Opawa

Suburb in Christchurch, New Zealand

Opawa
Suburb
Main retail area on Opawa Road, looking south-east towards Mount Cavendish
Coordinates: 43°33′05″S 172°39′43″E / 43.551342°S 172.661937°E / -43.551342; 172.661937
Country	New Zealand
City	Christchurch
Local authority	Christchurch City Council
Electoral ward	Heathcote
Community board	Waihoro Spreydon-Cashmere-Heathcote
Established	c. 1860s
Area [1]
• Land	81 ha (200 acres)
Population  (June 2024)[2]
• Total	1,330

Waltham		Woolston
	Opawa
St. Martins		Hillsborough

Opawa (/oʊpɑːwɑː/; Māori: Ōpāwaho) is an inner residential suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located approximately 3.5 kilometres (2.2 miles) south-east of the city centre. Prior to European settlement, much of the area consisted of marshlands and mixed-use vegetation. By the 1850s, the area was sparsely populated by settlers and became a dairying locality, with many of the early settlers being farmers and people of English descent. Opawa had little development in its early years as it transitioned into a residential suburb.

An early sign of an emerging European community in the area was the arrival of Rev. William Willock, an early settler area who built a cottage titled "Opawaha Cottage", a reference to the Māori name of the area. Another early European settler, Joshua Strange Williams, abbreviated his property as "Opawa Farm". Opawa, eventually became the recognised name for the area. As Woolston emerged as an industrial hub nearby, Opawa was heavily urbanised. This transformed it into an upscale residential area with a population largely consisting of factory workers and businesspeople. Opawa and its neighbouring suburb of Hillsborough were also formerly home to multiple brickmaking and clay related-industries. Though the suburb is predominantly residential at present time, and lies mostly within a U-shaped bend of the Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River. Opawa was amalgamated in to the Greater-Christchurch city area in October 1916.

At a national level, the suburb is part of the Christchurch Central parliamentary electorate. Locally, it is part of the Heathcote Ward for local body elections. The suburb contains three primary schools and two kindergartens. The suburb hosts two local sports clubs; the Opawa Bowling Club and the Opawa Lawn Tennis Club. Additional sporting amenities are located in Hansen Park which accommodates two rugby fields, two football fields and the clubrooms of a local athletics club.

Its population largely consists of European New Zealanders, and contains numerous landmarks known for their connection with the early settlers in the area. Notable individuals associated with the suburb include politician William Pember Reeves, wartime women's labour administrator Noeline Baker, and Anthony Wilding, one of New Zealand's most successful tennis players.