Highlands Park is a suburb of the New Zealand city of

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...

History

In 2011, a local chapter of the

Exclusive Brethren The Exclusive Brethren are a subset of the Christian evangelical movement generally described as the Plymouth Brethren. They are distinguished from the Open Brethren from whom they separated in 1848. The Exclusive Brethren are now divided int ...

proposed building a church in Highlands Park, near most of their 40 members lived nearby. Three nearby residents supported the proposal, but three others opposed it. As of February 2019, an audit by

Taranaki Regional Council Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth D ...

found Highlands Park had low levels of recycling contamination, compared to most other New Plymouth suburbs. In June 2019, a man was arrested on arson charges, after a fire broke out in his Highlands Park home. In September 2019, a worker at a Highlands Park rest home began taking her newborn black lamb to entertain residents.

Demographics

Highlands Park covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Highlands Park had a population of 3,318 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, an increase of 309 people (10.3%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 828 people (33.3%) since the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. There were 1,200 households, comprising 1,590 males and 1,725 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.92 males per female. The median age was 49.2 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 597 people (18.0%) aged under 15 years, 381 (11.5%) aged 15 to 29, 1,494 (45.0%) aged 30 to 64, and 852 (25.7%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 88.4% European/

Pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non-Māori New Ze ...

, 7.2%

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

, 0.8% Pacific peoples, 7.1%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, and 3.5% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 21.8, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 44.8% had no religion, 45.1% were

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, 0.1% had Māori religious beliefs, 1.1% were

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

, 1.3% were

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

, 0.6% were

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

and 1.4% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 639 (23.5%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 510 (18.7%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $34,200, compared with $31,800 nationally. 636 people (23.4%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,230 (45.2%) people were employed full-time, 393 (14.4%) were part-time, and 72 (2.6%) were unemployed.

References

{{New Plymouth District Populated places in Taranaki Suburbs of New Plymouth