Spencerville, Christchurch
368 council reports since April 2016, the 93rd busiest suburb in the city. 278 photographs on record. 790 people at the 2023 Census, 278 to the square kilometre across 2.8 km².
The record also holds 2023 Census snapshot· 278 photographs· 4 parks· 2 names on the map· 12.9% of the outline mapped liquefied· graded mostly TC3 in 2011· the record drew water over 46% of the outline· the mapped tsunami reach covers 52% of the outline· the Ngāi Tahu schedule covers 35% of the outline· ecological sites over 41% of the outline· landscape schedules over 73% of the outline· high flood hazard over 12% of the outline· setback strips over 5% of the outline· 218 SCIRT photographs filed on this ground· 8 drawn rules bind this ground· 27 parcels of made ground· the 2019 model grades this ground mostly possible· 35 council structures on the register· 5 recreation register records· 278 trees on the register· the plan’s word on this ground· 9 injury crashes· 134 recorded victimisations· 5 businesses· the council’s fix times· alcohol ban over 20% of the outline· 1 heritage place· 17 documents· 5 mentions on the wire
Live source links
Link-outs to the source’s own live pages, chch.live does not copy their live values or source text.
Living here rent · the ground · the day-to-day
The ground: the February 2011 survey drew liquefaction over 13% of it; the 2011 grading filed it mostly TC3, the rest of the watch is drawn further down.
Day to day it holds 4 parks, each is counted further down.
Lately the record’s mostly trees & parks, 70 reports in the year to 13 October 2026, the newest 9 October 2026.
One for the quiz, Its busiest day on record was 13 February 2022, 4 reports in a single day.
2023 Census snapshot SA1 areas grouped here
About 759 people and 264 occupied private households in the “Brooklands-Spencerville” statistical area, grouped from 4 SA1 areas. This exact statistical-area match is close to this suburb’s outline, not exactly it.
More of the 2023 Census
- Born overseas19% of stated birthplace
- European ethnicity89% of ethnicity responses
- Māori ethnicity15% of ethnicity responses
- Pacific Peoples ethnicity4% of ethnicity responses
- Asian ethnicity5% of ethnicity responses
- Households with internet93% of stated households
- Households with two or more vehicles82% 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
Spencerville is a semi-rural village on the east coast of Canterbury, New Zealand north of Christchurch. The town backs on to Bottle Lake Forest and includes a large park and 80 hectare camping ground. These amenities, as well as wetlands and an animal and bird park make the town a popular camping area for Christchurch residents.
As reported 278 on record
The shape of it outline © OpenStreetMap · recent reports, pinned
The record on Spencerville
- Spencerville enters the written record on 14 August 1907, “LOCAL AND GENERAL. (Star, 14 August 1907)”, Papers Past.
- “Spencerville” appears somewhere in 15 of the archive’s records, title, description or body.
- A Papers Past search for the name surfaced 10 records, leads by provenance, not by phrase.
- The first report the feed ever carried here: graffiti, 15 April 2016, at 15 Nautilus Pl.
- Its busiest day on record was 13 February 2022, 4 reports in a single day.
- The street that keeps coming up is Heyders Road, reported on 100 separate days.
- For elections the suburb’s centre falls inside Coastal ward, the Coastal-Burwood-Linwood community board is its local layer. The whole roll is at /wards.
Lately the newest reports
Dumped Rubbish150 Heyders Road
Rubbish dumping with recycling medicines, food, and other assorted rubbish. Was a few sharp blades from an exacto knife that we moved so dogs and kids didnt…
Pothole2 Heyders Road
The pot holes are on the bend depicted on the map. Approximate location 6 Arthur St Oamaru 9401, they are worsening and are a danger to motorcyclists and cars…
Trees - General150 Heyders Road
This tree seems to be leaning much more than I remember. can the Rangers check it out to see if they agree.
Damaged Asset – CCC contractor46 Styx River Place
Confirmed private leak just after connection found during survey in water loss zone BK1. Showing usage of 0.5lpm and the berm at side of driveway saturated…
Damaged Asset – CCC contractor23 Styx River Place
Confirmed LAC found in water loss zone BK1. Pumped out the chamber to confirm if council or private. No indication of usage and can visibly see the leak on…
Damaged Asset – CCC contractor4 Heyders Road
Leak found and confirmed on lateral / saddle during survey in water loss zone BK1. This was initially picked up on ground survey as noise could be heard on…
Damaged Asset – CCC contractor45 Heyders Road
Small private leak found during survey in water loss zone PK3. Letter and leak information leaflet left in letter box.
Damaged Asset – CCC contractor61 Heyders Road
Private leak found during survey in water loss zone BK1. Not showing signs of usage, but there is very good noise. Would roughly guess it's losing 4LPM.
Damaged Asset – CCC contractor13 Heyders Road
Private leak found during survey in water loss zone BK1.
Reports per year up 12% 2024→2025
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What gets reported
Exactly what people say
How fast the council fixes things here 893 finished jobs on record
The median council work order pinned in Spencerville took 14 days to resolve, the city-wide median is 3 days, so this ground runs slower than the city as a whole. The slowest tenth waited 5 months or longer. 29 tickets are open here now, the oldest was filed 19 January 2022.
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
Spencer Park. A public drinking ban, new Year’s Eve from 8:30pm on 31 December to 6am on 1 January each year, covers about 20% of Spencerville.
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
Zoned for Christchurch Adventist School · Emmanuel Christian School · Mairehau High School · Marian College · Middleton Grange School · Ōuruhia Model School · and 5 more zones, the drawn zone is indicative; the Ministry’s written scheme is the legal boundary.
The green here 4
- Spencer ParkRegional · 47 ha · playground, 56 pieces
- Spencer Park BeachRegional · 11 ha
- Spencerville ReserveSports ground · 1 ha · playground, 29 pieces
- Styx Riverbank Reserve
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.
The names on this ground 2
The February 2011 survey drew mapped ground failure over 12.9% of this outline, about 37 hectares. A patch is a footprint, not a finding about an address; the count for the whole city is at /liquefaction.
The 2011 grading filed 10.1% of this outline, about 29 hectares, mostly TC3. A graded area files under the suburb its middle sits in, and a category is a verdict for a patch of ground, not a finding about an address; the grades are drawn at /technical-categories.
The flood record drew water over 45.8% of this outline, about 130 hectares, across 2 named events. A patch is one event’s observation, not a live hazard finding; the whole record is drawn at /floods.
The mapped tsunami extent covers 52% of this outline, about 147 hectares. The sea’s modelled reach, not a prediction, the plan’s inundation line, not the evacuation zones; the share is read from a sampled join. The whole extent is drawn at /tsunami.
The files record 27 parcels of made or characterised ground inside this outline, mostly engineered fill, sand. A record is the file’s word on what was laid, not a fresh survey; the whole layer is drawn at /fill.
The 2019 liquefaction study put 75% of this outline in the possible class, 91% of the outline fell inside an assessed area. 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 35 assets on this ground, 17 shelters, 6 boardwalks, 6 sets of steps, 5 viewing platforms, sited at Seafield Park, Spencer Park, Spencer Beach Holiday Park, Brooklands Spit. 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 5 records inside this outline, bookable surfaces for 2 tennis, 1 golf, 1 volleyball, 1 basketball. Seasons and surfaces are the register’s record, not this week’s draw; the layer is drawn at the map.
The register counts 278 living trees inside this outline, 2 carrying a protection, mostly Cabbage tree, Kowhai, Tarata / Lemonwood. The file remembers 225 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 28% of this outline under Rural Waimakariri, 9% residential, the rest mostly Open Space Community Parks 21%, Open Space Coastal 16%, 87% of the outline fell inside a mapped zone. 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’s schedule of sites significant to Ngāi Tahu covers 35% of this outline, about 99 hectares, ngā tūranga tūpuna, ngā wai. Shares read from a sampled join; a recognition overlay, not a catalogue. The whole schedule is drawn at /cultural.
The plan’s ecological schedules cover 41% of this outline, about 116 hectares across 3 scheduled sites, all protected under Schedule A. Shares read from a sampled join; a recognition overlay, not a survey. The whole ledger is drawn at /ecology.
The plan’s landscape schedules cover 73% of this outline, about 208 hectares across 7 scheduled areas, 25% of it outstanding, the plan’s strongest landscape standing, and 59% of it sits inside the coastal environment. Shares read from a sampled join; a protection overlay, not a ranking of views. The kept view is drawn at /landscape.
The plan’s flood map draws 12% of this outline inside high flood hazard ground, about 33 hectares across 6 mapped areas. The broader flood-management watch covers 76% of it, Lower Styx River. 1 ponding spot is mapped here, where the models expect water to sit. Shares read from a sampled join; a model’s map, not a promise. The waiting water is drawn at /flood-hazard.
The plan’s water-margin layers cross this outline, 6 classified reaches, the plan calling Styx River and Lower Styx Drain South by name, 5% of it inside the setback strips, the widest holding 30 m off the bank, and an esplanade line holds a public edge here. 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 rebuild’s cameras filed 218 photographs on this ground, 2012–2016, 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 rulebook binds this ground, 8 drawn instruments, 7 of them dog rules, 1 alcohol ban; 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.
- Bird Hidelookout
- Styx Riverwaterway · 19.8 km
The named waterways, bays, headlands, monuments, summits and old sites OpenStreetMap puts inside this outline, a pin is the mapper’s own; a waterway belongs to every suburb it crosses. Every roll, counted: /geography.
The crash record 9 injury crashes
9 crashes that hurt somebody on record inside Spencerville's outline, 5 seriously hurt, nobody killed.
The corner that keeps appearing: Lower Styx Road at Styx River Place, 5 injury crashes.
The crime record 134 recorded victimisations
134 victimisations on the Police record inside Spencerville’s outline, September 2022–August 2026, mostly theft, about 44 a year per 1,000 residents. Up 34% on the year before. Reported is not all, how much never reaches the record depends on the offence.
Businesses here 5 in the directory
5 premises in Spencerville across 4 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:
Before any of that
On the register here
Documents 17
What the archive’s sources say about Spencerville, 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.
1900s
21910s
31920s
41930s
42000s
32010s
LOCAL AND GENERAL. (Star, 14 August 1907)
local and general p w the side school at belfast has been named spencerville a piece of ground at the back of the caretaker garden at the normal school will be-used as a scho…Star · Papers Past · National Library of New Zealand · · text held
PERSONAL. (Ashburton Guardian, 05 October 1911)
…w know as burwood mr spencer bought the first portion of his farm at the styxnow known as spencerville m 1873 and afterwards increased his area to 2000 acres which is now divided into farms and occupi…Ashburton Guardian · Papers Past · National Library of New Zealand · · text held
SUICIDE IN CHRISTCHURCH. (Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, 29 December 1914)
…hurch christcnuitch december 21 susbu ellen dowdlo bo ynnri nge wife of francis dowdle of spencerville near chanays com mitted suicide about 8 80 a tv lo day by shooting herßalf a sevei-chainber ed re…Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser · Papers Past · National Library of New Zealand · · text held
LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS (Marlborough Express, 13 May 1920)
…nd japan next year the formation of a company to manufactui-e glass is being discussed at spencerville says a christchurch paper mr w p spencer is making all inquiries and it is understood that-the go…Marlborough Express · Papers Past · National Library of New Zealand · · text held
LOCAL AND GENERAL (Evening Post, 23 July 1920)
…ith the view of getting the fullest possible information on the subject mr w v spencer of spencerville intends visiting melbourne shortly it is likely that if his inquiries are successful an endeavour…Evening Post · Papers Past · National Library of New Zealand · · text held
DEATH UNDER ANAESTHETIC (Evening Post, 28 August 1925)
…n christchurch 27th august at an inquest on the body of william james edgar a dairyman of spencerville who died under an anaesthetic at a private hospital while an operation was in progress the eviden…Evening Post · Papers Past · National Library of New Zealand · · text held
PERSONAL NOTES (Evening Post, 02 April 1937)
…ve motor tour through the scottish highlands mesdames r e cunningham auckland w p spencer spencerville e knight dannevirke b williams hastings t jackson rotorua miss f knight dannevirke and miss l sta…Evening Post · Papers Past · National Library of New Zealand · · text held
PERSONAL ITEMS (Evening Post, 09 April 1937)
…lonel wheeler calcutta dr m matson christchurch and messrs j g tait tauinarunui h spencer spencerville j green dunedin and n thomson melbourne are guests at the grand hotel messrsf harding feildihg f…Evening Post · Papers Past · National Library of New Zealand · · text held
PERSONAL NOTES (Evening Post, 09 April 1937)
…rs g sykes epuni street lower hutt for a few days will return home tbimorrow mrs h spence spencerville mrs w thomson melbourne mrs e wheeler india mrs r fryday stratford mrs m matson christchurch and…Evening Post · Papers Past · National Library of New Zealand · · text held
MENACE TO PUBLIC (Evening Post, 20 December 1937)
…en mr w p spencer drew attention to the wholesale shooting in the country shooting around spencerville road and stewarfs gully is a menace to human life he said gunmen travel in cars one man driving a…Evening Post · Papers Past · National Library of New Zealand · · text held
The rest are a search away, the whole shelf, for the name →
The wire on Spencerville 5 lately
Southern Brown Tree Frog seen — Spencerville, Christchurch 8083, New ZealandiNaturalist · stuart186 ·
Coprinellus seen — Spencerville, Christchurch 8083, New ZealandiNaturalist · melwhiting ·
New Zealand Looper seen — Spencerville, Christchurch 8083, New ZealandiNaturalist · melwhiting ·
Porina seen — Spencerville, Christchurch 8083, New ZealandiNaturalist · melwhiting ·
Moss-eating Crambid Snout Moths seen — Spencerville, Christchurch 8083, New ZealandiNaturalist · melwhiting ·
7 more documents came up in searches for Spencerville's places and have not been read yet, a lead is a search result, not a fact, until somebody reads it.
Next door
Compare Spencerville with Ouruhia · Bottle Lake · Brooklands · Kainga · Parklands · Marshland, same record, side by side.
Questions, answered briefly
What is Spencerville?
Spencerville is a semi-rural village on the east coast of Canterbury, New Zealand north of Christchurch. The public record holds 368 council reports for it, the first filed in April 2016.
How many people live in Spencerville?
790 people at the 2023 Census, 278 per square kilometre across 2.8 km².
How many people does the 2023 Census count for Spencerville?
About 759 people and 264 occupied private households: grouped from Stats NZ SA1 areas through this site’s suburb join. Indicative, not a LIM.
What gets reported in Spencerville?
368 reports on record, most often trees & parks (115), rubbish & dumping (76), roads & footpaths (56). 70 of them in the year to 13 October 2026.
How many crashes has Spencerville had?
9 injury crashes on the police record inside the suburb’s outline, 5 seriously hurt, nobody killed. The suburb’s crashes, mapped →
What did the earthquakes grade Spencerville?
The 2011 technical categories filed 10.1% of the suburb’s outline, about 29 hectares, mostly TC3. TC1 meant standard foundations sufficed, TC2 enhanced, TC3 site-specific engineering, a verdict for the patch of ground, not a finding about any one address. The grades, drawn →
Every suburb in Christchurch → · Its decade, charted → · the whole A–Z →