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.
Canterbury, New Zealand
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Canterbury is a region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of 44,508 square kilometres, the region in its current form was established in 1989 during nationwide local government reforms. The Kaikoura District joined the region in 1992 following the abolition of the Nelson-Marlborough Regional Council, Christchurch, the South Islands largest city and the countrys third-largest urban area, is the seat of the region and home to 65 percent of the regions population. Other major towns and cities include Timaru, Ashburton, Rangiora, in 1848, Edward Gibbon Wakefield, a Briton, and John Robert Godley, an Anglo-Irish aristocrat, founded the Canterbury Association to establish an Anglican colony in the South Island. The colony was based upon theories developed by Wakefield while in prison for eloping with a woman not-of-age, due to ties to the prestigious Oxford University, the Canterbury Association succeeded in raising sufficient funds and recruiting middle-class and upper-class settlers. In April 1850, a group led by Godley landed at Port Cooper—modern-day Lyttelton Harbour—and established a port, housing. In December 1850, the first wave of 750 settlers arrived at Lyttelton in a fleet of four ships, following 1850, the provinces economy developed with the introduction of sheep farming. The Canterbury regions tussock plains in particular were suitable for sheep farming. Since they were valued by settlers for their meat and wool. By the 1860s, this figure had risen to three million, during this period, the architect Benjamin Mountfort designed many civic and ecclesiastical buildings in the Gothic Revival style. The Canterbury Province was formed in 1853 following the passing of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 and it was formed from part of New Munster Province and covered the middle part of the South Island, stretching from the east coast to the west coast. The province was abolished, along with provinces of New Zealand. The modern Canterbury Region has slightly different boundaries, particularly in the north and it is New Zealands largest region by area, with an area of 45,346 km2. Canterbury was traditionally bounded in the north by the Conway River, to the west by the Southern Alps, the area is commonly divided into North Canterbury, Mid Canterbury, South Canterbury and Christchurch City. Canterbury is home to 600,100 people according to Statistics New Zealands June 2016,13 percent of New Zealands population and it the most populous in the South Island and the second most populous region in New Zealand. The median age of Canterburys population is 39.9 years, around 15.5 percent of the population is aged 65 or over while 18.7 percent is aged under 15. There are 97.5 males for every hundred females in Canterbury, just under 20 percent of Canterburys population was born overseas, compared to 25 percent for New Zealand as a whole. The British Isles remains the largest region of origin, accounting for 36.5 percent of the population in Canterbury
4.
Otago
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Otago is a region of New Zealand in the south of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately 32,000 square kilometres and its population was 219,200 in the June 2016. The name Otago is an old Māori southern dialect word, introduced to the south by Europeans in the 1840s. Otago is also the old name of the European settlement on the Otago Harbour, established by the Weller Brothers in 1831, major centres include Dunedin, Oamaru, Balclutha, Alexandra, and the major tourist centres Queenstown and Wanaka. Kaitangata in South Otago is a prominent source of coal, the Waitaki and Clutha rivers provide much of the countrys hydroelectric power. Some parts of the area covered by Otago Province are now administered by either Canterbury Regional Council or Southland Regional Council. The Central Otago wine region produces award winning wines made from such as the Pinot noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc, Merlot. It has a reputation as New Zealand’s leading Pinot noir region. The Otago Province was the whole of New Zealand from the Waitaki River south, including Stewart Island and it included the territory of the later Southland Province and also the much more extensive lands of the modern Southland Region. Initial settlement was concentrated on the port and city, then expanded, notably to the south-west, the 1860s saw rapid commercial expansion after Gabriel Read discovered gold at Gabriels Gully near Lawrence, and the Central Otago goldrush ensued. Further gold discoveries at Clyde and on the Arrow River around Arrowtown led to a boom, New Zealands first daily newspaper, the Otago Daily Times, originally edited by Julius Vogel, dates from this period. New Zealands first university, the University of Otago, was founded in 1869 as the university in Dunedin. The Province of Southland separated from Otago Province and set up its own Provincial Council at Invercargill in 1861, after difficulties ensued, Otago re-absorbed it in 1870. Its territory is included in the region of the old Otago Province which is named after it and is now the territory of the Southland region. The provincial governments were abolished in 1876 when the Abolition of the Provinces Act came into force on 1 November 1876, two in Otago were named after the Scottish independence heroes Wallace and Bruce. From this time the national limelight gradually shifted northwards, beginning in the west, the geography of Otago consists of high alpine mountains. The highest peak in Otago is Mount Aspiring / Tititea, which is on the Main Divide, from the high mountains the rivers discharge into large glacial lakes. In this part of Otago glacial activity - both recent and very old - dominates the landscape, with large U shaped valleys and rivers which have high sediment loads, River flows also vary dramatically, with large flood flows occurring after heavy rain
5.
Oamaru
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Oamaru (/ɒməˈruː/, the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is 80 kilometres south of Timaru and 120 kilometres north of Dunedin, on the Pacific coast, and State Highway 1 and the railway Main South Line connect it to both. With a population of 13,850, Oamaru is the 28th largest urban area in New Zealand, the name Oamaru derives from Māori words meaning the place of Maru. The identity of Maru remains open to conjecture, there are some important archaeological sites around Oamaru. Those at the Waitaki River mouth and at Awamoa both date from the Archaic phase of Māori culture, when New Zealands human population clustered along the south-east coast from about AD1100, the Waitaki River mouth had at least 1,200 ovens. Awamoa saw the first archaeological excavation in New Zealand when W. B. D, mantell dug there at Christmas 1847 and in 1852. Smaller Archaic sites exist at Cape Wanbrow and at Beach Road in central Oamaru, the distinctive Archaic art of the Waitaki Valley rock shelters dates from this period — some of it presumably made by the occupants of these sites. The area also features Classic and Protohistoric sites, from after about AD1500, at Tamahaerewhenua, Tekorotuaheka, Te Punamaru, Papakaio and Kakanui. Māori tradition tells of the ancient people Kahui Tipua building a canoe, Arai Te Uru, on its return it became waterlogged off the Waitaki River mouth, lost food baskets at Moeraki beach and ended up wrecked at Matakaea where it turned into Danger Reef. Modern academics have suggested this tale is an explanation of the fact that kumara will not grow south of Banks Peninsula. On 20 February 1770 James Cook in the Endeavour reached a very close to the Waitaki mouth. He said the land here is low and flat and continues so up to the skirts of the Hills which are at least 4 or 5 Miles in land. The whole face of the Country appears barren, nor did we see any signs of inhabitants and he stayed on this part of the coast four days. Sydney Parkinson, the expeditions artist, described what seems to be Cape Wanbrow, on 20 February he wrote. we were near the land, which formed an agreeable view to the naked eye. The hills were of a height, having flats that extended from them a long way. Māori did live in the area, and sealers visited the coast in 1814, the Creed manuscript, discovered in 2003, records, Some of the people absent on a feasting expedition to meet a great party from Taumutu, Akaroa, Orawenua. The boat passed on to the Bluff 8 miles north of Moeraki where they landed & arranged their boat – & lay down to sleep in their boat. At night Pukuheke, father of Te More, went to the boat and they went with 100 killing 5 Europeans & eat them
6.
Hampden, New Zealand
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Hampden is a rural settlement defined as a populated area less than a town in North Otago, New Zealand. It is located close to the North Otago coast, some 30 kilometres south of Oamaru and it was named after the English politician John Hampden. In 2004, the population was put at 304, there is a primary school with less than thirty pupils. Hampden was featured on National Radios Your Place show where it was said that the fish, Hampden is situated beside a broad bay stretching from Aorere Point to Moeraki Point, on a coastal plain which rises westward to the foothills of the Horse Range and the Kakanui Mountains. The soil of this surrounding plain overlies a limestone formation and is valued for agricultural production. Sheep husbandry is the economic activity of the region and is augmented by some deer and cattle farming. The streets of Hampden are laid out in a rectangular grid centred on the main highway and they are named after English locations, hence Lancaster, Shrewsbury, Worcester, Norfolk etc. The popular Moeraki Boulders, together with a cafe and restaurant are located 2 kilometres south of Hampden. There is some good surfing locally on the Katiki straight, as well as trout fishing in the local Waianakarua. The local hills are popular for pig and deer hunting, close by at Moeraki, deep sea fishing and diving are also very popular. The Hampden Energy Forum was established in 2007, at the inaugural meeting to establish the Forum, more than one third of the towns population was present. The Forum won the Trustpower Community Award in 2008, mainly for the staging of the Hampden Energy Expo and this was a one-day event that demonstrated many ways of surviving with minimum reliance on fossil fuels. The Forum continues to involve the community in such processes as waste disposal, car pooling, waste reduction, self-sufficiency gardening, electricity supply, such an initiative was possibly the first to occur in New Zealand, many communities now strive for the same initiatives
7.
Kakanui
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The small town of Kakanui lies on the coast of Otago, in New Zealand, fourteen kilometres to the south of Oamaru. The Kakanui River and its estuary divide the township in two, the part of the settlement south of the river, also known as Kakanui South, formerly Campbells Bay, was developed as a collection of cribs. A recent increase in the development of subdivisions have increased the density of dwellings within South Kakanui, the population was 414 people in the 2006 census, unchanged from 2001. The Kakanui River reaches the sea near the town, and the low known as the Kakanui Mountains stretch inland from south of Oamaru towards the Maniototo. Kai Tahu used to temporarily occupy Kakanui as they travelled north and south, the area around Kakanui has a reputation for its limestone formations, and produces many fossils. The rich and fertile soil of the area around the river has physical properties make it perfect for use in sports grounds. Many of New Zealandss top cricket venues use Kakanui soil on their wicket blocks, kakanuis main beach, south of the main headland, is known as Campbells Bay. It provides the first surfable break and the first safe swimming beach south of Banks Peninsula, the beach has a length of approximately two kilometres, and the southern end, known as All Day Bay, offers more shelter than the northern end, but with less surf. The sandy beach below the shingle spit north of the river mouth stretching toward Oamaru is safely swimmable, the beaches south of the main headland feature orange sand. The northern beach has white sand, kakanuis rich volcanic soil suits intensive horticulture. The township contains a number of glasshouses, primarily used for growing tomatoes, land surrounding the settlement also features market gardens growing a wide range of vegetables. Kakanui has a reputation for its new-season potatoes, which sell throughout all New Zealand. Kakanui was once a port on the northern side of the river, with a hotel, blacksmith, meat works. Kakanuis commerce declined after the railway was built inland, going through Maheno, Kakanui is often named on maps as Taranui. However, this name is not in use locally, nor is it evident on road signs, Taranui may be a naming error from early maps referring to a station farm of that name, located slightly inland from Kakanui
8.
Kurow
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Kurow is a small town in the Waitaki District, New Zealand. It is located on the bank of the Waitaki River,60 kilometres northwest of Oamaru. At the 2013 Census, the town had a population of 312 people, the name is an Anglicised form of the name of the nearby mountain Te Kohurau. In the 1920s the town was the base for the building of the nearby Waitaki Dam, examples of pre-European Māori cave paintings are close to the small settlement of Duntroon. The land around the town includes summerfruit orchards, and increasing amounts of Pinot noir are being planted in the limestone soils. The town was the terminus of the Kurow Branch railway, opened in 1881 to Hakataramea, across the Waitaki River and it closed in 1983, the line can be traced on the ground, and the station still building stands on Liverpool St. From 1928 until 1937, a line owned by the Public Works Department ran from Kurow to the hydroelectric project 6.4 km to the west, notable people from Kurow include All Black captain Richie McCaw, All Black and rugby administrator Charles Saxton and mathematician Roy Kerr. From 1929 to 1934, Dr Gervan McMillan and his wife Ethel were residents of Kurow, with Dr McMillan running a medical practice
9.
Moeraki
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Moeraki is a small fishing village on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It was once the location of a whaling station, in the 1870s, local interests believed it could become the main port for the north Otago area and a railway line, the Moeraki Branch, was built to the settlement and opened in 1877. The village is best known for the nearby Moeraki Boulders, Moeraki is usually translated as sleepy sky. There are other places with the name or versions of it, all along the path from the Polynesian homeland. Gavin McLean tentatively linked its occupants to Waitaha, conventionally the third iwi, or tribe, to arrive in southern New Zealand, after Kahui Tipua and Te Rapuwai. However, as McLean notes, Waitaha is also a name used to designate all the peoples preceding Kati Mamoe. It is safe to say Waimatatai is a Waitaha site in that broad sense, the Moeraki peninsula terminates to the south in Kartigi Point where there was a pā of the Classic period of Māori culture. Its traditional name was Te Raka-a-hineatua, according to tradition it was built by Taoka, a well known fighting chief of the late 17th to early 18th centuries, who also built fortresses at the Ashburton River and near Timaru. Shortly after it was built it was attacked by a party from Kaikoura who were repulsed by Taoka in the battle known as Te Hakopa. Taoka was also in battle with chiefs further south at Huriawa, Mapoutahi, taokas principal opponent was Te Wera. Jill Hamel has reported there were terraces, the best developed of any southern pā, radio carbon dating has confirmed it was occupied in the 18th century. It used to be said Moeraki, like other places on the east coast, was not a site of permanent occupation in pre-European times. Moeraki was traversed during the Sealers War, also known as the War of the Shirt, according to the Creed manuscript, discovered in 2003, they camped for the night by their boat at the Bluff eight miles from Moeraki to the north. However they were observed and attacked by Māori, two of the sealers escaped and fled to Bobbys Head and Goodwood, south of Moeraki, taking two days to get there and where they were later killed and eaten. They will have passed Moeraki going north and fleeing south, john Hughes, accompanied by W. I Haberfield and other men from the Weller brothers Otago whaling station, established a whaling station in Moeraki Bay, Onekakara, on Boxing Day, December 26,1836. Since that time European occupation has been continuous, when Hughes and his men arrived there were only nine Māori living in the area, under Takatahara. In 1838 a large group arrived under Matiaha Tiramorehu and settled, many of the latter married Māori women. Haberfield later maintained alcohol was absent at Moeraki, in striking contrast to more southerly stations, after 1839 whaling dwindled and ceased by the late 1840s, although there was later a brief revival
