Otematata (New Zealand)

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Otematata
Geographical location
Otematata (New Zealand)
Otematata
Coordinates 44 ° 36 ′  S , 170 ° 12 ′  E Coordinates: 44 ° 36 ′  S , 170 ° 12 ′  E
Region ISO NZ-OTA
Country New ZealandNew Zealand New Zealand
region Otago
District Waitaki District
Residents 186 (2013)
height 280 m
Post Code 9410
Telephone code +64 (0) 3
website www.exploreotematata.co.nz

Otematata is a small settlement in the Waitaki District of the Otago regionon the South Island of New Zealand .

Origin of name

The Māori name of the settlement is supposed to mean “place of a good flint stone” .

geography

The settlement with 186 inhabitants is located 4 km south of the dam of Lake Benmore on the arm of Lake Aviemore . The next largest cities are Oamaru , 80 km southeast on the coast of the Pacific Ocean, and Timaru around 85 km northeast . To the east of the settlement the Otematata River flows into the Lake Aviemore reservoir . The place can be reached via the New Zealand State Highway 83 , which branches off northeast of Oamaru from New Zealand State Highway 1 to the northwest and after almost 70 km leads through the town and connects to the New Zealand State Highway 8 northwest at Omarama .

Administratively, the place is part of the Waitaki District and is represented there by a Councilor (council member) of the Ahuriri Ward .

history

When preparatory planning and surveying for the Lake Benmore dam project began in 1956, the first families came with the planners in 1957 and settled in Sugar Loaf Creek, north of what would later be the dam. In the same year, the then Ministry of Works announced that it would build a camp on the Otematata River for the construction workers of the two dam projects Lake Benmore and Lake Aviemore .

The houses and cabins built over the course of two years came from the Lake Roxburgh dam project , which was completed in 1956. A total of 437 houses and around 400 huts were transported to Otematata and placed there on concrete pillars with cranes.

There are different statements about the population of the place at its peak. While the energy producer Meridian Energy in its brochure Discover the Waitaki Hydro Scheme from 2008 states that there were over 4,000 residents in 1963, the study Otematata: A Study of a Rural Hydro / Holiday Home Village from 2015 refers to a source from the year 2005 of the same energy producer, an increase in the population from 1958 starting from 166 inhabitants, over 2134 inhabitants in 1960 up to 4166 inhabitants in 1964. In a thesis on the topic of 50 Years of Construction Camps and Single Purpose Towns in the South, however, the author Kinsella refers to a population of around 5000 inhabitants at the end of 1965. After the Lake Aviemore dam was also completed in 1968 , The number of inhabitants fell rapidly to around 2400 inhabitants, then to 1410 inhabitants in 1971 and 692 inhabitants in 1976 to 186 inhabitants, determined in the last census evaluated in 2013.

With the completion of the dams and the departure of the construction workers, the use of the settlement changed. Many sold their houses to those looking for relaxation who used the two reservoirs for water sports, fishing and recreation.

As of 2014, over 5,000 people looking for relaxation should be staying in the small town during holiday periods over Christmas and the New Year.

literature

  • Fleur AJ Kinsella : 50 Years of Construction Camps and Single Purpose Towns in the South . Victoria University of Wellington , Wellington 2012 (English, online [PDF; 25.5 MB ; accessed on January 20, 2020] Thesis to achieve the Masters of Architecture).
  • Jude Wilson, Mike Mackay : Otematata: A Study of a Rural Hydro / Holiday Home Village . In: LEaP Research Report . No. 38 . Lincoln University, Canterbury , 2015, ISBN 978-0-86476-375-4 (English, online [PDF; 4.9 MB ; accessed on January 20, 2020]).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Topo maps . Land Information New Zealand , accessed January 20, 2020 .
  2. ^ A b Discover the Waitaki Hydro Scheme . (PDF; 1.9 MB) Meridian Energy , November 2008, archived from the original on February 17, 2011 ; accessed on January 20, 2020 (English, original website no longer available).
  3. ↑ Coordinates and longitudes were determined using Goggle Earth Pro Version 7.3.2.5776 on January 20, 2020
  4. ↑ Postcode maps . New Zealand Post , accessed January 20, 2020 .
  5. ^ Our Council - Wards . Waitaki Distrct Council , October 15, 2019, accessed January 20, 2020 .
  6. ^ Kinsella : 50 Years of Construction Camps and Single Purpose Towns in the South . 2012, p.  47 .
  7. ^ Kinsella : 50 Years of Construction Camps and Single Purpose Towns in the South . 2012, p.  48 .
  8. ^ A b Wilson, Mackay : Otematata: A Study of a Rural Hydro / Holiday Home Village . 2015, p.  19 .
  9. ^ Kinsella : 50 Years of Construction Camps and Single Purpose Towns in the South . 2012, p.  49 .
  10. ^ Wilson, Mackay : Otematata: A Study of a Rural Hydro / Holiday Home Village . 2015, p.  23 .
  11. ^ Wilson, Mackay : Otematata: A Study of a Rural Hydro / Holiday Home Village . 2015, p.  37 .
  12. ↑ Otematata - Maori Translation - "Place of good flint" . In: Explore Otematata . Otematata Residents Association Inc , accessed January 20, 2020 .