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 [1]
• Total	1.16 km2 (0.45 sq mi)
Population  (June 2023)[2]
• Total	3,080
• Density	2,700/km2 (6,900/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+12 (NZST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+13 (NZDT)
Postcode	7010
Area code	03

The Wood is a suburb of the South Island, New Zealand city of Nelson.^[3] 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.^[4] The reserve borders the Botanical Gardens to the east and Branford Park to the west.^[5]

The suburb also has four other public reserves: Guppy Park, Neale Park, Peace Grove and Pepper Tree Park.^[5]

Demographics

The Wood statistical area covers 1.16 km² (0.45 sq mi).^[1] It had an estimated population of 3,080 as of June 2023,^[2] with a population density of 2,655 people per km².

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.^[6]

References