MARLBOROUGH REGION

Marlborough lies at the north-eastern end of the South Island between Tasman Bay and Cook Strait. A rectangular-shaped piece of territory, it is some 130 miles long and some 50 miles broad. The limits of the region correspond to those of the old provincial boundary and to the area contained with the four counties of Sounds, Marlborough, Awatere, and Kaikoura. Together with their interior boroughs, these counties form the basis for the collection of statistics. Blenheim (population 11,956, 1961) is the largest town of the region, which in 1961 had a total population of 27,957 (1·15 per cent of the New Zealand total population) of whom 2·60 per cent were registered as Maoris.

Landscape Pattern

The Marlborough region can be divided into three distinct parts: the back country, the plains, and the Sounds. The back country is composed of ranges, rising to their greatest elevation in the Inland Kaikouras (Tapuaenuku, 9,465 ft) and the Seaward Kaikouras (Manakau, 8,562 ft), which are largely tussock covered and extensively farmed in large sheep runs. The average area of holdings in Awatere county is 4,547 acres. The density of population is extremely low; Awatere county, 1·6 persons per square mile, cf., Marlborough county, 4·5, and the absolute numbers are negligible. The area is best considered as part of the South Island high country. Nevertheless, much of the original wealth of the district was founded upon these runs.

From the ranges the main rivers, the Wairau, Awatere, and Clarence, bring down their gravels and silt, and the largest expanse of plain that occurs in the region consists of the alluvial in-fill of the Wairau River. The Clarence is not responsible for any large alluvial plain. The remainder of the lowland area is found near the coast between Seddon (population 612, 1961) and Ward (population 218, 1961) and is associated with the alluvial deposits of the Awatere and rocks of the Quaternary period. In the southernmost part of the region a smaller area of Quaternary rocks projects out as a peninsula and is associated with a pocket of level land near Kaikoura. Obviously most of the region's population and economic activities are concentrated in these relatively small areas of plain.

Around Blenheim and Seddon mixed arable farming is the principal land use. Lambs are fattened and dairy cattle pastured, and cereals, peas, grass and clover seeds, vegetables, and flowers are cultivated. In 1960 a total of 16,452 acres in Marlborough and Awatere counties was devoted to the production of cereals and peas. Of this amount 4,592 acres were sown under peas and with this crop the region makes a significant contribution to the total New Zealand production. In addition, 5,849 acres of land were devoted to the production of wheat, and around Blenheim 351 acres were under vegetables for processing, 207 acres under potatoes, and 668 acres devoted to orchards and market gardens. The high number of sunshine hours, 2,400 hours at Blenheim, and the relatively low annual rainfall of 25·8 in. constitute favourable factors in the development of this type of farming. Sunshine and frequent strong drying winds provide suitable conditions for the production of salt by evaporation of sea water at Lake Grassmere, but varying weather conditions have brought annual production as low as 5,000 tons and as high as 20,000 tons. At Kaikoura dairying is somewhat more important, as is brought out by the figures for number of cows in milk per hundred sheep shorn, 1·81, and the fact that this small area contains 35·32 per cent of the dairy cows.

The third part of the region, the Sounds, derives its name from the drowned valleys which form a distinctive ria-like landscape that constitutes the main tourist attraction of the whole region. The Sounds have a higher rainfall (Picton averages 63·8 in. per annum) and were originally bush covered, being far less easily exploited than the tussock grasslands that were settled much earlier. Quite extensive tracts of bush remain in the Sounds and on the Bryant Range which separates the region from Nelson. Sheep farming is the main agricultural pursuit and some dairy farming is undertaken in the Rai Valley. The livestock figures for Sounds County show conspicuous downward trends; the number of cows in milk has fallen from 1,530 in 1921–22 to 222 in 1959–60 and, in the same period, the number of sheep shorn has declined from 190,712 to 134,116. And, with the exception of Picton Borough, the population of the Sounds area has revealed a similar downward trend. The heavy costs imposed by the difficulties of the terrain and the rapidity of second growth under the high rainfall conditions go a long way towards explaining the decline of the pastoral economy in the area.

Trends in Farming

The importance of farming in the region's economy is revealed by the high proportion in the Blenheim Employment District engaged in primary industry, 27·7 per cent, compared with the national figure of 16·06 per cent. During the period 1951–52 to 1959–60 the number of sheep shorn has increased by 22·17 per cent and of lambs shorn by 57·63 per cent, both rates being below their respective national rates. It is clear from the figures contained in the statistical table that in the 30-year period, 1921–51, the number of sheep declined in some counties or hardly increased in others. Following on the introduction of aerial topdressing the prospects have improved, but it is very striking that the increases in livestock numbers are concentrated in a few areas, so that Marlborough County has shown a 42·01-per-cent increase in sheep shorn and a 129·94-per-cent increase in lambs shorn. The figures for Kaikoura are respectively 25·03 per cent and 8451 per cent. The post-war development has therefore seen a greater differentiation occurring within the region and the focussing of development upon the richer and more favoured lowland areas.

The concentration of agricultural development in the lowland area helps one to explain the rapid increase, 52 per cent, of the urban population during 1951–61, most of the increase occurring in Blenheim, which grew by 69·56 per cent. The borough contains at least 42 per cent of the region's total population, but the inclusion of population in the immediate vicinity takes the proportion to almost 60 per cent. Whilst 26·05 per cent of the national labour force are engaged in manufacturing industries, the figure for Marlborough is only 16·66 per cent. Significantly, the proportion engaged in food-processing industries is a little above the national average, whilst the proportion engaged in clothing and textiles, metals and engineering is conspicuously below. Most of this employment is located in Blenheim, which acts also as the principal commercial centre for the region. In the period 1953–61 the total labour force increased by 7·14 per cent, well below the national average, but that employed in manufacturing increased by 25 per cent, which is equivalent to the national rate of increase. The region contains a small fishing and whaling industry and its industrial salt has a ready market within the Dominion.

Statistics of the Marlborough Region

Transport Development

Not surprisingly the region has a more than average proportion engaged in transport and communications, 11·11 per cent, for it acts as an important bridge between the Islands. The establishment in 1962 of a car- and rail-ferry service between Wellington and Picton is rapidly transforming the transport pattern between the two Islands and has given a fillip to Picton's development. In 1961, 49,662 tons of cargo were carried by the Straits Air Freight express service (the tonnage for 1948, the first full year of operation, was 5,859). But as the rail-ferry service is now in some ways in direct competition with air freight, both services will have to maintain their operations at profit only by an increase in volume. Within the region itself transport is constricted to a limited number of routes. Not until 1945 was Blenheim connected to the main railway system of the South Island. This delay inevitably stimulated road transport and all traffic between Blenheim and Nelson still goes by road.

In terms of the national economy the Marlborough region is a small one, containing only 1·15 per cent of the national population. It is not an unfavoured region and has shown itself capable of maintaining a moderate rate of expansion during the post-war period. It contains no outstandingly undeveloped resources and, while in previous decades it has been an area of marked outward migration, since 1951 it has been capable of sustaining an increase and finding employment for that increase. It is anticipated, hopefully, that in the period 1961–81 the population will increase by 37·40 per cent, that is to say, at half the national rate of increase. But whatever the actual increase sustained, it is certain that growth will follow the trends, already in existence, towards a greater degree of urbanisation and a concentration within the more favoured agricultural districts of the region.

by Samuel Harvey Franklin, B.COM.GEOG., M.A.(BIRMINGHAM), Senior Lecturer, Geography Department, Victoria University of Wellington.

• Marlborough – a Regional Survey, N.Z. Ministry of Works (1962)
• N.Z. Journal of Agriculture, Vol. 86, Apr-May 1953, “Farming in New Zealand – Marlborough”, Beggs, J. P.