The suburb incorporates Botanical Reserve, a section of Nelson's town belt that includes the trigonometrical geographic centre of New Zealand, Botanical Hill.[5] The reserve borders the Botanical Gardens to the east and Branford Park to the west.[6]
The suburb also has four other public reserves: Guppy Park, Neale Park, Peace Grove and Pepper Tree Park.[6]
History
Italian immigration
The Wood has a sizeable Italian community. The earliest Italian immigrants were fishermen in the 1860s but the majority of Italian immigrants arrived in the 20th century. The Wood was used for horticulture due to suitable conditions such as lack of frost. Horticulture continued into the 1990s but rising interest rates made the area too expensive and combined with other factors most gardens were sold off and turned into housing in the 1990s.[7]
Demographics
The Wood statistical area covers 1.16km2 (0.45sqmi).[2] It had an estimated population of 2,990 as of June 2025,[3] with a population density of 2,578 people per km2.
The Wood had a population of 2,907 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 72 people (2.5%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 117 people (4.2%) since the 2006 census. There were 1,263 households, comprising 1,371 males and 1,536 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.89 males per female. The median age was 50.2 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 360 people (12.4%) aged under 15 years, 450 (15.5%) aged 15 to 29, 1,257 (43.2%) aged 30 to 64, and 837 (28.8%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 85.8% European/Pākehā, 9.1% Māori, 1.8% Pasifika, 8.6% Asian, and 2.7% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
The percentage of people born overseas was 29.1, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 51.0% had no religion, 37.0% were Christian, 0.2% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.8% were Hindu, 0.5% were Muslim, 1.4% were Buddhist and 2.6% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 603 (23.7%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 483 (19.0%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $25,700, compared with $31,800 nationally. 294 people (11.5%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 948 (37.2%) people were employed full-time, 396 (15.5%) were part-time, and 72 (2.8%) were unemployed.[8]
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