BOTTOMED OUT: CAN BULLER CLAW ITSELF BACK?
The West Coast’s Buller district has been reeling from a major economic downturn since 2012. Are its communities dying or can they bounce back? Joanne Carroll reports.
The West Coast’s Buller district stretches 8574 square kilometres from Punakaiki to Karamea, and inland as far as Springs Junction. It is only slightly smaller than the country of Cyprus, has 150km of wild coastline and two national parks but only 10,000 people.
It was one of only two districts in New Zealand where the population declined in the year to June. Buller’s population fell by
0.3 per cent, behind only Waitomo, which had a 0.9 per cent decline.
According to a Development West Coast report, Buller’s GDP (gross domestic product) has fallen
44 per cent with the loss of nearly
1500 jobs and 500 people since 2012. The downturn has been greatly influenced by the closure of Holcim’s cement plant near Westport and changes in the coal mining industry, including the collapse of Solid Energy and fluctuating coal prices.
The latest economic update from Development West Coast showed the district’s GDP fell 5.7 per cent (to $28 million) in 2018, when
209 jobs were lost, 30 businesses closed and house prices dropped
3.1 per cent.
‘STRUGGLING TO MAKE ENDS MEET’
Westport, located on the banks of the mighty Buller River, is home to about 5000 people – half of the district’s population. At 80, former mayor Pat O’Dea is still running a fruit and vegetable shop in the main street. He has lived in Westport all his life, served as mayor for 21 years, and has seen many changes.
‘‘We lost the Denniston mines [in 1967], since then we have lost police stations, post offices, we have lost the Karamea dairy company.
‘‘We lost PDL [a Christchurchbased electrical goods manufacturer that shut its Westport factory in 1988], which was one of the major employers of women, we lost railway workshops, Ministry of Works, the harbour workshops, and it just goes on and on. The outlook is not good because of the government attitude to the West Coast.’’
O’Dea blames successive governments for the district’s decline. Starting with the loss of native logging in 2000 and continuing through to the decision to stop a new mine opening in Buller last year, which would have created 60 jobs, O’Dea believes West Coasters have had it tough.
The loss of Holcim cement in 2016 was a big blow to the town, cutting 120 jobs.
‘‘If you go down the street now, you will see a lot of shops closed and a lot of people had to move away. Most of the businesses in town ... would be putting on a brave face but most would be struggling to make ends meet.
‘‘I am here just because I enjoy doing it – it gets me out of bed in the morning. As for making any money, I can tell you if I am breaking even I would be lucky.’’
He said businesses are struggling since the downturn because people have less money.
Some homes across the district look shabby or are falling down because people simply don’t have enough money to maintain them, or because they have left the district to find work elsewhere and have struggled to sell.
‘‘People seem to have lost the will to fight – they just go from day to day.
‘‘People want to move but they can’t because they can’t sell their properties. Things like that are just a continuation of the downward thrust. If we had confidence that the mines that are proposed could go ahead, then the boost would be enormous.’’
O’Dea said the former National Government paid $5000 to people on the dole to move to the regions from Auckland to solve the city’s housing crisis but that brought social issues like crime and drugs to Buller, as well as putting a squeeze on the rental market.
The average house price in Buller is $182,150, much lower than the national average of $630,000, as of November 2019. On Trade Me, there were 339 homes listed for sale in Buller, compared with 198 in Grey and 136 in Westland. Buller had no rentals listed in August and only 13 by December.
LACK OF ACCOMMODATION HURTS
The Press spoke to several people who declined to be named or photographed but they said life was tough in Westport.
A solo father said he had been unable to find work since moving to Buller in 2014 and he had struggled to find a rental for himself and his son.
Many houses were for sale and were lying empty because people who had moved out of the district for work did not want to have to pay to upgrade the properties under the new insulation rules.
The man said some families had to live in a holiday park. He believed the cost of groceries and petrol (which was more than $2.50 for a litre of 91 just before Christmas) made it impossible to survive on only a benefit.
‘‘There is no money here. Unless you want to retire, you own your own business, or you have a job up the hill, there is no point in coming here. There is nothing here.’’
Another man, who lived in a caravan, said he could only find seasonal fishing work but did not want to move away because his children lived in Westport with their mother.
Newly elected mayor Jamie
Cleine said the rise of Airbnb could have contributed to the lack of rentals in Buller.
He had been told by the Ministry of Social Development that
18 people were living in motels or holiday parks, most single men.
The Westport fish processing factory owned by Talley’s needs about 30 more employees but has struggled to find people because there is no accommodation for them. ‘‘We have identified the issue and as a council we are working to find solutions,’’ Cleine said.
‘‘We are talking about maybe freeing up some land and talking to developers who might be able to build some workers’ accommodation or social housing.’’
Cleine said the economy had ‘‘bottomed out’’ but he believed they were on the way back up.
Several big projects under way would bring employment and tourists to the district, such as the new $10 million Kawatiri Heritage Trail, the new $20m health centre,
the newly opened Paparoa Track and the already popular Old Ghost Road track.
Mining GDP had fallen 21 per cent but tourism had grown 22 per cent, albeit with lower paid jobs.
While a lower socio-economic group did exist in Buller along with some ‘‘old stock’’ housing that needed to be demolished, Cleine said there were plenty of people doing well, building new homes and enjoying life in the district.
A PARADISE FOR RAISING CHILDREN
Lynn and Glenn Irving moved to Westport in 2000 when veterinarian Lynn got a job at Buller Vets. They left to see the world between 2004 and 2007 but returned and bought land in 2010 where they built a home overlooking the Buller River to raise their two children in.
Originally from South Africa, Lynn Irving studied in Wellington before moving to Westport.
‘‘A lot of my classmates said: why Westport? It is the landscape that draws me to this place. It is so dramatic. I love the weather, the mountain backdrop, the sea, the river, the smells and the sounds of the birds and the cicadas.
‘‘I have grown to love the community,’’ she said.
Glenn Irving, an engineer originally from Christchurch, began working for Solid Energy ‘‘up the hill’’ in Stockton when it employed 1500 and was expanding its footprint into Happy Valley in 2007. People who had never had a job before, or were on the dole, were paid $25 an hour to pick up endangered snails to move them from the valley before mining began. Everyone had money and the town was booming, he said.
Like other people who have left the mining industry, Glenn has reinvented himself several times in order to remain employed in Westport. He managed the recreation centre for seven years and now works as a contractor for the Buller District Council.
‘‘As someone who has lived here through the bad times, we have had to say goodbye to a lot of friends – that has been quite hard.
‘‘We are now left with a good core of people who have decided to stay because they like living here and want to make it a better place to be,’’ he said.
He has given back to the community through his work with the Buller Cycling Club and the Love Kawatiri promotions group, and says it is the people and landscape that make Westport a great place to live and raise children.
‘‘I could not think of a better place for children to grow up in.
‘‘They love being in the river, they love riding their bikes on the tracks, they love exploring the bush.
‘‘It is only a two-minute drive to get anywhere – we don’t spend time in traffic jams.
‘‘I think that is one of the things I appreciate most,’’ he said.
‘THINGS ARE CHANGING’
About 16 kilometres north of Westport lies Waimangaroa (or Waimang as the locals call it) – a once bustling settlement at the foot of the famous Denniston Incline.
Since 2012, it has lost its pub, school, shop, post office, petrol station, playgroup and sports teams. The last community stronghold is its fire station.
Fire chief Lynn Brooks said the once overflowing fire brigade was struggling for volunteers.
‘‘It has been like a creeping death really. Everything quietly closing and before you know it, things are changing and families are not the same.
‘‘We could not get a crew when we needed one. It was really hard.’’
She said it was only through a major recruitment push, and continuing to nurture the cadets programme, that they had been able to grow volunteer numbers to 15 – one firefighter for every 10 houses in Waimangaroa.
Brooks, and a small group of locals, have come up with a plan for a ‘‘little town heart’’ or a community garden and walkway to keep visitors there longer on their way to Denniston or Karamea.
‘‘I have looked around a lot and I just really like the village.
‘‘We have the beautiful beach and river right here and the bush behind. That is my backyard. It is so amazing.
‘‘The lifestyle on the Coast is really special. We have been through quite a lull but I feel like we are coming out the other side of it now. Things are looking brighter.’’
Bev Morrow has lived in the village for 35 years and her children were educated at Waimangaroa School, which closed its doors after 133 years with only 13 pupils remaining in 2012.
‘‘The falling dairy payout was a big one. Lots of farmers laid off their workers and did the work themselves – that was quite sad actually.
‘‘When it all started to fall over, people were left with high mortgages and not being able to rent them out or sell them.
‘‘People were walking away from houses and going off to find work to pay the mortgage here and the rent where they were.’’
She said losing the shop and post office in 2017 was the last straw for the community. Without a meeting place, the community was losing its soul.
‘‘I just did not want to see our town die. It was dying. There was nowhere for people to meet and greet.’’ She decided to open up a coffee cart just off State Highway 67 and has been doing a roaring trade with tourists, locals and miners on their way to Stockton mine, which still employs more than 200 people.
‘‘My local support has been magnificent ... People come here and have a cup of tea and talk about what’s happening. I feel such a buzz in our town and it is exciting.’’