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The Wood
Suburb
The Cawthron Institute
Coordinates: 41°16′08″S 173°17′31″E / 41.269°S 173.292°E / -41.269; 173.292
Country	New Zealand
Region	Nelson
Ward	Central General Ward Whakatū Māori Ward
Electorates	Nelson Te Tai Tonga (Māori)
Government
• Territorial Authority	Nelson City Council
• Nelson City Mayor	Nick Smith
• Nelson MP	Rachel Boyack
• Te Tai Tonga MP	Tākuta Ferris
Area
• Total	1.16 km (0.45 sq mi)
Population
• Total	2,960
• Density	2,600/km (6,600/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+12 (NZST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+13 (NZDT)
Postcode	7010
Area code	03

The Wood is a suburb of Nelson, New Zealand. It lies just to the north-east of the city centre and adjoins it.

The suburb incorporates Botanical Reserve, a section of Nelson's town belt that includes the trigonometrical geographic centre of New Zealand, Botanical Hill. The reserve borders the Botanical Gardens to the east and Branford Park to the west.

The suburb also has four other public reserves: Guppy Park, Neale Park, Peace Grove and Pepper Tree Park.

History

Italian immigration

The Wood has a sizeable Italian community. The earliest Italian immigrants were fishermen in the 1860s but the majority of Italian immigrants arrived in the 20th century. The Wood was used for horticulture due to suitable conditions such as lack of frost. Horticulture continued into the 1990s but rising interest rates made the area too expensive and combined with other factors most gardens were sold off and turned into housing in the 1990s.

Demographics

The Wood statistical area covers 1.16 km (0.45 sq mi). It had an estimated population of 2,960 as of June 2024, with a population density of 2,552 people per km.

The Wood had a population of 2,907 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 72 people (2.5%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 117 people (4.2%) since the 2006 census. There were 1,263 households, comprising 1,371 males and 1,536 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.89 males per female. The median age was 50.2 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 360 people (12.4%) aged under 15 years, 450 (15.5%) aged 15 to 29, 1,257 (43.2%) aged 30 to 64, and 837 (28.8%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 85.8% European/Pākehā, 9.1% Māori, 1.8% Pasifika, 8.6% Asian, and 2.7% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

The percentage of people born overseas was 29.1, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 51.0% had no religion, 37.0% were Christian, 0.2% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.8% were Hindu, 0.5% were Muslim, 1.4% were Buddhist and 2.6% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 603 (23.7%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 483 (19.0%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $25,700, compared with $31,800 nationally. 294 people (11.5%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 948 (37.2%) people were employed full-time, 396 (15.5%) were part-time, and 72 (2.8%) were unemployed.

References

1. ^ "ArcGIS Web Application". statsnz.maps.arcgis.com. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
2. ^ "Aotearoa Data Explorer". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
3. Walrond, Carl (13 July 2012). "Nelson places – Nelson city". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
4. "Centre of New Zealand". nelsontrails.co.nz. Nelson Trails.
5. ^ "Nelson Parks and Reserves". gdc.govt.nz. Gisborne District Council.
6. Stade, Karen; Price, Karen. "Nelson's Italian history honoured". Heritage Quarterly. No. Spring 2020. p. 17.
7. ^ "Statistical area 1 dataset for 2018 Census". Statistics New Zealand. March 2020. The Wood (304800). 2018 Census place summary: The Wood

• Suburbs of Nelson, New Zealand
• Populated places around Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere