chch.live a suburb, in depth

Hei Hei, Christchurch

2,153 council reports since June 2015, the 61st busiest suburb in the city. 1,731 photographs on record. 3,720 people at the 2023 Census, 2,186 to the square kilometre across 1.7 km².

Reports, all time
2,153
In the year to 12 Oct 2026
277
Busiest in Christchurch
61st
Photographs
1,731

The record also holds about $580 a week to rent 2023 Census snapshot 1,731 photographs 2 old photographs 1 school 10 parks 4 places of worship 2 tracks noise overlays over the whole outline 2 classified reaches cross the outline 7% of the outline inside the plan’s density overlays 793 SCIRT photographs filed on this ground 13.6 km of cycleway crosses the outline 1 remembered name on this ground 6 drawn rules bind this ground 2 parcels on the dangerous-work register 88 parcels of made ground 1 parcels with a cleanup on file the 2019 model grades this ground mostly low 3 council structures on the register 4 recreation register records 853 trees on the register the plan’s word on this ground 3% of the outline reserved 1 place on the heritage schedule 1 epicentre inside the outline 86 injury crashes 982 recorded victimisations 24 bus stops 21 businesses the council’s fix times alcohol ban over 12% of the outline 1 heritage place 40 documents 1 mention on the wire

See it on the map Its decade, charted

Living here rent · the ground · the day-to-day

$580/week middle half $540–$625

New bonds here ran at about $580 a week in the April–June 2026 quarter, the middle half of them between $540 and $625, across 21 bonds lodged, up 5% on a year ago. That’s about $30 a week above the city’s own quarter median of $550. Tenancy Services counts these under the “Hei Hei” statistical area, close to this suburb’s outline, not exactly it.

By dwelling type and bedrooms, April–June 2026 quarter
  • 1-bedroom house, $605 a week · 12 new bonds

Median and quartiles of weekly rents on new private bonds, by quarter. New bonds are fresh lodgements, not the whole rental stock; under five bonds the rent is withheld, and counts are randomly rounded. Source: Tenancy Services rental bond data: provisional while the bond system migrates.

Day to day it holds 1 school, 10 parks, 4 places of worship, 2 tracks and 24 bus stops, each is counted further down.

Lately the record’s mostly graffiti & vandalism, 277 reports in the year to 12 October 2026, the newest 9 October 2026.

One for the quiz, Its busiest day on record was 23 December 2022, 23 reports in a single day.

2023 Census snapshot SA1 areas grouped here

People
3,429
Under 15
19%
65 and over
12%
Occupied households
1,200

About 3,429 people and 1,200 occupied private households in the “Hei Hei” statistical area, grouped from 22 SA1 areas. This exact statistical-area match is close to this suburb’s outline, not exactly it.

More of the 2023 Census
  • Born overseas29% of stated birthplace
  • European ethnicity62% of ethnicity responses
  • Māori ethnicity15% of ethnicity responses
  • Pacific Peoples ethnicity9% of ethnicity responses
  • Asian ethnicity24% of ethnicity responses
  • Households with internet83% of stated households
  • Households with two or more vehicles56% of stated households

Ethnicity is a multiple-response measure, so those percentages are not meant to add to 100%.

Stats NZ’s 2023 Census uses fixed random rounding to base 3. Unavailable or confidential cells are left out, not treated as zero. individuals · households · geography · CC BY 4.0.

About the suburb

Hei Hei is a suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located in the west of Christchurch 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) from the central city, and is bisected by State Highway 1. The area was subdivided for poultry farming after World War I for returning serviceman, but the venture failed due to the poor soil conditions. The place name is related to the Māori word for chicken (heihei) due to the area's poultry farming history.

the encyclopaedia’s version · Wikipedia · population: Stats NZ 2023 Census SA2 counts; the area is measured from the suburb outline

As reported 1,731 on record

16 Wycola Avenue, Hei Hei32 Taurima St13 Amuri Street, Hei Hei7 Amuri Street, Hei Hei170 Buchanans Road, Hei Hei86E Buchanans Road, Hei Hei 1,731 photographs
on the wall →

The suburb, back then 2 in the archive

Hei Hei, Christchurch, 1964Hei Hei, Christchurch, 1964 2 photographs
from back when →

Placed by the record’s locality join or the name in its own title, a lead, not a claim each frame stood here.

The record on Hei Hei

Lately the newest reports

Hazard, vehicle, a report photo
Hazard, vehicle33 Amuri Street

Hi there, This referral is relating to Snap Send Solve ID 8340835. I witnessed another incident (near miss head on collision) on this curve at 1306H today…

Road Signage, a report photo
Road Signage195 Buchanans Road

Higgins chip sealed this road today but there is no warning signs nor cone thresholds coming into the loose chip. I feel people will skid out and possibly…

Reports per year up 11% 2024→2025

What gets reported

Graffiti & vandalism 610
Rubbish & dumping 431
Roads & footpaths 413
Water & drains 309
Trees & parks 277
Vehicles & parking 67
Everything else 27
Noise 10 Animals & pests 9

Streets that keep coming up each a street page

Every street the archive knows in Hei Hei →

Exactly what people say

How fast the council fixes things here 3,483 finished jobs on record

The median council work order pinned in Hei Hei took 3 days to resolve, about the city-wide median (3 days). The slowest tenth waited 9 weeks or longer. 59 tickets are open here now, the oldest was filed 5 June 2021.

Work orders, not the resident reports above, the council’s MyCouncilTicket stream, and one job can appear in both. A median counts only finished jobs; open ones are named as open, never averaged in. The ticket roll · the whole city’s fix times.

Alcohol rules on this ground one ban zone reaches in

Riccarton Racecourse. A public drinking ban, applies from 7am to 12 midnight, Saturday of Cup Week (New Zealand Cup Day), covers about 12% of Hei Hei.

One sensitive site stands here, St Bernadettes School, and the Local Alcohol Policy restricts new off-licences within 200 m of it.

The council’s bylaw zones and the Local Alcohol Policy’s buffer list, read from the Regulatory open-data service. A ban rules drinking in public places; it says nothing about whether a premises may sell, that is the licence register’s job.

The suburb today

Schools here 1

Zoned for Christchurch Adventist School · Hornby High School · Hornby Primary School · Middleton Grange School · St Bernadette's School (Hornby) · St Thomas of Canterbury College · and 4 more zones, the drawn zone is indicative; the Ministry’s written scheme is the legal boundary.

Decile and EQI describe the community a school draws from, not how well it teaches.

The green here 10

The first eight of 10, Parks and reserves in the council’s open data, a park lands in the suburb its centre falls inside. The whole roll is at /parks.

Where the suburb worships 4

Places of worship in the open map’s record, one lands in the suburb its building stands in. The whole roll is at /worship.

The tracks through here 2

Tracks in the council’s open data, a line belongs to every suburb it passes through. The whole network is at /tracks.

The quiet lines

2 parcels inside this outline sit on the hazardous-activities register, mostly vehicle refuelling, service and repair, chemical manufacture, application and bulk storage, 1 still doing the work. A listing records the work, not a soil test; the whole register is drawn at /hazards.

The files record 88 parcels of made or characterised ground inside this outline, about 24 hectares, mostly engineered fill, mixed fill with rubbish, pitrun, 3 carry fill the file can’t vouch for. A record is the file’s word on what was laid, not a fresh survey; the whole layer is drawn at /fill.

1 parcel inside this outline carries a cleanup on the file. A cleanup on the file is the register’s word, not a clearance; the whole register is drawn at /remediated.

The 2019 liquefaction study put 100% of this outline in the low class. A class is the model’s verdict on a patch of ground, not a finding about an address; the whole study is drawn at /vulnerability.

The council’s structure register stands 3 assets on this ground, 2 ramps, 1 boardwalk, sited at Wycola Park, Carmen Reserve. The register’s site names are its own labels for the ground an asset stands in; the layer is drawn at the map.

The recreation register keeps 4 records inside this outline, bookable surfaces for 1 hockey, 1 shotput, 1 basketball, 1 skateboard. Seasons and surfaces are the register’s record, not this week’s draw; the layer is drawn at the map.

The register counts 853 living trees inside this outline, 5 carrying a protection, mostly Red maple, Purple-leaf Cherry Plum, Turkey Oak. The file remembers 317 trees felled here. A tree record is the register’s word on what stands or stood; the whole canopy is drawn at /trees.

The plan files 49% of this outline under Residential Suburban, 58% residential, the rest mostly Transport 17%, Industrial General 13%. A zone is a permission, not a description, the mix is read from a sampled join of the plan’s polygons; the whole district is drawn at /zones.

The plan reserves about 5 hectares of this outline, 3%, under 3 designations, mostly learning, movement. A designation is a claim on the ground, not a build date, the mix is read from a sampled join; the whole register is drawn at /designations.

The plan’s heritage schedule protects 1 place by name in this suburb, 79 Carmen Road. A setting is the ground the item stands in, each files under the suburb holding its centroid; the whole schedule is at /heritage.

The plan’s noise overlays cover all of this outline, about 170 hectares across 1 mapped overlay, and inside the airport’s bird-strike buffer. Shares read from a sampled join; a planning line, not a meter’s reading. The quiet lines are drawn at /noise.

The plan’s water-margin layers cross this outline, 2 classified reaches, the plan calling Paparua South Branch and Paparua Stream by name. The margin is the plan’s drawing, not a survey of the bank; the reaches, strips and held edges are mapped at /water-margin.

The plan’s allowed shape holds this outline, 7% of it inside the residential overlays, the densest standing Medium Density. The shape is the plan’s permission, not a survey of what stands; the allowed shape is drawn at /density.

The rebuild’s cameras filed 793 photographs on this ground, 2011–2014, wastewater work mostly. Each frame is a receipt the dig left behind, a work log, not a survey of what stands now; the whole record is drawn at /rebuild.

The pedal network threads this ground, 13.6 km of cycleway crosses the outline, 1.9 km of it separated from the traffic, South Express. A segment counts under every suburb its path enters; the whole network is drawn at /cycleways.

The remembered names stand on this ground, 1 inscribed plaque, Peebles Reserve among the grounds. The plaque is the register’s pin, not a surveyed spot; the whole roll is kept at /plaques.

The rulebook binds this ground, 6 drawn instruments, 1 alcohol ban, 5 bottle-store buffers; the outline sits inside the takiwā of Te Ngai Tuahuriri Runanga. The bylaw is the instrument, this the map of it, the whole rulebook is drawn at /rules.

GeoNet’s catalogue puts 1 magnitude-3+ epicentre inside this outline since the sequence opened, the biggest a M3.8 in 2010. An epicentre is where the instruments placed the break, not a measure of the shaking here; the whole catalogue is counted at /sequence, the live record is /quakes, and the story in plain language is the earthquakes explainer.

The crash record 86 injury crashes

86 crashes that hurt somebody on record inside Hei Hei's outline, 1 person killed, 19 seriously hurt.

The corner that keeps appearing: State Highway 1S at Buchanans Road, 11 injury crashes.

the suburb’s crashes on the map →

The crime record 982 recorded victimisations

982 victimisations on the Police record inside Hei Hei’s outline, September 2022–August 2026, mostly theft, about 72 a year per 1,000 residents. Up 19% on the year before. Reported is not all, how much never reaches the record depends on the offence.

the suburb on the crime map →

The buses through it 24 stops

24 Metro stops inside Hei Hei's outline, in ECan’s stop record, served by route 130, route 125, route 140.

Every route in the record →

Businesses here 21 in the directory

21 premises in Hei Hei across 15 kinds, from OpenStreetMap, the council’s licensed-premises register and its 2024 Find Christchurch directory. Each kind below opens at this suburb’s shelf.

Among them, the ones the record says most about:

The whole directory →

Before any of that

On the register here

  1. 79 Carmen Road79 Carmen Road

Documents 40

What the archive’s sources say about Hei Hei, titled for it, turned up by a search for one of its places, or carrying its name in the text. These are leads and citations: the originals live at the provider, linked from each row.

LATEST TELEGRAMS. (West Coast Times, 12 February 1869)West Coast Times · Papers Past · National Library of New Zealand · · text held
MARRIAGE. (Star, 08 October 1879)Star · Papers Past · National Library of New Zealand · · text held
CHRISTCHURCH. January 8. (North Otago Times, 09 January 1900)North Otago Times · Papers Past · National Library of New Zealand · · text held
Page 6 Advertisements Column 1 (Clutha Leader, 16 March 1900)Clutha Leader · Papers Past · National Library of New Zealand · · text held
POSTAL NOTICES. (West Coast Times, 08 May 1900)West Coast Times · Papers Past · National Library of New Zealand · · text held
MAIL NOTICE. (Grey River Argus, 18 October 1901)Grey River Argus · Papers Past · National Library of New Zealand · · text held
Charged With Murder. (Thames Star, 28 October 1901)Thames Star · Papers Past · National Library of New Zealand · · text held
MAIL NOTICE. (Grey River Argus, 14 February 1902)Grey River Argus · Papers Past · National Library of New Zealand · · text held
THE CHRISTCHURCH TRAM ACCIDENT. (Wanganui Chronicle, 08 April 1902)Wanganui Chronicle · Papers Past · National Library of New Zealand · · text held
MAIL NOTICE. (Grey River Argus, 30 April 1902)Grey River Argus · Papers Past · National Library of New Zealand · · text held

The rest are a search away, the whole shelf, for the name →

The wire on Hei Hei 1 lately

Noble False Widow seen — Hei Hei, Christchurch 8042, New ZealandiNaturalist · arachny ·

The whole wire →

8 more documents came up in searches for Hei Hei's places and have not been read yet, a lead is a search result, not a fact, until somebody reads it.

Next door

BroomfieldHornbyIslingtonRussleyYaldhurstSockburn

Compare Hei Hei with Broomfield · Hornby · Islington · Russley · Yaldhurst · Sockburn, same record, side by side.

Questions, answered briefly

What is Hei Hei?

Hei Hei is a suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. The public record holds 2,153 council reports for it, the first filed in June 2015.

How many people live in Hei Hei?

3,720 people at the 2023 Census, 2,186 per square kilometre across 1.7 km².

How many people does the 2023 Census count for Hei Hei?

About 3,429 people and 1,200 occupied private households: grouped from Stats NZ SA1 areas through this site’s suburb join. Indicative, not a LIM.

What gets reported in Hei Hei?

2,153 reports on record, most often graffiti & vandalism (610), rubbish & dumping (431), roads & footpaths (413). 277 of them in the year to 12 October 2026.

How many crashes has Hei Hei had?

86 injury crashes on the police record inside the suburb’s outline, 1 person killed, 19 seriously hurt. The suburb’s crashes, mapped →

Did earthquakes strike under Hei Hei?

GeoNet’s catalogue puts 1 magnitude-3+ epicentre inside the suburb’s mapped outline since the September 2010 mainshock, the biggest a M3.8 in 2010. An epicentre is where the instruments placed the break, not a measure of the shaking felt here. The whole sequence, counted → · The story, in plain language →

Every suburb in Christchurch → · Its decade, charted → · the whole A–Z →