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-Waitakere City-
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What You Need To Know

Waitakere City is a former territorial authority district in the west of Auckland, New Zealand, which was governed by the Waitakere City Council from 1989 to 2010. It was New Zealand’s fifth largest city, with an annual growth of about 2{eb05b60453b0559bd1567d6e2a2c8329cffb9d7278e68a992de53fe07206f65d}. In 2010 the council was amalgamated with other regional authorities into one new Auckland Council. The name “Waitakere” comes from the Waitakere River in the Waitakere Ranges and was applied to Waitakere County, which covered much of the later city.

 

Population: Estimate 209,374
Area: 367 km2

Currency

New Zealand dollar

Administrative structure

The elected Council consisted of the mayor and 14 councillors representing the four wards. Each ward also had an elected community board that considered local issues.

 

Industry

Significant industries in the first 150 years of European settlement after about 1850 included brick and pottery manufacturing, timber milling, kauri gum digging, orchards, farming, viticulture, water supply, railways, and the twin Royal New Zealand Air Force bases of Whenuapai and Hobsonville. Waitakere City developed retail and service sectors and light manufacturing. The two commercial centres were Henderson and New Lynn. Notable niche industries included boat-building, winemaking, and film and television production. The largest (height) sound stage in New Zealand was built in Henderson.However, Waitakere City’s workforce was strongly oriented towards Auckland City, with about 40{eb05b60453b0559bd1567d6e2a2c8329cffb9d7278e68a992de53fe07206f65d} of all workers living in the city commuting into the Auckland City area for work from the late 2000s.

 

Language

The New Zealand English dialect is most similar to Australian English in pronunciation, with some key differences. The Māori language (te reo Māori), which is spoken natively by the indigenous Māori people, has been the country’s second official language since 1987.

 

Recreation

The walking tracks and sights of the Waitakere Ranges attract thousands from the Auckland region in suitable weather, as do the black-sand surf beaches of Piha, Karekare and Bethells. These beaches are notoriously dangerous for surfers and swimmers who must take great care to avoid their treacherous rips. The city has a football club playing in the New Zealand Football Championship, Waitakere United, as well several clubs competing in the regional Northern League competition. The Nelson Trusts Stadium holds many sports and entertainment events. There was extensive work by the council in the 2000s to pave and improve pathways around the streams in Henderson and there are now several miles of excellent walking / cycling tracks in the centre of Henderson and running north and south. Together with major restoration works along the streams it is known as the Project Twin Streams.

 

“Westies“

“Oblivion Express Mk 3” in Railside Avenue – a monument celebrating the Westie love of cars“Westie” is the nickname given to locals because of the city’s location relative to the rest of Auckland. The west area traditionally was mostly populated by blue-collar workers, although with rising housing costs in the rest of Auckland this has changed somewhat. Much as Manukau City and Papakura’s administrative geography roughly paralleled an unofficial area commonly known as South Auckland, so too Waitakere City had an unofficial equivalent in “West Auckland”. The official and unofficial areas did not exactly coincide, and – again like Manukau, Papakura and South Auckland – it was the areas with a similar socio-economic mix, roughly from Te Atatu to Glen Eden, Henderson to New Lynn, Massey and Avondale which were most commonly associated with the nickname.