Bach (New Zealand)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A larger bach in the North Island.
A larger bach in the North Island.

Bach (pronounced Batch, with the alternative of Crib in the southern part of New Zealand) is the name given in New Zealand to structures akin to small, often very modest holiday homes or beach houses. They are an iconic part of New Zealand history and culture, especially in the middle of the 20th century, where they symbolized the beach holiday lifestyle that was becoming more accessible to the middle class[1].

"Bach" was originally short for bachelor pad,[2] but actually they often tended to be a family holiday home. Baches started to became very popular in the 1950s, as better roads and more available cars allowed family beach holidays, often to the same beach every year, and hence to the construction of a bach in that spot. One humorous definition of the bach, is "something you built yourself, on land you don't own, out of materials you borrowed or stole."

Contents

[edit] Construction

[edit] Post-WW2

They are almost always small structures, usually made of cheap or recycled material like fibrolite (asbestos sheets), corrugated iron or used timber [3]. They were influenced by the backwoods cabins and sheds of the early settlers and farmers. Other baches used a caravan as the core of the structure, and built extensions on to that. Many cities were dismantling tram lines in the 1950's, and old trams were sometimes used as baches.

While older baches tend to be fibrolite lean-to structures, modern kit-set structures are becoming popular amongst bach owners. Department of Conservation figures estimate that more that 50,000 bachs exist around New Zealand, a high number considering the country's population of barely more than 4 million people.

[edit] Recent times

Early baches rarely enjoyed amenities like connections to the water and electricity grid or indoor toilets. They were furnished basically, often with second hand furniture.

In more recent times the basic bach has been replaced by the modern "holiday house", more substantial, more expensive (reflecting increasing affluence, and vastly increased coastal land values) and usually professionally built (due to stricter building codes). Another important change has been the subdivision of coastal land, with increasing numbers of residents and visitors, bringing traffic, cafes, mobile phone coverage, craft shops et al, to what were originally empty beaches and bush-filled gullies. Some bach-dotted beaches in the 1950's have today become suburban areas.

[edit] Legal status

Old baches often have 'existing use' [4] rights under the Resource Management Act in areas where even such modest residential or part-time residential buildings would not be allowed by newer zoning regulations. As such, they are quite prized, even though these days, authorities look unfavourably on proposals to convert them into full residential buildings.

Some baches whose construction was obviously legally dubious (such as those on Rangitoto) have been dismantled over time.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Te Ara, Encyclopedia of New Zealand (encyclopedia section about holiday life)
  2. ^ Orsman, H. W. (1999). The Dictionary of New Zealand English. Auckland: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-558347-7. 
  3. ^ Te Ara, Encyclopedia of New Zealand (short encyclopedia section about bach architecture)
  4. ^ Resource Management Act (Department of the Environment, see 'existing use' in the actual act text)