Green Island, New Zealand

For the nearby island, see Green Island (Okaihe). For the other small uninhabited islet near Ruapuke Island in Foveaux Strait, see Green Island (Foveaux Strait) .

Green Island is a suburb of Dunedin, New Zealand. It is not on the sea — formerly a borough, it took its name from the Green Island bush, uncleared native forest extending from the valley where the town is centred over the hills towards the coast. The name of the nearby offshore island — Green Island (Okaihe) — was used to identify the bush.

Green Island

Photograph of Main South Road, Green Island, Dunedin.

Green Island, since 1989 officially an outer suburb of Dunedin, is on State Highway 1 8 km (5 mi) west of the Dunedin CBD, at 45°54′11″S 170°26′04″E / 45.90306°S 170.434384°E / -45.90306; 170.434384. It has a population (2001) of 2,430. Green Island's main economy is based on light and small scale heavy industry.

Schools

St Peter Chanel is a Catholic primary school located on Main South Rd. Other schools in the town are Abbotsford Primary and Green Island Primary.

Sporting

Green Island has a football (soccer) club Green Island FC based at Sunnyvale Park.[1] The park is also the home of the Green Island Cricket Club.[2] The Cricket Club has been highly successful in recent times winning multiple national club championships. The town is home to a successful boxing club as well. Green Island Rhythmic Gymnastics Club is also a nationally ranked local sporting club.

Abbotsford

Immediately to the north of Green Island, and only separated from it by the State Highway and South Island Main Trunk Railway, is Abbotsford. Abbotsford is an entirely residential suburb with virtually no retail or service sector of its own - for these it relies on Green Island which lies only some 300 metres to the south. Abbotsford has a population of 1,677.

The Abbotsford landslip

On the night of August 8, 1979, a major landslide occurred in Abbotsford, resulting in the destruction or relocation of some 69 houses, and requiring the evacuation of over 600 people. No-one was killed. This remains the largest landslip to have occurred in an urban area of New Zealand.

Sunnyvale

At the southern end of Abbotsford is the smaller suburb of Sunnyvale. This was until the early 2000s the site of the main road route south out of Dunedin, but it and Fairfield immediately to the south were bypassed by a motorway extension in 2002. The sports arena of Sunnyvale Park is located in the suburb.

Green Island Rugby Club

Established in 1884 and known as "The Grizzlies". The club's colours are green and gold. The clubs home ground is Miller Park. In 2017 the club fielded 3 Senior teams, 1 Colts (U20) team and a thriving school age grade consisting of 22 teams (ages 5–13). Green Island won the Premier Championship in 1972,1973 and 1978. The clubs playing strength has dropped since the late 90s with the decline of employment opportunities in the town and a general drop in player numbers throughout the Dunedin region, although the club has a thriving social side and a loyal band of supporters and has seen a resurgence off the field in recent years.[3]

The club has had five All Blacks:

References

  1. ↑ "Green Island FC Web page". Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  2. ↑ "Green Island Cricket Club". Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  3. ↑ "Green Island Rugby Football Club". Retrieved 16 September 2014.

Coordinates: 45°57′S 170°23′E / 45.950°S 170.383°E / -45.950; 170.383

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