Waimate

Panorama of the view from the White Horse overlooking Waimate township.

Waimate is a town and district in the South Island of New Zealand. It is 45.7 km south of Timaru in south Canterbury, 20 km north of the Waitaki River.

The population of Waimate at the count of the 2001 census is 7,101 people. Waimate has the fewest Maori people per district in New Zealand. It has an area of 3,565 square kilometres (?)

Waimate is well-known locally for its population of wallabies. These marsupials were introduced from Australia and now live in the wild in the countryside surrounding the town. Wallabies are also farmed locally and sometimes exported to zoos.

History

From 1877 until 1966, Waimate was served by the Waimate Branch, a branch line railway that connected with the Main South Line some seven kilometres east in Studholme. For roughly seventy years ending in 1953, the line ran beyond Waimate to Waihao Downs. When the branch line was closed on 31 March 1966, Waimate became the first major town in New Zealand to lose its railway connection.

Economy

Like much of rural New Zealand, Waimate suffered from an economic downturn in the 1980s, with the closure of the dairy factory and a number of sawmills. For the last decade of the 20th century the biggest employers in the district were two furniture manufacturers, a vegetable processing plant and a factory making french fries and other potato products at Makikihi. All but the later closed within the first few years of the 21st century. But, a newly developed large scale saw mill, and the development of a large milk powder factory, coupled with the wealth of dairy farms, and a residential building boom, have seen a renewed confidence in Waimate.

The Waimate Winter Show is held annually at The Waimate Stadium, cnr Paul and Wilkin Streets, Waimate, in the first week of July.

Photo of a sunset over the hills to the south of Waimate, taken from near the town center.

Education

• Pre-schools
  • Waimate Free Kindergarten
  • Waimate Childcare Centre
  • Waimate Playcentre

• Primary Schools
  • Waimate Main School
  • Glenavy School
  • Morven School
  • Makikihi School
  • St Patrick's School
  • Waihaorunga School
  • Waihao Downs School
  • Waimate Centennial School
  • Waituna Creek School
  • St Andrews School

• Secondary Schools
  • Waimate High School

Notable People From Waimate

• Norman Kirk, Prime Minister of New Zealand
• A. M. Hamilton, notable for building the Hamilton Road through Kurdistan and designing the Callender-Hamilton bridge system.

Sport

• Waimate Rugby Football Club has teams competing in the South Canterbury rugby competitions. The club is affiliated with the South Canterbury Rugby Football Union.

Trivia

• Waimate's most famous citizen was Norman Kirk, Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1972 until his death in office in 1974.
• St. Augustine's Church, located on John Street in Waimate, was designed in 1872 by one of New Zealand's most notable architects, Benjamin Mountfort.

External links

• Waimate District Council promotional site.
• [1] Churches of Waimate.
• Unofficial Waimate site Pictures and links.
• Waimate Winter Show.

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