Highbrook is a suburb located in the city of

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, in the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

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 ...

. The area is on the eastern side of the Auckland city centre and is a large industrial area developed only in recent years. The area is under governance of the

Auckland Council Auckland Council ( mi, Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki Makaurau) is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority that has the responsibilities, duties and powers of a regional council and so is ...

, and is home to a large bulk of New Zealand and international businesses and organisations.

History

The eastern shores of the

Tāmaki River The Tāmaki River or Tāmaki Estuary is mostly an estuarial arm and harbour of the Hauraki Gulf, within the city of Auckland in New Zealand.

is part of the rohe of Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, who descend from the crew of the '' Tainui'' migratory waka, who visited the area around the year 1300. The mouth of the Tāmaki River was traditionally known as ("The Waters of Tāiki"), named after the Ngāi Tai ancestor Tāiki. Tāiki settled with his followers along the eastern shores of the Tāmaki River, alongside the descendants of Huiārangi of the early

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

Te Tini ō Maruiwi. The upper reaches of the river near modern Pakuranga is traditionally known as , referring to Mokoikahikuwaru, a protector taniwha of the ''Tainui'' waka who is described in legends as taking up residence at the

Panmure Basin The Panmure Basin (traditionally known in Māori as Kaiahiku or Te Kopua Kai-a-Hiku), also sometimes known as the Panmure Lagoon, is a tidal estuary within a volcanic crater or maar in New Zealand's Auckland volcanic field. It is located to the ...

. Ngāi Tai created extensive cultivations along the eastern shores of the Tāmaki River. Ururoa is a traditional settlement in Highbrook, and was a location where fish were dried, even in the late 1820s. From the 1960s, Highbrook was the estate of Sir Woolf Fisher, founder of

Fisher & Paykel Fisher & Paykel Appliances Holdings Ltd () is a major appliance manufacturer which is a subsidiary of Chinese multinational home appliance manufacturer Haier. It is a multinational corporation based in East Tāmaki, New Zealand. Originally a ...

. The area was known as the Ra Ora Stud and was used as a breeding and training facility for racehorses."History"
''Highbrook Business Park, Highbrook Estate, Auckland, New Zealand''. Retrieved 12 July 2013. The Fisher family opted to use the land for commercial development and developed plans in 1998. In 2001, business zoning was allowed and commercial property was developed under the company name Highbrook Development Ltd. In 2007, the new Highbrook motorway interchange was completed, facilitating improved access to the area.

References

Suburbs of Auckland Howick Local Board Area East Auckland Populated places on the Tāmaki River {{Auckland-geo-stub