Āwhitu Peninsula facts for kids

The Āwhitu Peninsula is a long peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand, extending north from the mouth of the Waikato River to the entrance to Manukau Harbour.

The Peninsula is bounded in the west by rugged cliffs over the Tasman Sea, but it slopes gently to the west, with low-lying pastoral and swamp land along the edge of the Waiuku River and Manukau Harbour. At the northern tip, the Manukau Heads rises to a 285-metre (935 ft) prominence above the entrance to the similarly named harbour. The nearby historic Manukau Heads Lighthouse is one of the few in the country open to the public.

The peninsula is relatively sparsely populated, despite its proximity to the centre of Auckland city (which lies 30 kilometres (19 mi) to the northeast). The largest settlement on or near the peninsula is Waiuku, which lies at the peninsula's isthmus.

History

The northern shore of the Āwhitu Peninsula around the Manukau Heads is one of the earliest archaeological sites in the Auckland region. Since the arrival of European settlers, the peninsula has been converted from native New Zealand bush to farmland.

Demographics

Satellite image of Manukau Harbour - the northern end of the Awhitu Peninsula is shown lower left.

Manukau Heads lighthouse

Āwhitu had a population of 2,919 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 408 people (16.2%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 381 people (15.0%) since the 2006 census. There were 1,107 households. There were 1,467 males and 1,452 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.01 males per female. The median age was 47.4 years, with 525 people (18.0%) aged under 15 years, 387 (13.3%) aged 15 to 29, 1,512 (51.8%) aged 30 to 64, and 492 (16.9%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 89.6% European/Pākehā, 12.8% Māori, 2.8% Pacific peoples, 3.8% Asian, and 1.7% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities).

The proportion of people born overseas was 17.0%, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people objected to giving their religion, 60.7% had no religion, 26.5% were Christian, and 3.6% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 312 (13.0%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 522 (21.8%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $34,700. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,236 (51.6%) people were employed full-time, 354 (14.8%) were part-time, and 75 (3.1%) were unemployed.

Education

The former Awhitu Central School

Awhitu District School and Waipipi School are coeducational full primary schools (years 1-8) with rolls of 99 and 142 students respectively as of April 2023.

Biodiversity

The Peninsula has a high sympatric diversity of native New Zealand land snails. Communities of >70 native species in a 4 ha patch of bush can be found here, whereas in other parts of the world, 15 sympatric land snail species would be considered high. Grazing and other habitat disturbances can negatively impact this diversity.