Hobsonville Point is a large master-planned development in West Auckland with a vision:
To build a strong, vibrant community that sets new benchmarks for quality and accessible urban development with an environmentally responsible focus.
As it grows, developer Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities (formerly HLC Homes Land Community) is asking ‘How well is the development delivering on this vision?‘ Kāinga Ora is using the Neighbourhood Sustainability Resident Survey to assess their progress. And they haven’t just used it once: Beacon has undertaken this survey in 2013, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022. Rather than looking at a point in time, Kāinga Ora is getting the benefit of looking at progress longitudinally.
2022 results
Our latest survey in 2022 found that, overall, Hobsonville Point continues to achieve highly in relation to its vision.
It rates highly in terms of neighbourhood satisfaction, with 95% of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing that Hobsonville Point is a great place to live, similar to 2020 results (96%) and an increase from 91% in 2016.
Sense of community also rates highly – 69% of respondents strongly agreed or agreed that their community has a strong sense of community. This is a slight decrease from the 75% in the 2020 survey and 71% in the 2018 survey of Hobsonville Point. However this remains significantly higher than for Auckland (50%, 2018 Quality of Life survey).
“That people seem to enjoy living here, sense of community”
“That children are safe to get to and from school and visit their friends, and that as a woman I feel safe to walk everywhere“
Perceptions of safety in Hobsonville Point are much higher than for Auckland (Quality of Life Survey 2018), with most people feeling fairly or very safe in their home during the day (99%), in their home after dark (97%) and when out walking were also high (98%). Safety, security and crime were frequently mentioned as what people most liked or most disliked about living at Hobsonville Point. While some residents reported unease about crime, particularly around vehicle break-ins, perceptions of safety in Hobsonville Point are much higher than for Auckland generally. 73% of residents felt safe walking alone at night compared to 62% of Aucklanders in the Quality of Life Survey 2018.
As with previous years, transport continued to feature highly in the list of things that people most disliked about living at Hobsonville Point, mostly about carparking. Hobsonville Point residents remain dependent upon car-based transport, with over half of respondents (53%) travelling to work or study by car, although this varied depending upon the location of the trip.
Nearly three-quarters of respondents who studied (71%), did so within Hobsonville Point, with most who studied within Hobsonville Point either walking (61%), or cycling/scootering (15%) to their place of study. Those who studied outside of Hobsonville Point travelled predominantly by car (60%), with 15% travelling to study by bus and 8% by ferry.
Most respondents who worked within Hobsonville Point worked from home (74%), while those working outside Hobsonville Point, mostly travelled to work by car (75%), with 15% travelling by ferry and 3% by bus.
“Walking in a safe environment……Access to public transport is convenient”
“The access to the coastline and the amount of natural amenity (parks and green spaces, safe places to walk and run)”
The survey also focused on the local amenities, exploring which amenities were used and how near they needed to be for people to use alternative means of travel to reach them. Parks and reserves (Bomb Point Reserve, Coastal walkway, other parks and reserves) were the facilities that were most visited on a daily basis. They were also the facilities that were most highly valued by households.
The results clearly identify areas of perceived strength as well as areas that could be improved. Hobsonville Point neighbourhoods are setting a high standard of sustainability in both the physical and social environments. Residents continue to rate the liveability of Hobsonville Point highly, and are enthusiastic and appreciative of their neighbourhood. This provides the basis to develop relevant and long-lasting local initiatives that can help to enhance, sustain and grow local connections and neighbourliness.
Download the Hobsonville surveys: