Waiheke Island

Waiheke

Landsat image of the island, August 2002.
Geography
Location	Hauraki Gulf
Coordinates	36°48′S 175°06′E / 36.8°S 175.1°E / -36.8; 175.1
Archipelago	New Zealand archipelago
Area	92 km2 (36 sq mi)
Length	19.3 km (12.0 mi)
Width	0.64–9.65 km (0.40–6.00 mi)
Coastline	133.5 km (83.0 mi)
Highest point	Maunganui (231 m (760 ft))
Country
New Zealand
Regional Council	Auckland Region
Demographics
Population	7,689 (as of 2006)
Density	83.58 /km2 (216.5 /sq mi)
Ethnic groups	New Zealanders

Waiheke Island (pronounced [ˈwaiheke] in Māori language but sometimes /waɪˈheɪkiː/ in English) is an island in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand, located about 17.7 km (about 35 minutes by ferry) from Auckland.^[1]

The island is the second-largest, after Great Barrier Island, of all the gulf islands. It is also the most populous with just under 8,000 permanent residents plus another estimated 3400 who have second or holiday homes on the island^[2]. This makes it New Zealand's most densely populated island, with 83.58 people/km², and the third most populous after the North and South Island. It is also the most accessible offshore island in the Gulf, due to regular passenger and car ferry services and some air links.

Geography

Overview

The island is 19.3 km long from west to east and varies in width from 0.64 km to 9.65 km, and has a surface area of 92 km². The coastline is 133.5 km, including 40 km of beaches. The port of Matiatia at the western end of the island is 17.7 km from Auckland and the eastern end is 21.4 km from Coromandel.^[1] It is very hilly with few flat areas, the highest point being Maunganui at 231 metres.^[3] The climate is slightly warmer than Auckland with less humidity and rain and more sunshine hours.^[1]

Geology

Waiheke has a number of locations of interest to geologists, namely an argillite outcrop in Omiha Bay and a chert stack at the end of Pohutukawa Point, the latter considered as "one of the best exposures of folded chert in Auckland City".^[4]

Demographics

Population

Waiheke has a resident population of 7,689 people (2006 Census)^[5] with most of the population living close to the western end of the island,^[1][6] or near the isthmus between Huruhi Bay and Oneroa Bay which, at its narrowest, is only 600 metres wide. The settlements of Oneroa and Blackpool are the furthest west, followed by Palm Beach, Surfdale, and Ostend. Further east lies Onetangi, which is located on the northern coast on the wide Onetangi Bay. To the south of this on the opposing coast is Whakanewha Regional Park, Whakanewha and Omiha, or Rocky Bay. Much of the eastern half of the island is privately owned farmland and vineyards.

Waiheke Island is a popular holiday spot, and during the main Summer season, especially around Christmas and Easter, the population on the island increases substantially due to the number of holiday homes being rented out, corporate functions and dance parties at vineyards and restaurants, the Wine Festival and the Jazz Festival and weekend trippers from around the country and the world. It is safe to say the population increases significantly, rents go up, almost all homes and baches are full and a festive atmosphere exists.

Social composition

Waiheke Island has a higher proportion of 'Europeans' (92.8%) compared to 65.7% for Auckland City and 80.1% for New Zealand as a whole (2001 Census). The proportion of Pacific Islanders and Asians is thus also much lower than in the rest of the city.^[7]

Socially the island is highly diverse, with the creative sector, such as artists, musicians, scientists, writers and poets, actors and eccentrics strongly represented.^[1] Around 1,000 people commute daily to Auckland for work as the career opportunities are limited on the island. The main employment sectors are horticulture (wine, olives and some livestock), tourism, construction, food services, retail and real estate.^{[citation needed]} Gentrification and land speculation is however is having an impact, with high rates and mortgage interest rates forcing some people on fixed incomes to relocate off the island.^[8] New Zealand council rates are based on land and building valuations, which take into account potential value for redevelopment even if the owners live on the property and have no intention to sell or redevelop.^[9]

The income distribution at the time of the 2001 Census was found to show a higher proportion of lower income groups and a lower proportion of higher income groups, compared to the whole of Auckland City. This is partially due to a higher number of pensioners and single parent families who are usually on fixed incomes and poorer. In 2001, the median income for those older than 15 was $15,600 compared to $23,500 in 2006. Waiheke is now edging towards the national median of $24,400, with the median income having increased 51 per cent over five years. The increase in wealth on Waiheke is also reflected in the number of families earning more than $100,000 per year, which has more than doubled since 2001.^[10]

Māori relations

Race relations are supportive, even for New Zealand standards. The local marae was not ancestral Māori land held in Māori title but belonged to the Waiheke County Council. Its citizens, both Pākehā and Māori, got together, arranged for a long-term lease of council owned land, and built the marae. Also one of the earliest Māori land claims was driven by Waiheke citizens, who at the time did not know who the Tangata Whenua Māori were for the island. A detailed narrative of this history is available on the Waitangi Tribunal website in PDF form.^[11]

Governance and infrastructure

Oneroa Beach showing some of the settlements.

Waiheke Island is part of the territorial authority of Auckland City. From 1970 until its amalgamation with Auckland City in 1989, it was administered by the Waiheke County Council. It now has a locally elected community board with limited, mainly representational powers, in line with other neighbourhoods in Auckland City. There is one member on the City Council representing all the inhabited Hauraki Gulf Islands, i.e. Waiheke, Great Barrier and Rakino.

The island has less infrastructure than mainland Auckland City. The roads are mainly narrow and in many places unsealed and unlit, especially on the eastern half of the island. The Waiheke Bus Company (owned by Fullers) services most inhabited parts of the island, linking to the ferry sailings from Matiatia.

Each house must maintain its own water supply, most collecting rainwater in cisterns, and must install a septic tank and septic field to handle sewerage. This is a requirement in every building consent.^[12]

The community established a charitable trust which bid on the City's contract for solid waste disposal. After winning the bid, it was implemented with such success that the recycling centre soon had to be expanded to handle the volumes.^[13]

The island has a lively press, with two weekly newspapers vying for attention: the long-established independently-owned Waiheke Gulf News and the Fairfax Media owned Waiheke Marketplace. A community radio station, Waiheke Radio is broadcasting on 88.3 FM and 107.4 FM after Beach FM lost its licence in a commercial bid in 2008.

There is a privately operated airport, Waiheke Island Aerodrome, near Onetangi Bay.

Amalgamation with Auckland City

In 1989, the former Waiheke County Council was forcibly amalgamated with Auckland City Council as part of Local Government restructuring of that year. Pundits predicted a stormy relationship.

In 1990 the Waiheke Community Board formally requested the right to deamalgamate from the City. A 'Deamalgamation Committee' was established by Council to facilitate the Board's wish. However, this proved not to be to the liking of most of the new Auckland citizenry. In 1991, the city responded to a campaign run by a pro-union group, the Waiheke Island Residents & Ratepayers Association (Inc) by holding a democratic referendum. The de-amalgamation proposal sponsored by the Community Board was defeated.^{[citation needed]}

The subject of amalgamation is still a hot topic on the island. In 2008, the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance received 3,537 submissions, 615 of which were made by Waihekeans, over 1/6th of all submissions.^[14] A public meeting of 150 residents on 29 March 2008 found a majority in favour of breaking away from Auckland City.^[15]

The Royal Commission ^[16] recommends that Waiheke Island retain its community board with enhanced powers but details have not yet been finalized as of mid 2009.

Beaches

Waiheke Island is famous for its high saturation of scenic beaches, having a huge presence all over the island. (follow the below guide by viewing them on Google Maps) Among them are:

Onetangi beach.

• Oneroa Beach - (pronounced: "OH-ner-oh-uh) The main beach on Waiheke Island, located along the northern side of the town Oneroa.
• Little Oneroa Beach - A small, secluded beach at the east end of Oneroa Beach, separated by a protruding cliff wall.
• Palm Beach - Similar in shape to Oneroa Beach (complete with protruding cliff wall on the east end, that separates a small, private beach), it gets its name from the mature phoenix palms at the east end.
• Little Palm Beach - A small beach at the east end of Palm Beach, famed among nudists.
• Blackpool Beach - The south-facing counterpart of Oneroa Beach, lining Blackpool, popular for kayaking and windsurfing.
• Surfdale Beach - A zoned-in beach on the southern side of Surfdale, separated from Blackpool Beach by a small, protruding peninsula. Also popular for kitesurfing.
• Onetangi Beach - A 1.87 km long, north-facing beach lining Onetangi. For many years it has been the site of the Onetangi Beach Races. Its western (and often inaccessible end at high tide) is clothes-optional too.
• Cactus Bay - Considered by many Waihekeans as the island's most perfect beach, and with nearby Garden Cove, a romantic place for picnicking. The beach is accessible only by boat or kayak, as its land access was blocked off by a private landowner.

Significant events

Vineyards near Stony Batter. Unlike the settled western part of the island, the eastern half is mostly agricultural.

Stony Batter WWII fortifications

During World War II, three gun emplacements were built on the eastern edge of Waiheke to protect Allied shipping in Waitemata Harbour, in the fear that Japanese ships might reach all the way to New Zealand. This mirrored developments at North Head and Rangitoto Island. The guns were never fired in anger. The empty emplacements and the extensive tunnels below them can be visited 7 days a week.^[17]

Nuclear and GE free zone

Waiheke Island was the first community in New Zealand to vote for a nuclear free zone and this action is said to have contributed to the national decision to become nuclear-free under David Lange's government. This assertion was made by a prior community board member, and requires further confirmation.

In 1999 Waiheke's community board voted Waiheke as a 'genetic engineering free zone',^[18] but this is a matter of principle rather than fact, as only national government controls exist over genetically engineered foods and grains.

Matiatia redevelopment

The western part of the island with the ferry terminal.

The ferry terminal at Matiatia up close.

The Gateway to Waiheke Island where the primary pedestrian ferry lands over 1 million passengers per year is a valley and harbour called Matiatia. In 2000 it was purchased by three investors in a company called Waitemata Infrastructure Ltd (WIL). In 2002 WIL proposed to change the Operative District Plan rules for their land to build a major shopping and hotel complex with 29,000 m² of gross floor area on buildable land of approximately 3 hectares. This united the residents of the island in opposition. Over 1,500 adult residents of the island (out of perhaps 3,000) joined together in an incorporated society, the Community and People of Waiheke Island (CAPOW),^[19] to oppose the private plan change in court.

In 2004, they won an interlocutory judgement in which the environment court ruled that Auckland City Council had erred in the rules, and the current rules limited controlled development to 5,000 m² in what was called the Visitor Facility Precinct. In 2005, CAPOW won an interim judgement by the court which reduced the proposed redevelopment to about 1/3rd of what the investors had originally sought.^{[citation needed]}

This set the stage for confidential negotiations between Auckland's mayor Dick Hubbard and the investors, who on 31 August 2005 (now known as 'Matiatia Day' on the island) sold 100% of the stock in WIL to the city for $12.5 million. The unanimous vote on 30 June 2005 of the City Council to approve the purchase was said to have come about because of the unity of the people of Waiheke Island. The court case finally was concluded with permitted development set at 10,000 m2 of mixed use gross floor development. The Court also found Auckland City Council and WIL liable for costs in relationship to the interlocutory judgement. Since WIL was now owned by Council, it had to write a cheque for to CAPOW for $18,000, representing 75% of CAPOW's costs on that matter. This final cheque allowed CAPOW to pay all its debts and balance its books.

The Council organised a design competition in 2006 to find a suitable development plan and project for the Matiatia gateway. The competition winner's design (scheme 201) is available for comment on the Council website.^[20] It has already attracted much criticism for the lack of car parking close to the ferry terminal, the transport hub function used by all islanders regularly and almost daily by around 850 commuters to Auckland.^[21]

Foot and mouth disease

In May 2005, in a suspected capping stunt, a letter was sent to the New Zealand Prime Minister claiming that foot and mouth disease had been released on Waiheke Island and would be released elsewhere unless money was paid and tax reforms made. A full agricultural exotic disease response was initiated. No livestock were allowed to enter or leave the island. Stock on Waiheke Island was tested every 48 hours for symptoms of the virus, which would devastate New Zealand's agricultural exports.^[22] After three weeks of testing, no infected animals were detected and the response staff were stood down.^[23]

Wine

This section requires expansion.

Goldwater vineyard.

Waiheke's climate has proven to be well suited to growing Bordeaux wine-type grapes, though some Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc varieties are also considered to be good. The local wines are relatively pricey due to the limited size of many vineyards.^[24]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Waiheke Island

• Whakanewha Regional Park (a nature reserve, from the DOC website)
• Waihekepedia (Community wiki for Waiheke)
• Complete Guide to Waiheke Island (Another Waiheke Tourism Website)
• The Official Tourism Website (Waiheke Island Visitor Information Centre)
• Air Discovery (Waiheke Island's only Air Transport Service)

Coordinates: 36°48′S 175°06′E / 36.8°S 175.1°E / -36.8; 175.1