Resource Community Formation and Change A Case Study of Twizel Nick Taylor Gerard Fitzgerald Wayne McClintock Working Paper No. 22 TAYLOR BAINES Resource Community Formation & Change: A Case Study of TWIZEL By Nick Taylor Gerard Fitzgerald Wayne McClintock Working Paper 22 Taylor Baines & Associates 2000 ISSN 1176-3515 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 1 The hydro electricity development of the Waitaki Catchment .................................................................... 1 Twizel and its development ......................................................................................................................... 4 Demographic characteristics ........................................................................................................................ 6 Social characteristics ........................................................................................................................ 7 Industry, work and occupations ................................................................................................................... 8 Phases of development ..................................................................................................................... 8 The role of the state ......................................................................................................................... 9 Ownership and operation of the Upper Waitaki Scheme ............................................................... 11 Technology and work .................................................................................................................... 12 The industry's relationship with the community ............................................................................ 14 Economy and environment ........................................................................................................................ 15 Environmental impacts .................................................................................................................. 17 The district economy ..................................................................................................................... 19 The Economy of Twizel ................................................................................................................. 21 Employment and occupational status ............................................................................................ 25 Household incomes and welfare benefits ...................................................................................... 27 Governance, infrastructure, and services ................................................................................................... 28 Local government .......................................................................................................................... 28 District planning ............................................................................................................................ 28 Infrastructure and funding ............................................................................................................. 29 Housing .......................................................................................................................................... 30 Health services ............................................................................................................................... 32 Education ....................................................................................................................................... 34 Agencies ......................................................................................................................................... 36 Community life .......................................................................................................................................... 37 Leadership and organisations ......................................................................................................... 37 Social problems .............................................................................................................................. 39 Maori .............................................................................................................................................. 39 Women youth and elderly .............................................................................................................. 40 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................. 42 References .................................................................................................................................................. 43 INTRODUCTION This paper reports the findings of a case study of Twizel. It is one of a series of three case studies of energy communities in New Zealand that are part of a project entitled “Resource Community Formation and Change” which has been funded by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology1. The other case studies of energy communities in this series are Opunake (WP 23) and Manapouri (WP 21). A variety of research methods were used in this case study which focuses on the history of Twizel since the its foundation in the early 1970's. These methods included an analysis of census statistics, a review of published documents about the town and energy sector, and three days of interviews by two interviewers in Twizel and Fairlie during February 2000. Interview data is only referenced in the text where necessary. The work provides a stronger conceptual and empirical basis for social assessment and resource planning in New Zealand, especially in rural communities that depend directly on the primary production or processing of natural resources. The findings from the analysis of the three communities in the energy sector will be added to those from communities based on the forestry, mining, agriculture, fishing and tourism sectors, to develop an improved understanding of the processes of community formation and change in these types of communities. THE HYDRO ELECTRICITY DEVELOPMENT OF THE WAITAKI CATCHMENT The Waitaki River, with an average flow of approximately 320 cumecs (cubic metres per second) represents one of New Zealand’s largest rivers and resource for hydroelectricity generation. The Waitaki drains a catchment of approximately 12,000 sq. km, being fed mainly by lakes Tekapo, Pukaki and Ohau in the Mackenzie Country and the Ahuriri River, and various adjacent rivers and streams. Since the 1930's, the fortunes of the Waitaki Valley and Mackenzie Country have been strongly influenced, and at times dominated, by the state’s efforts at (almost) fully capturing and exploiting this natural flow of water for electricity generation. There have been two large players in this hydroelectric development: the Ministry of Works and Development (MWD, previously the Public Works Department), which assembled the large resident workforces and undertook the construction of the power schemes - and its client, the state’s New Zealand Electricity Department (NZED) which later become the Electricity Corporation of New Zealand (ECNZ). In the process of this development, the physical and social landscape of the Waitaki Valley and the Mackenzie Basin have been considerably altered. Early development The first proposals for hydro power development on the Waitaki were advanced by the Public Works Department in 1904, though investigations did not begin until the 1920's. Development began in 1928 in the depression years with the construction by the Public Work’s Department of the Waitaki Dam, located 8km upstream from Kurow. This 37 metre high concrete structure was formally opened in 1934 with a generating capacity of 30 megawatts (MW), though additional generators were installed in the 1940's, bringing the total capacity to 105 MW by 1954. Nordmeyer notes that “the great bulk of this construction was done by manual labour. Pick, shovel and wheelbarrow were the common tools employed” (1981, p10). Working conditions were considered miserable and dangerous - with a high number of accidents (and 11 deaths) occurring. Construction of a small power station of 25 MW on the outlet to Lake Tekapo was commenced in 1938, and after delays due to the outbreak of World War II, was finally commissioned in 1951. This was followed in 1954 with a control structure which enabled the height of the lake to be raised and flows downstream to the Waitaki Dam to be managed. At the same time similar control gates were built on the outlet to Lake Pukaki 1 Contract TBA 801. For further information on the research project contact Taylor Baines & Associates (PO Box 8620, Christchurch or by email: [email protected]). 1 enabling it to be raised. Further investigations of hydro development of the power potential of the Upper Waitaki’s lakes followed. In the 1950's, development of a dam just above the junction with the Ahuriri River was considered, but abandoned in favour of the Benmore Dam, a massive earth dam located about 6km upstream of the junction with the Otematata River. Construction by the Ministry of Works on behalf of the NZED was begun in 1956 and the dam was commissioned in 1965, with a generating capacity of 540 MW - second only in capacity to the 585 MW Manapouri power scheme (Nordmeyer, 1981).