The Waitemata County was one of the

counties of New Zealand A system of counties of New Zealand was instituted after the country dissolved its provinces in 1876, and these counties were similar to other countries' systems, lasting with little change (except mergers and other localised boundary adjustmen ...

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 ...

. Established in 1876, the county covered West

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 ...

, Rodney and the North Shore. The county shrunk in size between 1886 and 1954 when various urban areas on the North Shore and in West Auckland became boroughs and established their own local councils. The Waitemata County was replaced by the

Waitemata City Waitemata City was a New Zealand city in the greater Auckland area. It was formed in 1974 from the western part of the old Waitemata County, with both the County and City taking their names from Waitemata Harbour. In 1989, when New Zealand local ...

in 1974.

History

The county was established in 1876, after the abolition of the

Auckland Province The Auckland Province was a province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. Area The province covered roughly half of the North Island of New Zealand. It was the largest of the six initial provinces, both ...

, and was one of the largest counties created in New Zealand. The county replaced the only previous local government system, which was a series of local road boards, which were established from 1862 onwards. The county was split into six ridings: Ararimu, Manukau, Takapuna, Titirangi, Waitakerei and Weiti. In 1881, the Town District Act allowed communities of more than 50 households to amalgamate into a town district. Large town districts were able to form boroughs, which had their own councils and a greater lending power. Between 1886 and 1954, nine boroughs split from the county as the North Shore and West Auckland began to develop: Devonport in 1886,

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

in 1888, Northcote in 1908,

Takapuna Takapuna is a suburb located on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. The suburb is situated at the beginning of a south-east-facing peninsula forming the northern side of the Waitematā Harbour. While very small in terms of population, it ...

, 1913,

New Lynn New Lynn is a residential suburb in West Auckland, New Zealand, located 10 kilometres to the southwest of the Auckland city centre. The suburb is located along the Whau River, one of the narrowest points of the North Island, and was the locat ...

in 1929,

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada * H ...

in 1946,

Helensville Helensville is a town in the North Island of New Zealand. It is sited northwest of Auckland, close to the southern extremity of the Kaipara Harbour. New Zealand State Highway 16, State Highway 16 passes through the town, connecting it to Waimauk ...

in 1947, Glen Eden in 1953 and

East Coast Bays East Coast Bays is a string of small suburbs that form the northernmost part of the North Shore, part of the contiguous Auckland metropolitan area in New Zealand. The suburbs line the north-east coast of the city along the shore of the Haurak ...

in 1954. The remaining county area retained a primarily rural atmosphere until the 1950s. In 1953, Herald Island (then known as Pine Island) joined the Waitemata County, previously having no local government. For most of its existence, the Waitemata County was known for being undeveloped and inaccessible. In the early 1960s, the Auckland Regional Planning Authority began looking for ways to better develop the county. A 1962 commission recommended replacing the county with a ward-based city in West Auckland, however after six years of appeals, this idea was scrapped. On 1 August 1974,

formed from the

Titirangi Titirangi is a suburb of West Auckland in the Waitākere Ranges local board area of the city of Auckland in northern New Zealand. It is an affluent, residential suburb located 13 kilometres (8 miles) to the southwest of the Auckland city centre ...

Te Atatū Te Atatū (from the Māori : "the dawn") is the name of two adjacent suburbs in West Auckland, New Zealand: ''Te Atatū Peninsula'' and ''Te Atatū South''. They are located next to each other some 10 kilometres to the west of the Auckland city ...

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

and Waitākere ridings. The boroughs of New Lynn, Henderson and Glen Eden each decided not to join the new city. The remaining ridings were split between different authorities: Kumeu Riding became a part of Rodney County, while Glenfield and Albany joined the

North Shore City North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' i ...

References

Bibliography

* *{{cite book , last1=Reidy , first1=Jade , chapter=How the West Was Run , pages=237–256 , editor-last1=Macdonald , editor-first1=Finlay , editor-link1=Finlay Macdonald (editor) , editor-last2=Kerr , editor-first2=Ruth , title=West: The History of Waitakere , publisher=Random House , date=2009 , isbn=9781869790080 Counties of New Zealand Politics of the Auckland Region 1876 establishments in New Zealand 1974 disestablishments in New Zealand Former subdivisions of the Auckland Region

History

See also

References

Bibliography