013 census, a major local Māori tribe is Ngāti Kahungunu. Around 50.5 percent of Hawkes Bays population affiliate with Christianity at the 2013 Census, Hawkes Bay Province was founded in 1858 as a province of New Zealand, after being separated from the Wellington Province following a meeting in Napier in February 1858. The Province was abolished in 1876 along with all provinces in New Zealand. It was replaced with a Provincial District, on February 3,1931, Napier and Hastings were devastated by New Zealands worst natural disaster, an earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter magnitude scale, which killed 256 people. Napier rebuilt and now the city is world-famous for its Art Deco buildings, MTG Hawkes Bay, formerly Hawkes Bay Museum and Art Gallery, has an exhibition on the earthquake, its causes and impact. The GDP of the Hawkes Bay region was estimated at US$4.3 billion in 2003, the region is renowned for its horticulture, with large orchards and vineyards on the plains. In the hilly parts of the sheep and cattle farming predominates. The climate is dry and temperate, and the long, hot summers, missionaries in the mid 19th century planted the first vines in Hawkes Bay and it is now becoming an important place for full bodied red wines
4.
Districts of New Zealand
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A district in New Zealand is a territorial authority area governed by a District Council as a second-tier local government unit. They were formed as a result of government reforms in 1989. Banks Peninsula District became part of Christchurch as a result of 2005 referendum, franklin District, Papakura District and Rodney District no longer exist as of 2010. They became part of districts and Auckland Region
5.
Waipawa
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Waipawa is the second-largest town in Central Hawkes Bay in the east of the North Island of New Zealand. It has a population of 2,060, at the 2013 census, it had a population of 1,965, a change of 2.2 percent from the 2006 census. The town is located 7 kilometres northeast of Waipukurau and 46 km southwest of Hastings, on the bank of the Waipawa River. Waipawa was settled in the early 1860s, and the Settlers Museum exhibits many of historical collections. It holds the office of the Central Hawkes Bay District Council. There was also a home in Waipawa named Abbotsford
6.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
7.
North Island
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The North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the slightly larger but much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The islands area is 113,729 square kilometres, making it the worlds 14th-largest island and it has a population of 3,596,200. Twelve main urban areas are in the North Island, about 77% of New Zealands population lives in the North Island. Although the island has been known as the North Island for many years, in 2009 the New Zealand Geographic Board found that, along with the South Island, after a public consultation, the board officially named the island North Island or Te Ika-a-Maui in October 2013. In prose, the two islands of New Zealand are called the North Island and the South Island, with the definite articles. It is normal to use the preposition in rather than on, for example Hamilton is in the North Island, maps, headings, tables and adjectival expressions use North Island without the. According to Māori mythology, the North and South Islands of New Zealand arose through the actions of the demigod Māui, Māui and his brothers were fishing from their canoe when he caught a great fish and pulled it from the sea. While he was not looking his brothers fought over the fish and this great fish became the North Island and thus a Māori name for the North Island is Te Ika-a-Māui. The mountains and valleys are believed to have formed as a result of Māuis brothers hacking at the fish. Until the early 20th Century, an alternative Māori name for the North Island was Aotearoa, in present usage, Aotearoa is a collective name for New Zealand as a whole. The sub-national GDP of the North Island was estimated at US$102.863 billion in 2003, the island has an extensive flora and bird population, with numerous National Parks and other protected areas. Nine local government regions cover the North Island and all its adjacent islands, healthcare in the North Island is provided by fifteen District Health Boards. Organised around geographical areas of varying sizes, they are not coterminous with the Local Government Regions
8.
Pacific Ocean
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The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of the Earths oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, the Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres. Both the center of the Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere are in the Pacific Ocean, the oceans current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favourable winds on reaching the ocean. He called it Mar Pacífico, which in both Portuguese and Spanish means peaceful sea, important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times. Long-distance trade developed all along the coast from Mozambique to Japan, trade, and therefore knowledge, extended to the Indonesian islands but apparently not Australia. By at least 878 when there was a significant Islamic settlement in Canton much of trade was controlled by Arabs or Muslims. In 219 BC Xu Fu sailed out into the Pacific searching for the elixir of immortality, from 1404 to 1433 Zheng He led expeditions into the Indian Ocean. The east side of the ocean was discovered by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513 after his expedition crossed the Isthmus of Panama and he named it Mar del Sur because the ocean was to the south of the coast of the isthmus where he first observed the Pacific. Later, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailed the Pacific East to West on a Castilian expedition of world circumnavigation starting in 1519, Magellan called the ocean Pacífico because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn, the expedition found calm waters. The ocean was often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until the eighteenth century, sailing around and east of the Moluccas, between 1525 and 1527, Portuguese expeditions discovered the Caroline Islands, the Aru Islands, and Papua New Guinea. In 1542–43 the Portuguese also reached Japan, in 1564, five Spanish ships consisting of 379 explorers crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi and sailed to the Philippines and Mariana Islands. The Manila galleons operated for two and a half centuries linking Manila and Acapulco, in one of the longest trade routes in history, Spanish expeditions also discovered Tuvalu, the Marquesas, the Cook Islands, the Solomon Islands, and the Admiralty Islands in the South Pacific. In the 16th and 17th century Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a Mare clausum—a sea closed to other naval powers, as the only known entrance from the Atlantic the Strait of Magellan was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent entrance of non-Spanish ships. On the western end of the Pacific Ocean the Dutch threatened the Spanish Philippines, Spain also sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest reaching Vancouver Island in southern Canada, and Alaska. The French explored and settled Polynesia, and the British made three voyages with James Cook to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii, and the North American Pacific Northwest, one of the earliest voyages of scientific exploration was organized by Spain in the Malaspina Expedition of 1789–1794. It sailed vast areas of the Pacific, from Cape Horn to Alaska, Guam and the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific. Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by other European powers, and later, Japan, in Oceania, France got a leading position as imperial power after making Tahiti and New Caledonia protectorates in 1842 and 1853 respectively. After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887, Chilean navy officer Policarpo Toro managed to negotiate an incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in 1888, by occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations
9.
New Zealand State Highway 2
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State Highway 2 runs north–south through eastern parts of the North Island of New Zealand from the outskirts of Auckland to Wellington. It runs via Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty, Gisborne and it is the second-longest highway in the North Island, after State Highway 1, which runs the length of both of the countrys main islands. For most of its length it consists of a single carriageway. There are sections of expressway at Maramarua, Tauranga and Wellington, the route that SH2 took in 2008 is as follows. SH2 leaves SH1 just north of Pokeno,49 km south of central Auckland and it heads east, crossing the Hauraki Plains before running the length of the Karangahake Gorge, a break in the hills between the Coromandel Peninsula and Kaimai Ranges. After reaching Paengaroa Junction with SH33, SH2 reverts to highway status and follows the coast for a further 34 km, until it reaches the village of Matata. From Matata it heads inland, crossing the Rangitaiki plain to the south of Whakatane, loops south to Taneatua, through the Waimana gorge. After Opotiki it turns inland, ascending southeast along the valley of the Waioeka River, then winding up to the 725-metre Traffords Hill summit. From here it descends into the watershed of the Waipaoa River following the valley from Te Karaka to Makaraka, just outside Gisborne. It then turns south, passing the Wharerata Forest and the isthmus of the Mahia Peninsula, turning west to follow the coast of Hawke Bay. Close to the mouth of the Waihua River it heads inland, passing the Mohaka Forest. It continues south through Napier and turning inland to enter Hastings, from central Hastings it loses its national highway status for seven kilometres as it is cut in two by the Hastings City streets, regaining that status at Pakipaki. It continues to head inland from Pakipaki, initially southwest to Waipukurau, close to Norsewood it turns southwest, a direction it maintains for much of the remainder of its journey, crossing undulating country that forms the upper catchment of the Manawatu River. In Woodville, it meets SH3, which links SH2 with Palmerston North via the Manawatu Gorge, SH2 continues south into the Wairarapa, travelling through Eketahuna to Masterton. From Masterton, SH2 follows the Wairarapa valley through the towns of Carterton, the highway then winds through the Remutaka Pass, between the Rimutaka and Tararua Ranges, crossing into the Hutt Valley. SH2 follows the Hutt River down the valley, passing the cities of Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt to the west, the highway follows the shoreline of Wellington Harbour to Ngauranga and the Ngauranga Interchange, where it terminates onto SH1. Although the Ngauranga Interchange is the end of SH2. SH2 has one spur, SH 2B
10.
Palmerston North
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Palmerston North, commonly referred to by locals as Palmerston, or colloquially Palmy, is the main city of the Manawatu-Wanganui region of the North Island of New Zealand. Palmerston North is located inland, in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is 35 km from the rivers mouth and 12 km from the end of the Manawatu Gorge. It is about 140 km north of the capital, Wellington, the city covers a land area of 395 square kilometres. The citys location was once more than a clearing in a forest and occupied by small communities of indigenous Māori. In the mid 19th century, it was discovered and settled by Europeans, on foundation, the settlement was bestowed the name Palmerston, in honour of Viscount Palmerston, a former Prime Minister of Great Britain. The suffix North was added in 1871 by the Post Office to distinguish the settlement from Palmerston in the South Island, the Māori transliteration of Palmerston North, is Pamutana. However, Te Papaioea is the preferred Māori name, Palmerston North is the countrys seventh-largest city and eighth largest urban area, with an urban population of 84,300. Ngāti Rangitāne were the local Māori iwi living in the known as Te Ahu-ā-Tūranga. He came on a ship and explored possibly as far inland as the site of Woodville. He reported his discovery on arrival back to Porirua, colonel Wakefield heard of the potential that the Manawatu had for development and visited in 1840. In 1846 Stephen Charles Hartley, another trader, heard from tangata whenua of a clearing in the Papaioea forest and he proceeded through the bush and forest. In 1858, the Government began negotiations with local iwi to purchase land in Manawatu, there was a dispute at the time between rival iwi Ngāti Rangitāne and Ngāti Raukawa as to who has the right to sell. The dispute is resolved in favour of Rangitāne, in 1864, Te Ahu-a-Turanga Block was sold by Rangitāne to the Government for £12,000, in an effort to open the Manawatu to settlement. Stewart returned in 1866 on behalf of the Wellington Provincial Council and made the original survey, the focal point was an open space of 17 acres subsequently known as The Square. On 3 October 1866, Palmerston was formally endorsed after Isaac Earl Featherston signed a proclamation defining the boundaries of the settlement, the first sections were sold after. Among the first settlers included Scandinavians, who arrived in 1871 and they established settlements at Awapuni and Whakarongo/Stoney Creek. Later the same year, the suffix North was added to distinguish the settlement of the name in the South Island. In 1872 a petition was launched to change the name of the settlement, a public meeting in 1873 ends with no clear decision on the name
11.
Hastings, New Zealand
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Hastings is a New Zealand city and is one of the two major urban areas in Hawkes Bay, on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The population of Hastings is about 68,900 as of the June 2016, Hastings is about 18 kilometres inland of the coastal city of Napier. These two neighbouring cities are often called The Bay Cities or The Twin Cities, the combined population of the Napier-Hastings Urban Area is 131,000 people, which makes it the sixth-largest urban area in New Zealand, closely following Tauranga. The city is the centre of the Hastings District. The city of Hastings and its suburbs of Flaxmere and Havelock North are the principal settlements in the Hastings District. These main centres are surrounded by thirty-eight rural settlements, including Clive, Hastings District covers an area of 5,229 square kilometres and has 1.7 % of the population of New Zealand, ranking it fourteenth in size out of the seventy-four territorial authorities. Since the merger of the surrounding and satellite settlements, Hastings has grown to one of the largest urban areas in Hawkes Bay. Hastings District is a food production region, the fertile Heretaunga Plains surrounding the city produce stone fruits, pome fruit, kiwifruit and vegetables, and the area is one of New Zealands major red wine producers. Associated business include food processing, agricultural services, rural finance, Hastings is the major service centre for the surrounding inland pastoral communities and tourism. Near the fourteenth century CE, Māori arrived in Heretaunga or Hawkes Bay, settling in the river valleys and along the coast where food was plentiful. It is believed that Māori arrived at Heretaunga by canoe, travelling down the coast from the north, landing at Wairoa, Portland Island, the Ahuriri Lagoon at Westshore, and at Waimarama. Their culture flourished, along with gradual deforestation of the land and they were one of the first Māori tribes to come in contact with European settlers. The Māori owners leased approximately seventy square kilometres on the Heretaunga Plains to Thomas Tanner in 1867, in 1870, twelve people, known as the 12 apostles, formed a syndicate to purchase the land for around £1 10s an acre. The original name of the location which was to become the centre was Karamu. In 1871, the New Zealand Government decided to route the new railway south of Napier through a notional Karamu junction in the centre of the Heretaunga Plains and this location was on Francis Hickss land. The decision on the route was based largely on two reports by Charles Weber, the provincial engineer and surveyor in charge of the railway. Karamu junction was renamed Hastings in 1873, exactly who chose the name has been disputed, although Thomas Tanner claimed that it was him and that the choice was inspired by his reading the trial of Warren Hastings. In any event, the name fitted well with other names in the district
12.
Napier, New Zealand
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Napier is a New Zealand city with a seaport, located in Hawkes Bay on the eastern coast of the North Island. The population of Napier is about 62,100 as of the June 2016, about 18 kilometres south of Napier is the inland city of Hastings. These two neighbouring cities are often called The Bay Cities or The Twin Cities of New Zealand, Napier is about 320 kilometres northeast of the capital city of Wellington. The City of Napier has an area of 106 square kilometres. Napier has also become an important grape and wine production area, with the grapes grown around Hastings, large amounts of sheeps wool, frozen meat, wood pulp, and timber also pass through Napier annually for export. Smaller amounts of materials are shipped via road and railway to the large metropolitan areas of New Zealand itself, such as Auckland. Napier is a popular tourist city, with a concentration of 1930s Art Deco architecture. It also has one of the most photographed tourist attractions in the country, thousands of people flock to Napier every February for the Tremains Art Deco Weekend event, a celebration of its Art Deco heritage and history. Other notable tourist events attracting many outsiders to the region annually include F. A. W. C, food and Wine Classic events, and the Mission Estate Concert at Mission Estate and Winery in the suburb of Taradale. Later, the Ngāti Kahungunu became the dominant force from Poverty Bay to Wellington and they were one of the first Māori tribes to come in contact with European settlers. The rivers were continually feeding freshwater into the area, captain James Cook was one of the first Europeans to see the future site of Napier when he sailed down the east coast in October 1769. He commented, On each side of this head is a low, narrow sand or stone beach. He said the harbour entrance was at the Westshore end of the shingle beach, the site was subsequently visited and later settled by European traders, whalers and missionaries. By the 1850s, farmers and hotel-keepers arrived, the Crown purchased the Ahuriri block in 1851. In 1854 Alfred Domett, a future Prime Minister of New Zealand, was appointed as the Commissioner of Crown Lands, Domett named many streets in Napier to commemorate the colonial era of the British Indian Empire. Napier was designated as a borough in 1874, but the development of the surrounding marshlands, development was generally confined to the hill and to the port area of Ahuriri. There was a swamp between the now Hastings Street and Wellesley Road and the sea extended to Clive Square, on 3 February 1931, most of Napier and nearby Hastings was levelled by an earthquake. The collapses of buildings and the fires killed 256 people
13.
Wairarapa Line
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The Wairarapa Line is a secondary railway line in the south-east of the North Island of New Zealand. The line runs for 172 kilometres, connects the capital city Wellington with the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line at Woodville, via Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt and Masterton. The first part of the line opened in 1874 between Wellington and Lower Hutt, with the line to Woodville completed in 1897. The line originally included the famous Rimutaka Incline, which used the Fell mountain railway system to cross the Rimutaka Range between Upper Hutt and Featherston, part of the former route west of the Hutt River has been retained as the Melling Branch. The southern portion of the line between Wellington and Upper Hutt is electrified and is known as the Hutt Valley Line. Tranz Metro on behalf of the Greater Wellington Regional Council runs suburban services along the Hutt Valley section, kiwiRail runs regular freight services along the line between Wellington to Masterton and between Pahiatua and Woodville. No regular services run along the Masterton to Pahiatua section. It was also proposed to build a line to Martinborough. Proposals for railed transportation out of Wellington were made as early as the start of the 1850s, in 1853 and 1857, investigation of horse-hauled tramways was undertaken, but no action was taken. Robert Stokes, a member of the government, proposed a railway over the Rimutakas in 1858. The government established a committee to investigate proposals, and on 2 July 1866, in 1870 Julius Vogel included a Wellington-Wairarapa railway in his Great Public Works policy and visited London to arrange a loan to finance the policy. On this trip he was approached by several contracting firms and a contract that included the first section of the Wairarapa Line was awarded to Brogden & Sons. The construction of the line can be considered in three stages, the Hutt Valley section, the route over the Rimutakas, and the line through the Wairarapa via Masterton to Woodville. On 20 August 1872 construction of the Wairarapa Line began with the turning of the first sod at Pipitea Point, the site of Wellingtons first railway station. Further difficulties were encountered in building the rest of the route up the Hutt Valley along the Hutt Rivers western bank, including the need to divert the river, on 1 February 1876 the line opened to Upper Hutt. The Rimutaka Range posed a severe difficulty to those involved in planning and constructing the Wairarapa Line, however, from Summit down the eastern slope to Cross Creek near Featherston, a gradient of 1 in 14-16 was required. This was far too steep for regular steam locomotives to handle and this used a centre rail to which specially-designed locomotives and brake vans clung, allowing them to climb the steep slope upwards or control the descent. Despite the terrain, construction of this route was completed swiftly
14.
Woodville, New Zealand
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Woodville is a small town in the southern North Island of New Zealand,75 km north of Masterton and 25 km east of Palmerston North. In the 2006 census 1,398 people are resident in Woodville. It appears that Woodville was a travellers rest spot in Maori history and it was also a place to rest for hunters as they walked from one side of the Manawatu Gorge to the other. The local iwi were Rangitane, and maintained strong and positive relations with other tribes for the most part and they arrived at Wharetiti from Bare Island, Waimarama and continued northwards to Tongariro. It is some years since muttonbirds were last seen on part of the Ruahine Mountains. One interesting local landmark is Whariti, one of the peaks in the Ruahine Ranges near Woodville. The name appears to be a corruption of the original name Wharetiti, according to an interview on Radio Woodville in 2009, the peak of 920 m gained its name when migrating muttonbird nested on top of the ridges of the Ruahine mountain range. It is within the catchment area of the Manawatu River, Woodville is at the northern end of the Tararua Ranges, close to the gap between them and the Ruahine Ranges formed by the Manawatu River. The Manawatu Gorge provides the easiest access between the east and west coasts of the southern North Island, and is a transportation link. The Palmerston North - Gisborne railway line and State Highway 3 run through opposite sides of the Manawatu Gorge, at Woodville Railway Station, the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line meets the Wairarapa Line and a balloon loop permits through running via the Wairarapa to Wellington. Due to low levels, the northern portion of the Wairarapa line is currently under review as part of KiwiRails turnaround plan. In some weeks there is only a train on the line. The use of the railway by Fonterra for bulk milk haulage from Oringi means the Hawkes Bay line is sufficiently busy, the others were Dannevirke and Pahiatua. As farmland was settled and cleared, a number of dairy factories were established to process the supply of milk for consumption as milk. These business were only economic in the transport industry that existed prior to the Rogernomics reforms of the Lange Labour Government elected in 1984. With the lifting of distance restrictions Woodvilles role as a transport hub quickly fell away, the advent of the Oringi Meatworks in 1980-81 was a boost to Woodvilles economy as a consequence of significant wage inflows from Woodville people working at Oringi. Very little light industry has survived into the 21st century, Milk from farms in the Woodville district is now transported by rail from the Oringi Milk Transfer Station to Hawera for processing. There has been a boost to the economy with the construction
15.
Manawatu Gorge
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The Manawatu Gorge runs for 6-9 km between the Ruahine and Tararua Ranges in the south part of the North Island of New Zealand, linking the Manawatu and Hawkes Bay regions. It lies to the northeast of Palmerston North and its western end is near the small town of Ashhurst, its eastern end is close to the town of Woodville. The Manawatu Gorge is significant because, unlike most gorges, the Manawatu River is a water gap and this was caused by the ranges moving upwards at the same time as the gorge was eroded by the river, instead of the more usual erosion of an already existing range. The Manawatu River is the river in New Zealand that starts its journey on one side of the main divide. The road through the Manawatu Gorge, State Highway 3, is on the side of the river. It is the link between the two sides of the lower North Island. The road through the Manawatu Gorge has a history of sometimes being closed by slips, a single track rail connection was established on the northern side of the gorge, it was completed in 1891 and is now part of the Palmerston North – Gisborne Line. The rail connection is used by goods trains, there are currently no scheduled passenger rail services through the gorge. Occasional railway excursions, typically with steam trains, also use of the scenic Manawatu Gorge Railway line with its two tunnels and several small bridges. The Old Gorge Cemetery lies on the side of the Manawatu Gorge. Public access is available, but the cemetery was closed years ago to further burials. The road is located just a few out of Woodville on the north side of the gorge. In 2011 the gorge was closed after several massive landslips and it did not reopen until August 2012, and parts of the highway were still limited to one lane. In October 2012 it was closed so contractors could destroy large rocks that posed a threat to traffic. SH3 was blocked again for one month by further slips after severe weather on 9 April 2015, a 10 kilometres tramping track, the Manawatu Gorge Track, runs parallel to the gorge on the south side through native bush. The walking track passes several lookout points, one of which is above the site of the 2015 landslide, aptly called the Big Slip Lookout. The majority of the track leads through native bush, with the lookouts offering views overlooking the gorge, the statue was funded by the Manawatu Gorge Biodiversity stakeholder group and is made of steel. It was lowered to its location in the bush by helicopter, Te Apiti Wind Farm Te Apiti - Manawatu Gorge 2011 landslides in Manawatu Gorge
16.
Marae
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A marae malaʻe, meʻae, malae and mālaʻe is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the word also means cleared, free of weeds, trees, in the Rapanui culture of Easter Island ahu has become a synonym for the whole marae complex). In some modern Polynesian societies, notably that of the Māori of New Zealand, however, in tropical Polynesia, most marae were destroyed or abandoned with the arrival of Christianity in the 19th century and some of them have become an attraction for tourists or archaeologists. Nevertheless, the place where the marae were built are still considered as tapu in most islands, the word has been reconstructed by linguists to Eastern Oceanic *malaqe with the meaning open, cleared space used as meeting-place or ceremonial place. Like the related institutions of old Polynesia, the marae is a wāhi tapu, in Māori usage, the marae atea is the open space in front of the wharenui or meeting house. However, the marae is generally used to refer to the whole complex, including the buildings. This area is used for pōwhiri – welcome ceremonies featuring oratory, some marae do not allow women to perform oratory there. The meeting house is the locale for important meetings, sleepovers, the wharekai is used primarily for communal meals, but other activities may be carried out there. Many of the associated with marae in tropical Polynesia are retained in the Māori context. For example, the word refers to the bench where the speakers sit. Marae occur in various sizes, with some wharenui being a bit bigger than a double garage, a marae is a meeting place registered as a reserve under the Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993. Each marae has a group of trustees who are responsible for the operations of the marae, the Act governs the regulation of marae as reservations and sets out the responsibilities of the trustees in relation to the beneficiaries. Generally each marae has a charter which the trustees have negotiated with the beneficiaries of the marae, the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute Act,1963 was passed and the institute built to maintain the tradition of Whakairo. The NZMACI is responsible for the restoration and building of over 40 marae around New Zealand, like in pre-European times, marae continue to be the location of many ceremonial events, including birthdays, weddings, and anniversaries. The most important event located at marae is the tangihanga, tangihanga are the means by which the dead are farewelled and the surviving family members supported in Māori society. As indicated by Kaai and Higgins, the importance of the tangihanga, most iwi, hapū, and even many small settlements have their own marae. An example of such a settlement with its own marae is at Hongoeka Bay, Plimmerton. Since the second half of the 20th century, Māori in urban areas have been establishing intertribal marae such as Maraeroa in eastern Porirua, for many Māori, the marae is just as important to them as their own homes
17.
Pukehou
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Pukehou is a farming locality in southern Hawkes Bay, in the eastern North Island of New Zealand. Pukehou is located on State Highway 2, about half way between Hastings and Waipukurau, the localitys name is Māori, and means Hill of houhou, the houhou or Puahou being a small native flowering tree, Pseudopanax arboreus or Five Finger. Samuel Williams, who established the nearby Te Aute College, also built Christ Church in Pukehou, the present building was constructed in 1859 and is the oldest church in the Waiapu Diocese and Hawkes Bay. The church was constructed of timber with roofing of hand split totara shingles. The church was extended in both 1881 and 1893, work in the latter including the north and south transept. The church was repaired in 1959 with the roof being repiled, repainted and reshingled, the church was most recently repainted in 1993. The church has two significant stained glass windows, the east window was designed by John Bonnor while Karl Parsons designed the north one. The church is registered as a Category I heritage building by Heritage New Zealand, samuel Williams was the Rural Dean of Hawkes Bay from 1854 to 1888. He was archdeacon in 1888 and in 1889 was canon of Cathedral of St John the Evangelist in Napier, there is a marae at Pukehou
18.
Waipukurau
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Waipukurau is the largest town in the Central Hawkes Bay District on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on the banks of the Tukituki River,7 kilometres south of Waipawa and 50 kilometres southwest of Hastings, Central Hawkes Bay, where the town is located was settled by Te Aitanga a Whatonga, the desecendants of Whatonga, grandson of Toi Kairakau. These were the Ngati Tara and Rangitāne peoples, in the mid 1500s the Ngāti Kahungunu invaded the area from the north and in the subsequent fighting drove the Rangitāne south into the Tahoraiti area. Warfare continued through the 1600s until the time of Te Rangikoianake and his first child Te Kikiri was adopted by the Ngai Toroiwaho to be their chief - he had mana over the Waipukurau district. Fighting broke out again in the 1800s at Mangatoetoe between Ngai Te Upokoiri and Ngāti Te Rangikoianake of Poukawa, several of Te Rangikoianakes grand children were killed in this fight. Pareihe, a Ngati Rangikoianake Chief, avenged the defeat in a battle at Pukekaihau, Waipukurau after which a peace accord was made between the two tribes. The accord was short lived with the death of Te Wanikaus brother-in-law prompting further conflict over the erection of rahui poles on Lake Poukawa, the conflict, starting around 1819 and lasting till 1824 ended with the Ngati Rangikoianake and other local tribes evacuating the area and settling at Mahia. In the latter part of the 1820s Pareihe attacked the Ngai Te Upokoiri and regained the lands they had lost, a peace accord was made between Pareihe and the Ngāti Tūwharetoa in the late 1830s. The Ngati Tuwharetoa had been allied with the Ngai Te Upokoiri, within the current township is Pukekaihau hill, the site of the Māori pa, from which it gets its name. Waipukurau is said to mean the water of pukerau, wai being water, the pa was near the old Māori trail from the Manawatu Gorge and Hawkes Bay. The first Europeans who are known to have passed through the area were Bishop George Selwyn, in December 1850 Donald McLean and the his party of Land Commissioners meet with the Central Hawkes Bay tribes to discuss purchasing a large block of land for European settlement. In 1857 there was a house run by a Mr Aveson. This was sold in October 1858 to George Lloyd and renamed Lloyds Hotel, the Hotel was transferred again in 1861 becoming Mosss Inn or the Tavistock Hotel. Horse racing started in 1859 with the first recorded meeting on 2 February, the provincial council approved construction of roading from Waipukurau to Porongahau, a goal, and the appointment of a Constable at Waipukurau in 1859. Roading to Forty-mile bush was not commenced until late 1867, the surrounding land was part of Mount Herbert station and owned by Henry Russell. By at least 1858 Waipukurau was used as a hub for mail delivery to the district, a yard for stock. In 1863 land was offered to the Agricultural Society for a show, by 1864 the Presbyterians were looking to set up a church in Waipukurau. There was a school in town by 1866 but this was closed when the building it used was destroyed by fire that year, the school was replaced in August 1867 by new building which was to serve as both a church and a school
19.
Statistics New Zealand
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Statistics New Zealand is the public service department of New Zealand charged with collecting and producing information of a statistical nature. Standards and Methods studies statistical methods, statistical education and research, solutions and capabilities, information management, there is one general manager in Christchurch and one in Auckland. It develops products and services, manages publishing and customer services, industry and Labour Statistics studies business indicators, finance and performance, agriculture, energy and work knowledge and skills. Many of the powers, duties, and responsibilities are governed by acts of the New Zealand Parliament. The agency is a state organisation of New Zealand operating under the authority of the Statistics Act 1975. The department conducts the census five years. The census is officially done on one day, the most recent census was on 5 March 2013. This information is helpful for business purposes, government decision making, media purposes, foreign policy, journalism, public information, planning, the department supplies a wide variety of information. In addition, it analyzes trends and publishes forecasts, the agency does not involve itself with political polling generally. The agency provides information to the public, many surveys and reports are available free of charge on its website, users can download spreadsheets electronically. Information from demographers is used as material by journalists for articles. Sometimes statistics can influence public policy, for example, Statistics New Zealand demographers in 2008 spotted a trend of fewer women having children and wrote, Deciding not to have children happens as a consequence of other life events. Education, career, mortgages, changes in family and partners for many couples and their report was picked up by journalists at the Sunday Star-Times to form the basis of an article with the headline New Zealand women stop having babies. The article discussed ramifications, such as possible workforce shortages and increased cost of elderly care, newspaper headlines can influence public opinion which may impact policy decisions. Statistics New Zealand information is used by government to explore tough problems, agency data is quoted by a wide variety of sources, even in the footnotes of books. For example, in Connecting the Clouds - the Internet in New Zealand, author Keith Newman cites agency statistics regarding telecommunications cost decreases, data is used to help retailers spot trends and act accordingly. A newspaper article on decreased do-it-yourself retail spending in 2008 quoted an agency source and this information helps businesses adjust to new realities. Radio programmes such as Radio New Zealand National have quoted agency data, some agency policies result in controversy
20.
Auckland Council
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The Auckland Council is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. The governing body consists of a mayor and 20 councillors, elected from 13 wards, There are also 149 members of 21 local boards who make decisions on matters local to their communities. It is the largest council in Australasia, with a $3 billion annual budget, $29 billion of ratepayer equity, and 9,870 full time staff as of 30 June 2016. The council began operating on 1 November 2010, combining the functions of the regional council. The Council was established by a number of Acts of Parliament, both the means by which the Council was established and its structure came under repeated criticism from a broad spectrum during the establishment period. The initial Council elections in October 2010 returned a mostly centre-left council with Len Brown as mayor, Brown was re-elected in October 2013, again with a largely supportive council. The 2016 mayoral election was won by Labour MP Phil Goff, the Auckland Regional Council was formed in 1989, replacing the Auckland Regional Authority. Until 2010, the Auckland Region had seven City/District authorities, plus one Regional authority, in 2007, the government set up a Royal Commission on Auckland Governance to report on what restructuring should be done. Some recommendations of the Royal Commission which have not been adopted or implemented, 6B The Mayor of Aucklands annual State of the Region address should describe progress towards the attainment of the vision. 19C, Leadership support and development programmes for elected councillors should be strengthened, 21D, Auckland Council CCOs and their statements of intent should be subject to performance review by the proposed Auckland Services Performance Auditor. 21A 22A Two Māori members should be elected to the Auckland Council by voters who are on the parliamentary Māori Electoral Roll, 22B There should be a Mana Whenua Forum, the members of which will be appointed by mana whenua from the district of the Auckland Council. Where appropriate, current structures and/or memoranda of understanding should be transferred to local councils, 24F Auckland Council should consider creating an Urban Development Agency, to operate at the direction of the Auckland Council, with compulsory acquisition powers. The Auckland Council should determine the extent to which responsibilities for the delivery of services are shared between local councils and Watercare Services Limited. 26I Watercare Services Limited should be required by legislation to demand management. 26M Watercare Services Limited should be required to prepare an action plan. 27D The Auckland Council should prepare an e-government strategy as an part of its proposed unified service delivery. B) require Auckland Council CCOs providing council services to adopt the councils ICT infrastructure standards, the role of the Performance Auditor will include a) reviewing the adequacy and relevance of CCO performance targets. B) protecting the interests and advocating for them in respect of the reliability and affordability of council services
21.
Hamilton, New Zealand
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Hamilton is a city in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the seat and most populous city of the Waikato region with a population of 161,200. Initially an agricultural centre, Hamilton now has a growing and diverse economy and is the third fastest growing urban area in New Zealand, behind Pukekohe. Education and research and development play an important part in Hamiltons economy, the area now covered by the city was originally the site of a handful of Māori villages, including Pukete, Miropiko and Kirikiriroa, from which the city takes its Māori name. Magistrate Gorst, estimated that Kirikiriroa had a population of about 78 before the Waikato Kingitanga wars of 1863–64, the government estimated the Waikato area had a Maori population of 3,400 at the same time. Missionaries arrived in the area in the 1830s, at the end of the Waikato Campaign in the New Zealand wars the four regiments of the Waikato Militia were settled as a peace-keeping force across the region. The 1st Regiment was at Tauranga, the 2nd at Pirongia, the 3rd at Cambridge, many of the soldier/settlers who intended to farm after the 1863 war, walked off their land in 1868 disgusted at the poor quality of the land. Much of the land was swampy or under water, in 1868 Hamiltons population, which was about 1,000 in 1864, dropped to 300 as farmers left. The road from Auckland reached Hamilton in 1867 and the railway in December 1877 and that same month, the towns of Hamilton West and Hamilton East merged under a single borough council. The first traffic bridge between Hamilton West and Hamilton East, known as the Union Bridge, opened in 1879 and it was replaced by the Victoria Bridge in 1910. The first railway bridge, the Claudelands Bridge, was opened in 1884 and it was converted to a road traffic bridge in 1965. Hamilton reached 1,000 people in 1900, and the town of Frankton merged with the Hamilton Borough in 1917, between 1912 and 1936, Hamilton expanded with new land in Claudelands, Maeroa, and Richmond – modern day Waikato Hospital and northern Melville. Hamilton was proclaimed a city in 1945, from 1985 MV Waipa Delta provided excursions along the river through the town centre. In 2009 Waipa Delta was moved to provide trips on Waitemata Harbour in Auckland and that too ceased operation and the pontoon at Parana Park was removed in 2013. The Delta moved to Taupo in 2012, the former Golden Bay vessel, Cynthia Dew, has run 4 days a week on the river since 2012. On 10 March 2013 a statue was erected in honour of Captain John Charles Fane Hamilton, Hamiltons population growth has been rapid in recent decades – Hamilton Central, on the Waikato River, is a bustling retail precinct. The entertainment area is quite vibrant due to the student population. Many of the venues and attractions are located on the old Town Belt, including Hamilton Gardens, Waikato Stadium, Seddon Park, Founders Theatre
22.
Tauranga
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Tauranga is the most populous city in the Bay of Plenty Region of the North Island of New Zealand. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century and by Europeans in the early 19th century and was constituted as a city in 1963, Tauranga City is the centre of the fifth largest urban area in New Zealand, with an urban population of 134,400. The city lies in the corner of the Bay of Plenty. Tauranga is one of New Zealands main centres for business, international trade, culture, fashion, the Port of Tauranga is New Zealands largest port in terms of gross export tonnage and efficiency. This sudden population growth has made Tauranga New Zealands 5th largest city, the earliest known settlers were Māori who arrived at Tauranga in the Takitimu and the Mataatua waka in the 13th century. At 9 am on Friday 23 June 1826 the Herald was the first European ship to enter Tauranga Harbour, henry Williams conducted a Christian service at Otamataha Pā. In December 1826 and again on March 2007 the Herald travelled to Tauranga from the Bay of Islands to obtain supplies of potatoes, pigs, in 1835 a Church Missionary Society mission station was established at Tauranga by William Wade. Rev. Alfred N. Brown arrived at the CMS mission station in 1838, john Morgan also visited the mission in 1838. Europeans trading in flax were active in the Bay of Plenty during the 1830s, some were transient, others married local women and settled permanently. The first permanent non-Maori trader was James Farrow, who travelled to Tauranga in 1829, obtaining flax fibre for Australian merchants in exchange for muskets and gunpowder. Farrow acquired an area of 2,000 square metres on 10 January 1838 at Otumoetai Pā from the chiefs Tupaea, Tangimoana and Te Omanu. In 1840, a Catholic mission station was established, bishop Pompallier was given land within the palisades of Otumoetai Pā for a church and a presbytery. The mission station closed in 1863 due to wars in the Waikato district. The Tauranga Campaign took place in and around Tauranga from 21 January to 21 June 1864, the Battle of Gate Pa is the best known. The battle of Gate Pā was an attack on the well fortified Pā and its Māori defenders on 29 April 1864 by British forces made up of approximately 300 men of the 43rd Regiment and a naval brigade. It was the single most devastating loss of life suffered by the British military in the whole of the Māori Wars, the British casualties were 31 dead including 10 officers and 80 wounded. The Māori defenders abandoned the Pā during the night with casualties estimated at 25 dead, under the Local Government Order 2003, Tauranga became legally a city for a second time, from 1 March 2004. In August 2011, Tauranga received Ultra-Fast Broadband as part of the New Zealand Governments rollout, Tauranga is located around a large harbour that extends along the western Bay of Plenty, and is protected by Matakana Island and the extinct volcano of Mauao
23.
Porirua
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Porirua is a city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. It almost completely surrounds Porirua Harbour at the end of the Kapiti Coast. Pauatahanui Inlet, the inlet of the harbour, is notable for its world-class estuarine values. The population at the June 2016 was 55,200, the name Porirua has a Māori origin, it may represent a variant of pari-rua, a reference to the two arms of the Porirua Harbour. In the 19th century the name designated a district that stretched from Kaiwharawhara on the north-west shore of Wellington Harbour northwards to. The road climbing the hill from Kaiwharawhara towards Ngaio and Khandallah still bears the name Old Porirua Road, in the 19th century a small European settlement grew up, partly because of the need for a ferry across the harbour. At the time a small Māori settlement already existed, the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company opened a railway line to Porirua in 1885, linking the city with Wellington. The railway reached Longburn in 1886 to connect with the Governments lines to Taranaki, with the acquisition of the company by the government in 1908, the line to Porirua formed part of the North Island Main Trunk railway. The railway contributed much to the growth of Plimmerton and Paremata by making day-trips to the beaches from Wellington relatively easy, the line through to Porirua was electrified in 1940 following the construction of the Tawa Flat deviation. The 1880s and 1890s saw the establishment of the Porirua Lunatic Asylum on the hill south-west of the village, following the Mental Defectives Act of 1911, the Asylum became Porirua Mental Hospital. In the late 1940s state planning envisaged Porirua becoming a city of Wellington with state housing. Since then Porirua has grown to a city population approaching 51,000, major territorial additions to the city occurred in 1973 and 1988 as part of the reduction and eventual abolition of Hutt County. Substantial industrial areas, generally west of the city centre, have evolved, during the 1960s Kodak, UEB Industries and many small businesses opened at Elsdon. During the following decade, Ashley Wallpapers developed the former UEB property and after negotiations with the government. On 7 June 1976, New Zealands first McDonalds restaurant opened in Porirua, on the corner of Cobham Court, the original restaurant closed on 24 April 2009, and the store relocated to Kenepuru Drive. The area is administered by Porirua City Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council, four years later the population was officially estimated at over the 20,000 threshold then necessary for Porirua to be declared a city. On 1 April 1973 large areas to the north-east were transferred to the city from Hutt County by popular vote, Mana Island was added to the city at the same time. In 1988 a further addition was the Horokiri riding of the county, containing most of the new Whitby suburb
24.
Upper Hutt
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Upper Hutt is a city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. Upper Hutt is approximately 30 km north-east of Wellington, the citys main urban area is on this plain. A smaller flood plain lies upstream, above the Kaitoke Gorge, Upper Hutt has a temperate climate however due to its sheltered valley location, it generally tends to be warmer than inner city Wellington in summer and much colder in the winter. It is not uncommon in summer for temperatures to reach the mid 30s Celsius, snow generally doesnt fall below 300m, but in 2011 Upper Hutt sea level snow occurred twice, as part of 2011 New Zealand snowstorms. On 25 July and again between 14 and 16 August which was the heaviest blizzard in Upper Hutt since 1976 and came as a novelty to residents. Upper Hutt receives about 1400mm of rain per year, Upper Hutt City Council administers the city with its surrounding rural areas, parks and reserves. Its area is 540 km², the third-largest area of city council in New Zealand, after Dunedin, New Zealand local authorities with a large land area are usually termed districts, but Upper Hutt maintains its status as a city largely because of its high degree of urbanisation. Upper Hutt was originally administered by the Hutt County Council, which was constituted in 1877, the Town Board was proclaimed on 24 April 1908. Upper Hutt became a Borough on 26 February 1926 and a City on 2 May 1966, on 1 April 1973, the Rimutaka Riding of Hutt County was added to the city. Today, Upper Hutt City falls entirely within the boundaries of the Rimutaka electorate, Upper Hutt was represented by the Heretaunga electorate prior to the introduction of MMP in 1996, when the seat was merged with Eastern Hutt to form Rimutaka. The main urban area of the city has a population of 40,100, developments in the area include Mount Marua, Marua Downs, Waitoka Estate, and Riverstone Terraces. A development called The Lanes was proposed but rejected by the Lanes Commissioners appointed by the Council and this decision was made as to ensure the maintenance of the significant rural character and amenity in the Mangaroa Valley. Upper Hutt is in an area known as Orongomai. The first residents of the area were Māori of the Ngai Tara iwi, various other iwi controlled the area in the years before 1840, and by the time the first colonial settlers arrived the area was part of the Te Atiawa rohe. Orongomai Marae is to the south of the city centre. Richard Barton, who settled at Trentham in 1841 in the now known as Trentham Memorial Park, was the first European resident. Barton subsequently subdivided his land and set aside an area that was turned into parkland. James Brown settled in the area became the Upper Hutt town in 1848
25.
Lower Hutt
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Lower Hutt is a city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is administered by the Hutt City Council and is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area and it is New Zealands seventh most populous city, with a population of 103,400. The city covers an area of 377 km2 around the half of the Hutt Valley. It is separated from Wellington proper by the harbour, and from Upper Hutt by the Taitā Gorge, though it is administered by the Hutt City Council, neither the New Zealand Geographic Board nor the Local Government Act recognise the name Hutt City. This name has led to confusion, as Upper Hutt is administered by a city council, the Upper Hutt City Council. Before European settlement, thick forest covered most of the Hutt Valley, Māori inhabited the shoreline, with a pa at each end of Petone beach. The local Māori welcomed the arrival of the New Zealand Company ship Tory in 1839, the first immigrant ship, the Aurora, arrived on 22 January 1840, still celebrated every year on the Monday closest as Wellingtons Anniversary Day. A settlement, Britannia, grew up close to the mouth of the Hutt River, the city takes its name from the river, named after the founding member, director and chairman of the New Zealand Company, Sir William Hutt. Within months of settlement the river flooded, and in March 1840 the majority of Britannia settlers decided to move to Thorndon, in the 1840s an area on the west bank of the Hutt River formed the village then known as Aglionby. In 1846 conflict arose between settlers and Māori, which led to skirmishes in the Hutt Valley Campaign, the 1855 Wairarapa earthquake raised part of the lower valley, allowing reclamation of land from swamp. The fault escarpment from the earthquake is still visible, notably at Hutt Central School, the railway line from central Wellington reached Lower Hutt station in April 1874, with the line travelling north up the west side of the river to Silverstream opening two years later. Before the Second World War, urban settlement in the lower Hutt Valley concentrated mainly on Petone, central Lower Hutt and Eastbourne, two years later the railway workshops moved from Petone to a new larger site off the new branch at Woburn. By the end of the 1950s, Lower Hutt had a population of 80,000, the Hutt City Council is made up of a mayor and 12 councillors. Ray Wallace was elected Lower Hutt mayor in 2010, succeeding David Ogden, the citys six electoral wards each elect two councillors. Neighbouring councils are Wellington City Council, Porirua City Council to the north, Upper Hutt City Council to the north-east, the boundaries of the Lower Hutt city local body have evolved from a series of amalgamations and boundary changes over the years. The Hutt County Council was established in 1877 and covered the region from Wellingtons south coast up to Waikanae, in 1941 Lower Hutt became a city. Lower Hutt is covered by two electorates, Hutt South and Rimutaka and two Māori electorates, Ikaroa-Rāwhiti and Te Tai Tonga. The city centres on the valley of the Hutt River
26.
Wellington City Council
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Wellington City Council is a territorial authority in New Zealand, representing the countrys third-largest city by population, behind Auckland and Christchurch. The city adjoins Porirua in the north and Hutt City in the north-east, Wellington attained city status in 1886. The settlement had become the capital and seat of government by 1865. Parliament officially sat in Wellington for the first time on 26 July 1865, during the last half of the nineteenth century Wellington grew rapidly from 7,460 residents in 1867 to 49,344 by the end of the century. The council represents a population of 207,900, and consists of a mayor and it administers public works, sanitation, land use and building consents, among other local services. The council has used the marketing slogan Absolutely Positively Wellington in an official capacity since the early 1990s, the territorial authority is one of many councils in the greater Wellington area. All councillors are members of Council, the City Strategy Committee, one mayor is elected at large from the entire Wellington City district. The Eastern ward returns three councillors to the Wellington City Council, the Lambton ward returns three councillors to the Wellington City Council. The Northern ward returns three councillors to the Wellington City Council, the Onslow-Western ward returns three councillors to the Wellington City Council. The Southern ward is the ward that returns two councillors to the Wellington City Council. The City of Wellington has a Coat of Arms, crest, On a Mural Crown Argent a Dolphin Naiant Azure, Mantled Gules. Supporters, On the dexter side a Lion gorged with a Collar and Chain reflexed over the back Or, and on the sinister side a Moa proper. Motto, Suprema a Situ Translation of the Blazon, The shield is divided vertically and horizontally quarter of which the first and fourth are red, a golden cross is placed over the entire shield centrally between these quarters. The top left quarter contains a golden fleece, the second quarter is depicted as a silver sailing ship with its sails furled as it would be in port but with its flags flying, placed on waves in their natural colour. The third quarter contains a golden wheat sheaf, and the fourth has five silver discs arranged in a saltire, the mural crown is common as a crest in city coats of arms. It is coloured silve, and from its top comes a swimming dolphin, around the crest is mantling in red. The supporters on either side of the shield are a heraldic lion with a chained collar around its neck to the left. The base on which the supporters stand is normally not emblazoned but is left to the artist to decide, the Motto may be translated as Supreme by position
27.
South Island
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The South Island or Te Waipounamu is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, the South Island covers 150,437 square kilometres and has a temperate climate. In the early stages of European settlement of the country, the South Island had the majority of the European population, in prose, the two main islands of New Zealand are called the North Island and the South Island, with the definite article. Charcoal drawings can be found on rock shelters in the centre of the South Island. The drawings are estimated to be between 500 and 800 years old, and portray animals, people and fantastic creatures, possibly stylised reptiles, some of the birds pictured are long extinct, including moa and Haasts eagles. They were drawn by early Māori, but by the time Europeans arrived, early inhabitants of the South Island were the Waitaha. They were largely absorbed via marriage and conquest by the Kāti Mamoe in the 16th century, Kāti Mamoe were in turn largely absorbed via marriage and conquest by the Kāi Tahu who migrated south in the 17th century. While today there is no distinct Kāti Mamoe organisation, many Kāi Tahu have Kāti Mamoe links in their whakapapa and, a notable feature of the Moriori culture, an emphasis on pacifism, proved disadvantageous when Māori warriors arrived in the 1830s aboard a chartered European ship. In the early 18th century, Kāi Tahu, a Māori tribe who originated on the east coast of the North Island, There they and Kāti Mamoe fought Ngāi Tara and Rangitāne in the Wairau Valley. Ngāti Māmoe then ceded the east coast regions north of the Clarence River to Kāi Tahu, Kāi Tahu continued to push south, conquering Kaikoura. By the 1730s, Kāi Tahu had settled in Canterbury, including Banks Peninsula, from there they spread further south and into the West Coast. In 1827-1828 Ngāti Toa under the leadership of Te Rauparaha successfully attacked Kāi Tahu at Kaikoura, Ngāti Toa then visited Kaiapoi, ostensibly to trade. When they attacked their hosts, the well-prepared Kāi Tahu killed all the leading Ngāti Toa chiefs except Te Rauparaha, Te Rauparaha returned to his Kapiti Island stronghold. After destroying Te Maiharanuis village they took their captives to Kapiti, John Stewart, though arrested and sent to trial in Sydney as an accomplice to murder, nevertheless escaped conviction. In the summer of 1831–32 Te Rauparaha attacked the Kaiapoi pā, Kaiapoi was engaged in a three-month siege by Te Rauparaha, during which his men successfully sapped the pā. They then attacked Kāi Tahu on Banks Peninsula and took the pā at Onawe, in 1832-33 Kāi Tahu retaliated under the leadership of Tūhawaiki and others, attacking Ngāti Toa at Lake Grassmere. Kāi Tahu prevailed, and killed many Ngāti Toa, although Te Rauparaha again escaped, fighting continued for a year or so, with Kāi Tahu maintaining the upper hand. Ngāti Toa never again made an incursion into Kāi Tahu territory
28.
Nelson, New Zealand
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Nelson is a city on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay, and is the economic and cultural centre of the Nelson Region. Nelson is the oldest city in the South Island and the second-oldest settled city in New Zealand, Nelson city is bordered to the west and south-west by the Tasman District Council and the north-east, east and south-east by the Marlborough District Council. The city does not include Richmond, the areas second-largest settlement, Nelson City has a population of around 50,000, making it New Zealands 12th most populous city and the geographical centre of New Zealand. When combined with the town of Richmond which has close to 14,000 residents, Nelson is well known for its thriving local arts and crafts scene, Each year, the city hosts events popular with locals and tourists alike, such as the Nelson Arts Festival. The annual Wearable Art Awards began near Nelson and a local museum, Nelson was named in honour of the Admiral Horatio Nelson who defeated both the French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Many roads and public areas around the city are named after people and ships associated with that battle, inhabitants of Nelson are referred to as Nelsonians. Nelsons Māori name, Whakatū, means build, raise, or establish, in an article to The Colonist newspaper on 16 July 1867, Francis Stevens described Nelson as The Naples of the Southern Hemisphere. Today, Nelson has the nicknames of Sunny Nelson due to its high sunshine hours per year or the Top of the South because of its geographic location, settlement of Nelson began about 700 years ago by Māori. There is evidence the earliest settlements in New Zealand are around the Nelson-Marlborough regions, the earliest recorded iwi in the Nelson district are the Ngāti Kuia, Ngāti Tumatakokiri, Ngāti Apa and Rangitane tribes. Raids from northern tribes in the 1820s, led by Te Rauparaha and his Ngāti Toa, soon decimated the local population, the New Zealand Company in London planned the settlement of Nelson. They intended to buy cheaply from the Māori some 200,000 acres which they planned to divide into one thousand lots, the Company earmarked future profits to finance the free passage of artisans and labourers and their families, and for the construction of public works. However, by September 1841 only about one third of the lots had sold, despite this the Colony pushed ahead, and land was surveyed by Frederick Tuckett. Three ships sailed from London under the command of Captain Arthur Wakefield, however, after some delay, Hobson allowed the Company to investigate the Tasman Bay area at the north end of the South Island. The Company selected the now occupied by Nelson City because it had the best harbour in the area. The Company secured a vague and undetermined area from the Māori for £800 that included Nelson, Waimea and this allowed the settlement to begin, but the lack of definition would prove the source of much future conflict. The three colony ships sailed into Nelson Haven during the first week of November 1841, within 18 months the Company had sent out 18 ships with 1052 men,872 women and 1384 children. However, fewer than ninety of the settlers had the capital to start as landowners, the early settlement of Nelson province included a proportion of German immigrants, who arrived on the ship Sankt Pauli and formed the nucleus of the villages of Sarau and Neudorf. These were mostly Lutheran Protestants with a number of Bavarian Catholics
29.
Christchurch City Council
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The Christchurch City Council is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the 375,000 people of Christchurch, since October 2013, the Mayor of Christchurch is Lianne Dalziel, who succeeded Bob Parker. The council currently consists of 13 councillors elected from seven wards, and is presided over by the Mayor, at the 2016 election, this will increase to 16 councillors. On 6 March 2006, Banks Peninsula District Council merged with Christchurch City Council, councillor Yani Johanson campaigned since 2010 to live-stream council meetings for more transparency. Whilst the technology had been installed well before the 2013 local body election, is has only been used since the change in mayor, the Council is elected every three years using the first-past-the-post voting system. The vote is conducted by postal ballot, the most recent elections, which closed on 13 October 2007, had a turnout of 41. 7%. Prior to the 2004 local elections, there were 24 councillors in Christchurch, at that election, the number of councillors halved to 12. For electoral purposes, Christchurch was divided into six wards from 2004, the six metropolitan wards each elected two councillors, with the remaining councillor elected for the sparsely populated Banks Peninsula ward. The 2016 representation review by the Local Government Commission has resulted in 16 wards, with each electing one councillor. Party politics are less influential in elections to the Council than is the case for the House of Representatives. In 2007, the Mayor and a majority of Councillors were elected as independent candidates, political groupings represented on the Council are the centre-right Independent Citizens and the centre-left The Peoples Choice. The election held via postal vote on 8 October 2016, was the first to use the new wards as a result of the representation review, five of the thirteen councillors did not stand for re-election in 2013. Another four councillors failed to get re-elected, hence, only four councillor were returned for another term, to be joined by nine new members plus a new mayor. For the 2013–2016 term, the composition of the Council is as follows, During the 2010–2013 term, the Press in an editorial described the situation during the three years as often tumultuous and there were many calls for a cleanout of elected members at the 2013 local body elections. During the term, the government appointed an overseer to council, five city councillors and the mayor did not stand for re-election. Under most circumstances, the Council is presided over by the Mayor. At its first meeting after an election, the Council elects from among its members a Deputy Mayor. The Deputy Mayor also presides at meetings if the Mayor is not present, the Deputy Mayor is recommended by the Mayor and is either confirmed or replaced in a vote of the first council meeting
30.
Dunedin
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Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago region. It is named for the capital of Scotland, generally Anglicised as Edinburgh, Dunedin was the largest New Zealand city by territorial land area until superseded by Auckland on the creation of the Auckland Council in November 2010. Dunedin was the largest city in New Zealand by population from the 1860s until about 1900, the city population at 5 March 2013 was 120,246. The Dunedin urban area lies on the central-eastern coast of Otago, the harbour and hills around Dunedin represent the remnants of an extinct volcano. The city suburbs extend out into the valleys and hills, onto the isthmus of the Otago Peninsula, and along the shores of the Otago Harbour. The citys most important activity in economic terms centres around tertiary education – Dunedin is home to the University of Otago, New Zealands first university, and the Otago Polytechnic. Students account for a proportion of the population,21.6 percent of the citys population was aged between 15 and 24 at the 2006 census, compared to the New Zealand average of 14.2 percent. In 2014 Dunedin was designated as a UNESCO Creative City of Literature, archaeological evidence shows the first human occupation of New Zealand occurred between AD 1250–1300, with population concentrated along the southeast coast. A camp site at Kaikai Beach, near Long Beach, has dated from about that time. There are numerous sites in what is now Dunedin, several of them large and permanently occupied. The population contracted but expanded again with the evolution of the Classic culture which saw the building of several pā, fortified settlements, notably Pukekura at, there was a settlement in what is now central Dunedin occupied as late as about 1785 but abandoned by 1826. Maori tradition tells first of a people called Kahui Tipua living in the area, then Te Rapuwai, semi-legendary, the next arrivals were Waitaha followed by Kāti Mamoe late in the 16th century and then Kai Tahu who arrived in the mid 17th century. These migration waves have often represented as invasions in European accounts. They were probably migrations like those of the European which incidentally resulted in bloodshed, the sealer John Boultbee recorded in the 1820s that the Kaika Otargo were the oldest and largest in the south. Lieutenant James Cook stood off what is now the coast of Dunedin between 25 February 1770 and 5 March 1770, naming Cape Saunders and Saddle Hill and he reported penguins and seals in the vicinity, which led sealers to visit from the beginning of the 19th century. Permanent European occupation dates from 1831, when the Weller brothers founded their whaling station at Otago, modern Otakou, epidemics badly reduced the Maori population. By the late 1830s the Harbour had become an international whaling port, johnny Jones established a farming settlement and a mission station, the South Islands first, at Waikouaiti in 1840. After inspecting several areas around the eastern coast of the south island, the name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland
31.
Invercargill
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Invercargill is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the centre of the Southland region. It lies in the heart of the expanse of the Southland Plains on the Oreti or New River some 18 km north of Bluff. Many streets in the city, especially in the centre and main shopping district, are named after rivers in Great Britain, mainly Scotland. These include the main streets Dee and Tay, as well as named after the Forth, Tyne, Esk, Don, Thames, Mersey, Ness, Yarrow, Spey. The 2013 census showed the population was 51,696, up 2. 7% on the 2006 census number, Southland was a scene of early extended contact between Europeans and Maori, notably whalers and missionaries – Wohlers at Ruapuke. In 1853, Walter Mantell purchased Murihiku from local Maori iwi, Otago, of which Southland was itself part, was the subject of planned settlement by the Free Church, an offshoot of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Settlement broadened with the discovery of gold in Central Otago in the 1860s, today, traces of Scottish speech persist in Southland voices, with R often pronounced with a rolling burr. This is more noticeable among country people, in 1856, a petition was put forward to Thomas Gore Browne, the Governor of New Zealand, for a port at Bluff. Due to the Otago gold rush, the population grew during the 1860s with the settlement of Bluff. Browne agreed to the petition and gave the name Invercargill to the settlement north of the port, the settlements chief surveyor was John Turnbull Thomson, a British civil engineer. Under the influence of James Menzies, Southland Province seceded from Otago in 1861 following the escalation of political tensions, however, rising debt forced Southland to rejoin Otago in 1870 and the provincial system, and with it the province of Otago, was abolished entirely in 1876. This debt was caused by a population decline stemming from poor returns from pastoral farming, in 1874, Invercargills population was less than 2,500 which reflected the drift north to large centres. In the 1880s, the development of an industry based on butter. In December 1905, Invercargill voted in local prohibition of alcohol sales and this lasted for 40 years until voted out by returning servicemen in the Second World War. When prohibition ended, a committee of citizens persuaded the Government to give the monopoly on sales in Invercargill to the specially formed Invercargill Licensing Trust. Based on a scheme in Carlisle, England, it returns profits to city amenities, even today, alcohol is not sold in supermarkets. In recent years, publicity has been brought to the city by the election of Tim Shadbolt
32.
Far North District
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The Far North District of New Zealand, as its name suggests, is the northernmost district within New Zealand, consisting of the northern tip of the North Island. The current mayor is former local Member of Parliament John Carter, the Far North District is the largest of three territorial authorities making up the Northland Region. It borders on the Kaipara and Whangarei Districts, which are the two territorial authorities in the Northland Region. The northernmost town in the district is Kaitaia, the district has 62,000 people, of whom 40 percent are Māori. Over the last 10 years the population has defied national trends by becoming increasingly rural. The largest town is Kerikeri with a population of 6507, followed by Kaitaia with 4887, and Kaikohe, the Far North District Council was formed through the amalgamation of the former Counties of Mangonui, Hokianga, Whangaroa and Bay of Islands and the Boroughs of Kaitaia and Kaikohe. The district has three wards – Te Hiku, Kaikohe/Hokianga and Bay of Islands/Whangaroa, list of regions in New Zealand Territorial Authorities of New Zealand Far North District Council
33.
Whangarei District
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The Whangarei District is located in Northland, New Zealand. Whangarei City is the town and the district seat. Other towns include Hukerenui, Hikurangi, Titoki, Portland, Ruakaka, the main airport for the district is Whangarei Airport. The district extends as far south as Bream Bay, north towards the Cape Brett Peninsula and it also includes the Hen and Chicken Islands and the Poor Knights Islands. The mayor of Whangarei District is Sheryl Mai, the district population is 87,700 from the June 2016. Territorial authorities of New Zealand Regions of New Zealand The district councils website The official website for the Whangarei District
34.
Kaipara District
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The Kaipara District is located in the Northland Region in northern New Zealand. Kaipara District is located in the hills around the northern shores of the Kaipara Harbour. Kaipara District Council shares management of the harbour with other organisations, most notably Northland Regional Council. The roughly triangular district stretches from a thinning of the Northland Peninsula south of Kaiwaka, the region is bisected by the Northern Wairoa River and its tributaries, which flow into the northern end of the Kaipara Harbour. It has a population of 21,700, of whom about 4450 live in Dargaville, the area around Dargaville is noted for the high proportion of residents of Dalmatian descent and has an active Dalmatian Club. The nearest city is Whangarei,45 kilometres northeast of Dargaville, community spirit is strong among the various rural communities, as is evident by the numerous local clubs, volunteer organisations and other initiatives. Dargaville has an annual Arts and Crafts Festival run by the local Rotary club, Maungaturoto has a monthly market on a Friday from 4pm to 7pm at the Maungaturoto Hall and also has a volunteer group dedicated to beautifying the town. A similar volunteer group also exists in Ruawai and Paparoa, Kaipara District is divided into 3 wards, Dargaville, Otamatea, Central and West Coast. On 6 September 2012, commissioners were appointed by the Minister of Local Government to take over the governance of the Kaipara District Council, the review team concluded that the challenges were beyond the ability of the mayor and councillors to manage. The elected council agreed and asked the Minister to appoint commissioners, the Kaipara District Council commissioners are John Robertson, Richard Booth, Colin Dale and Peter Winder. Regions in New Zealand Territorial authorities of New Zealand Kaipara District Council website Maungaturoto Website
35.
Thames-Coromandel District
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The Thames-Coromandel District is a territorial authority district in the North Island of New Zealand, covering all the Coromandel Peninsula and extending south to Hikutaia. It is administered by the Thames-Coromandel District Council, which has its seat in the town of Thames and it was the first district council to be formed in New Zealand, being constituted in 1975. The district lies within the Waikato Regional Council area, the district had a population of 28,400 at the June 2016. From the 2006 census 6,756 live in Thames,3,768 in Whitianga,3,555 in Whangamata, and 1,476 in Coromandel. The Thames-Coromandel District Council was formed from the amalgamation of the former Thames Borough and Coromandel County Council in 1975, Thames-Coromandel District Council Coromandel Peninsula travel guide from Wikivoyage
36.
Hauraki District
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Hauraki District is a territorial authority within the Waikato Region of New Zealand. The seat of the council is at Paeroa, the area covered by the district extends from the southwest coast of the Firth of Thames southeast towards Te Aroha, although that town lies beyond its boundaries. It extends eastwards to the Bay of Plenty coast, taking in the southernmost part of the Coromandel Peninsula, the rest of the peninsula is part of the Thames-Coromandel district. Features of the include the Karangahake Gorge, Whiritoa, the Hauraki Plains, Ngatea. The district covers 1,144 km², and has a population of approximately 19,550 residents, of whom 3,978 live in Paeroa and 4,503 live in Waihi. In 2010, the neighbouring Franklin District was abolished during the creation of the Auckland Council, the current mayor is John Tregidga and deputy mayor is Toby Adams. The councils site The councils public librarys site
37.
Waikato District
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Waikato District is a territorial authority of New Zealand, in the northern part of Waikato Region, North Island. Waikato District is administered by the Waikato District Council, with headquarters in Ngaruawahia, the district is centred to the north and west of the city of Hamilton, and takes in much of the northern Waikato Plains and also the Hakarimata Range. The north of the district contains swampy floodplain of the Waikato River and several small lakes, other than Ngaruawahia, the main population centres are Huntly, Raglan, and Te Kauwhata. The main industries in the district are dairy farming, forestry, there is a major coal-fired power station at Huntly. Te Kauwhata is at the centre of a wine region. At the 2006 census the district had a population of 43,959, of these,6834 lived in Huntly,5106 in Ngaruawahia,2637 in Raglan, and 1294 in Te Kauwhata. The districts population at the June 2016 Census was 71,200, the County Councils had lasted over a hundred years from their formation in 1876. They had been preceded by Highways Boards, formed from 1866, prior to that there had been many complaints about Auckland Province spending a disproportionate amount in Auckland. Auckland Province passed a Highways Act in 1862 allowing their Superintendent to define areas of settlement as Highways Districts. By a notice in the Provincial Government Gazette on 25 August 1866, the deputy Superintendent, Daniel Pollen, declared Whaingaroa Highway District, a public meeting in the Raglan courthouse on 20 October 1866 was followed by a meeting a week later to elect 5 trustees. Raglan Town Board was formed in 1868, Karioi Board in 1870 by division of Whaingaroa Highway District, from 1872 government assistance more than matched rates collected, today government funding through NZTA mainly matches rates funding. Raglan County was divided into five ridings, Karioi, Pirongia, with 2 councillors each, and Te Akau, Onewhero and Whangape, with one. Only 3 of the Ridings were represented at the first meeting, W. H. Wallis and John Pegler, Karioi Riding, James Sherrett, Pirongia, at the next meeting in Whatawhata there was only one other councillor present, from Pirongia. Many of the areas had not had Highway Boards and were sparsely populated, by 1887 there were 8 nominations for the 7 seats. Some areas were transferred to neighbouring councils, the far south of Raglan went to Kawhia County when it was formed, but in 1952, the Local Government Commission put Makomako back in Raglan. On 1 October 1944, an area of Huntly West went to Huntly Borough. Other minor alterations were gazetted at intervals over the years, in 1954 a Raglan Town Committee was formed. Under the Local Government Act 1974, Raglan and Rotowaro became community towns, Raglan had also had a Town Board from 1906 to 1938
