Waldronville

Waldronville is a coastal settlement on the Pacific Ocean coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Established in the 1950s as a commuter settlement, it is located 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) to the southwest of Dunedin city centre, and lies within the city's limits. Waldronville was developed by Bill Waldron, when he purchased the McCraws farm in the early 1950s, initially for 200 houses. In the mid-1970s, two other streets were added to the southwest of the settlement. In the mid-1990s, Friendship Drive and Wavy Knowes developments were added to the northeast.

The township of Brighton lies 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) to the southeast of Waldronville; the tiny settlement of Westwood lies halfway between Brighton and Waldronville.

Waldronville is located close to the Kaikorai Lagoon, an expanse of water at the mouth of the Kaikorai Stream protected from the ocean by a sandbar which stretches inland almost as far as the Dunedin suburb of Green Island, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) to the north. The lagoon is part of a research project aimed at establishing a national estuarine monitoring protocol.[1] The actual island which shares the suburb's name lies 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) offshore to the south of Waldronville. The Island Park Recreation Reserve is a protected area between the village and coast.

The rocky outcrop of Blackhead is located to the east of Waldronville. A major quarry is located at Blackhead, mining basalt for road metal. There are hexagonal basalt columns at Blackhead, similar to those further to the east at Second Beach.

Many of Waldronville's streets are named after World War II-era aircraft. The settlement is connected to Brighton and Taieri Mouth to the southwest via a coastal road; in the other direction the road stretches to Green Island. A narrow rural road runs past the quarry and on past Tunnel Beach, connecting with Dunedin's main suburban street system at Corstorphine.

Dunedin's only permanent motor racing circuit, Beachlands Speedway, is located close to the southern end of Waldronville.

References
  1. Hamel, A. (2008) Dunedin Tracks and Trails. Dunedin: Silver Peaks Press. p. 3.03

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