Westport (Neuseeland)

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Westport's location in New Zealand.

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Art deco influenced civic building in Westport.

Westport is a town in the West Coast region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located on the northern bank and at the mouth of the Buller River, close by the prominent headland of Cape Foulwind. It is connected via State Highway 6 with Greymouth, New Zealand 100 kilometres to the south, and with Nelson in the northeast, via the Buller Gorge.

The town is thought to have been named for Westport in Connacht, Ireland,Vorlage:Fact although the choice of name was no doubt also guided by the town's location. The 2001 census gave a population of 3,783. The Buller District Council gives a 2007 population of about 5,000.

History

There is evidence that Māori settlers lived in the Buller (Kawatiri) area from very early on. Legends actually place the first visit as early as 950 AD via the waka Tahiriangi with its chief Ngahue. The settlers appeared to live mostly coastal lives, though they explored the mountains for pounamu (jade or 'greenstone'), which they then traded with other iwi.

The first European vessel known to have entered the river was the sealing schooner Three Brothers in 1884, and the 1880s saw many exploratory parties of geologists and surveyors combing the area for the presence of valuable resources and taking the measure of the land. Amongst them were Charles Heaphy, William Fox and Thomas Brunner. While gold brought initial interest to the area, and for example, led to large areas of the coastal areas (covered by sediment from the river) being dredged for the valuable mineral,Vorlage:Fact the area soon became much more famous for coal mining, still a diminant concern in the region today. The first railway of the area was being built as early as 1876, extending from Westport up to 18 km to the coal fields, most of them located to the north of the town.

Economy

Economic activity is based around fishing, coal mining and dairy farming. Historically, gold mining was a major industry, and coal mining was much more extensive than today. Some native forest logging occurred in the area until cessation around 1999. Holcim has a large cement plant near the city.

While tourism has some famous destinations in this area (such as the Oparara Basin Arches or Buller Gorge), most South Island visitors pass by this quieter area, opting instead to go to Abel Tasman National Park, to Hanmer Springs or, if they do visit the west coast, to Greymouth and the glaciers further south.

Facilities

The city has one cinema / theatre, the St James Theatre, able to seat 424 patrons for film screenings, theatre productions or other activities.

The Holcim company manages the day-to-day operations of Westport's harbour, using it to ship their cement product to market, for example to the Port of Onehunga in Auckland. There is also a small airport, served once daily by Air New Zealand from Wellington, and on Monday to Friday by Air West Coast (2007 data).