Woodlands Park is a small, affluent and quiet suburb on the western outskirts of West Auckland, New Zealand. Nestled in the

Waitākere Ranges The Waitākere Ranges is a mountain range in New Zealand. Located in West Auckland between metropolitan Auckland and the Tasman Sea, the ranges and its foothills and coasts comprise some of public and private land. The area, traditionally kno ...

, Woodlands Park lies in a valley, bush clad hills separating it from

Titirangi Titirangi is a suburb of West Auckland in the Waitākere Ranges local board area of the city of Auckland in northern New Zealand. It is an affluent, residential suburb located 13 kilometres (8 miles) to the southwest of the Auckland city centre ...

(to the north east),

Parau Parau is a locality of West Auckland in the Auckland Region. It is under the local governance of the Waitākere Ranges Local Board within the Auckland Council. It is a coastal community close to Titirangi village. Parau is made up of Huia Ro ...

and

Huia The huia ( ; ; ''Heteralocha acutirostris'') is an extinct species of New Zealand wattlebird, endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. The last confirmed sighting of a huia was in 1907, although there was a credible sighting in 1924. It ...

(to the south east) and Laingholm (to the south). Most housing was built in the 1950s to 1970s, and lies within native bush. Although largely composed of workers commuting to Auckland, and socially linked to Titirangi, Woodlands Park is a small reasonably active community. There is a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

, which forms the communal heart, 2

dairies A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

and a mechanic. Original home of the Commercial bus company.

History

The area that would later become Woodlands Park was established as farmland during the 1860s. Between the 1860s and 1914, the main access to the outside world was by the dock at Little Muddy Creek, until road access became more common. In the early 20th century, the area was a part of McEldowney fruit farm, owned by an Irish immigrant family.

Demographics

Woodlands Park covers . It is part of the Waima-Woodlands Park statistical area. Woodlands Park had a population of 1,077 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 84 people (8.5%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 99 people (10.1%) 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 351 households, comprising 510 males and 564 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.9 males per female, with 261 people (24.2%) aged under 15 years, 168 (15.6%) aged 15 to 29, 570 (52.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 87 (8.1%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 89.4% 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 Z ...

, 8.4%

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 ...

, 1.7% Pacific peoples, 8.4%

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 3.1% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 65.5% had no religion, 22.6% were Christian, 0.6% 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 ...

, 0.8% were Muslim and 3.1% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 294 (36.0%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 78 (9.6%) people had no formal qualifications. 273 people (33.5%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 504 (61.8%) people were employed full-time, 129 (15.8%) were part-time, and 15 (1.8%) were unemployed.

Education

Woodlands Park School is a contributing primary (years 1–6) state school with a roll of students as of The school was founded in 1958. Titirangi Rudolf Steiner School is a full primary (years 1–8) private school with a roll of students. It was founded in 1987 and provides education based on the Steiner-Waldorf philosophy. Both schools are co-educational. The nearest State secondary schools are Green Bay High School, Kelston Boys' High School and Kelston Girls' High School. Catholic students usually commute by train from

New Lynn New Lynn is a residential suburb in West Auckland, New Zealand, located 10 kilometres to the southwest of the Auckland city centre. The suburb is located along the Whau River, one of the narrowest points of the North Island, and was the locat ...

Marist College Marist College is a private university in Poughkeepsie, New York. Founded in 1905, Marist was formed by the Marist Brothers, a Catholic religious institute, to prepare brothers for their vocations as educators. In 2003, it became a secular in ...

(girls) or St Peter's College (boys).

References

{{Waitākere Ranges Local Board Area Suburbs of Auckland Waitākere Ranges Waitākere Ranges Local Board Area