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St Albans, New Zealand facts for kids

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St Albans
Suburb
The old St Albans library, since demolished following earthquake damage
The old St Albans library, since demolished following earthquake damage
St Albans is located in New Zealand
St Albans
St Albans
Location in New Zealand
Country New Zealand
Local authority Christchurch
Electoral ward
  • Fendalton
  • Papanui
  • Innes
  • Central
Area
 • Land 398 ha (983 acre)
Population
 (June 2022)
 • Total 13,620
Papanui Northcote Mairehau
Strowan
Merivale
St Albans
Edgeware
Christchurch Central City

St Albans is a large, inner-northern suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand, located directly north of the Christchurch Central Business District. It is the second largest suburb in the city by population (behind Halswell), with a population of 13,137 at the 2018 Census. The suburb falls within the Christchurch Central electorate and is represented by Duncan Webb, who has been the member of parliament since the 2017 general election. St Albans is one of the most diverse residential neighbourhoods in Christchurch, with a wide range of densities, architectural styles and housing ages throughout the suburb. It has everything from run-down high-density council-owned flats, to modern luxurious high-density flats and apartments; old mid-density workers cottages through to large low-density estates of various ages.

History

Originally a working-class settlement, it was a separate borough from 1881 until 1903 when it became part of Christchurch City. St Albans was named after George Dickinson’s farm, which lay to the south of the St Albans Creek. He had called his farm ‘St Albans’ in memory of his cousin Harriet Mellon, an actress, who had become the Duchess of St Albans.

Boundaries

The St Albans boundaries are: Papanui Road in the west, Mays Road to the north, Cranford Street in the east, and Bealey Avenue to the south.

Community facilities

St Albans centers on the Edgeware shopping centre on Edgeware Road which contains a small number of well-supported shops. A large number of the shops are out of action or were demolished in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquakes. The suburb contains two schools, St Albans Primary School and St Albans Catholic School. The two main parks in the suburb are St Albans Park and Malvern Park. There is also a small football stadium called English Park.

St Albans Neighbourhood News

St Albans is known for its sense of cohesiveness and community spirit. This has manifested itself in the local monthly paper, The St Albans Neighbourhood News (STANN) http://stalbans.gen.nz/ was first published by a group of local residents in 1993 and is still going to this day. It has a distribution of 5000 homes and businesses and has recently expanded to fill 16 pages. Over the years it has been central in numerous community related issues including local planning, Packe Street Park, the Edgeware Road Tragedy and the closure of Edgeware swimming pool of which it was editorially opposed. The community has now regained control of the pool site and the pool will now be rebuilt with a generous donation from a local resident.

Earthquake damage

The suburb was not significantly damaged in the 2010 Canterbury earthquake. Lots of chimneys came down but only few complete houses. In the 22 February 2011 earthquake the suburb was hit hard. Many houses, supermarkets, and shops were significantly damaged with a lot ending in total demolition. In July 2011, the demolition of the former library, which houses the community centre, was ordered by the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority. In 2014, the extent of the damage to drainage systems and lowered ground levels has become apparent, with the regular flooding of a series of streets known as the Flockton Basin.

Demographics

St Albans covers 3.98 km2 (1.54 sq mi). It had an estimated population of 13620 as of June 2022, with a population density of 3422 people per km2.

Historical population
Year Pop. ±% p.a.
2006 12,987 —    
2013 12,768 −0.24%
2018 13,137 +0.57%

St Albans had a population of 13,137 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 369 people (2.9%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 150 people (1.2%) since the 2006 census. There were 5,448 households. There were 6,498 males and 6,633 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.98 males per female, with 2,043 people (15.6%) aged under 15 years, 3,231 (24.6%) aged 15 to 29, 6,087 (46.3%) aged 30 to 64, and 1,773 (13.5%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 82.9% European/Pākehā, 7.0% Māori, 2.0% Pacific peoples, 12.8% Asian, and 2.9% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities).

The proportion of people born overseas was 28.0%, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people objected to giving their religion, 50.6% had no religion, 36.7% were Christian, 2.2% were Hindu, 0.8% were Muslim, 1.2% were Buddhist and 3.8% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 3,894 (35.1%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 1,098 (9.9%) people had no formal qualifications. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 6,387 (57.6%) people were employed full-time, 1,638 (14.8%) were part-time, and 324 (2.9%) were unemployed.

Individual statistical areas
Name Population Households Median age Median income
Malvern 2,604 918 34.6 years $44,500
Rutland 2,904 1,071 43.8 years $43,100
St Albans North 2,136 966 37.1 years $37,000
St Albans West 2,523 1,182 37.5 years $39,500
St Albans East 2,970 1,311 32.8 years $39,700
New Zealand 37.4 years $31,800

Notable residents

  • Hugh Acland (1874–1956), prominent surgeon and later owner of Chippenham
  • John Evans Brown (1827–1895), first MP for St Albans, after whom Browns Rd is named, and resident at Chippenham
  • Wizard of New Zealand (born 1932), lived in the suburb until his Cranford Street home was destroyed by fire in September 2003

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