Beach Haven, New Zealand

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Beach Haven
View of the beach at Beach Haven from Beach Haven Wharf
Local Authority	North Shore City
Characteristics:
Established	1922
Population	9,831 ^{(data: 2006)}
Ferry terminals	(Beach Haven Wharf)
Hospitals	(Beach Haven Hospice}
Surrounded by:
North	(Waitemata Harbour), Greenhithe
North-east	Bayview
East	Windy Ridge
South-east	Birkdale
South	Birkdale
South-west	(Waitemata Harbour)
West	(Waitemata Harbour), Hobsonville
North-west	(Waitemata Harbour), Greenhithe

Beach Haven, often regarded as "The Bronx of North Shore", is a suburb of North Shore, New Zealand , one of the four cities which comprise Auckland. Beach Haven was home to strawberry farms and holiday baches until the the early 1900s. In 1922 the land was subdivided by the Beach Haven Land Subdivision Co. into residential plots.^{[citation needed]}

Beach Haven had 9,162 people in 1996, 9,120 people in 2001 and 9,831 people in 2006,^[1] this means it has grown by 0.71% a year since 1996. It has an average income for North Shore and slightly higher than Auckland's average, also has slightly more Māori than the average.^{[citation needed]}

Beach Haven has one main shopping area with a variety of shops as well as post office, police community constable office, takeaway food, real estate agencies, op shops, apartments and other small stores. There are several preschools and one primary school that serve the area. Also the Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox, Mormon and Assembly Of God churches have strong congregation numbers and add to the diverse mix of cultures of mainly, Maori, NZ European, Samoan, Tongan, Karen Burmese, Burundi and Afghani.

The biggest park in Beach Haven is Shepherd's Park which has walking tracks, as well as bowling and tennis facilities. It also has excellent rugby and soccer grounds and is home to the Birkenhead Soccer Football Club. It is one of the main attractions of Beach Haven.

A patron of the Beach Haven area is Frank Larking. Frank Larking is well regarded for his efforts to establish, maintain and defend one of Beach Haven's most beloved attractions, Beach Haven Wharf. The small coastal beach area is featured with its own pontoon further down the wharf area - popular for recreational land fishing and "wharf bombings". There is also to the far north, a small reclaimed strip land area called Hilder's Park. The reclaimed area is popular with families and has excellent BBQ and seating facilities. On the coastal beachfront is a small blue building named after Frank Larking which houses the Beach Haven Sea Scouts boating and marine equipment.

Frank Larking's old boat, which was used to bring in sand from neighbouring Greenhithe, is located on the beach and was once attached to one of the many strong overhanging Pohutukawa trees. The boat was donated by Frank for the recreational use of all the young children of Beach Haven.

The Auckland Regional Council has announced ^[2] its intention to replace the existing ferry wharf and institute a ferry service to downtown Auckland by early 2009.