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Huapai

Coordinates: 36°46′17″S 174°32′19″E / 36.77139°S 174.53861°E / -36.77139; 174.53861
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Huapai
The main road in Huapai
The main road in Huapai
Map
Coordinates: 36°46′17″S 174°32′19″E / 36.77139°S 174.53861°E / -36.77139; 174.53861
CountryNew Zealand
RegionAuckland Region
WardRodney ward
Local boardRodney Local Board
SubdivisionKumeū subdivision
Electorates
Government
 • Territorial AuthorityAuckland Council

Huapai is a locality north-west of Auckland, New Zealand. State Highway 16 and the North Auckland Railway Line pass through it. Kumeū is adjacent to the east, Riverhead is to the north-east, and Waimauku to the west.[1][2]

The wider area has been settled by Tāmaki Māori since the 13th or 14th centuries, and the area is of significant importance to Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara and Te Kawerau ā Maki. The Kumeū River valley was an important transport node between the Kaipara and Waitematā harbours, due to a portage called Te Tōangaroa, where waka could be hauled overland.

Settlement at Huapai developed in the 1870s after the construction of the Kumeu–Riverhead Section, a railway on Te Tōangaroa that linked Kumeū to Riverhead. In 1914, Huapai was established as a rural housing estate, and promoted as a fruit growing area. By the 1940s, Croatian New Zealanders developed a winemaking industry at Kumeū and Huapai. Since the 1970s, Kumeū and Huapai have grown to become a single urban area, often referred to as Kumeū-Huapai.

Etymology

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The name Huapai was coined by property developers Lionel Hanlon and G.W. Green in the early 1910s, which they created from Māori language words to mean "Good Fruit".[3] Prior to this, the area has a variety of names during early European settlement, including Kumeu North, Kumeu Flat, and Pukekorari.[4] Hanlon and Green applied the name to an area of 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) north of Kumeū, which their company Northern Fruitlands Ltd. developed into apple and pear orchards.[5] The traditional Māori name for Huapai is Tūrakiawatea, a name associated with Te Kawerau ā Maki ancestor Ruarangi, who likely travelled through the area in the 16th century.[6][7]

Geography

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The town is located along the banks of the Kumeū River, a tributary of the Kaipara River

Huapai is a town north-west of Auckland, located along the Kumeū River, a major tributary of the Kaipara River.[3][8] It is located to the west of Kumeū, and the two towns share a conurban metropolitan area, and is close to the towns of Riverhead (to the north-east) and Waimauku, to the west. Urban West Auckland suburbs are located 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) to the south-east of Kumeū, including Westgate and the NorthWest Shopping Centre.

The Kumeū River area has traditionally been a wetland and flood plain, prior to European settlement.[8] The Kumeū valley regularly flooded during the 1920s and 1930s, and a major flood occurred in 1954.[9]

History

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Main article: Kumeū § History

The Auckland Region has been settled by Māori since around the 13th or 14th centuries.[10] The Kumeū River valley was sparsely populated, but was an important transportation node due to Te Tōangaroa, a portage where waka could be hauled between the Kaipara Harbour and the Waitematā Harbour, via the Kaipara and Kumeū rivers.[11][12] By the early 18th century, Ngāti Whātua tribes had settled the southern Kaipara Harbour and Kumeū River valley areas.[13][14] During the Musket Wars of the 1820s, Ngāti Whātua and Te Kawerau ā Maki vacated the area, returning in the late 1820s and 1830s.[13][12] The Ngāti Whātua village was not resettled after the war.[7] During modern times, the area is considered parts of the rohe of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara and Te Kawerau ā Maki.[7]

The first land blocks of the Kumeū River valley were purchased by the Crown from Ngāti Whātua in 1853.[15] Ngāti Whātua sold land in the hope that this would lead to Europeans settlements developing and stimulate the economy of the area.[16] The Kumeū River valley was difficult to navigate,[17] until the railway between Kumeū and Riverhead was established in 1875.[18] Kumeū land owner Thomas Deacon gifted land for the railway, which led to the construction of two railway stations: Kumeū in the south, and one near his hotel at modern Huapai, which was established in 1877.[19]

The railway brought more settlers to the Kumeū-Huapai area.[19] Initially the Kumeu Flat area was developed by Deacon into a village, with Kumeū remaining a rural for longer.[19] The villages of Kumeū and Taupaki slowly grew during this period, and the first Kumeu Hall was constructed by 1876. The hall became a hub for the community, used as a school, church and for social events.[20] In 1881, a continuous railway between Helensville and Auckland opened,[21] causing significant growth in the Kumeū area.[7] Sheep and dairy farmers were increasingly drawn to the Kumeū area from the 1880s, as land was gradually cleared of forest, kauri gum and flax.[22]

Establishment of Huapai

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Cadastral map advertising the Huapai Estate as "Auckland's Suburban Fruit Colony", circa 1920

In the early 1910s, Lionel Hanlon and G.W. Green established a company called Northern Fruitlands Ltd., which subdivided 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) of land northwest of Kumeū into 10 acres (4.0 ha) plots, which they called the Huapai Estate.[3][23] During this time, the Pukekorari train station was renamed to be the Huapai train station.[5] The first sections were sold in 1914,[24] and new institutions came to the area, with Huapai School established in 1919,[25] and St Chad's Anglican Church in 1925.[26] Gradually Yugoslav, Croatian and later Dutch communities joined the primarily British and Australia/New Zealand people of the Kumeū River valley settlements.[27].[28][29]

By 1936, 303 people lived at Huapai, while 198 were living in Kumeū, and 113 in the surrounding rural area of Kumeū.[30] Winemaking was established at an industry at Kumeū and Huapai in the early 1940s, led by Croatian families such as Nick and Zuva Nobilo, and Mick and Katé Brajkovich.[31] Most notably for Huapai, the Nobilo family operated the Gilbey-Nobilo vineyard from Huapai, producing wine from Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinotage grapes.[32]

By the 1970s, the fruit growing industry in Huapai became less profitable, after areas such as the Hawkes Bay became more efficient growers.[33] During the same decade, industrial firms began opening operations in Huapai and Kumeū, during which the villages of Huapai and Kumeū began merging into a single urban area.[34]

Local government

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From 1876 until 1974, the Huapai area was administered by the Waitemata County, a large rural county north and west of the city of Auckland.[35] After this, Huapai became a part of Rodney County.[36] In 1989, the county was abolished, and in its place the Rodney District was formed. Rodney District Council was amalgamated into Auckland Council in November 2010.[37]

Within the Auckland Council, Huapai is a part of the Rodney local government area governed by the Rodney Local Board. It is a part of the Rodney ward, which elects one councillor to the Auckland Council.

Huapai School

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Huapai District School is a coeducational full primary school (years 1–8), with a decile rating of 9 and a roll of 436 in 2013.[38] Huapai School currently hosts 22 classrooms and has a roll of 523 students as of August 2024.[39] The school has one large and one medium-sized field, with association football and rugby goals respectively, and two playgrounds, with another soon-to-be built adventure playground worth over NZ$50,000. There is a sealed bike track covering the whole school, as well as a BMX track for students. The school also has a tennis / hockey court, swimming pool, flag court, dedicated music suite, professional audio system, and a soon-to-be built completely new administration block including a large library.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ Peter Dowling, ed. (2004). Reed New Zealand Atlas. Reed Books. map 11. ISBN 0-7900-0952-8.
  2. ^ Roger Smith, GeographX (2005). The Geographic Atlas of New Zealand. Robbie Burton. maps 34–35. ISBN 1-877333-20-4.
  3. ^ a b c "Place name detail: Huapai". New Zealand Gazetteer. New Zealand Geographic Board. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  4. ^ Dunsford 2002, pp. 33, 58–59, 94.
  5. ^ a b Dunsford 2002, pp. 58–59.
  6. ^ The Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan (notified 30 September 2013) Appendix 4.3 Treaty Settlement legislation (PDF) (Report). Auckland Council. 30 September 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d Rodney Local Board (September 2017). "Te Mahere Mō te Pokapū o Kumeū ki Huapai: Kumeū-Huapai Centre Plan" (PDF). Auckland Council. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  8. ^ a b "TP146 Kaipara River Catchment Water Allocation Strategy 2001 Part B" (PDF). Auckland City Council. 2001. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  9. ^ Dunsford 2002, pp. 234–235.
  10. ^ Pishief, Elizabeth; Shirley, Brendan (August 2015). "Waikōwhai Coast Heritage Study" (PDF). Auckland Council. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  11. ^ Diamond & Hayward 1990, pp. 38–39.
  12. ^ a b "Te Kawerau ā Maki Deed of Settlement Schedule" (PDF). New Zealand Government. 22 February 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  13. ^ a b Kawharu, Margaret (2007). "Pre-European History - Ngati Whatua". Helensville Museum. Archived from the original on 6 February 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  14. ^ Taua 2009, pp. 34–35.
  15. ^ Dunsford 2002, pp. 24–25.
  16. ^ Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara; The Crown (9 September 2011). Deed of Settlement of Historical Claims (PDF) (Report). New Zealand Government. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  17. ^ Dunsford 2002, pp. 26.
  18. ^ Dunsford 2002, pp. 31–32.
  19. ^ a b c Dunsford 2002, pp. 33.
  20. ^ Dunsford 2002, pp. 38–39, 79.
  21. ^ Dunsford 2002, pp. 37.
  22. ^ Dunsford 2002, pp. 50–51.
  23. ^ Dunsford 2002, pp. 58–60.
  24. ^ Dunsford 2002, pp. 61.
  25. ^ Dunsford 2002, pp. 84.
  26. ^ Dunsford 2002, pp. 91.
  27. ^ Dunsford 2002, pp. 53, 195–7.
  28. ^ "Farming, fishing, winemaking". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  29. ^ "Dalmatian, Yugoslav, Croatian?". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  30. ^ Dunsford 2002, pp. 148.
  31. ^ Dunsford 2002, pp. 161, 198–199.
  32. ^ Dunsford 2002, pp. 246–247.
  33. ^ Dunsford 2002, pp. 251–252.
  34. ^ Dunsford 2002, pp. 255–256.
  35. ^ Reidy, Jade (2009). "How the West Was Run". In Macdonald, Finlay; Kerr, Ruth (eds.). West: The History of Waitakere. Random House. pp. 238–239. ISBN 9781869790080.
  36. ^ Rounthwaite, Valerie (1989), The Story of Rural Glenfield, Takapuna: Takapuna City Council, pp. 84–85, OCLC 37482407, Wikidata Q123499466
  37. ^ Blakeley, Roger (2015). "The planning framework for Auckland 'super city': an insider's view". Policy Quarterly. 11 (4). doi:10.26686/pq.v11i4.4572. ISSN 2324-1101.
  38. ^ [1][dead link‍]
  39. ^ "New Zealand Schools Directory". New Zealand Ministry of Education. Retrieved 17 September 2024.

Bibliography

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  • Diamond, John T.; Hayward, Bruce W. (1990). "Prehistoric Sites in West Auckland". In Northcote-Bade, James (ed.). West Auckland Remembers, Volume 1. West Auckland Historical Society. pp. 33–41. ISBN 0-473-00983-8.
  • Dunsford, Deborah (2002). Doing It Themselves: the Story of Kumeu, Huapai and Taupaki. Huapai-Kumeu Lions Club. ISBN 0-473-08969-6.
  • Taua, Te Warena (2009). "He Kohikohinga Kōrero mō Hikurangi". In Macdonald, Finlay; Kerr, Ruth (eds.). West: The History of Waitakere. Random House. pp. 23–48. ISBN 9781869790080.
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