"},"population_density_km2":{"wt":"auto"},"timezone1":{"wt":"NZST"},"utc_offset1":{"wt":"+12"},"timezone1_DST":{"wt":"NZDT"},"utc_offset1_DST":{"wt":"+13"},"postal_code_type":{"wt":"Postcode"},"postal_code":{"wt":""},"area_code_type":{"wt":"Area code"},"area_code":{"wt":"03"},"blank_name":{"wt":"Local [[iwi]]"},"blank_info":{"wt":"[[Ngāi Tahu]]"}},"i":0}}]}" id="mwCQ">Town in New Zealand
Waikouaiti | |
---|---|
Town | |
Coordinates: 45°35′40″S170°40′20″E / 45.59444°S 170.67222°E | |
Country | New Zealand |
Island | South Island |
Region | Otago |
Community board | Waikouaiti Coast Community Board [1] |
Electorates |
|
Government | |
• Territorial authority | Dunedin City Council |
• Regional council | Otago Regional Council |
• Mayor of Dunedin | Jules Radich |
• Dunedin MP | Rachel Brooking |
• Te Tai Tonga MP | Tākuta Ferris |
Area | |
• Total | 7.33 km2 (2.83 sq mi) |
Population (June 2023) [3] | |
• Total | 1,260 |
• Density | 170/km2 (450/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+12 (NZST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+13 (NZDT) |
Area code | 03 |
Local iwi | Ngāi Tahu |
Waikouaiti is a small town in East Otago, New Zealand, within the city limits of Dunedin. The town is close to the coast and the mouth of the Waikouaiti River.
Today, Waikouaiti is a retail trade and servicing centre for the surrounding district, which has sheep farming as the principal primary activity. A major egg producer, Zeagold Foods, a branch of Mainland Poultry LTD has a 500,000-hen factory farming operation here and is in the process of expanding over the next year to meet demand for egg products. Hawksbury, 3 km southwest of Waikouaiti, has a cheese factory and shop, a swimming pool and housing developed from the old mental health institution, Cherry Farm. Karitane, 3 km to the southeast has a small fishing port.
Prior to the arrival of Europeans the area was occupied by Māori, who had a kaik, or unfortified settlement, at modern Karitane and a pā, or fortified settlement, on the adjacent Huriawa Peninsula.
An 1826 sketch of the east Otago coast, shows the headlands and beaches of what are now Karitane and Waikouaiti. [4]
Waikouaiti was the first European settlement in southern New Zealand to be mainly based on farming and one of the first enduring European settlements in Otago. From 1837 there had been a whaling station confusingly also called "Waikouaiti" nearby on the south side of the estuary at what is now called "Karitane". Having already purchased large areas of land in the South Island (much of which was later declared to have been invalid) Johnny Jones sent settlers from Sydney, Australia in the Magnet to farm the district in 1840, eight years before the foundation of the Otago Association's settlement. [5] This was the first farm in the Otago region.
Jones himself did not move to Waikouaiti until 1843, after financial losses during an economic depression in Sydney. His original homestead and some of the associated buildings of his colonial manor farm, known as Matanaka Farm, which still stand on Cornish Head, date from this time. The farm buildings, though not the homestead, are owned by Heritage New Zealand and are open to the public. They are the oldest surviving farm buildings in New Zealand. [6] [7]
Jones moved to Dunedin in 1854 [5] but was influential in the development of Waikouaiti for many years after. The wooden shingle roofed St. John's Anglican Church in Waikouaiti proper opened in 1858, was funded by Jones. It was designed by Benjamin Mountfort of Christchurch who also designed the Provincial Council Building there. In 1861 Dr. William Chapman, at Jones request, became the first GP for the district.
The Presbyterians built a wooden church in 1863. It was moved to Kildare Street in 1876 and still remains. It became the Sunday School when a brick church was built in 1914, designed by J.Louis Salmond but this building closed in 2008 and was demolished in 2009.
In early February 2021, high levels of lead (40 times the acceptable level of 0.01 mg/L) were detected in Waikouaiti and nearby Karitane's drinking water supply. The high levels of lead were first detected on 18 December 2020 but the alert was emailed to a Dunedin City Council staff member who was on holiday. [8] [9] In response, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield offered free blood tests to Karitane and Waikouaiti residents. The Dunedin City Council also dispatched water tanks and staff to assist and reassure local residents. [9] Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described the lead levels in the two towns as "unacceptable." [10] On 9 February, the City Council distributed free fruits and vegetables to residents of Waikouaiti, Karitane, and Hawksbury due to concerns about eating crops irrigated with the contaminated water. [11]
Following lead scare, the Dunedin City Council announced on 11 February that it would drain a raw water reservoir and replace five kilometres of old pipes in order to reassure residents of Waikouaiti, Karitane and Hawksbury. [12] By 10 March, the Southern District Health Board confirmed that 1,512 people had been tested, with blood test results indicating that nobody had a blood lead level requiring hospitalisation and that long term exposure to lead from the water supply was limited. [13] In July 2021 the City Council removed its recommendation to not drink from the areas water supply. [14]
The town of Waikouaiti was initially called "Hawksbury," a name that still applies to the Hawksbury Lagoon wetland in the centre of the town, known in Māori as Matainaka, [15] and also adopted in the name of the residential/industrial redevelopment at the former Cherry Farm Hospital. The name Waikouaiti is Māori, and is believed to come from phrases meaning "small bitter waters" (wai-kawa-iti) or "braided streamlets" (wai-koua-iti). This placename once applied to a whaling station at Karitane, but subsequently drifted to the present location.
Waikouaiti covers 7.33 km2 (2.83 sq mi) [2] and had an estimated population of 1,260 as of June 2023, [3] with a population density of 172 people per km2.
Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
---|---|---|
2006 | 1,095 | — |
2013 | 1,122 | +0.35% |
2018 | 1,194 | +1.25% |
Source: [16] |
Waikouaiti had a population of 1,194 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 72 people (6.4%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 99 people (9.0%) since the 2006 census. There were 552 households, comprising 564 males and 630 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.9 males per female. The median age was 53.6 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 159 people (13.3%) aged under 15 years, 129 (10.8%) aged 15 to 29, 531 (44.5%) aged 30 to 64, and 372 (31.2%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 94.2% European/Pākehā, 9.0% Māori, 2.0% Pasifika, 2.0% Asian, and 2.0% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
The percentage of people born overseas was 14.1, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 55.5% had no religion, 32.4% were Christian, 0.5% had Māori religious beliefs, 1.0% were Buddhist and 1.8% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 162 (15.7%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 246 (23.8%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $24,200, compared with $31,800 nationally. 138 people (13.3%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 393 (38.0%) people were employed full-time, 156 (15.1%) were part-time, and 24 (2.3%) were unemployed. [16]
Waikouaiti is located on State Highway 1 40 kilometres north of Dunedin city centre and 666 kilometres from Picton.
Waikouaiti is serviced by the Dunedin to Palmerston bus service operated by Dunedin Passenger Transport. The bus operates thrice daily each way Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays). [17]
The Main South Line railway between Christchurch and Invercargill passes through Waikouaiti. It was constructed in the 1870s, and daily passenger trains passed through Waikouaiti until the cancellation of the Southerner in February 2002. Currently, the only passenger service is a tourist service operated by the Taieri Gorge Railway. Named the Seasider, it operates between Dunedin and Palmerston, once or twice a week in the summer months and occasionally during winter.
Freight trains operate through Waikouaiti multiple times daily.
Waikouaiti School is a co-educational state contributing primary school for Year 1 to 6 students, [18] with a roll of 77 students as of February 2024. [19] The school first opened in 1860 and moved to the current site in the 1870s. [20]
Otago is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately 32,000 square kilometres (12,000 sq mi), making it the country's second largest local government region. Its population was 254,600 in June 2023.
Balclutha is a town in South Otago, lying towards the end of the Clutha River, on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is about halfway between Dunedin and Gore on the Main South Line railway, State Highway 1 and the Southern Scenic Route. Balclutha has a population of 4,340, and is the largest town in South Otago.
Middlemarch is a small town in the Otago region of New Zealand's South Island. It lies at the foot of the Rock and Pillar Range of hills in the broad Strath-Taieri valley, through which flows the middle reaches of the Taieri River. Since local government reorganisation in the late 1980s, Middlemarch and much of the Strath-Taieri has been administered as part of Dunedin city, the centre of which lies some 80 km to the southeast. Middlemarch is part of the Taieri electorate, and is currently represented in parliament by Ingrid Leary. Middlemarch has reticulated sewerage but no reticulated water supply. A description of 1903, that "[T]he summer seasons are warm, but not enervating, and the winters cold, but dry" is still true today.
The Otago Peninsula is a long, hilly indented finger of land that forms the easternmost part of Dunedin, New Zealand. Volcanic in origin, it forms one wall of the eroded valley that now forms Otago Harbour. The peninsula lies south-east of Otago Harbour and runs parallel to the mainland for 20 km, with a maximum width of 9 km. It is joined to the mainland at the south-west end by a narrow isthmus about 1.5 km wide.
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The city has a rich Māori, Scottish, and Chinese heritage.
Mosgiel is an urban satellite of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand, fifteen kilometres west of the city's centre. Since the re-organisation of New Zealand local government in 1989 it has been inside the Dunedin City Council area. Mosgiel has a population of approximately 14,800 as of June 2023. A nickname for Mosgiel is "The pearl of the plain". Its low-lying nature does pose problems, making it prone to flooding after heavy rains. Mosgiel takes its name from Mossgiel Farm, Ayrshire, the farm of the poet Robert Burns, the uncle of the co-founder in 1848 of the Otago settlement, the Reverend Thomas Burns.
Otakou is a settlement within the boundaries of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. It is located 25 kilometres from the city centre at the eastern end of Otago Peninsula, close to the entrance of Otago Harbour. Though a small fishing village, Otakou is important in the history of Otago for several reasons. The settlement is the modern centre and traditional home of the Ōtākou rūnanga (assembly) of Ngāi Tahu. In 1946 Otakou Fisheries was founded in the township; this was later to become a major part of the Otago fishing industry.
The small town of Karitane is located within the limits of the city of Dunedin in New Zealand, 35 kilometres to the north of the city centre.
The town of Palmerston, in New Zealand's South Island, lies 50 kilometres to the north of the city of Dunedin. It is the largest town in the Waihemo Ward of the Waitaki District, with a population of 890 residents. Palmerston grew at a major road junction: State Highway 1 links Dunedin and Waikouaiti to the south with Oamaru and Christchurch to the north, while State Highway 85 heads inland to become the principal highway of the Maniototo. The Main South Line railway passes through the town and the Seasider tourist train travels from Dunedin to Palmerston and back once or twice a week. From 1880 until 1989, the town acted as the junction between the main line and a branch line that ran inland, the Dunback and Makareao Branches.
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. However, the port could not compete with Oamaru and the lack of traffic as well as stability problems caused by difficult terrain led to the closure of the railway in 1879 after only two years' operation.
The Weller brothers, Englishmen of Sydney, Australia, and Otago, New Zealand, were the founders of a whaling station on Otago Harbour and New Zealand's most substantial merchant traders in the 1830s.
Allanton is a small town in Otago, New Zealand, located some 20 kilometres southwest of Dunedin on State Highway 1. The settlement lies at the eastern edge of the Taieri Plains close to the Taieri River at the junction of the main road to Dunedin International Airport at Momona.
Waitati, from the Māori Waitete, is a small seaside settlement in Otago, New Zealand, within the city limits of Dunedin. It is located close to the tidal mudflats of Blueskin Bay, 19 kilometres north of the Dunedin city centre. The small Waitati River flows through the bay to the sea.
Warrington, known in Māori as Ōkāhau, is a small settlement on the coast of Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. It is situated close to the northern shore of Blueskin Bay, an area of mudflats north of Dunedin, and is administered as part of Dunedin City. Warrington is 3 km (1.9 mi) from State Highway 1 linked by Coast Road. The Main South Line railway passes through the township and a tourist train, the Seasider passes through the settlement once or twice a week between Dunedin and Palmerston.
The Dunedin City Council is the local government authority for Dunedin in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the 134,600 people of Dunedin. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Dunedin is Jules Radich, who succeeded Aaron Hawkins. The council consists of a mayor who is elected at large, and 14 councillors elected at large, one of whom gets chosen as deputy-mayor. The councillors are elected under the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system in triennial elections, with the most recent election held on 8 October 2022.
Huriawa, commonly known as Huriawa Peninsula or Karitane Peninsula, is a headland on the coast of Otago, New Zealand. It is located 35 kilometres north of Dunedin city centre, immediately to the southeast of the settlement of Karitane.
Pūrākaunui is a small settlement in Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located within the bounds of the city of Dunedin, in a rural coastal area some 25 km to the north of the city centre.
In February 2021, the East Otago towns of Waikouaiti and Karitane in New Zealand reported high lead levels in their water supplies. Local and national authorities responded by dispatching water tanks and staff to assist local residents and offering them free blood tests, fruits and vegetables. The lead poisoning scare also attracted covered by national media. By 10 March 2021, the Southern District Health Board confirmed that test results indicated that long term exposure to lead in the water supply posed minimial risk to the local population.
Hawksbury Lagoon is situated within the East Otago town of Waikouaiti, on the northern boundary of Dunedin City, New Zealand.
Harwood is a rural settlement on the northern side of the Otago Peninsula. It is within the boundaries of Dunedin city in New Zealand.