Wainui

Wainui is a locality in the Rodney Ward of the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is 5 km north-east of Waitoki and 10 km west of Orewa. The Wainui Stream flows south-west through the area and into the Kaukapakapa River.

Geography
Wainui is a rural community in central Rodney. It is found at the crossroads between Waitoki Road, Wainui Road, Weranui Road, and Monowai Road.

History
The earliest recorded name for the area is Parakakau, which referred to the inland forested areas of the upper Weiti River during the mid-19th Century. The locality was named after the Wainui Creek, a tributary of the Waiwera River geographically distant from Wainui township, located to the northeast along Weranui Road.

The area was settled soon after the Mahurangi purchase by the Crown in 1841. By the mid-19th century, kauri gum diggers often frequented the area. Wainui was settled by people from England, Scotland and Ireland around 1850, including the Hutson, Thick, King, Lloyd and Jacobs families. Early settlers to the area were met with mānuka and fern scrubland and kauri forest, and made a living by timber milling and kauri gum digging. From around the year 1860, families began clearing land for agriculture. New Zealand explorer Charles Heaphy owned much of the land at Wainui, selling 104 acre to brickmaker William Lamont in 1862.

In 1867, the Wainui Presbyterian Church was built, was the first public building constructed at Wainui. It quickly becoming the social hub of the Wainui community. School lessons began informally in homes around the year 1860, and Wainui School was constructed in 1879. In 1894, cartoonist Trevor Lloyd married Lamont's daughter Emily at the church.

Demographics
Wainui-Waiwera statistical area, which includes Waiwera, covers 62.24 km2 and had an estimated population of as of  with a population density of  people per km2.

Before the 2023 census, the statistical area had a larger boundary, covering 78.72 km2. Using that boundary, Wainui-Waiwera had a population of 1,674 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 261 people (18.5%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 348 people (26.2%) since the 2006 census. There were 612 households, comprising 834 males and 840 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.99 males per female. The median age was 45.6 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 291 people (17.4%) aged under 15 years, 276 (16.5%) aged 15 to 29, 819 (48.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 288 (17.2%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 93.0% European/Pākehā, 9.0% Māori, 2.0% Pacific peoples, 3.8% Asian, and 1.4% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

The percentage of people born overseas was 25.6, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 53.2% had no religion, 35.7% were Christian, 0.4% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.7% were Hindu, 0.7% were Muslim, 0.2% were Buddhist and 2.0% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 294 (21.3%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 162 (11.7%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $37,400, compared with $31,800 nationally. 324 people (23.4%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 711 (51.4%) people were employed full-time, 285 (20.6%) were part-time, and 39 (2.8%) were unemployed.

Education
Wainui School is a coeducational full primary (years 1–8) school with a roll of students as of  The school opened in 1879 and celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2004.