Waikouaiti | |
|---|---|
Town | |
 State Highway 1 at Waikouaiti, looking south | |
 | |
| Coordinates:45°35′40″S170°40′20″E / 45.59444°S 170.67222°E /-45.59444; 170.67222 | |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Island | South Island |
| Region | Otago |
| Community board | Waikouaiti Coast Community Board[1] |
| Electorates |
|
| Government | |
| • Territorial authority | Dunedin City Council |
| • Regional council | Otago Regional Council |
| • Mayor of Dunedin | Sophie Barker[2] |
| • Dunedin MP | Rachel Brooking |
| • Te Tai Tonga MP | Tākuta Ferris |
| Area | |
• Total | 7.33 km2 (2.83 sq mi) |
| Population (June 2025)[4] | |
• Total | 1,310 |
| • Density | 179/km2 (463/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+12 (NZST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+13 (NZDT) |
| Area code | 03 |
| Localiwi | Ngāi Tahu |
Waikouaiti is a small town inEast Otago, New Zealand, within the city limits ofDunedin. The town is close to the coast and the mouth of theWaikouaiti River.
Today, Waikouaiti is a retail trade and servicing centre for the surrounding district, which has sheep farming as the principal primary activity. A major egg producer, Zeagold Foods, a branch of Mainland Poultry LTD has a 500,000-henfactory farming operation here and is in the process of expanding over the next year to meet demand for egg products.Hawksbury, 3 kilometres (1.9 miles) southwest of Waikouaiti, has acheese factory and shop, a swimming pool and housing developed from the oldmental health institution,Cherry Farm.Karitane, 3 km (1.9 mi) to the southeast has a small fishing port.
Prior to the arrival of Europeans the area was occupied byMāori, who had akāinga, or unfortified settlement, at modernKaritane and apā, or fortified settlement, on the adjacent Huriawa Peninsula.
An 1826 sketch of the east Otago coast, shows the headlands and beaches of what are now Karitane and Waikouaiti.[5]
Waikouaiti was the first European settlement in southern New Zealand to be mainly based on farming and one of the first enduring European settlements inOtago. From 1837 there had been a whaling station confusingly also called "Waikouaiti" nearby on the south side of the estuary at what is now called "Karitane". Having already purchased large areas of land in the South Island (much of which was later declared to have been invalid)Johnny Jones sent settlers fromSydney, Australia in theMagnet to farm the district in 1840, eight years before the foundation of the Otago Association's settlement.[6] This was the first farm in the Otago region.
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Jones himself did not move to Waikouaiti until 1843, after financial losses during an economic depression in Sydney. His original homestead and some of the associated buildings of his colonial manor farm, known asMatanaka Farm, which still stand on Cornish Head, date from this time. The farm buildings, though not the homestead, are owned byHeritage New Zealand and are open to the public. They are the oldest surviving farm buildings in New Zealand.[7][8]
Jones moved to Dunedin in 1854[6] but was influential in the development of Waikouaiti for many years after. The wooden shingle roofed St. John's Anglican Church in Waikouaiti proper opened in 1858, was funded by Jones. It was designed byBenjamin Mountfort of Christchurch who also designed the Provincial Council Building there. In 1861Dr. William Chapman, at Jones request, became the firstGP for the district.
The Presbyterians built a wooden church in 1863. It was moved to Kildare Street in 1876 and still remains. It became the Sunday School when a brick church was built in 1914, designed byJ.Louis Salmond but this building closed in 2008 and was demolished in 2009.
In early February 2021, high levels of lead (40 times the acceptable level of 0.01 mg/L) were detected in Waikouaiti and nearbyKaritane's drinking water supply. The high levels of lead were first detected on 18 December 2020 but the alert was emailed to aDunedin City Council staff member who was on holiday.[9][10] In response, Director-General of HealthAshley Bloomfield offered free blood tests to Karitane and Waikouaiti residents. The Dunedin City Council also dispatched water tanks and staff to assist and reassure local residents.[10]Prime MinisterJacinda Ardern described the lead levels in the two towns as "unacceptable."[11] On 9 February, the City Council distributed free fruits and vegetables to residents of Waikouaiti, Karitane, andHawksbury due to concerns about eating crops irrigated with the contaminated water.[12]
Following lead scare, the Dunedin City Council announced on 11 February that it would drain a raw water reservoir and replace five kilometres of old pipes in order to reassure residents of Waikouaiti, Karitane and Hawksbury.[13] By 10 March, theSouthern District Health Board confirmed that 1,512 people had been tested, with blood test results indicating that nobody had a blood lead level requiring hospitalisation and that long term exposure to lead from the water supply was limited.[14] In July 2021, the City Council removed its recommendation to not drink from the areas water supply.[15]
The town of Waikouaiti was initially called "Hawksbury," a name that still applies to theHawksbury Lagoonwetland in the centre of the town, known inMāori asMatainaka,[16] and also adopted in the name of the residential/industrial redevelopment at the formerCherry Farm Hospital.The name Waikouaiti isMāori, and is believed to come from phrases meaning "small bitter waters" (wai-kawa-iti) or "braided streamlets" (wai-koua-iti). This placename once applied to awhaling station atKaritane, but subsequently drifted to the present location.
Waikouaiti covers 7.33 km2 (2.83 sq mi)[3] and had an estimated population of 1,310 as of June 2025,[4] with a population density of 179 people per km2.
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 1,095 | — |
| 2013 | 1,122 | +0.35% |
| 2018 | 1,194 | +1.25% |
| Source:[17] | ||
Waikouaiti had a population of 1,194 at the2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 72 people (6.4%) since the2013 census, and an increase of 99 people (9.0%) since the2006 census. There were 552 households, comprising 564 males and 630 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.9 males per female. The median age was 53.6 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 159 people (13.3%) aged under 15 years, 129 (10.8%) aged 15 to 29, 531 (44.5%) aged 30 to 64, and 372 (31.2%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 94.2% European/Pākehā, 9.0%Māori, 2.0%Pasifika, 2.0%Asian, and 2.0% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
The percentage of people born overseas was 14.1, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 55.5% had no religion, 32.4% wereChristian, 0.5% hadMāori religious beliefs, 1.0% wereBuddhist and 1.8% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 162 (15.7%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 246 (23.8%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $24,200, compared with $31,800 nationally. 138 people (13.3%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 393 (38.0%) people were employed full-time, 156 (15.1%) were part-time, and 24 (2.3%) were unemployed.[17]
Waikouaiti is located onState Highway 1 40 kilometres north of Dunedin city centre and 666 kilometres fromPicton.
Waikouaiti is serviced by the Dunedin to Palmerston bus service operated byDunedin Passenger Transport. The bus operates thrice daily each way Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays).[18]
TheMain South Linerailway betweenChristchurch andInvercargill passes through Waikouaiti. It was constructed in the 1870s, and daily passenger trains passed through Waikouaiti until the cancellation of theSoutherner in February 2002. Currently, the only passenger service is a tourist service operated by theTaieri Gorge Railway. Named theSeasider, it operates between Dunedin andPalmerston, once or twice a week in the summer months and occasionally during winter.
Freight trains operate through Waikouaiti multiple times daily.
Waikouaiti School is a co-educational state contributing primary school for Year 1 to 6 students,[19] with a roll of 88 students as of July 2025.[20] The school first opened in 1860 and moved to the current site in the 1870s.[21]
Media related toWaikouaiti at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
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