Te Rau Pūriri Regional Park is a

regional park A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government. Definition A regional park can be a special park distr ...

situated in the

Auckland Region Auckland () is one of the 16 regions of New Zealand, which takes its name from the eponymous urban areas of New Zealand, urban area. The region encompasses the Auckland, Auckland metropolitan area, smaller towns, rural areas, and the islands o ...

of New Zealand's

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

. It is owned and operated by

Auckland Council Auckland Council () is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority that also has the responsibilities, duties and powers of a regional council and so is a unitary authority, according to t ...

Geography

The regional park is located on the east coast of the Te Korowai-o-Te-Tonga Peninsula (also known as Kaipara South Head). The park includes areas of rolling farmland and sandy beaches at Waipiro Bay. Primarily run as a working farm, the area has patches of introduced trees such as ''

Eucalyptus botryoides ''Eucalyptus botryoides'', commonly known as the bangalay, bastard jarrah, woollybutt or southern mahogany, is a small to tall tree native to southeastern Australia. Reaching up to high, it has rough bark on its trunk and branches. It is found ...

'' and '' Populus deltoides'', with sections of regenerating kanuka and rewarewa forest to the north, and coastal

pūriri ''Vitex lucens'', commonly known as pūriri, is an evergreen tree endemic to New Zealand. History Pūriri was first collected (by Europeans) at Tolaga Bay by Banks and Solander during Cook's first visit in 1769. The plant was described by S ...

forest to the east. To the south of the regional park is the Wairotoroto wetland.

History

The land the modern park is located on was purchased by Auckland politician

Daniel Pollen Daniel Pollen (2 June 181318 May 1896) was an Irish-New Zealand politician who became the ninth premier of New Zealand, serving from 6 July 1875 to 15 February 1876. Early life The son of Hugh Pollen, a dock master, Pollen was born in Ringsen ...

in 1870, alongside a local farmer, William Young. In 1882, the pair sold the land to

Alfred Buckland Alfred Buckland (17 December 1825 – 12 June 1903) was a New Zealand landowner, auctioneer, farmer, pastoralist and businessman. His house, Highwic, is registered by Heritage New Zealand as a Category I structure, with registration number 18 ...

, who developed it as a part of his cattle run found on most of the peninsula. The cattle run was subdivided into individual farms in the 1920s, and the future park land was primarily used for running deer. The land was purchased by the

Auckland Regional Council The Auckland Regional Council (ARC) was the regional council (one of the former local government authorities) of the Auckland Region. Its predecessor the Auckland Regional Authority (ARA) was formed in 1963 and became the ARC in 1989. The ARC ...

and

Rodney District Rodney District was a local government area in the northernmost part of New Zealand's Auckland Region from 1989 to 2010. It included Kawau Island. It was created from the amalgamation of Helensville Borough and Rodney County in 1989. The seat ...

councils in 2006, who developed the area as a regional park. Te Rau Pūriri is not a traditional name, instead was a name gifted by the elders of Haranui Marae, who named the park after the regenerating coastal

forest.

References

Rodney Local Board Area Regional parks of the Auckland Region Tourist attractions in the Auckland Region {{Auckland-geo-stub