What makes Picton different
Marlborough District
Stats NZ counts Picton as part of Marlborough District. The district council supplies the water now; Marlborough Waters is due to take over on 1 July 2027.
One home in five sat empty
On census night in 2023, 510 of Picton's 2,631 private dwellings were unoccupied. That's about one in five, against roughly one in nine across the country.
Wood burners everywhere
A wood burner is a main heater in 47.7% of Picton homes, well above the 28.2% national figure.
The 2004 flood
In February 2004, intense rain in the Burns Range behind the town flooded the Picton area. NIWA records 800 people evacuated over fears for Burns Dam, and some homes judged unsafe afterwards because of sewage contamination.
A house nobody is living in
An empty house hides small faults. A running cistern or a weeping joint can go for weeks before anyone sees the damp. If your Picton place sits empty for long stretches, learn where the toby and the main stopcock are, and turn the water off when you lock up.
Coming back after months away? Run each tap, flush each toilet and look under the cylinder and the sinks before you unpack. Our leak detection page covers what a specialist does when the drip isn't obvious.
After floodwater, check the drains
NIWA's account of 2004 is the reminder: floodwater and sewage end up in the same places. If water has been through the house or over the gully trap, get the drains looked at before the toilets go back into use. A drainlayer can run a camera through the pipes, as our CCTV inspections page explains.
Drainlaying is licensed separately from plumbing. Ask to see the person's PGDB practising licence, check the expiry date, and make sure it covers drainlaying.
What we would do
If your Picton home is empty for weeks at a time, turn the water off at the toby when you leave, and do a quick walk-round when you get back: listen for running water with every tap shut, check under the cylinder, and look for soft or unusually green patches over the water pipe. If the section ever takes floodwater, have a drainlayer check the lateral and gully trap before anyone uses the toilets again.
Nearby: Blenheim and the Marlborough region page. Send us the job and the street. A tradie who covers Picton and does that kind of work can accept it, and only they see your number.