Small-town Balclutha, in the deep south of the South Island, has not escaped the pull of city folk over the past few years.
Katrina Garside, from One Agency’s South Otago team, says people are not only escaping the high property prices of the larger centres, they’re also sick of crime.
“People say things like: ‘The North Island is over-populated and the crime rate up there, they can’t stand it.’ A lot of them are running away from the different style of living up there.”
Balclutha, which has a population of about 4000 people, is the kind of small, rural town where people say “hi, how’s it going” and if anything happens someone probably saw something.
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“People look out for each other and there’s an element of safety.”
Garside, who works alongside husband Keryn, says it’s a big change for some people, referring to one family who moved to a house sight unseen from a Northland town, adding that even their dog was traumatised.
“They moved into the district and I went and saw them a month later and the dog was so happy and they all looked happy. They said, ‘we couldn’t believe it, the neighbours came around and helped us unload stuff, we didn’t have to ask, they just came and said ‘do you need a hand?’.”
Most of Garside’s business is still with locals, however. She says locals often don’t want to leave town while others who did leave are coming back.
A waterfall in Caitlins. Balclutha is right on the doorstep of the majestic and rugged stretch of coastal landscape. Photo / Getty Images
The median price for a good three-bedroom home is around $400,000 so people selling up from further north may end up without a mortgage or at least a lower mortgage and some change in their pocket. A flashier house is more likely to cost in the $600,000-plus range but there are not that many of those available.
Balclutha, known as ‘Clutha by residents, is a rural service town which is getting a facelift by the Clutha District Council. It features an arched bridge over the Clutha River which can be seen from the centre of town again after the demolition of the old Memorial Hall, which will have in its stead a new community hub.
The town is also expanding with new-builds, such as the homes in a new residential development in Monterey Drive, Garside says.
“We sold I think 14 sections for the council at the start of the year and they all got sold and they’ve got people building.” There’s a lot going on, she says: “Builders – you can’t get one here because they’re busy building.”
In fact, Garside says the town is so busy it’s hard to find a rental and there’s also a waiting list for childcare. She grew up in Balclutha and says the town is a “cool” place to live for a variety of reasons.
“The river runs through the middle of it. It’s always been like the heart of Balclutha. It’s a rural town so we’ve got all sorts of farming, mainly sheep and beef, and now quite a bit of dairy conversion, and there’s a lot of factories here.”
Because of the rural nature, the town kept going during Covid. Garfield says people adjusted to the new Covid rules, but adds locals are used to making their own decisions and not having the government make them for them.
“That’s because they’re rural, they’ve got more chores to do here. There’s a strong work ethic here.”
“I’ve got cuzzies up in the North Island and they can’t get their young ones to work up there but down here our young ones, if someone’s not working their own peers will say ‘what's wrong with you? If you haven’t got a job what’s wrong? Have you got a broken leg or something?’ That’s how they talk, and I love it.”
There’s a lot for young people and families to do, as well.
“The river’s right there, the beach is like 10 or 15 minutes away, the lakes are an hour-and-a-half away, Dunedin is an hour, Invercargill is an hour-and-a-half, the airport’s 40 minutes away and it’s easy to go anywhere you want.”
The town’s also on the doorstep to the Caitlins, the rugged coastline between Balclutha and Invercargill where visitors are always blown away by the beauty of the area.
“You go to Kaka point and there’s a lighthouse on the Nuggets. It’s beautiful and it’s right on the edge and everybody walks up there to have a look.”
The town has a big contingency of people with Scottish heritage and sometimes you’ll hear the bagpipes being played.
“Before I was a Garside I was a Campbell. There’s quite big groups (of Scottish descendants) here and it’s because Dunedin is an early settlers’ town and it’s come this way.”
Back in the day people thought ‘Clutha was a “boring old blah, blah, blah place,” but that’s changed, Garside says.
“Covid hit and now they realise well, actually, it’s not a bad place at all, because it’s safe and you’ve got work and you’ve got somewhere to live. There’s no way you’d ever get me back to the city.”
