New Zealand Rural towns struggle to survive amid mass exodus

For generations, two centres of gravity in New Zealand’s central Ruapehu region had enough pull to entice people to the area and keep them there: the mountains and the mills.

- Eva Corlett

Mount Ruapehu, the country’s largest active volcano, lured people to its snowy slopes for work and play, while the local mills - run by the region's largest employer, Winstone Pulp International - kept generations of families in employment.

Then, those behemoths lost their grip, and with it Ruapehu became emblematic of a pressing question facing New Zealand: how to prevent some rural regions - and the country at large - from losing people as residents pack up and seek new lives elsewhere.

In Ruapehu, the decline came after global warming disrupted the mountain’s snow, leading to shorter seasons and worker layoffs. Further jobs were lost when the Chateau Tongariro hotel shut its doors in 2023, after nearly 100 years in operation. The earthquake-prone building now sits in limbo in the shadow of the mountain.

The biggest blow, however, occurred in October 2024. After nearly 50 years in business, Winstone Pulp announced it was closing its two mills near one of the region’s towns, Ohakune, owing to high energy prices. More than 230 workers were laid off and scores of other businesses that relied on the mills suffered. Most of those workers hailed from Ohakune, population 1,360, and Raetihi, population 1,140, a settlement 10 minutes’ drive west.

'The mill closure was a stab to the heart'

“The mill closure was a stab to the heart,” says Janelle Finch, who owns a merino clothing company and cafe in Ohakune. “A lot of our friends had to move out of town ... it had this chain effect.”

When the Guardian visited the towns in late November, dozens of shops sat empty and Ohakune’s residential streets were lined with “for sale” signs.