Nelson

Nelson is a city on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay, and is the economic and cultural centre of the region of the same name. Established in 1841, it is the second-oldest settled city in New Zealand and the oldest in the South Island, and was proclaimed a city by royal charter in 1858.

Nelson city is bordered to the west and south-west by the Tasman District Council and the north-east, east and south-east by the Marlborough District Council. The city does not include Richmond, the region's second-largest settlement. Nelson City has a population of around 46,437 ranking it as New Zealand's 12th most populous city and the geographical centre of New Zealand. When combined with the town of Richmond which has close on 14,000 residents, Nelson is ranked as New Zealand's 9th largest urban area by population.

Nelson is well known for its thriving local arts and crafts scene, Each year, the city hosts events popular with locals and tourists alike, such as the Nelson Arts Festival. The annual Wearable Art Awards began near Nelson and a local museum, World of Wearable Art now showcases winning designs alongside a collection of classic cars.

Etymology

Nelson was named in honour of the Admiral Horatio Nelson who defeated both the French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Many roads and public areas around the city are named after people and ships associated with that battle and Trafalgar Street is the main shopping axis of the city. Inhabitants of Nelson are referred to as Nelsonians.

Nelson's Māori name, Whakatū, means 'build', 'raise', or 'establish'.

In an article to The Colonist newspaper on 16 July 1867, Francis Stevens described Nelson as "The Naples of the Southern Hemisphere". Today, Nelson has the nicknames of "Sunny Nelson" due to its high sunshine hours per year or the "Top of the South" because of its geographic location.

History

Early settlement

Settlement of Nelson began about 700 years ago by Māori. There is evidence the earliest settlements in New Zealand are around the Nelson-Marlborough regions. The earliest recorded iwi in the Nelson district are the Ngāti Kuia, Ngāti Tumatakokiri, Ngāti Apa and Rangitane tribes.

Raids from northern tribes in the 1820s, led by Te Rauparaha and his Ngāti Toa, soon decimated the local population and quickly displaced them.

New Zealand Company

Planning

The New Zealand Company in London planned the settlement of Nelson. They intended to buy cheaply from the Māori some 200,000 acres (810 km2) which they planned to divide into one thousand lots and sell (at a considerable profit) to intending settlers. The Company earmarked future profits to finance the free passage of artisans and labourers and their families, and for the construction of public works. However, by September 1841 only about one third of the lots had sold. Despite this the Colony pushed ahead, and land was surveyed by Frederick Tuckett.

Three ships sailed from London under the command of Captain Arthur Wakefield. Arriving in New Zealand, they discovered that the new Governor of the colony, William Hobson, would not give them a free hand to secure vast areas of land from the Māori or indeed to decide where to site the colony. However, after some delay, Hobson allowed the Company to investigate the Tasman Bay area at the north end of the South Island. The Company selected the site now occupied by Nelson City because it had the best harbour in the area. But it had a major drawback: it lacked suitable arable land; Nelson City stands right on the edge of a mountain range while the nearby Waimea Plains amount to only about 60,000 acres (240 km2), less than one third of the area required by the Company plans.

The Company secured a vague and undetermined area from the Māori for £800 that included Nelson, Waimea, Motueka, Riwaka and Whakapuaka. This allowed the settlement to begin, but the lack of definition would prove the source of much future conflict. The three colony ships sailed into Nelson Haven during the first week of November 1841. When the four first immigrant ships – Fifeshire, Mary-Ann, Lord Auckland and Lloyds – arrived three months later, they found the town already laid out with streets, some wooden houses, tents and rough sheds. Within 18 months the Company had sent out 18 ships with 1052 men, 872 women and 1384 children. However, fewer than ninety of the settlers had the capital to start as landowners.

Cultural and religious immigrants

The early settlement of Nelson province included a proportion of German immigrants, who arrived on the ship Sankt Pauli and formed the nucleus of the villages of Sarau (Upper Moutere) and Neudorf. These were mostly Lutheran Protestants with a small number of Bavarian Catholics.

In 1892 the New Zealand Church Mission Society (NZCMS) was formed in a Nelson church hall.

Problems with land

After a brief initial period of prosperity, the lack of land and of capital caught up with the settlement and it entered a prolonged period of relative depression. The labourers had to accept a cut in their wages. Organised immigration ceased (a state of affairs that continued until the 1850s). By the end of 1843, artisans and labourers began leaving Nelson; by 1846, some 25% of the immigrants had moved away.

The pressure to find more arable land became intense. To the south-east of Nelson lay the wide and fertile plains of the Wairau Valley. The New Zealand Company tried to claim that they had purchased the land. The Māori owners stated adamantly that the Wairau Valley had not formed part of the original land sale and made it clear they would resist any attempts by the settlers to occupy the area. The Nelson settlers led by Arthur Wakefield and Henry Thompson attempted to do just that. This resulted in the Wairau Affray, where 22 settlers died. The subsequent Government enquiry exonerated the Māori and found that the Nelson settlers had no legitimate claim to any land outside Tasman Bay. Public fears of a Māori attack on Nelson lead to the formation of the Nelson Battalion of Militia in 1845.

City

Nelson township was managed by the Nelson Provincial Council through a Board of Works constituted by the Provincial Government under the Nelson Improvement Act 1856 until 1874. It was proclaimed a Bishop's See and city under letters patent by Queen Victoria on 27 September 1858, the second New Zealand city proclaimed in this manner after Christchurch. Edmund Hobhouse was the first Bishop. The Municipal Corporations Act 1876 stated that Nelson was constituted a city on 30 March 1874.

Coat of Arms

Nelson City has a Coat of Arms, obtained in 1958 from the Royal College of Heralds to mark the Centenary of Nelson as a City. The Blazon of the Arms is;

"Barry wavy Argent and Azure a Cross Flory Sable on a Chief also Azure a Mitre proper And for the Crest on a Wreath of the Colours Issuant from a Mural Crown proper a Lion rampant Gules holding between the fore paws a Sun in splendour or. The supporters on the dexter side a Huia Bird and on the sinister side a Kotuku both proper."

Motto "Palmam qui meruit ferat" (Let him, who has earned it, bear the palm)

Translation of the blazon. The shield is the first thing described. "Barry wavy" means there is an equal number of horizontal bars each of which is in a wave shape. "Argent" means silver and "Azure" means blue which gives the colours of the bars. On these is placed cross. If the cross is not further described then the arms are of equal length. "Flory" means that each arm terminates in a fleur-de-lis. "Sable" means black and this is the colour of the cross. A "Chief" is a broad stripe at the top of the shield and this is coloured blue ("azure".) On the chief is a bishop's mitre and "proper" means that the mitre is shown in its natural colours. The crest is the part above the shield. The "wreath of the colours" is the twisted material on which the crown sits and the colours are those of the shield; that is, silver and blue. The "Mural Crown" which is a crown made from masonry or bricks and represents city walls or towers sits on the wreath. Again "proper" means the crown is in natural colour. This crown is often found on city coats of arms. Standing on the crown is a "lion rampant" which is a heraldic lion standing erect and his colour is red ("gules"). In his front paws he is holding the sun and "in splendour" just means the sun has rays depicted. The colour of the Sun is (naturally) gold ("Or"). The helmet and mantling shown above the shield is not normally part of the blazon and is left to the artist to depict. The same is true for what the supporters stand on.

The Supporters. These are the creatures on either side of the shield. The dexter side is the right side from the shield carrier's point of view but the left side for a viewer and this side has a Huia bird. On the other side is a Kotuku or New Zealand White Heron bird. Again "proper" means both these birds are shown in their natural colours.

The motto which was Lord Nelson's motto may be translated "Let him, who has earned it, bear the palm". It is also the motto of the Royal Naval College.

Nelson Province

From 1853 until 1876, when provincial governments were abolished, Nelson was the capital of Nelson Province. The province itself was much larger than present-day Nelson City and included all of the present-day Buller, Kaikoura, Marlborough, Nelson, Tasman as well as the Grey District north of the Grey River and the Hurunui District north of the Hurunui River. The Marlborough Province split from Nelson Province in October 1859.

Nelson provincial anniversary

Nelson Anniversary Day is a public holiday observed in the northern half of the South Island of New Zealand, being the area's provincial anniversary day. It is observed throughout the historic Nelson Province, even though the provinces of New Zealand were abolished in 1876. The modern area of observation includes all of Nelson City and included all of the present-day Buller, Kaikoura, Marlborough, Tasman as well as the Grey District north of the Grey River and the Hurunui District north of the Hurunui River. The holiday usually falls on the Monday closest to 1 February, the anniversary of the arrival of the first New Zealand Company boat, the Fifeshire on 1 February 1842.

Anniversary celebrations in the early years featured a sailing regatta, horse racing, running races, shooting and ploughing matches. In 1892, the Nelson Jubilee Celebration featured an official week-long programme with church services, sports, concerts, a ball and a grand display of fireworks.

Time gun

In 1858 the Nelson Provincial Council erected a time gun at the spot on Brittania Heights where in 1841, Captain Wakefield erected his flagpole. The gun was fired each Saturday at noon to give the correct time. The gun is now preserved as a historical relic and the Songer Tree marks the site on Signal Hill of the original flagpole.

Geography

The Nelson region comprises two unitary authorities – Nelson City, administered by the Nelson City Council, and Tasman District, administered by the Tasman District Council, based in Richmond 15 kilometres (9 miles) to the southwest. It is between Marlborough, another unitary authority, to the east, and the West Coast Regional Council to the west.

For some while, there has been talk about amalgamating the two authorities to streamline and render more financially economical the existing co-operation between the two councils, exemplified by the jointly owned Port Nelson and the creation of Nelson Tasman Tourism,a jointly owned tourism promotion organisation. However, an official poll conducted in April 2012 showed nearly three-quarters of those who voted in Richmond were opposed to the proposal with a narrow majority in favour.

Nelson has beaches and a sheltered harbour. The harbour entrance is protected by a Boulder Bank, a natural, 13 km (8 miles) bank of rocks transported south from Mackay Bluff via longshore drift. The bank creates a perfect natural harbour which enticed the first settlers although the entrance was narrow. The wreck of the Fifeshire on Arrow Rock (now called Fifeshire Rock in memory of this disaster) in 1842 proved the difficulty of the passage. A cut was later made in the bank in 1906 which allowed larger vessels access to the port.

The creation of Rocks Road around the waterfront area after the Tahunanui slump in 1892 increased the effects of the tide on Nelson city's beach, Tahunanui, and removed sediment. This meant the popular beach and adjoining car park were being eroded (plus the sand dunes) so a project to replace these sands was put in place and has so far proved a success, with the sand rising a considerable amount and the dunes continuing to grow.

Central Business District

The Central Business District (CBD) of Nelson is bounded by Halifax Street to the north, Rutherford Street to the west, Collingwood Street to the east, and Selwyn Place to the south. Other major streets within the CBD include Trafalgar Street, Bridge Street and Hardy Street.

Suburbs

Nelson North –

• Glenduan
• Wakapuaka
• Todds Valley
• Marybank
• Atawhai
• Brooklands

City Centre –

• Port Nelson
• Beachville
• The Wood
• Hanby Park
• Nelson East
• Nelson South
• Toi Toi (Victory Village)
• Bishopdale
• The Brook
• Washington Valley
• Stepneyville
• Britannia heights

Tahunanui-Port Hills

• Tahunanui
• Enner Glynn
• Moana
• Tasman Heights
• Annesbrook
• Wakatu

Stoke

• Stoke
• Greenmeadows Park
• Nayland
• Monaco
• Maitlands
• Saxton

The town of Richmond (population over 14,000) has become attached to Nelson's southern suburbs and is now considered an outlying suburb of Nelson City.

National parks

Nelson is surrounded by mountains on three sides with Tasman Bay on the other and the region is the gateway to Abel Tasman National Park, Kahurangi National Park, Lakes Rotoiti and Rotoroa in the Nelson Lakes National Park. It is a centre for both ecotourism and adventure tourism and has a high reputation among caving enthusiasts due to several prominent cave systems around Takaka Hill and Mounts Owen and Arthur, which hold the largest and deepest explored caverns in the southern hemisphere.

Geographical centre of New Zealand

The geographical "centre of New Zealand" allegedly lies in Nelson; on a hilltop near the centre of the city. This is the point "zero, zero" from which the first trigonometrical surveys were started in the 1870s by John Spence Browning, the Chief Surveyor for Nelson.

From this 360-degree viewpoint, the zero, zero points in neighbouring geodetic survey regions (including Wellington in the North Island) could be triangulated and a better survey of the whole of New Zealand constructed. In 1962, the 'gravitational centre' (including Stewart Island and some smaller islands in addition to the North and South Island, but excluding the Chathams) of New Zealand lay in a patch of unremarkable dense scrub in a forest in Spooners Range near Tapawera, 35 km (22 miles) south-west of Nelson: 41°30′S 172°50′E / 41.500°S 172.833°E / -41.500; 172.833 (Geographical Centre of New Zealand).

Healthcare

The main hospital in Nelson is the Nelson Hospital. It is the seat of the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board. The Manuka Street Hospital is a private institution.

Law Enforcement

The Nelson Central Police Station is located in John Street. It is the headquarters for the Tasman Police District. The Tasman Police District has the lowest crime rate within New Zealand.

Several gangs have established themselves in Nelson. They include the Lost Breed and the Red Devils a support club for the Hells Angels. The Rebels Motorcycle Club also have a presence in the wider Nelson-Tasman area.

Transport

Air transport

Nelson Airport is located southwest of the city, at Annesbrook. The airport operates a single terminal and 1,347-metre (4,420 ft) runway, and is the sixth-busiest airport in New Zealand by passenger numbers. Approximately 800,000 passengers use the airport terminal annually and the airport averages 90 aircraft movements every day, with a plane taking off or landing every 4.5 minutes during scheduled hours. It is primarily used for domestic flights, with regular flights to and from Auckland, Blenheim, Christchurch, Kapiti Coast, Palmerston North and Wellington. Nelson Airport is home to Air Nelson, which operates and maintains New Zealand's largest domestic airline fleet and was also the headquarters of Origin Pacific Airways until their collapse in 2006. Sounds Air offers flights from Nelson to Wellington. In 2006, the airport received restricted international airport status to facilitate small private jets.

Maritime transport

Port Nelson is the maritime gateway for the Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough regions and a vital hub for economic activity. The following shipping companies call at Port Nelson:

• Australian National Line / CMA CGM
• Maersk Line
• Mediterranean Shipping Company
• Pacifica Shipping
• Toyofuji Shipping Co.
• Swire Shipping

In the mid-1994, a group of local businessmen, fronted by local politician Owen Jennings proposed building a deep-water port featuring a one-kilometre-long wharf extending from the Boulder Bank into Tasman Bay, where giant ships could berth and manoeuvre with ease. Known as Port Kakariki, $97 million project was to become the hub to ship West Coast coal to Asia, as well as handling logs, which would be barged across Tasman Bay from Mapua.

In January 2010 the Western Blue Highway, a Nelson to New Plymouth ferry service, was proposed by Port Taranaki. However, to date neither the Interislander or Bluebridge have shown any interest in the route.

The Anchor Shipping and Foundry Company

The 'Anchor Shipping and Foundry Company' was formed 31 March 1901 from the earlier companies of Nathaniel Edwards & Co (1857–1880) and the Anchor Steam Shipping Company (1880–1901). The Anchor Company never departed from its original aim of providing services to the people of Nelson and the West Coast of the South Island and was never a large company; it only owned 37 ships during its history. At its peak around 1930 there were 16 vessels in the fleet. The company operated three nightly return trips per week ferry service between Nelson and Wellington and a daily freight service was maintained between the two ports in conjunction with the Pearl Kasper Shipping Company while another service carried general cargo on a Nelson-Onehunga route. In 1974, the Anchor Company was sold and merged into the Union Company.

Public transport

NBUS

NBus provides public transport services between Nelson and Richmond, as well as on four local routes around Nelson city.

Route
numbers central terminus via Outer terminus Notes 1 Nelson Bishopdale, Stoke Richmond 2 Nelson Tahunanui, Stoke Richmond 3 Nelson The Wood Atawhai 4 Nelson Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology The Brook 5 Nelson Victory Square Nelson Hospital 6 Nelson Washington Valley Tahunanui

The Late Late Bus is a weekend night transport service between Nelson and Richmond.

InterCity provides daily bus services connecting Nelson with towns and cities around the South Island.

Taxis and shuttle vans

Taxi companies in Nelson include the following:

• Nelson Bays Cabs
• Nelson City Taxis

There are no conventional bus services to Nelson Airport: the airport is served by a fleet of shuttle vans provided by several operators including Nelson Bays Shuttles & Coaches and Super Shuttles. Airport shuttle vans typically travel non-stop to or from the airport and about the city and suburbs picking up or dropping passengers at each address.

Rail transport

Nelson is only one of three major urban areas in New Zealand without a rail connection – the others being Taupo and Queenstown. The Nelson Section was an isolated, 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge, government-owned railway line between Nelson and Glenhope. It operated for 79 years between 1876 and 1955.

In 1886, a route was proposed from Nelson to the junction of the Midland Railway Company at Buller via Richmond, Waimea West, Upper Moutere, Motueka, the Motueka Valley, Tadmor and Glenhope.

The only sign of rail activity in Nelson today is a short heritage operation run by the Nelson Railway Society from Founders Heritage Park using their own line between Wakefield Quay Station and Grove Station. The society has proposed future extensions of their line, possibly into or near the city centre. There have been several proposals to connect Nelson to the South Island rail network, but none have come to fruition.

Road transport

The Nelson urban area is served by State Highway 6, which runs in a north to southwest direction. The highway travels through the city and nearby town of Richmond, continuing southwest across the plains of the Wairoa and Motueka Rivers. Plans to construct a motorway linking North Nelson to Brightwater in the south have so far been successful. A number of studies have been undertaken since 2007 including the 2007 North Nelson to Brightwater Study, the Southern Link Road Project and the Arterial Traffic Study. On 28 June 2013, the Nelson Mayor Aldo Miccio and Nelson MP Nick Smith jointly wrote to Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee seeking for the Southern Link to be given Road of National Significance (RoNS) status.

Other significant road projects proposed over the years include a cross-city tunnel from Tahunanui Drive to Haven Road; or from Annesbrook (or Tahunanui) to Emano Street in Victory Square; or from Tahunanui to Washington Valley.

Panoramas

Culture and the arts

As the major regional centre, the city offers many lodgings, restaurants, and unique speciality shopping such as at the Jens Hansen Goldsmiths where "The One Ring" in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy was designed.

• Nelson has a vibrant local music and arts scene and is known nationwide for its culturally idiosyncratic craftsmakers. These include Potters, Glass Blowers (such as Flamedaisy Glass Design and Höglund Art Glass Studio & Gallery), Fibre Spectrum Handweavers & Fibre Artists' Studio and dozens of Wood carvers using native New Zealand Southern beech and exotic macrocarpa.
• Nelson is a popular visitor destination and year-round attracts both New Zealanders and international tourists.
• The Nelson Saturday Market is a popular weekly market where you can buy direct from local artists.
• Art organisations include the Suter Art Gallery and Nelson Arts Festival.
• The Victory Village community received the 2010 New Zealander of the Year award for Community of the Year.

The first rugby union match in New Zealand took place at the Botanic Reserve in Nelson on 14 May 1870, between the Nelson Suburbs and Nelson College, and an informative commemorative plaque was renovated at the western edge of the grassed area by Nelson City Council in 2006.

Events and festivals

Several major events take place:

• Nelson Jazz & Blues Festival – January
• Nelson Kite Festival – January
• Nelson Yacht Regatta – January
• Adam Chamber Music Festival – January / February
• Evolve Festival of Opportunities – February
• Marchfest – March
• Taste Nelson festival – March
• Winter Music Festival – July

Architecture

The tallest building in Nelson is the Rutherford Hotel located on the west edge of Trafalgar Square. Unlike many towns and cities in New Zealand, Nelson has retained many Victorian buildings in its historic centre and the South Street area has been designated as having heritage value.

Surviving historic buildings

• Nelson Cathedral
• Amber House
• Broadgreen House
• Cabragh House
• Chez Eelco
• Fairfield House
• Founders Park Windmill
• Isel House
• Melrose House
• Nelson Central School Renwick House
• Victorian Rose Pub
• Redwood College (Founders Park)

Museums

The Nelson region houses several museums.

• The Founders Heritage Park houses a number of groups with historical themes, including transport.
• The Nelson Provincial Museum houses a collection of locally significant artefacts.
• The World of Wearable Art houses a collection of collectable cars and a collections of works from the Wearable Art Awards.

Parks and zoo

Nelson has a large number and variety of public parks and reserves maintained at public expense by Nelson City Council. Major reserves include Grampians Reserve, close to the suburb of Braemar, and the botanical Reserve in the east of Nelson, close to The Wood.

Natureland Zoological Park is a small zoological facility close to Tahunanui Beach. The facility is popular with children, where they can closely approach wallabies, monkeys, meerkats, llamas and alpacas, Kune Kune pigs, otters, and peacocks. There are also turtles, tropical fish and a walk through aviary. Although the zoo nearly closed in 2008, the Orana Wildlife Trust took over its running instead. It looked like[to whom?] a bright future ahead for Natureland and its staff but since the repeated earthquakes in Christchurch in 2011 and the damage to Orana Park, Orana Wildlife Trust are uncertain of the future of Natureland. Orana Wildlife trust have since pulled out of Natureland, which is now run independently.