Talk:List of towns in New Zealand

message: Good work on this robinp. Bkonrad | Talk 23:47, 24 Mar 2004 (UTC)
thread_title:  Great job 

message: (This is in response to the addition of Howick)
I do not think that this is an appropriate list for localities which are now suburbs of major cities. Otherwise the list could be endless. Consider Riccarton and Sydehnam, inner suburbs of Christchurch which had quite distinct identities (and separate councils) a century ago. It becomes difficult to set a cut-off point.
There is plenty of scope for a (mainly historical) article on Howick, but the best place to link to it would be from the article Auckland.
dramatic 11:57, 17 May 2004 (UTC)
thread_title:  Conurbations 

message: Is the list open for expansion? If so, perhaps there should be some level of minimum size for inclusion (if only for guidance), or perhaps some loose definition of the mininum - i.e. a settlement, not being rural in nature, comprising some form of shared infrastructure. --Seriocomic 05:26, 26 March 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Expansion 

message: I've written a number of articles on villages and rural localities in New Zealand lately, but I'm hesitant to add them to this list.  I've added some as I noticed other settlements with populations below 300-500 had been added already, but with some really small settlements, I'm just not sure if they belong.  Maybe we should set a minimum population of, say, 500 and then make a list of villages and localities in New Zealand for the smaller settlements?  Or shall we just throw everything in here? - Axver 07:54, 4 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  I think we need a minimum population 

message: I have just added Owhango. I was looking at this list earlier after reversing a recent change made to the page for Tapawera where the description was changed from "small town" to "hamlet". (I don't consider "hamlet" to be a term that many New Zealanders would apply to a place in NZ.)
After noticing references in the earlier comments about on this page the Stats standards I eventually ended up at the following:
http://archive.stats.govt.nz/methods/classifications-and-standards/classification-related-stats-standards/geographic-areas/pg8.aspx
That includes the following definition of a "Rural Settlement" for the SSGA18 standard:
A cluster of residential dwellings about a place that usually contains at least one communal or public building.
Rural settlement criteria:
* 200–1,000 residents, or more than 40 residential dwellings
* represent a reasonably compact area or have a visible centre of population with medium population density
* usually contain at least one community or public building, such as a church, school, or shop.
Includes newly identified rural settlements in rural areas and rural settlements that were part of an urban area in NZSAC92.
In 2018, there are 400 rural settlements. 
This seems like a reasonable baseline to me for what might otherwise be called a "small town" in NZ.
SeeNoEvil (talk) 12:35, 27 August 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  SSGA18 Standard - Rural Settlements 

message: Kekerengu is a small community on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand near the Canterbury - Marlborough border. It has one cafe/ resteraunt called The Store. 2404:4404:2742:3600:902F:2B29:E92F:6C78 (talk) 12:44, 26 December 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: I've added it to the list. If no one else does so earlier, I will eventually write an article on it.-gadfium 18:45, 26 December 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Kekerengu