Nelson-Tasman (Whakatū)
Settlement Support Coordinator
Sonny Alesana
03 546 0305
Nelson City Council
Civic House
110 Trafalgar St
Nelson
Visit the Nelson Tasman Settlement Support website
Compare with another region
Protected from prevailing winds by spectacular mountains, nourished by fertile river plains, bounded by the marine playground of Tasman Bay and the Marlborough Sounds, the Nelson-Tasman district is undoubtedly one of most attractive regions in New Zealand.
However, it is relatively isolated. The main road to the area is a ‘dead-end’. To leave, you have to turn around and head back the way you came.
In some ways this may be a blessing - for without this access challenge the positive aspects of the region would surely have encouraged growth to rival any of New Zealand’s major cities - with all of the attendant issues.
Indeed despite this it is still one of the fastest growing regions in the country - partly due to its popularity as a retirement and sustainable lifestyle destination.
Key industries include tourism - including local holidaymakers - wineries, horticulture and seafood processing. There are also a number of unique features in the region, including Te Waikoropupu (‘Pupu’) Springs which produces the clearest fresh water in the world, and the deepest known cave system in the Southern Hemisphere.
Recreational opportunities abound, from kayaking in the Abel Tasman National Park to walking the Heaphy Track, and an expanding range of wine and food options being produced from the region’s superb natural produce.
At the far end of the road, over the Takaka ‘Hill’ is the aptly named Golden Bay, renowned to holiday-makers for its unspoilt sandy beaches, and longed-for by alternative lifestyle advocates for its verdant farmland and distance from the mainstream.
The main city of Nelson is geographically at ‘the centre of New Zealand’, and is also the birthplace of one of our most famous Kiwis, Lord Rutherford, who became the first person to split the atom in 1917.
Nelson is always near the top of the annual list of most sunshine hours for a region. To put it plainly, the weather is great, and the surroundings even better!
