Lake Alice | |
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Meshblock | |
View of Lake Alice, the meshblock's namesake
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Coordinates: 40°07′32″S 175°20′12″E / 40.12556°S 175.33667°ECoordinates: 40°07′32″S 175°20′12″E / 40.12556°S 175.33667°E | |
Country | New Zealand |
Region | Manawatu-Wanganui |
Territorial authority | Rangitikei District |
Named for | Lake Alice |
Government | |
• Mayor | Andy Watson |
• MP | Ian McKelvie |
Population (2013 census) | |
• Total | 2,724 |
Lake Alice is a meshblock located in the southwestern part of Rangitikei District of the Manawatu-Wanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. According to the 2013 census, it had a population of 2,724 inhabitants.
Lake Alice used to be serviced by Lake Alice Hospital, a self-sufficient rural psychiatric facility. Former patients of the hospital's child and adolescent unit made allegations of abuse during the 1970s, including the use of electroconvulsive therapy and paraldehyde injections as punishment. The New Zealand government issued a written apology in 2001, and paid out a total of NZ$10.7 million in compensation to 183 former patients. The former head of the unit gave up the practice of medicine in 2006 in order to forestall a disciplinary hearing by the Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria. The facility ran between August 1950 and October 1999.
The Lake Alice meshblock is a geographic area which encompasses a mostly rural area sparsed with a few small townships; these are: Crofton, Santoft, Turakina and Whangaehu. Lake Alice envelops Marton, Ratana Community and Koitiata.
Lake Alice has the following boundaries: Pohonui-Porewa meshblock to the north and northeast, Tokorangi-Hiwinui meshblock (Manawatu) to the east, Oroua Downs-Waitohi meshblock (Manawatu) to the southeast and south, Bulls to the southeast, the Tasman Sea to the southwest and west and Fordell-Kakatahi meshblock (Whanganui) to the northwest.