The Waimea Plains is a small but fertile area of low-lying land southwest of the port city of

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

, situated on

Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere Tasman Bay (; officially Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere), originally known in English as Blind Bay, is a large V-shaped bay at the north end of New Zealand's South Island. Located in the centre of the island's northern coast, it stretches along ...

in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

of New Zealand. It is irrigated by the Waimea River from the

Waimea Inlet Waimea Inlet is a section of Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, in New Zealand's South Island. It is at the southern end of the bay, and separated from it by the partial barriers of Rabbit Island and Bell Island to the west and Monaco Peninsula and ...

in the north and bounded by the town of Brightwater in the south. The fertile soil promotes the growth of kiwifruit, apples and vineyards.Page 3. Richmond and the Waimea Plains, Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, Carl Walrond, published 7 September 2010, updated 22 April 2015, retrieved 8 April 2018
/ref> The temperate climate allows for the growth of crops such as

hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whi ...

and

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

Demographics

The Waimea West statistical area covers the part of the Waimea Plains west of the Waimea River, with an area of . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Demographics of the Waimea Plains east of the river are covered at Appleby Waimea West had a population of 1,137 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 48 people (4.4%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 99 people (9.5%) 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 402 households. There were 579 males and 558 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.04 males per female. The median age was 47.4 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 195 people (17.2%) aged under 15 years, 189 (16.6%) aged 15 to 29, 576 (50.7%) aged 30 to 64, and 177 (15.6%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 96.0% European/Pākehā, 6.1% Māori, 0.5% Pacific peoples, 1.3% Asian, and 2.1% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 16.6%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 55.7% had no religion, 34.8% were Christian, 0.5% were Buddhist and 2.1% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 213 (22.6%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 132 (14.0%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $37,000, compared with $31,800 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 510 (54.1%) people were employed full-time, 183 (19.4%) were part-time, and 24 (2.5%) were unemployed.

References

{{Tasman District Landforms of the Tasman District Populated places in the Tasman District Plains of New Zealand Tasman Bay