Rangiora is the largest town and seat of the Waimakariri District, in Canterbury, New Zealand. It is north of Christchurch, and is part of the Christchurch metropolitan area. With an estimated population of Rangiora is the 30th largest urban area in New Zealand, and the fifth-largest in the Canterbury region (behind Christchurch, Timaru, Ashburton and Rolleston).
Toponymy The name of the town comes from the Māori language. The components of the name are (meaning sky) and (meaning wellness). The name can be interpreted as meaning "good weather", "a sick person recovering from an illness", or "a day of wellbeing." The origin of the name is not clear, but may originate with the Māori name for Brachyglottis repanda, or refer to a peace agreement between Ngāi Tahu and Kāti Māmoe.
The town is often nicknamed "Goon" by locals. The origin of the nickname is unclear, but one possibility is that it's a contraction of the name Rangoon, which was the romanised name of Myanmar's largest city Yangon during its time as a British colony. The theory is that European locals were familiar with the name Rangoon, and found that easier to pronounce than the Māori language name. Other theories include associations to the word 'goon' (a synonym of henchman), or the colloquial Australasian name for box wine.
Geography Rangiora is north of Christchurch's Cathedral Square or 20 minutes drive north of the Christchurch International Airport. It is close to the northern end of Canterbury's Inland Scenic Route (formerly State Highway 72), which skirts the inner edge of the Canterbury Plains, running southwest to Timaru via Oxford and Geraldine. The Ashley River / Rakahuri is just to the north of the town.
Climate Rangiora has an oceanic climate, (Cfb according to the Köppen climate classification), with warm summers and cool winters. Rangiora has an average annual mean of , an average annual high of and an average annual low of . January, the warmest month, has a mean of and an average high of , while the coolest month, July, has a mean of and an average low of .
Rangiora receives of precipitation annually over 83.0 precipitation days, which is quite dry compared to some other cities in New Zealand. The wettest month is April, which receives and the most precipitation on average over 7.7 precipitation days is a tie between June and July. The driest month is September, which receives over 6.0 precipitation days while the least amount of precipitation is February. Rangiora receives 2191.7 hours of sunshine annually, with winter being less sunny compared to summer. November is the sunniest month, receiving 232.0 hours of sunshine on average, while June is the least sunniest month, receiving 125.0 hours of sunshine on average.
The highest official temperature ever recorded in New Zealand was at Rangiora on 7 February 1973.
Population Rangiora is described by Stats NZ as a medium urban area and covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2.
Rangiora had a population of 18,855 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 957 people (5.3%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 3,726 people (24.6%) since the 2013 census. There were 8,865 males, 9,942 females, and 51 people of other genders in 7,728 dwellings. 2.5% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 46.9 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 3,117 people (16.5%) aged under 15 years, 2,859 (15.2%) aged 15 to 29, 7,656 (40.6%) aged 30 to 64, and 5,226 (27.7%) aged 65 or older.
People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 93.2% European (Pākehā); 8.8% Māori; 1.4% Pasifika; 3.6% Asian; 0.6% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 2.2% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 97.8%, Māori by 1.8%, Samoan by 0.1%, and other languages by 5.8%. No language could be spoken by 1.8% (e.g. too young to talk). New Zealand Sign Language was known by 0.6%. The percentage of people born overseas was 17.6, compared with 28.8% nationally.
Religious affiliations were 35.7% Christian, 0.6% Hindu, 0.2% Islam, 0.3% Māori religious beliefs, 0.2% Buddhist, 0.4% New Age, 0.1% Jewish, and 1.1% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 54.2%, and 7.4% of people did not answer the census question.
Of those at least 15 years old, 2,430 (15.4%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 9,126 (58.0%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 4,182 (26.6%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $35,500, compared with $41,500 nationally. 1,329 people (8.4%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was 6,801 (43.2%) full-time, 2,199 (14.0%) part-time, and 282 (1.8%) unemployed.
+Individual statistical areasName Area(km2) Population Density(per km2) Dwellings Median age Medianincome Rangiora North West 1.99 2,739 1,376 1,248 58.8 years $31,200 Kingsbury 2.58 2,685 1,041 1,083 53.9 years $34,000 Ashgrove 0.67 1,494 2,230 585 39.6 years $39,100 Rangiora North East 2.02 1,743 863 780 44.9 years $32,000 Oxford Estate 0.94 1,248 1,328 462 45.4 years $38,600 Rangiora Central 0.37 33 89 24 56.7 years $36,800 Rangiora South West 1.96 2,499 1,275 984 40.8 years $40,800 Lilybrook 1.26 2,892 2,295 1,203 44.1 years $33,000 Rangiora South East 2.67 2,706 1,013 1,065 44.1 years $38,200 Southbrook 3.24 816 3.24 291 36.2 years $38,900 New Zealand 38.1 years $41,500
Attractions Rangiora has become a gateway for local wineries, which have become popular in North Canterbury and, around Rangiora, there are a number to choose from. For more than twenty years the Rangiora Showgrounds has hosted an annual "petrol-head" show called Street Machines and Muscle Car Madness which features a large array of vehicles.
In 1956, Rangiora hosted New Zealand's first traction engine rally at the Rangiora Showgrounds. Eight traction engines, owned by members of the Southbrook Traction Engine Club, attended. In 2006, this notable milestone was celebrated by the arrival of visiting Burrell showman's engine Quo Vadis and accompanying carousel Gallopers Abreast from England to attend the celebrations.
Victoria Park in Percival St was established in 1902 by the council and the gates erected to mark King Edward VII's coronation. The band rotunda opened in 1907. The gates and rotunda are both Category 2 historic places.
Sports Rangiora Football has undergone strong growth recently. The Mainpower Oval has hosted many national cricket matches and is also used by Canterbury Country cricket as its base. Rangiora High School has produced many excellent sportspeople in rugby, basketball, netball, athletics, and rowing in recent years. Former All Black captain Todd Blackadder and former Silver Fern player and Tall Fern captain Donna Loffhagen both attended Rangiora High School. Since 2023, the Mainland Tactix have used Mainpower Stadium as an occasional venue in the ANZ Premiership.
Culture
Rangiora boasts two theatre companies: The North Canterbury Musical Society and The Rangiora Players. There are also a number of music, dance and drama schools based in the town, including the Hartley School of Performing Arts. The Regent Cinema, which opened in 1926, was located within the historic Rangiora Town Hall from its opening in 1926 as Everybodys' Cinema until December 2012 when the Town Hall was closed. There were also screenings in the larger auditorium which also hosted live shows and youth events.
The studios of radio station Compass FM 104.9 are situated in Rangiora. Compass FM 104.9 is a not-for-profit community station covering the North Canterbury region of New Zealand. From a transmitter atop Mount Grey, the station can be heard over much of North Canterbury, including the Waimakariri District, much of the Hurunui District and Selwyn District, and in greater Christchurch.
Rangiora Town Hall The Rangiora Town Hall was designed by Henry St. Aubyn Murray on the behalf of the Rangiora Borough Council, and built by F. Williamson of Christchurch at a cost of £10,850 NZP. Construction began in 1925, and the Hall was opened on 27 May 1926 by the Mayoress of the Rangiora Borough, Mrs Robina McIntosh. Seating 600, the main hall was designed to host both moving pictures, and also live performances from around the district. The original Rangiora Public Library was located on the first-floor along the northern (High Street) frontage. Originally the Rangiora Borough Council resolved to spend only £6,500 to build and furnish the hall, was obliged to loan some £8,000 from the Christchurch Tramway Board to finance the construction of the hall, outraging residents at the prospects of having to pay increased rates. The interior furnishings were paid for using the insurance monies from the Institute Hall, which had been burned down in 1926.The Institute Hall, built in 1873, was the original Town Hall. It, like its successor, contained a theatre, library, and reading room. In 1926, the building was destroyed by fire; at the time, the building had been stripped of its interior appointments, and was waiting to be demolished.
The building originally housed the Everybodys Theatre, from 1931 the Regent Theatre. The former ticket windows were located on either side of the main doors; these are still extant, though the windows have since been replaced with single panes of glass, and the internal walls of one of the ticket offices has been removed. The Hall also housed the library from 1926 to 1967, when it moved to the former Council Chambers. The Rangiora Borough Council occupied the former library space from 1967 to 1981, when the present Council offices were opened on the (former) Institute Hall property.
The building has been altered very few times since it was originally built. In the early 1970s, the building was altered by pushing the rear wall of the auditorium in, which resulted in the loss of 200 seats and reducing the current capacity to the present level of 380. With the introduction of television and video, the former library on the first-floor was converted in 1983 into a smaller second theatre, designed solely as a movie theatre, and which opened with the movie Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. The main theatre was still capable of showing movies as required, and the original projection room was still in place to facilitate hire of the main hall to show movies for special occasions until September 2013. The building has been shut down twice for work to be carried out; in 1999 access was improved to the fly floors and the present lighting gantry installed, and in 2009 the building received an electrical re-wire and the interior was refurbished.
At some point in the 1920s-1930s, two properties adjacent to the Town Hall along High Street were demolished, and the site turned into the Town Hall Reserve; this property separates the Town Hall and the Police Station, built in 1999 to replace another station that had become inadequate. There is also a small carpark to the south of the building, behind the stage area. This carpark also has a loading dock that leads directly into the stage right wing, allowing backdrops and other properties to be brought into the building.
In September 2010, the Town Hall was damaged by the 4 September earthquake. The last group to use the Town Hall was the Rangiora New Life School, whose Secondary students had performed Exodus - The Musical (written by Christopher Tambling and Michael Forster) over the week of 25–27 August. The building was out of service until mid-2011, when it was reopened for use again. While it had been undergoing repairs at the time of the 22 February earthquake, the building thankfully did not sustain any further damage, which would have prolonged the time required for repairs.