Gore District is a district in the Southland region of 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 ...

of New Zealand.

Geography

The Gore District is located in the south of the South Island. The two neighbouring districts are Southland in the west and Clutha in the east. The district has a land area of . The seat of the district council is in the town of

Gore Gore may refer to: Places Australia * Gore, Queensland * Gore Creek (New South Wales) * Gore Island (Queensland) Canada * Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community * Gore, Quebec, a township municipality * Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manito ...

. The district has a population of

Towns and localities

Gore is the main centre of Gore District. Other places in the district include the following, based on wards: Gore Ward: *

(seat) Kaiwera-Waimumu Ward: * Kaiwera Community Board: ** Diamond Peak ** East Gore ** Ferndale ** Kaiwera ** Otaraia ** Tuturau (north part) ** Waikana ** Watarikiki (east part) * Waimumu Community Board: ** Brydone (north part) ** Charlton **

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an exten ...

** Croydon Bush ** Otamita ** Te Tipua (north part) ** Upper Charlton ** Waimumu ** Waitane (east part) Mataura Ward: *

Mataura Mataura is a town in the Southland region of the South Island of New Zealand. Mataura has a meat processing plant, and until 2000 it was the site of a large pulp and paper mill. Geography Mataura is situated on and the Main South Line rail ...

Waikaka Ward: * Arthurton * Benio *

Chatton Chatton is a village in Northumberland, in England. It is roughly to the east of Wooler. History Chatton has been occupied for many centuries. There has been a church on the site since the twelfth century. There is evidence of occupation i ...

* Chatton North * East Chatton * Greenvale * Knapdale * Maitland * Mandeville (south part) *

Merino Downs The Merino is a breed or group of breeds of domestic sheep, characterised by very fine soft wool. It was established in Spain near the end of the Middle Ages, and was for several centuries kept as a strict Spanish monopoly; exports of the b ...

(west part) * McNab * Otama * Otikerama * Pukerau * Te Kiteroa (west part) *

Waikaka Waikaka is a town in Southland, New Zealand. It was a gold-mining town in the 19th century, starting in 1867 when gold was found. Over NZ£1,000,000 equivalent of gold was eventually extracted from this location. The town was served by the Wa ...

* Waikaka Valley * Wendon (east part) * Wendon Valley * Whiterigg * Willowbank

Demographics

Gore District covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Gore District had a population of 12,396 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 short ...

, an increase of 363 people (3.0%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 288 people (2.4%) since the 2006 census. There were 5,076 households. There were 6,153 males and 6,246 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.99 males per female. The median age was 43.6 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 2,373 people (19.1%) aged under 15 years, 2,079 (16.8%) aged 15 to 29, 5,439 (43.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 2,508 (20.2%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 89.0% European/Pākehā, 12.9% Māori, 1.1% Pacific peoples, 3.1% Asian, and 1.5% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 8.8, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 47.2% had no religion, 43.2% were Christian, 0.4% were Hindu, 0.3% were Muslim, 0.1% were Buddhist and 1.6% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 1,008 (10.1%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 2,883 (28.8%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $30,900, compared with $31,800 nationally. 1,197 people (11.9%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 5,121 (51.1%) people were employed full-time, 1,539 (15.4%) were part-time, and 261 (2.6%) were unemployed.

History

The European history of Gore started in 1855 with the arrival of Scottish settlers. After the town site was surveyed, the provincial superintendent,

James Alexander Robertson Menzies James Alexander Robertson Menzies (21 February 1821 – 18 August 1888) was the first superintendent of the Southland Province in New Zealand from 3 August 1861 to November 1864, during its breakaway from Otago Province (1861 to 1870). He contin ...

, named the site for his friend, the

Governor of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand ( mi, te kāwana tianara o Aotearoa) is the viceregal representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and l ...

Thomas Gore Browne Colonel Sir Thomas Robert Gore Browne, (3 July 1807 – 17 April 1887) was a British colonial administrator, who was Governor of St Helena, Governor of New Zealand, Governor of Tasmania and Governor of Bermuda. Early life Browne was born ...

. The original name of the township, Long Ford or Longford, remained for some time, but when the railway reached the town, the shorter name became common and was also applied to the wider district. The township of Gore was incorporated and became a borough council in 1885. In the local government reform in 1989, the Gore and Mataura borough councils and parts of

Southland County Southland County was one of the counties of New Zealand in the South Island. Created in 1876, it was in the eastern part of Southland Region. Surrounding counties were Wallace County, Lake County, Vincent County, Tuapeka County and Clutha County. ...

Council were amalgamated to form Gore District.

Governance

The district council is headed by a mayor who is elected at large and complemented by eleven councillors from various wards. Five councillors represent the Gore ward, one councillor each represents the Mataura, Kaiwera-Waimumu, and Waikaka wards, and there is one further district-wide ward that is represented by three councillors. The current mayor,

Ben Bell Benjamin Ryan Bell (born 11 May 1999) is a New Zealand politician who is the mayor of the town of Gore in the South Island. In October 2022, Bell was elected as Gore's youngest mayor at the age of 23 years, defeating the incumbent Tracy Hicks. ...

, was elected in the

2022 New Zealand local elections The 2022 New Zealand local elections were triennial elections held in New Zealand on Saturday 8 October 2022. Voting began by postal vote on 16 September and ended at noon on 8 October 2022. Election schedule Key dates relating to the general ...

as Gore's youngest mayor at the age of 23 years, defeating the incumbent Tracy Hicks.

Current body

As of 2022, the current council members are: * Mayor * Gore ward: Bronwyn Reid, Bret Highsted, Nick Grant, Glenys Dickson, Doug Grant * Mataura ward: Neville Phillips * Waikaka ward: John Gardyne * Waimumu-Kaiwera ward: Stewart MacDonell * Councillors elected at-large: Cliff Bolger, Nicky Davis, Richard McPhail

References

External links

Gore District Council website
{{Cities and districts of New Zealand 1989 establishments in New Zealand