Botany is a suburb of the East Auckland in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It developed in the early 2000s, and is centred around the

Botany Town Centre Botany Town Centre is a large shopping mall and lifestyle centre located in Auckland, New Zealand. It has more than 200 stores spread across three complexes, including restaurants and entertainment buildings such as cinemas. It is situated at th ...

commercial area. Since , a general electorate, , has reflected the name of the suburb.

Etymology

The suburb is named after Botany Road, which is in turn was named after

Botany Bay Botany Bay (Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...

in Australia, which has been visited by

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

. Botany became used as a name for the area in 1999, and was popularised after the opening of the

History

Botany Road likely began life as a

moa Moa are extinct giant flightless birds native to New Zealand. The term has also come to be used for chicken in many Polynesian cultures and is found in the names of many chicken recipes, such as Kale moa and Moa Samoa. Moa or MOA may also refe ...

track, and later developed into inland ''ara'' (walkways) by

Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki is a Māori tribe that is based in the area around Clevedon, part of the Auckland region (''Tāmaki'' in the Māori language). It is one of the twelve members of the Hauraki Collective of tribes. The founding ancestors o ...

. During the latter 19th and 20th Centuries, the area was predominantly farmland. In 1946, the area west of Botany was considered a potential location for the new international airport, which was eventually constructed in

Māngere Māngere () or Mangere is one of the largest suburbs in Auckland, in northern New Zealand. It is located on mainly flat land on the northeastern shore of the Manukau Harbour, to the northwest of Manukau City Centre and 15 kilometres south of ...

. The

shopping precinct opened in 2001. This led to the area being established as a suburb, although its borders are ill-defined. In 2004, the

Manukau City Manukau City was a territorial authority district in Auckland, New Zealand, that was governed by the Manukau City Council. The area is sometimes referred to as "South Auckland", although this term never possessed official recognition and does ...

Council established the Botany Ward, and in 2007 the newly established Botany electorate was named after the suburb. In 2001, AMP began constructing the Hub, a shopping precinct adjacent to the Botany Town Centre. Commercial stores outside of the Botany Town Centre precinct include

Pak'nSave PAK'nSAVE (stylised PAK'nSAVE, originally PAK 'N SAVE) is a New Zealand discount food warehouse chain owned by the Foodstuffs cooperative. It is one of the three main supermarket chains, alongside Countdown and New World. There are 56 stor ...

The Warehouse The Warehouse Group (TWG) was founded by Stephen Tindall in 1982, and is the largest retail group operating in New Zealand. It is a corporate group that consists of The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery, Torpedo7, Noel Leeming, 1-day and TheMark ...

, Torpedo7,

Noel leeming The Warehouse Group (TWG) was founded by Stephen Tindall in 1982, and is the largest retail group operating in New Zealand. It is a corporate group that consists of The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery, Torpedo7, Noel Leeming, 1-day and TheMark ...

Briscoes Briscoe Group is a New Zealand retail chain. It has 84 stores throughout New Zealand trading under the Briscoes Homeware, Living & Giving, and Rebel Sport nameplates. History The Briscoe Group originally started out as the early version o ...

and

Rebel Sport Rebel (formerly Rebel Sport) is an Australian sport equipment and related apparel chain. History Rebel Sport was established in 1985 with its first store in Bankstown. After being listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in 1993, it was p ...

. In 2018,

Auckland Transport Auckland Transport (AT) is the council-controlled organisation (CCO) of Auckland Council responsible for transport projects and services. It was established by section 38 of the Local Government (Auckland Council) Act 2009, and operates under ...

began planning rapid public transport between Botany and

Auckland Airport Auckland Airport is the largest and busiest airport in New Zealand, with over 21 million passengers in the year ended March 2019. The airport is located near Māngere, a residential suburb, and Airport Oaks, a service hub suburb south of the ...

. It is part of a wider programme to improve the transport system in

South Auckland South Auckland is an imprecisely defined urban area of Auckland, New Zealand, with a young population, a relatively large Polynesian and Māori demographic, and lower incomes than other parts of Auckland. The name ''South Auckland'', though not ...

. A busway connecting Botany to Auckland's central suburbs is due to be completed in 2025.

Amenities

*Botany Library, which opened in 2004 *Gillard Reserve *Guys Reserve *Logan Carr Park *Paradice Ice Skating Botany *St Columba Presbyterian Church *Whaka Maumahara Reserve

Education

Botany Downs Secondary College Botany Downs Secondary College is a state coeducational secondary school located in the Auckland, New Zealand suburb of East Tamaki. The school opened at the beginning of the 2004 school year to serve new residential development in the easter ...

is a secondary school (years 9–13) with a roll of . The school opened in 2004.

Elim Christian College Elim Christian College is a state-integrated coeducational secondary school located in Silverdale, Auckland, New Zealand. Established in 1988, the school currently caters for approximately 1000 students from new entrants to Year 13, includin ...

is a state-integrated Christian composite school (years 1–13) with a roll of . Botany Downs School is a contributing primary school (years 1–6) with a roll of . All schools are coeducational. Rolls are as of

References

{{Subject bar, auto=y, d=y Suburbs of Auckland Howick Local Board Area Populated places established in 1999 East Auckland