Westland District

Westland District is a territorial authority on the west coast of New Zealand's South Island.

Government

The Westland District is governed by an elected Council, headed by an elected Mayor. The Mayor is elected at large. The current Mayor is Maureen Pugh. Councillors are elected to represent multi-member wards. Three councillors are elected for the Northern Ward, three for the Southern Ward, and four for the town of Hokitika.

The District is one of three included within the West Coast Region.

Geography

The District consists of a long thin strip of land between the crest of the Southern Alps and the Tasman Sea. The low-lying areas near the coast are a mixture of pastoral farmland and temperate rainforest. The eastern part of the District is steep and mountainous. Many small rivers flow down from the mountains.

The southern part of the District notably contains the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers.

Westland is one of the most sparsely populated parts of the country, with an area of 11,880.19 square kilometres and a population of 8,403 people (2006 census). Approximately 60% of the resident population live in three towns, Westport, Greymouth and Hokitika. The remaining 40% live in small villages such as Ross, Franz Josef and Haast, or in rural areas.

In the north, the Taramakau River, the largest river in the district, forms the boundary with the Grey District. The crest of the Southern Alps marks the eastern boundary. A small southern boundary lies between Westland proper and Fiordland, which lies within the Southland District. This boundary cannot be crossed by road.

Economy

In the early years of settlement in Westland, gold was a major commodity, causing prospectors to flock into the area. After the gold ran out, those who remained turned to pastoral farming. (Unlike the more northern parts of the West Coast, Westland has not developed coal mining.) In recent years, tourism has become more important, with drawcards such as the glaciers, as well as events such as the Hokitika Wild Foods Festival.

History

Westland was originally a part of Canterbury Province, administered from Christchurch. The booming population as a result of the gold rush, together with the difficulty of travel and communication across the Southern Alps, led first to the creation of a special "Westland County", then the formal separation of Westland from Canterbury to form the short-lived Westland Province (1873 - 1876).

After the abolition of the provinces in 1876, a new Westland County was created with roughly the same borders as the old Province. About this time, the population relative to the rest of the country began to decline, as the easily accessible gold soon ran out and the conditions were not ideal for farming.

Westland as a unit of government emerged largely intact from the local government reforms of the 1980s and 1990s, merely changing from a County to a District.

Recently the population has begun to grow more quickly due to "lifestyle" residents moving into the District.

External links

* [http://www.westland.govt.nz/ Official website]