List of former territorial authorities in New Zealand

Territorial Authority is the term used for local government entities in New Zealand. Local government has gone through three principal phases with different structures: the provincial era, from 1853 to 1876; the counties and boroughs system from 1876 until 1989; and the current system of regions, cities and districts.

This article attempts to list all territorial authorities which have been disestablished.

Provincial Era


The original three provinces were established in 1841 by Royal Charter. These were reduced to two by the New Zealand Constitution Act 1846. The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 divided New Zealand into six provinces, and four additional provinces were created during the remainder of the Provincial Era. This era came to end with the Abolition of Provinces Act 1876.

1989 reform of local government
By 1986, the number of territorial authorities and single-purpose authorities had grown to more than 700. In 1989 there was a major reform of local government in New Zealand. The numerous borough and county councils were amalgamated into larger districts, while the number of cities was reduced.

Most of the resulting cities and districts continue in operation; Bank Peninsula District (merged into Christchurch City) is an exception. Seven cities and districts were amalgamated into the Auckland region in 2010.

The lists below should include all local authorities which existed prior to 1989.

Borough councils

 * ''See also Borough

Cities
Prior to 1989, any borough with a population exceeding 20,000 could proclaim itself a city. As part of the restructuring, many provincial cities were combined with surrounding rural counties to form districts. For example, Hastings became a district, although its population is greater than nearby city Napier, which did not acquire any rural areas. The term city is still used informally for all large towns. New Zealand's first city was Christchurch, proclaimed by royal charter in 1856.

Counties
When the provinces were abolished in 1876, 63 counties were established to govern rural areas. There were subdivisions and amalgamations over the next 113 years, with as many as 129 counties existing at once. Note that the designation of an area as a county often predated the formation of a County Council. In the interim there was often a roads board as the only form of local administration. Fiord and Sounds counties never formed councils, due to insufficient population to govern.

Districts
From the 1970s onwards some local authorities created by a voluntary amalgamation of two or more component local authorities were termed Districts. These Districts were of a mixed rural/urban character but are not to be confused with the Districts created by the local government reorganisation of 1989.

Town districts
A town district was a municipality intermediate in nature between a county town and a borough. In 1952, a dependent town district could be established on the petition of two thirds of the resident householders of any settlement of at least fifty households in an area of not more than two square miles (5.18 km2). To become an independent town district, a town district must have had a population of greater than 500.