Ashburton () is a large town in the Canterbury Region, on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the seat of the Ashburton District Council. It is south west of Christchurch.
The town has a population of . It is the 29th-largest urban area in New Zealand and the fourth-largest urban area in the Canterbury Region, after Christchurch, Timaru and Rolleston.
Toponymy Ashburton was named by the surveyor Captain Joseph Thomas of the New Zealand Land Association, after Bingham Baring, 2nd Baron Ashburton, who was a member of the Canterbury Association. Ashburton is sometimes nicknamed "Ashvegas", an ironic allusion to Las Vegas.
Hakatere is the traditional Māori name for the Ashburton River. The name translates as "to make swift or to flow smoothly".
History
Early European explorers travelling through the Ashburton district in the 1840s followed the coastline. However, as land was increasingly taken up for pastoral farming, there was a need for a better route across the Canterbury Plains. A route that crossed the Ashburton River a few miles inland was adopted to avoid swamps along the coast. The township of Ashburton developed as a settlement on the river's north bank and served as an overnight stopping point and staging post for coach travel. In 1858, William Turton operated a ferry service across the Ashburton River, close to the present State Highway 1 Ashburton bridge. He also built an accommodation house which along with some stables were the only buildings in Ashburton in 1863. By 1864 the horse-drawn coaches of the Cobb and Co. business travelled through Ashburton between Christchurch and Timaru. The coach services continued until the Main South Line railway was completed between Christchurch and Timaru in 1876.
The town was surveyed by Robert Park in 1864. It was laid out around two central squares either side of the railway line and main highway, Baring Square East and Baring Square West. The Ashburton Domain was included in the plans for the purposes of gardens and recreation. The of land that was identified for the domain was described at the time as a "miserable wildness" of spear grass, broom, and tussock. A cricket pitch was established in the Ashburton Domain in 1878 and the Ashburton Hospital was established adjacent to the domain in 1879. The Canterbury Provincial Government granted 20,000 pounds to develop roads in the district in 1873. The Main South Line railway reached Ashburton in August 1874 and Timaru in 1876. Churches were built in the expanding settlement, including the Presbyterian church in 1876, the Wesleyan church in 1878 and the Catholic church in 1882.
Ashburton was designated as a borough in 1878. At this stage, there were about 500 buildings within the borough. The Ashburton Borough Council was formed in 1878, and remained the local governing authority for the town until the establishment of the Ashburton District Council in 1989. The Ashburton County Council first met on 4 January 1877 in the Ashburton Road Board office. It became part of Ashburton District Council in 1989, together with Ashburton Borough Council. Netherby was added to the borough of Ashburton in 1917, Hampstead in 1921, and Allenton in 1939. Tinwald was added to the borough In 1955.
During World War II, Ashburton was used as a training base for the Royal New Zealand Air Force with 50 Tiger Moth aircraft based at the Ashburton Aerodrome.
On 1 September 2014, there was a violent incident in Ashburton that received nationwide publicity. A man who had previously been trespassed from the Ashburton Work and Income office arrived at the premises with a shotgun and murdered two front counter workers. At the subsequent trial, the offender was given the third longest sentence on record.
In 2021, the Ashburton slogan: "Whatever it takes" was scrapped by the Ashburton District Council. Having been in use for approximately 10 years, it had drawn criticism. In 2012, it made a list of Top 10 worst NZ city slogans. The Ashburton welcome sign had been changed surreptitiously at times from ‘Ashburton: Whatever it Takes’ to ‘Ashburton: ‘Whatever’.
A new library and civic centre for Ashburton was built between 2021 and 2023, at a final cost of $62.1 million, with a $20 million contribution from the New Zealand government. The three-story building includes council chambers, office space, a recording studio, areas to study in, a library and a performance area. The design also incorporates the historic Pioneer Hall into the facility. The civic centre was named Te Whare Whakatere.
Geography
Ashburton is situated 17 kilometres inland on the Canterbury Plains approximately south of Christchurch and 75 kilometres north of Timaru. Methven is 33kilometres inland from Ashburton. Rakaia and the Rakaia river are 28kilometres to the north of Ashburton.
The town is the centre of an agricultural and pastoral farming district on the Canterbury Plains. It has one large suburb, Tinwald, south of the Ashburton River / Hakatere. The town has three other suburbs: Allenton, Hampstead and Netherby.
Climate On the whole, Ashburton shares a similar climate to Christchurch i.e. a dry temperate climate (Cfb). However, since it lies further inland at a higher altitude than Christchurch, Ashburton experiences a greater range of temperatures. Summers in Ashburton can be warm, seeing an average of 39 days exceeding and 7 days exceeding every year, while winters are frosty, with temperatures dropping below an average of 51 nights a year. Ashburton occasionally sees snowfall, with its heaviest being on 12 June 2006, conversely it is tied with Timaru for New Zealand's fourth-highest temperature on record, reaching on 7 February 1973.
Rivers and lakes
The Ashburton River / Hakatere flows across Mid Canterbury from the Southern Alps to the Pacific Ocean. The official name of the river was amended to become a dual name by the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998. The river passes through the town of Ashburton, separating the south-east suburb of Tinwald from the rest of the town. The nearest beach to Ashburton is Wakanui beach, but is not safe for swimming due to a strong undertow. In part to rectify the limitations imposed by the lack of recreational waterways, Lake Hood was constructed just south-east of Tinwald.
The Ashburton Lakes is a region of high-country lakes and wetlands located around from Ashburton in inland Canterbury. The region is a glacial inter-montane basin between the Rangitata and Rakaia rivers, and includes Lake Heron, Lake Camp and Lake Clearwater. On the road to these lakes are Mount Somers and the Mount Somers walkway.
Governance
Ashburton District Council is the territorial authority for the Ashburton District of New Zealand. The council is led by the mayor of Ashburton, who is currently . There are also nine ward councillors.
Demographics Ashburton is described by Statistics New Zealand as a medium urban area, and covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2.
The population of Ashburton was recorded as 2,322 in the 1901 census, 8,287 in the 1951 census, 10,176 in the 1956 census and 11,604 in the 1961 census.
Before the 2023 census, Ashburton had a smaller boundary, covering . Using that boundary, it had a population of 19,284 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 1,401 people (7.8%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 3,096 people (19.1%) since the 2006 census. There were 7,644 households, comprising 9,531 males and 9,747 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.98 males per female, with 3,642 people (18.9%) aged under 15 years, 3,330 (17.3%) aged 15 to 29, 7,977 (41.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 4,338 (22.5%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 82.9% European/Pākehā, 9.1% Māori, 7.7% Pasifika, 5.8% Asian, and 1.6% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
The percentage of people born overseas was 17.0, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 43.0% had no religion, 46.8% were Christian, 0.7% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.8% were Hindu, 0.3% were Muslim, 0.4% were Buddhist and 1.3% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 1,626 (10.4%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 4,239 (27.1%) people had no formal qualifications. 2,058 people (13.2%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 7,638 (48.8%) people were employed full-time, 2,328 (14.9%) were part-time, and 429 (2.7%) were unemployed.
+Individual statistical areasName Area(km2) Population Density(per km2) Households Median age Medianincome Allenton North 2.10 2,547 1,213 1,008 47.7 years $34,900 Allenton South 2.93 2,121 724 813 36.0 years $33,700 Allenton East 1.24 2,121 1,710 852 45.3 years $33,100 Ashburton Central 2.56 141 55 66 53.6 years $31,100 Ashburton East 0.78 1,749 2,242 756 45.7 years $25,700 Ashburton North 20.65 1,050 51 378 48.3 years $36,400 Ashburton West 0.45 957 2,127 447 57.8 years $27,200 Hampstead 1.44 2,910 2,021 1,149 35.7 years $30,100 Netherby 1.09 2,130 1,954 789 36.0 years $33,100 Tinwald North 1.90 1,185 624 489 43.5 years $34,800 Tinwald South 2.75 2,373 863 897 40.4 years $31,900 New Zealand 37.4 years $31,800
Economy Ashburton lies in the middle of the fertile alluvial Canterbury Plains which sustains agricultural activity including dairying, provided irrigation is used. More than 100 local farmers grow potatoes, corn and peas which are processed locally.
The economy of Ashburton is influenced by the economy of the Ashburton District as a whole. In the year to March 2020, the gross domestic product (GDP) of Ashburton District was $2,506M, representing 0.8% of New Zealand's total GDP. The largest proportion of the Ashburton District GDP is derived from primary industries, at 27.0%. This is substantially higher than the 6.2% contribution of primary industries to the national GDP. The next highest contribution to the district GDP was from 'Other services' representing 26.7% in the district GDP, versus 34.7% in the national economy. Goods-producing industries were 21.3%, versus 18.7% in the national economy. High-value services (such as knowledge-based service industries) represented the smallest proportion in Ashburton District GDP, at 10.2%, versus 25.6% in the national economy.
The town has businesses providing a wide range of services to farming in the district, including seed merchants, livestock companies, farm machinery dealers, banks, lawyers and accountants.
The Ashburton District Council has a 40% holding in the company that manages the Rangitata Diversion Race. This scheme diverts water from the Rangitata and South Ashburton rivers into a canal that provides irrigation to large parts of the district.
A vegetable processing factory owned by Talley's is located on the northern outskirts of Ashburton. The factory was built in 1996 to take advantage of the good soils and irrigation of the Ashburton district. The factory processes peas, corn and potatoes. The potatoes are made into French fries, hash browns and wedges. Much of what is processed is exported to overseas customers. The factory employs 360 staff.
Ashburton was home to a lamb processing works from the early 1900s until 2017, when it was closed with the loss of 370 staff due to declining lamb numbers in Canterbury. The pelt house closed in 2019 with the loss of a further 44 staff. Talley's purchased the site in 2020 and had plans to use it to support vegetable production and use the cool stores for their frozen produce.