Selwyn's population is growing rapidly, with numbers expected to nearly double in 30 years. Photo / Frank Film
Views of the alps, ski fields within reach, great job prospects, a new home that is warm and dry, a double garage and a generous patch of grass.
“A lot of people want that and that’s why people are coming to Selwyn,” says Sam Broughton, the mayor of New Zealand’s fastest growing district.
Selwyn stretches between Christchurch city and the Southern Alps, is bordered by the Waimakariri River to the north and the Rakaia River to the south, and encompasses townships including Rolleston, Lincoln, Prebbleton, Darfield, West Melton and Leeston.
In recent years, people have been moving to Selwyn in droves, with the current population of 85,600 expected to reach 153,300 in 30 years.
But it’s not just city escapees from New Zealand making the move.
“A lot of our population was born overseas, and that proportion is growing all the time,” says Broughton.
Last month, the mayor attended a celebration of citizenship at the Dunsandel Community Centre. “Over 100 people,” he tells Frank Film. “All new people in Selwyn, and all new people to New Zealand and they’re all becoming citizens.”
The appeal of the district, according to Broughton, also lies in its booming agricultural, industrial, manufacturing and construction industries.
He points to the new homes being built, the new library and the industrial park currently providing 1200 jobs, many for people commuting from Christchurch.
“This has turned into the place where New Zealanders want to be, where things are happening, where jobs are available,” he says.
But population growth has its complications.
In 2000, the number of dairy cows in the Selwyn district was 59,900. That number almost tripled in under 25 years, reaching more than 176,000 last year.
“I think that the intensification of land use has both positive and adverse effects,” says Broughton, acknowledging the impact of dairying on the district’s waterways. Selwyn District Council is currently investing $5 million into finding low-nitrate water sources to supply the district.
Selwyn is also home to some of the most productive soil in the country, land Broughton warns is irreplaceable. “If we lose that to housing, then it’s gone,” he says.
But that decision no longer comes down to local government.
“We sort of had red lines drawn around our towns about where growth would and wouldn’t happen”, Broughton says. In July 2024, the Government’s National Policy Statement on Urban Development changed the requirements for councils to free up land for housing.
“The Government changed the rules and basically said, ‘If you’ve got land on the edge of an existing town and the infrastructure is there to provide capacity for urban growth, then that urban growth can occur’,” he says.
Other aspects of Selwyn’s growth are also in the hands of central Government.
“What’s missing in that planning, and local council doesn’t have control over it, is where schools go and where new hospitals and GPs are,” he says.
Even today, with its burgeoning population, the district still does not have its own hospital.
“Sure, community needs new roads and it needs water supplies, but a great community has also got those other social services that are the central Government’s responsibility.”
He compares Rolleston to Timaru, which, despite having a smaller population, has four high schools. Rolleston has one.
“We need more classrooms here,” says Broughton. “There’s a second campus being built at the moment, but I think we also need a second school or provision for that.”
When it opened seven years ago, Rolleston College had 225 kids. “Now, we’ve got just under 1900,” says principal Rachel Skelton.
Lincoln University is also growing quickly, receiving a record-breaking 5500 enrolments this year.
Broughton was 35 when he was first elected mayor in 2016. Raised on a farm near Darfield, job opportunities then, he says, were “always elsewhere”. Now, he recognises the university as playing a pivotal role in shaping Selwyn’s increasingly diverse population.
“I’ve seen a massive change in the ethnic make-up of Selwyn. It’s really exciting, and I think the centre of that was around Lincoln University, people being attracted internationally to come and study, and then found out how good Selwyn was and decided to stay.”
One resident who immigrated from India says living in Selwyn has brought him “peace of mind”.
“It’s such a lovely place, and community, and relaxed environment,” says another resident from Chile. “The only thing that I can say from my perspective as a foreigner is just that we have to look after what is provided to us, because sometimes we take things for granted here.”