Ashburton () is a large town in the Canterbury Region, on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the seat of the Ashburton District Council. It is south west of Christchurch.

The town has a population of . It is the 29th-largest urban area in New Zealand and the fourth-largest urban area in the Canterbury Region, after Christchurch, Timaru and Rolleston.

Toponymy

Ashburton was named by the surveyor Captain Joseph Thomas of the New Zealand Land Association, after Bingham Baring, 2nd Baron Ashburton, who was a member of the Canterbury Association. Ashburton is sometimes nicknamed "Ashvegas", an ironic allusion to Las Vegas.

Hakatere is the traditional Māori name for the Ashburton River. The name translates as "to make swift or to flow smoothly".

History

Early European explorers travelling through the Ashburton district in the 1840s followed the coastline. However, as land was increasingly taken up for pastoral farming, there was a need for a better route across the Canterbury Plains. A route that crossed the Ashburton River a few miles inland was adopted to avoid swamps along the coast. The township of Ashburton developed as a settlement on the river's north bank and served as an overnight stopping point and staging post for coach travel. In 1858, William Turton operated a ferry service across the Ashburton River, close to the present State Highway 1 Ashburton bridge. He also built an accommodation house which along with some stables were the only buildings in Ashburton in 1863. By 1864 the horse-drawn coaches of the Cobb and Co. business travelled through Ashburton between Christchurch and Timaru. The coach services continued until the Main South Line railway was completed between Christchurch and Timaru in 1876.

The town was surveyed by Robert Park in 1864. A cricket pitch was established in the Ashburton Domain in 1878 and the Ashburton Hospital was established adjacent to the domain in 1879.

thumb|201x201px|Original Ashburton Borough Council seal (1878–1966)

Ashburton was designated as a borough in 1878. At this stage, there were about 500 buildings within the borough. The Ashburton County Council first met on 4 January 1877 in the Ashburton Road Board office. It became part of Ashburton District Council in 1989, together with Ashburton Borough Council. Netherby was added to the borough of Ashburton in 1917, Hampstead in 1921, and Allenton in 1939. Tinwald was added to the borough In 1955.

On 1 September 2014, there was a violent incident in Ashburton that received nationwide publicity. A man who had previously been trespassed from the Ashburton Work and Income office arrived at the premises with a shotgun and murdered two front counter workers. At the subsequent trial, the offender was given the third longest sentence on record.

In 2021, the Ashburton slogan: "Whatever it takes" was scrapped by the Ashburton District Council. Having been in use for approximately 10 years, it had drawn criticism. In 2012, it made a list of Top 10 worst NZ city slogans. The Ashburton welcome sign had been changed surreptitiously at times from ‘Ashburton: Whatever it Takes’ to ‘Ashburton: ‘Whatever’.

A new library and civic centre for Ashburton was built between 2021 and 2023, at a final cost of $62.1 million, with a $20 million contribution from the New Zealand government. The three-story building includes council chambers, office space, a recording studio, areas to study in, a library and a performance area. The design also incorporates the historic Pioneer Hall into the facility.

Geography

Ashburton is situated 17 kilometres inland on the Canterbury Plains approximately south of Christchurch and 75 kilometres north of Timaru. Methven is 33kilometres inland from Ashburton. Rakaia and the Rakaia river are 28kilometres to the north of Ashburton.

The town is the centre of an agricultural and pastoral farming district on the Canterbury Plains. It has one large suburb, Tinwald, south of the Ashburton River / Hakatere. The town has three other suburbs: Allenton, Hampstead and Netherby.

Climate

On the whole, Ashburton shares a similar climate to Christchurch i.e. a dry temperate climate (Cfb). However, since it lies further inland at a higher altitude than Christchurch, Ashburton experiences a greater range of temperatures. Summers in Ashburton can be warm, seeing an average of 39 days exceeding and 7 days exceeding every year, while winters are frosty, with temperatures dropping below an average of 51 nights a year. Ashburton occasionally sees snowfall, with its heaviest being on 12 June 2006, conversely it is tied with Timaru for New Zealand's fourth-highest temperature on record, reaching on 7 February 1973.

Rivers and lakes

The Ashburton River / Hakatere flows across Mid Canterbury from the Southern Alps to the Pacific Ocean. The official name of the river was amended to become a dual name by the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998. The river passes through the town of Ashburton, separating the south-east suburb of Tinwald from the rest of the town. The nearest beach to Ashburton is Wakanui beach, but is not safe for swimming due to a strong undertow. In part to rectify the limitations imposed by the lack of recreational waterways, Lake Hood was constructed just south-east of Tinwald.

The Ashburton Lakes is a region of high-country lakes and wetlands located around from Ashburton in inland Canterbury. The region is a glacial inter-montane basin between the Rangitata and Rakaia rivers, and includes Lake Heron, Lake Camp and Lake Clearwater. On the road to these lakes are Mount Somers and the Mount Somers walkway.

Governance

Ashburton District Council is the territorial authority for the Ashburton District of New Zealand. The council is led by the mayor of Ashburton, who is currently . There are also nine ward councillors. It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km<sup>2</sup>.

The population of Ashburton was recorded as 2,322 in the 1901 census, 8,287 in the 1951 census, 10,176 in the 1956 census and 11,604 in the 1961 census.