Green Island is an island off the coast of Dunedin, New Zealand, and is also the name of one of the city's satellite towns.

The island

Green Island is a small uninhabited island located 12 miles southwest of Dunedin, close to the mouth of the Kaikorai Lagoon.

The town

The town of Green Island, since 1989 officially an outer suburb of Dunedin, is situated on State Highway 1 eight kilometres west of the Dunedin CBD. It has a population (2001) of 2430. The suburb's main economy is based on light and small scale heavy industry.

Abbotsford

Immediately to the north of Green Island, and only separated from it by the State Highway and South Island Main Truck Railway, is Abbotsford, usually considered to be a suburb of Green Island (although since the amalgamation of Green Island with Dunedin City in 1989 the two are often simply considered neighbouring suburbs). Abbotsford is an entirely residential suburb with virtually no retail or service sector of its own - for these it relies on Green Island which lies only some 300 metres to the south. Abbotsford has a population of 1677.

The Abbotsford landslide

On the night of August 8, 1979, a major landslide occurred in Abbotsford, resulting in the destruction or relocation of some 70 houses, and requiring the evacuation of over 600 people. This remains the largest landslip to have occurred in an urban area of New Zealand.

External links

Abbotsford landslide (http://library.christchurch.org.nz/Childrens/NZDisasters/Abbotsford.asp)