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Western Heights
Suburb
View from Palomino Drive, looking toward the Waitākere Ranges
Coordinates: 36°52′59″S 174°36′54″E / 36.883°S 174.615°E / -36.883; 174.615
Country	New Zealand
City	Auckland
Local authority	Auckland Council
Electoral ward	Waitākere Ward
Local board	Henderson-Massey
Area
• Land	325 ha (803 acres)
Population
• Total	9,940
Train stations	Sturges Road Railway Station

Rānui		Lincoln
	Western Heights	Henderson
Henderson Valley	McLaren Park	Sunnyvale

Western Heights is a neighbourhood of Henderson, in West Auckland, New Zealand. Western Heights School and the nearby shops are the centre of the community. Western Heights is a "frontier suburb", separating suburban Auckland from lifestyle farming blocks, orchards and the Waitākere Ranges.

History

In the 1920s, the area was sparsely populated. The Sturges Road area was home to orchards, primarily grown by immigrant families from Dalmatia.

Demographics

Western Heights covers 3.25 km (1.25 sq mi) and had an estimated population of 9,940 as of June 2024, with a population density of 3,058 people per km.

Before the 2023 census, Western Heights had a larger boundary, covering 3.54 km (1.37 sq mi). Using that boundary, Western Heights had a population of 10,272 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 939 people (10.1%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 2,316 people (29.1%) since the 2006 census. There were 3,015 households, comprising 5,061 males and 5,211 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.97 males per female, with 2,016 people (19.6%) aged under 15 years, 2,193 (21.3%) aged 15 to 29, 4,842 (47.1%) aged 30 to 64, and 1,233 (12.0%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 46.8% European/Pākehā, 8.6% Māori, 9.1% Pacific peoples, 42.8% Asian, and 4.3% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

The percentage of people born overseas was 46.5, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 40.3% had no religion, 37.1% were Christian, 0.4% had Māori religious beliefs, 8.2% were Hindu, 3.9% were Muslim, 2.0% were Buddhist and 2.4% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 2,298 (27.8%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 1,161 (14.1%) people had no formal qualifications. 1,560 people (18.9%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 4,473 (54.2%) people were employed full-time, 1,026 (12.4%) were part-time, and 297 (3.6%) were unemployed.

Education

Western Heights School and Summerland Primary are coeducational contributing primary (years 1–6) schools with rolls of 704 and 630 respectively, as of August 2024. Summerland Primary opened in 2002. The area is named for the summerland apple variety once grown there.

The local State secondary schools are Henderson High School, Waitakere College, Massey High School, Liston College and St Dominic's College.

References

1. ^ "ArcGIS Web Application". statsnz.maps.arcgis.com. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
2. ^ "Aotearoa Data Explorer". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
3. Flude, Anthony G. (2008). Henderson's Mill: a history of Henderson 1849-1939. West Auckland Historical Society. pp. 77–80. ISBN 9781877431210.
4. ^ "Statistical area 1 dataset for 2018 Census". Statistics New Zealand. March 2020. Summerland South (126000), Summerland North (126100) and Western Heights (Auckland) (126900).
5. 2018 Census place summary: Summerland South
6. 2018 Census place summary: Summerland North
7. 2018 Census place summary: Western Heights (Auckland)
8. "New Zealand Schools Directory". New Zealand Ministry of Education. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
9. Education Counts: Western Heights School
10. Education Counts: Summerland Primary School
11. "Summerland Primary's History". Retrieved 26 June 2020.

External links

• Photographs of Western Heights held in Auckland Libraries' heritage collections.

• Suburbs of Auckland
• Henderson-Massey Local Board Area
• West Auckland, New Zealand