very flat 'W' shape: the seal was highest at the outer edge (footpath) and in the middle (centreline), with a lower area serving as a channel and delineation between the roadway and footpath. Likewise, most of the town's telephone local loop is strung above ground to save the task of burying and then removing the lines. Most houses were prefabricated, and intended to be portable. Some were brought from Otematata, and some were later moved to Clyde for the next hydroelectricity project. Hydroelectric scheme winds down Government ministers argued that the town was intended to be temporary and eventually demolished. The government ministers saw Twizel as a financial liability. In October 1981, 100 houses had been reserved with the intention to transport them to Aramoana in expectation that the proposed aluminium smelter would be built. Several overseas investors offered to buy the whole town and develop it for tourism. One such investor, had plans to turn it into a "Las Vegas style casino town". By 1982, the population had fallen to around 3,500 people. During 1983, the Ministry of Works and Development started to sell houses and garages. Several hundred were sold and transported away by new owners. However, in 1983, as the hydroelectric project was winding up and finally ended in 1986. Residents successfully fought to save the town itself. The town was handed over to the Mackenzie County Council. The government offered 325 houses, 100 further sections, community facilities and a cash grant to the council. The Mackenzie County Council then offered these for sale. In 1984, the Mackenzie County Council eventually took over 540 houses and 14 shops as well as the 100 sections and community facilities. Post hydro town With the local government reorganisation that occurred in 1989, Twizel came under the auspices of the Mackenzie District Council. With the construction phase completed of the Upper Waitaki hydroelectricity scheme, the makeup of the town in the late 1980s was significantly different. The population (of 1179 people in 1986, declining to 1017 people in 1991) was now made of those working on the operations side of the hydroelectric scheme, working in the service sector, retired and those taking advantage of the cheap housing. Some houses became holiday homes for people living out of town. Tourism developed slowly in the 1990s with a number of hotels and motels being built. Twizel was the base for some of the