Mackenzie District Council Email Format
Civic and Social OrganizationsCanterbury, New Zealand51-200 Employees
Mackenzie District Council is the local authority for the Mackenzie District in Canterbury, New Zealand, located at 53 Main Street, Fairlie 7925. The council oversees an area of about 746,000 hectares, making it one of the largest territorial authorities by land area, with geography including Aoraki Mount Cook, Lakes Tekapo and Pukaki, and the Mackenzie basin. Within the district are the towns of Fairlie, Lake Tekapo, Twizel and the alpine village of Mount Cook, and the region supports tourism infrastructure such as four ski fields, golf courses, the National Rowing facilities at Lake Ruataniwha, the Dark Sky Reserve and Mt John Observatory, along with walks and cycleways; Lake Tekapo attracted about one million visitors in 2018. The council states it aims to manage growth in a way that respects the environment and considers future generations, and notes a small ratepayer base with a large geographic area requiring innovative approaches and capacity building. Recent activity includes partnerships with Fire and Emergency, the Department of Conservation and Environment Canterbury on wildfire resilience around Lake Tekapo; a 2022 appointment of Jan Mason as Director of Communications and Equitable Development; and the 2020 launch of an interactive website to engage the community on the Lake Ruataniwha tree cull proposal.