Waikuku

Waikuku is a small town in the Canterbury region of New Zealand, which sits 28km north of central Christchurch. Waikuku lies 11.8 km south of Leithfield on state highway 1 and 3 km north of Woodend. In 1901 there were 86 people resident in Waikuku according to that year's census.[1] Waikuku had a population of 900 people at the time of the 2013 Census,[2] most of whom live in on the coast at Waikuku Beach. This has increased from 540 people in 1991. Waikuku is popular with both those that commute into work in Christchurch each day and with owners of holiday houses.[3] [4] Waikuku was home to rope and twine works. This business started off using flax from local swamps. It closed in 1987.[5][6] The sandy beach and pine forests are popular with surfers, swimmers, campers and horse-riders, and the large estuary of the Ashley River hosts many species of birds.[7] The Waikuku beach has been rated as one of the ten best to learn to surf at.[8] Waikuku has an annual sand sculpture competition each January. There are four age categories in the judging of the sand sculptures and sand castles.[9]

Waikuku Beach

Just south of Waikuku, on Preeces Road, are the remains of the Kaiapoi Pa, an important trading centre for Ngāi Tahu in the 18th century.

Road safety

The section of state highway 1 that runs through the middle of Waikuku has been described as "one of the most notorious roads in Canterbury” by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency noting that “In the ten years from 2009 to 2018, six people were killed and 33 were seriously injured in crashes" on state highway 1 in North Canterbury.[10] As a result, the speed limit through the Waikuku township is being reduced from between 80 km/h and 100 km/h to 60 km/h from December 2020.[10] This has lead to frustration as the North Canterbury community have been requesting the road to be upgraded to the proposed but unfunded extension of the Christchurch Northern motorway (including the Woodend Bypass).[11]

Education

Waikuku presently has no schools. The town previously had one full primary (Year 1-8) school, Waikuku School, which opened in 1872.[12] The school outgrew its site in the late 2000s and early 2010s, and in April 2014 was relocated to a new site in Pegasus, New Zealand and renamed Pegasus Bay School. The site is now used as an outdoor shopping mall called Old School Collective.[13]

Primary school students today are zoned for Pegasus Bay School; secondary school students are zoned for Kaiapoi High School in Kaiapoi.

References
  1. "Waikuku | NZETC". nzetc.victoria.ac.nz. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  2. "Quick Stats about Waikuku". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  3. Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Kaiapoi district". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  4. Barclay, Chris (9 November 2020). "Buyers snap up quintessential Canterbury baches". Otago Daily Times Online News. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  5. Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Kaiapoi district". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  6. "Waikuku | NZETC". nzetc.victoria.ac.nz. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  7. "Ashley-Rakahuri". Ashley-Rakahuri Rivercare Group. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  8. "GO NZ: 10 of the best places to learn to surf in New Zealand". NZ Herald. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  9. "Waikuku Sand Sculpture Competition | Visit The Waimakariri District". www.visitwaimakariri.co.nz. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  10. Wednesday; November 2020, 18; NZTA, 3:03 pm Press Release:. "Safer Speed Limits For SH1 Waikuku To Lineside Road, North Canterbury | Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 21 December 2020.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. "'Notorious' road validates community fight for four-lane motorway – MP". Otago Daily Times Online News. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  12. "Waikuku". Cyclopedia of New Zealand. New Zealand Electronic Text Collection. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  13. "Cafe Chat: Waikuku's Old School Collective Office Cafe open to the public". Stuff.co.nz. 10 April 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2020.

Bibliography


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.