Whau Valley is a suburb of

Whangārei Whangārei () is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the regional capital of Northland Region. It is part of the Whangarei District, Whangārei District, a local body created in 1989 from the former Whangārei City, Whangārei County and ...

, in

Northland Region The Northland Region ( mi, Te Tai Tokerau) is the northernmost of New Zealand's 16 local government regions. New Zealanders sometimes refer to it as the Winterless North because of its mild climate all throughout the year. The main population ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

State Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbere ...

runs through it. The valley was named for the whau trees which grew there in the 1850s. At the end of the 4 km long Whau Valley Road is the principal water reservoir for Whangārei City, created by the Whau Valley Earth Dam. The reservoir is stocked with

rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

and

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...

History

Some of the early settlers in what was then called Whauwhau Valley were William Hawken and his family, who arrived in 1859, and John MacDonald and his family, in 1860. The MacDonald family was part of the group of people from

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

who settled in the Whangārei area. Coal was discovered in the Whauwhau Valley in the 1860s. Henry Walton and William Grahame took a 99 lease on the land and developed a mine. A wooden tramway was built from the mine to the

Hātea River The Hātea River is a river of New Zealand. It flows from the north-east of Whangarei southwards and into the northern head of Whangarei Harbour. Its lower length forms the eastern boundary of the city. The banks along the lower reaches are parks ...

so coal wagons could be pulled by horses to be loaded onto ships. The railway line between Kamo and Whangārei, opened in 1882, replaced the tramway. Output of the mine was by 1885.

Demographics

Whau Valley covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Whau Valley had a population of 2,799 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 261 people (10.3%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 198 people (7.6%) 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 1,044 households, comprising 1,308 males and 1,491 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.88 males per female. The median age was 44.4 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 510 people (18.2%) aged under 15 years, 480 (17.1%) aged 15 to 29, 1,140 (40.7%) aged 30 to 64, and 669 (23.9%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 77.5% European/Pākehā, 26.2% Māori, 3.8% Pacific peoples, 7.3% Asian, and 2.5% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 18.6, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 45.9% had no religion, 41.7% were Christian, 1.0% were Hindu, 0.4% were Buddhist and 2.8% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 411 (18.0%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 495 (21.6%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $25,500, compared with $31,800 nationally. 321 people (14.0%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 972 (42.5%) people were employed full-time, 315 (13.8%) were part-time, and 120 (5.2%) were unemployed.

Education

Whau Valley School is a contributing primary (years 1-6) school with a roll of students as of St Francis Xavier School is a Catholic contributing primary (years 1-6) school with a roll of students as of Whangarei Adventist Christian School is a full primary (years 1-8) school with a roll of students as of All these schools are coeducational. St Francis Xavier and Whangarei Adventist schools are state integrated.

Notes

External links

St Francis Xavier School website

Whau Valley School website
{{Whangarei District Suburbs of Whangārei Populated places in the Northland Region Valleys of New Zealand