- Edendale, New Zealand
Location map
New Zealand
label=Edendale
lat_dir=S | lat_deg=46 | lat_min=19
lon_dir=E | lon_deg=168 | lon_min=47
position=right
width= 150
float=right
caption=Edendale is a town in the Southland region of
New Zealand 'sSouth Island . According to the 2001New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings , it has a population of 570, 300 males and 270 females, representing a rise of 0.5% or 3 people since the 1996 census. The town's unemployment level of 3.3% is notably well lower than the overall national level of 7.5%, though it is nonetheless higher than the Southland region's unemployment level of 2.8%. [http://www2.stats.govt.nz/domino/external/web/CommProfiles.nsf/FindInfobyArea/609700-au]State Highway 1 passes through Edendale as it runs between Dacre and
Mataura , and the township is situated on theSouthland Plains just to the west of theMataura River . TheMain South Line portion of theSouth Island Main Trunk Railway passes through Edendale, having served the town since April 1875. Although passenger services through the town ceased on10 February 2002 , Edendale had been served by some of New Zealand's premier passenger trains - first theSouth Express , then theSouth Island Limited , and finally the Southerner.Edendale was also a railway junction for almost eighty years. On
2 October 1882 , abranch line from the South Island Main Trunk, theWyndham Branch , was opened from Edendale to Wyndham on the opposite side of the Mataura River. On1 May 1890 , this line was extended to Glenham. Traffic was light from the beginning, with the extension to Glenham closed on14 July 1930 and passenger services to Edendale - originally provided bymixed train s and then by RM class Model T Fordrailcar s - were cancelled on9 February 1931 . By the late 1950s, the line to Wyndham was essentially just an extension of the Edendale railway yard and insufficient quantities of freight meant that the line was closed just weeks before its eightieth anniversary and Edendale ceased to be a railway junction on9 September 1962 .Edendale has a
milk processing plant operated byFonterra . Originally the plant was operated by theSouthland Dairy Co-operative . The Edendale milk processing plant was originally a cheese processing plant but in the nineties expanded to include milk powder processing. The plant has been expanded several times since.References
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