St Leonards | |
|---|---|
 The original school building at St Leonards School | |
 | |
| Coordinates:45°50′54″S170°34′43″E / 45.8484°S 170.5786°E /-45.8484; 170.5786 | |
| Country | New Zealand |
| City | Dunedin |
| Local authority | Dunedin City Council |
| Community board | West Harbour Community |
| Area | |
| • Land | 303 ha (749 acres) |
| Population (2018 Census)[2] | |
• Total | 669 |
| Normanby | Roseneath | |
| Opoho |   St Leonards  | |
| Ravensbourne | (Otago Harbour) |
St Leonards is a suburb of theNew Zealand city ofDunedin. It is located close to the northern shore of theOtago Harbour and on the hilly slopes above the harbour. St Leonards is 8.5 kilometres (5.3 mi) northeast of Dunedin's city centre, between the small settlement ofBurkes andSawyers Bay.[3] St Leonards was named by early settler David Carey for the birthplace of his wife, the English town ofSt Leonards-on-Sea, on the Sussex coast.[4][5]
Rail and road links between central Dunedin andPort Chalmers run alongside St Leonards on the narrow strip of land between the hill slopes and harbour. The suburb is separate from the contiguous urban area of Dunedin.
The suburb is residential, and contains a significant number of smaller homes. The area is a popular residence for students from theUniversity of Otago, and is also popular with alternative lifestylers. The suburb consists mainly of two roughly parallel roads, the Dunedin-Port Chalmers highway (State Highway 88), which runs close to the harbour, and St Leonards Drive, the former main route to Port Chalmers, which winds around the lower slopes of the hills on which St Leonards sits. ThePort Chalmers Branch railway line runs parallel with the highway next to the harbour's edge. In 2012, the Dunedin Harbour Cycleway was extended to reach St Leonards.[6]
The suburbs of St Leonards,Maia, Burkes, andRavensbourne, are often collectively referred to asWest Harbour. Under this name, the area was a separate borough for many years from 1877 until amalgamation with the city of Dunedin in 1963.[7]
St Leonards and Burkes, which cover 3.03 km2 (1.17 sq mi),[1] are part of theRavensbourne-St Leonards statistical area.[8]
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 636 | — |
| 2013 | 672 | +0.79% |
| 2018 | 669 | −0.09% |
| Source:[2] | ||
They had a population of 669 at the2018 New Zealand census, a decrease of 3 people (−0.4%) since the2013 census, and an increase of 33 people (5.2%) since the2006 census. There were 261 households, comprising 315 males and 354 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.89 males per female, with 102 people (15.2%) aged under 15 years, 96 (14.3%) aged 15 to 29, 363 (54.3%) aged 30 to 64, and 117 (17.5%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 93.7% European/Pākehā, 6.7%Māori, 1.3%Pasifika, 3.1%Asian, and 2.7% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 60.5% had no religion, 28.7% wereChristian, 0.4% hadMāori religious beliefs, 0.9% wereHindu, 0.4% wereMuslim, 0.4% wereBuddhist and 3.6% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 225 (39.7%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 57 (10.1%) people had no formal qualifications. 138 people (24.3%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 300 (52.9%) people were employed full-time, 102 (18.0%) were part-time, and 12 (2.1%) were unemployed.[2]
St Leonards School is a state contributing primary school serving years 1 to 6[9] with a roll of 19 students as of November 2024.[10] The school was founded in 1868 as Upper Harbour West School, and was expanded and renamed in 1874.[11]