Flat Bush

Flat Bush (also known as Ormiston or Flatbush) is a southern suburb in the city of Auckland, New Zealand. It has recently become one of the city's largest new planned towns after being developed as a rural area of Auckland for several decades. Located east of Otara, plans for substantial expansion began under the Manukau City Council - having bought 290 hectares in the area in 1996.

As of 2023, substantial residential development means the area has grown to over 45,000 people, a similar population to Nelson, and includes a large shopping centre: Ormiston Town Centre.

Early history


The Flat Bush area is part of the rohe of Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, who descend from the crew of the Tainuikomanawa waka, who visited the area around the year 1300. The traditional name for the wider forested area was Te Hūnua, a name now essentially applied to the Hūnua Ranges. Ngāi Tai centred life along the coasts between the Tāmaki River and Wairo River, settling at locationsin an annual cycle of encampments based on what resources were seasonally available. Puke-i-Āki-Rangi was a defended Ngāi Tai pā site. The name literally means "The Hill That Way Propelled Skyward". Over time, Ngāi Tai formed unions with many Tāmaki Māori groups in the area, including Waiohua and Ngāti Pāoa. During the Musket Wars in the 1820s, Ngāi Tai Ki Tāmaki sought temporary refuge in the Waikato.

In 1836, English missionary William Thomas Fairburn brokered a land sale between Tāmaki Māori chiefs covering the majority of modern-day South Auckland and East Auckland. The sale was envisioned as a way to end hostilities in the area, but it is unclear what the chiefs understood or consented to. Māori continued to live in the area, unchanged by this sale. In 1854 when Fairburn's purchase was investigated by the New Zealand Land Commission, a Ngāi Tai reserve was created around the Wairoa River and Umupuia areas, and as a part of the agreement, members of Ngāi Tai agreed to leave their traditional settlements to the west.

In 1847, Howick was established as a defensive outpost for Auckland, by fencibles (retired British Army soldiers) and their families. During the 1850s, the area was generally referred to as the Howick Ranges. The first recorded references to the area being called Flat Bush are from 1859, the name coming from the kahikatea forests of the area, which looked especially flat when viewed from the surrounding hills. The name was well established by the 1860s.

The wider East Tāmaki area was settled primarily by Scottish and Irish Presbyterian settlers. Originally growing crops such as potatoes, oats and wheat, by the turn of the century, many of these farms were converted into dairy farms. Baverstock Road School, the first school in the area, was established in 1875, renamed East Tamaki School in 1884 and Flat Bush School in 1894. It was closed in 1937 when the Howick District High School was opened. In 1921, the East Tāmaki Co-operative Dairy Company was formed, producing milk and butter for the wider Auckland area.

Suburban development


The Manukau City Council identified Flat Bush as a crucial site for future urban development in the 1970. In 1997, the Manukau City Council drafted a development plan for Flat Bush, with the first construction beginning in 1998 in the Chapel Park subdivision. Swathes of new residential subdivisions were dubbed Ormiston in the mid-2000s, due to Botany Community Board concerns around associating with Ōtara (a socioeconomically deprived and ethnically diverse part of the city). The name Ormiston originated from Ormiston Road, which was named after Tom and Mary Ann Ormiston, who farmed in the area from 1915. By the mid-2000s, the population of Flat Bush was greatly increasing.

In 2007, Fo Guang Shan Temple, the largest Buddhist temple in New Zealand, was officially opened In the following year, New Zealand's first cable-stayed bridge on Ormiston Road was constructed. The suburb contains the 94-hectare Barry Curtis Park, named in recognition of Manukau's longest standing mayor, Barry Curtis,

The suburb's new shopping centre, Ormiston Town Centre, was officially opened to the public on 25 March 2021. The Flat Bush area is expected to grow to 40,000 residents by 2025.

Demographics
Flat Bush covers 21.90 km2 and had an estimated population of as of  with a population density of  people per km2.

Before the 2023 census, Flat Bush had a smaller boundary, covering 19.58 km2. Using that boundary, Flat Bush had a population of 26,040 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 7,803 people (42.8%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 13,830 people (113.3%) since the 2006 census. There were 6,513 households, comprising 13,005 males and 13,035 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.0 males per female, with 5,535 people (21.3%) aged under 15 years, 6,264 (24.1%) aged 15 to 29, 12,087 (46.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 2,160 (8.3%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 20.6% European/Pākehā, 6.1% Māori, 10.9% Pacific peoples, 65.9% Asian, and 4.4% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

The percentage of people born overseas was 61.4, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 30.1% had no religion, 33.2% were Christian, 0.4% had Māori religious beliefs, 14.4% were Hindu, 5.0% were Muslim, 5.6% were Buddhist and 7.2% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 6,015 (29.3%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 2,691 (13.1%) people had no formal qualifications. 3,402 people (16.6%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 11,214 (54.7%) people were employed full-time, 2,439 (11.9%) were part-time, and 825 (4.0%) were unemployed.

Education
A strategy to build schools in the area was developed by the Ministry of Education in 2007.

Ormiston Senior College is a senior secondary school for years 11–13 with a roll of. Ormiston Junior College covers years 7–10 and has a roll of students. Ormiston Primary School is a contributing primary school (years 1–6) with students. The three schools are spread over two blocks. The Senior College opened in 2011, the Junior College in 2017, and the primary school in 2015.

Baverstock Oaks School is a primary school while Te Uho o te Nikau Primary School is a full primary school (years 1–8) with rolls of  and  students, respectively. Baverstock Oaks opened in 2005 and Te Uho o te Nikau in 2019.

Sancta Maria College is a state-integrated Catholic secondary school (years 7–13) with a roll of. Sancta Maria Catholic Primary School is a state-integrated contributing primary school (years 1–6) with  students. The two schools are on the same site. The college opened in 2004 and the primary school in 2010.

Tyndale Park Christian School is a private composite school (years 1–13) with a roll of. The school was founded in 1981.

All these schools are coeducational. Rolls are as of

Amenities
Murphy's Bush is a nature reserve in Flat Bush, that features a historic precinct and the largest remnant forest in Auckland.