Waitaki District is a territorial authority district that is located in the Canterbury and

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) 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 , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

regions of the South Island of New Zealand. It straddles the traditional border between the two regions, the Waitaki River, and its seat is Oamaru.

History

Waitaki District is made up of the former Waitaki County, Waihemo County and Oamaru Borough, which were amalgamated in 1989. It is governed by the Waitaki District Council.

Name

During the colonial period, the area was also known as ''Molesworth''. However, the Maori name ''Waitaki'' eventually prevailed.

Geography

It has a land area of , of which or 59.02% is in the Canterbury Region and or 40.98% in the Otago Region. It is the only district in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, 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 ...

that lies in two regions.Siobhan Downes
"Why Waitaki wants its name on the tourism map"
stuff.co.nz, 19 May 2021. A major reason for this split was the governance of the Waitaki River which forms a political boundary between Canterbury and Otago. With major hydro schemes on this river it was decided to place the entire catchment in one administrative region, thus forming the split. Some people who fall into the Canterbury Region of Waitaki District still regard themselves as part of Otago, and attempts have been made in the past to change the boundary. The district, which is agricultural by nature, comprises the wide alluvial fan of the river, and runs inland along the banks of the river, forming a roughly triangular region.

Urban areas and settlements

Oamaru, the district seat, is the only town in the Waitaki district with a population over 1,000. It is home to people, % of the district's population. Other settlements and localities in the district include: Ahuriri Ward: * Aviemore * Benmore * Black Point *

Bortons Bortons is a small settlement on the southern bank of the Waitaki River in New Zealand's South Island. It is located on SH 83, 7 km east of Duntroon. The settlement is named after surveyor and civil engineer John Borton, a pioneer of the distri ...

* Clearburn * Danseys Pass * '' Duntroon'' *

Earthquakes An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

* Kokoamo * Kurow * Ohau * Lake Waitaki * Lindis Pass *

Livingstone Livingstone may refer to: * Livingstone (name), a Scottish surname and a given name. **David Livingstone (1813–1873), Scottish physician, missionary and explorer, after whom many other Livingstones are named Places *Livingstone Falls, on the Con ...

* Maerewhenua * Omarama * Otekaieke * ''

Otematata Otematata is a town in the Waitaki District of Otago in New Zealand's South Island. It is defined as a "populated area less than a town" and the 2001 New Zealand census gave the "usually resident population count" as 243. By the 2018 census it ...

'' * Otiake * Pukeraro * Strachans * Waikaura * Wharekuri Waihemo Ward: * Billys Flat * '' Dunback'' *

Flag Swamp A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employ ...

* Glenpark * Goodwood * Green Valley * Hampden * Hillgrove * Inch Valley * Kaika * Katiki * ''

Macraes Macraes, formerly known as Macraes Flat, and known in Māori language, Māori as Ōtī,Place names'' on Kāti Huirapa Runaka ki Puketeraki website, viewed 2012-01-04 is a town in the Waitaki District in Otago, New Zealand. It is known as a mini ...

'' * Makareao * Meadowbank * Moeraki *

Moonlight Flat Moonlight consists of mostly sunlight (with little earthlight) reflected from the parts of the Moon's surface where the Sun's light strikes. Illumination The intensity of moonlight varies greatly depending on the lunar phase, but even the ful ...

* Morrisons * Nenthorn * Palmerston * Pleasant Valley * Shag Point *

Shag Valley Shag, or Shagged, or Shagger, or Shagging, or Shags may refer to: Animals * Shag or cormorant, a bird family ** European shag, a specific species of the shag or cormorant family ** Great cormorant another species of the family People Pseudony ...

Stoneburn Stoneburn is a lightly populated rural locality in the Otago region of New Zealand's South Island. It is situated west of Glenpark and Inch Valley. The nearest significantly sized town is Palmerston Palmerston may refer to: People * Christie ...

Trotters Gorge Trotters Gorge (sometimes rendered Trotter's Gorge) is a locality in the Otago region, in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located 12 kilometres to the north of Palmerston, inland from State Highway 1. The gorge and the creek which runs thro ...

* Waianakarua *

Waihemo Dunback, formerly Waihemo, is a small town in the Otago region of New Zealand. It is located between Palmerston and Ranfurly on Highway 85. It has a population of about 200 people. Most of these people live in the rural areas near the town. Th ...

Wairunga Wairunga is a locality in Otago, New Zealand. It is located on SH1 to the south of Palmerston. The Pleasant River flows immediately to the west of Wairunga. The locality's name is a Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori p ...

* Waynes * Puketapu Corriedale Ward: * Airedale * '' All Day Bay'' * Awamoko * Cormacks * Corriedale *

Elderslie Elderslie may refer to one of the following locations: * Elderslie, Scotland, a village in Renfrewshire, west central Scotland * Elderslie, New South Wales Elderslie is a suburb of the Macarthur Region of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, ...

* Enfield * Five Forks *

Fuchsia Creek ''Fuchsia'' () is a genus of flowering plants that consists mostly of shrubs or small trees. The first to be scientifically described, ''Fuchsia triphylla'', was discovered on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republ ...

* Georgetown * ''

Herbert Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert, ...

'' * Hilderthorpe * Incholme *

Island Cliff An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerry, skerries, cays or keys. An r ...

Island Stream An island or isle is a piece of subcontinental land completely surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island in a river or a lake island may be call ...

Kakanui 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 ...

Kauru Hill Kauru is a Local Government Area in southern Kaduna State, Nigeria. The area is 3,186 km. Its headquarters are in the town of Kauru. The postal code of the area is 811. Boundaries Kauru Local Government Area shares boundaries with Zangon Kataf L ...

* Kia Ora * Kuriheka * '' Maheno'' * Maraeweka * Marakerake *

Maruakoa Maruakoa is a small farming settlement in Waitaki District, New Zealand. It is located close to the banks of the Kakanui River just south of its emergence form the Kakanui Gorge. It is 18 kilometres northwest of Oamaru and 4 kilometres southwest ...

* '' Ngapara'' *

Otepopo The small town of Herbert, formerly Otepopo, lies in North Otago, New Zealand, north of Dunedin and south-west of Oamaru. It lies on the edge of the Herbert Forest. Herbert consists of a group of houses and three churches clustered around St ...

* Papakaio * Peebles * '' Pukeuri'' *

Queens Flat Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...

* '' Reidston'' *

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

* Rosebery * Tapui * Taranui * Teschemakers * Tokarahi * Totara * Waimotu * ''

Waitaki Bridge Waitaki District is a territorial authority district that is located in the Canterbury and Otago regions of the South Island of New Zealand. It straddles the traditional border between the two regions, the Waitaki River, and its seat is Oamaru. ...

'' * Whitecraig *

Whitstone Whitstone is a village and civil parish in east Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is roughly halfway between the towns of Bude and Launceston. The population at the 2011 census was 590. History The earliest mention of the village is in the Dome ...

* Windsor Park * Windsor Oamaru Ward: * Ardgowan * Oamaru * Weston

Demographics

Waitaki District covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Waitaki District had a population of 22,308 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, an increase of 1,479 people (7.1%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 2,085 people (10.3%) since the 2006 census. There were 9,171 households. There were 10,974 males and 11,331 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.97 males per female. The median age was 45.6 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 4,071 people (18.2%) aged under 15 years, 3,348 (15.0%) aged 15 to 29, 9,819 (44.0%) aged 30 to 64, and 5,070 (22.7%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 88.0% European/Pākehā, 8.2% Māori, 3.8% Pacific peoples, 5.3% Asian, and 1.9% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 15.4, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 47.9% had no religion, 41.5% were Christian, 0.6% were Hindu, 0.3% were Muslim, 0.5% were Buddhist and 1.8% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 2,331 (12.8%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 4,719 (25.9%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $27,700, compared with $31,800 nationally. 2,019 people (11.1%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 8,529 (46.8%) people were employed full-time, 2,826 (15.5%) were part-time, and 441 (2.4%) were unemployed.

Economy

A relatively sparsely settled area, the District has a large number of farms. However, in recent times (late 2000s), numerous proposals for new farming operations have locals fearing that the agriculture will be transformed from often family-held farms to large

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit w ...

operations causing local ecological damage and siphoning off capital overseas.

References

External links

Waitaki District CouncilInformation about Waitaki DistrictWaitaki Development Board
{{Cities and districts of New Zealand