The Fairhall River runs past to the west.

[3][4] The river and locality were named in 1847 for a chainman in a survey team in the area.

[5] Fairhall covers 20.27 km2 (7.83 sq mi)[1] and is part of the Woodbourne statistical area.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 46.7% had no religion, 44.7% were Christian, 0.7% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.7% were Hindu and 2.0% had other religions.

[2] Fairhall School is a coeducational full primary (years 1-8) school with a roll of 190 students (as of November 2024).