Waiuku

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Waiuku from space

Waiuku is a small country town in the Franklin district, in the North Island of New Zealand.

The town is located at the southern end of the Waiuku River which is an estuarial arm of the Manukau Harbour. It is 40 kilometres southwest of Auckland city centre, and 12 kilometres north of the mouth of the Waikato River.

The town serves to support local farming, and is the residence of many employees of New Zealand Steel at Glenbrook, which is four kilometres to the northeast.

[edit] Statistics

According to the 2001 census The usually resident population count for Waiuku1 was 6,669.

26.5 percent of people in Waiuku were under the age of 15 years compared with 22.7 percent for all of New Zealand.

11.4 percent of people in Waiuku were aged 65 years and over compared with 12.1 percent for all of New Zealand.

26.6 percent of people aged 15 years and over in Waiuku had a post-school qualification, compared with 32.2 percent for New Zealand as a whole

86.2 percent of people in Waiuku said they belong to the European ethnic group, compared with 80.1 percent for all of New Zealand.

The median income of people in Waiuku is $19,200, compared with $18,500 for all of New Zealand.

The unemployment rate in Waiuku was 6.4 percent, compared with 7.5 percent for all of New Zealand.

The most popular occupational group in Waiuku was Plant and Machine Operators and Assemblers (15.0 percent). The most popular occupational group for New Zealand as a whole was Service and Sales Workers (14.8 percent).

The average household size in Waiuku was 2.7 people, compared with 2.7 for all of New Zealand.

96.5 percent of households in Waiuku had access to a telephone, compared with 96.3 percent for all of New Zealand.

32.7 percent of households in Waiuku had access to the internet, compared with 37.4 percent for all of New Zealand.

93.1 percent of households in Waiuku had access to a motor vehicle, compared with 89.9 percent for the whole of New Zealand.

There were 2,367 households in Waiuku.

For dwellings that were rented, the average weekly rent paid for permanent private dwellings in Waiuku was $180, compared with $174 for New Zealand as a whole.

72.3 percent of dwellings in Waiuku were owned with or without a mortgage, compared with 67.8 percent for all of New Zealand.

The local Iwi of Waiuku or tangata whenua of Waiuku are Ngaati Te Ata.

[edit] History

The Māori word wai-uku means “water mud”, or muddy waters. Waiuku was marked out by the Government as a town in 1851. Previous to this it was an important route for the Māori travelling and trading between the Waikato River and the Manukau Harbour.

Edward Constable was one of the first Euorpean settlers and came to the area on 1850. His presence can still be felt with roads such as Constable Road and the Kentish Hotel, which he built as an inn. Waiuku has quite a few historical treasures. The local pub, The Kentish Hotel is New Zealand's longest continuously licenced hotel.

Waiuku is home to Kariotahi beach, a rare beach that contains black(volcanic ash) sand from a volcano in the area.

Waiuku is the hometown of Stumpy Holmes, a national rally car driver, and also was the origin of EST.., a well recognised Graffiti-Art company.