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.
New Zealand
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New Zealand /njuːˈziːlənd/ is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu—and around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal, the countrys varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealands capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland, sometime between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that later were named New Zealand and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand, in 1840, representatives of Britain and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which declared British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire, today, the majority of New Zealands population of 4.7 million is of European descent, the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealands culture is derived from Māori and early British settlers. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, New Zealand is a developed country and ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as health, education, economic freedom and quality of life. Since the 1980s, New Zealand has transformed from an agrarian, Queen Elizabeth II is the countrys head of state and is represented by a governor-general. In addition, New Zealand is organised into 11 regional councils and 67 territorial authorities for local government purposes, the Realm of New Zealand also includes Tokelau, the Cook Islands and Niue, and the Ross Dependency, which is New Zealands territorial claim in Antarctica. New Zealand is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Pacific Islands Forum, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted New Zealand in 1642 and called it Staten Landt, in 1645, Dutch cartographers renamed the land Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland. British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand, Aotearoa is the current Māori name for New Zealand. It is unknown whether Māori had a name for the country before the arrival of Europeans. Māori had several names for the two main islands, including Te Ika-a-Māui for the North Island and Te Waipounamu or Te Waka o Aoraki for the South Island. Early European maps labelled the islands North, Middle and South, in 1830, maps began to use North and South to distinguish the two largest islands and by 1907, this was the accepted norm. The New Zealand Geographic Board discovered in 2009 that the names of the North Island and South Island had never been formalised and this set the names as North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui, and South Island or Te Waipounamu
3.
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
4.
Waikato
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Waikato is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato, Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the northern King Country, much of the Taupo District and it is governed by the Waikato Regional Council. It is usually referred to by using the definite article, the Waikato, broadly, the extent of the region is the Waikato River catchment. Other major catchments are those of the Waihou, Piako, Awakino, the region is bounded by Auckland on the north, Bay of Plenty on the east, Hawkes Bay on the south-east, and Manawatu-Wanganui and Taranaki on the south. Waikato Region is the fourth largest region in the country in area and population, It has an area of 25,000 km², the region encompasses all or part of eleven territorial authorities, the most of any region of New Zealand. It is centred on the Waikato which consists of Waikato District, Matamata-Piako District, Waipa District, South Waikato District, the name for the region is taken from the Waikato River, waikato is a Māori word traditionally translated as flowing water. To the west, the region is bounded by the Tasman Sea, the coastal region is largely rough hill country, known locally as the Hakarimata Range, though it is more gently undulating in the north, closer to the mouth of the Waikato River. The coast is punctured by three natural harbours, Raglan Harbour, Aotea Harbour, and Kawhia Harbour. The area around Raglan is noted for its black sand beaches and for its fine surfing conditions at Manu Bay. To the east of the hills lies the broad floodplain of the Waikato River. The area around Cambridge has many thoroughbred stables, the north of the region around Te Kauwhata produces some of New Zealands best wines. Dozens of small lakes lie in this area, the largest of which is Lake Waikare. To the east, the land rises towards the slopes of the Kaimai. The upper reaches of the Waikato River are used for hydroelectricity, the lowest and earliest-created such lake is Lake Karapiro, now developed as a world-class rowing centre, where the world championships were held in 2010. The climate is mild and temperate with rainfall of 1200–1600mm per annum. Summers are drier with maximum temperatures of 25–28 degrees Celsius, summer droughts occur one year in ten. Winter maxima are 12–15 degrees Celsius, the lower areas experience regular morning fog, under anticyclonic conditions, which burns off by late morning to produce many still, clear sunny days. Morning frosts are common during winter anticyclones
5.
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
6.
Thames, New Zealand
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Thames /ˈtɛmz/ is a town at the southwestern end of the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealands North Island. It is located on the Firth of Thames close to the mouth of the Waihou River, the town is the seat of the Thames-Coromandel District Council. The Māori iwi are Ngāti Maru, who are descendants of Marutuahus son Te Ngako, Ngāti Maru is part of the Ngati Marutuahu confederation of tribes or better known as Hauraki Iwi. Many people migrated to Thames at its peak, and it was soon the second-largest city in New Zealand, however, as the gold began to diminish, so did the number of inhabitants, and although Thames never shrank, it has never grown much either. It is still the biggest town on the Coromandel, the population in the 2006 census was 6,756, an increase of 51 since 2001. Until 2016, an oak tree that was planted by Governor George Grey stood on the corner of Grey. Thames was formed from two towns, Grahamstown and Shortland, of which many original buildings still stand. Shortland was to the south of Thames and was founded on 27 July 1867 when James Mackay, civil commissioner for the Hauraki District, the land was rented for mining purposes for the sum of £5,000 per year, a colossal sum in the mid 19th century. This agreement secured the rights to mineral deposits leading to the proclamation of the Thames Goldfield on 1 August. The leasing of the land for such an income was a source of great envy by other Maori iwi. Grahamstown was founded the year at the northern end of present Thames. The two towns merged in 1874 after it emerged the heart of the Goldfield was in Grahamstown, Shortland waned in importance until the turn of the century when the Hauraki Plains were developed for farming and the Shortland railway station was opened. The town was built during a gold rush, with the first major discovery of gold being made on 10 August 1867 by William Hunt. The subsequent mine produced more than 102, 353oz bullion and was known as the Shotover, the era from 1868 to 1871 were the bonanza years for the town with gold production topping one million pounds sterling at its peak. Official figures for production of the Thames Mines recorded a yield of 2,327, the three richest fields were the Manukau / Golden Crown / Caledonian mines but many others yielded near equivalent amounts. Towards the end of the 19th century, Thames was the largest centre of population in New Zealand with 18,000 inhabitants and well over 100 hotels, for a while, it was thought it would replace Auckland as the major town in the area. Thames also benefited from a period of extensive Kauri logging in the ranges around the same time. The land involved in goldmining in Thames was Māori-owned, important parts of the goldfield were owned by the Ngāti Maru rangatira Rapana Maunganoa and the Taipari family
7.
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
Coromandel Peninsula travel guide from Wikivoyage
