East Tamaki


East Tamaki is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is a largely industrial area adjacent to a rapidly growing population. Prior to the 1960s it was largely a dairy farming area. A landmark is Smales Mountain which in 2010 has the remains of an old Pa, a stone field garden, an early church, and farm homestead. A newer landmark is the Fo Guang Shan Temple which was the largest Buddhist temple in New Zealand when it opened in 2007.

History

Te Puke o Tara ; known also for a time as Smales Mount. Te Puke o Tara was the home of paramount chief Tara Te Irirangi of Ngai Tai Iwi. One of East Tāmaki's prominent volcanic cones, and prior to European settlement in the area was the site of a scoria cone Pā. Like most of Auckland, the East Tamaki landscape is volcanic in origin and forms a part of what is known as the East Tamaki volcanic field, with Te Puke o Tara and Mātanginui having been the dominant cones of Ōtara. A third cone called Highbrook by pakeha settlers and in Maori Te Puke Ariki nui or Te Maunga/mountain of the Great/paramount chief.Mātangi nui was also a Pā site, not too far from Puke I Āki Rangi which connected the Mangemangeroa valley, and the areas surrounding all three cones were thought to represent the densest area of pre-European settlement in East Tamaki, favoured rich volcanic gardening soils and fresh water springs.

Governance

The area is under local governance of the Auckland Council, and is located to the south-east of the Auckland city centre.

Economy

East Tamaki is the largest industrial precinct in Auckland, a manufacturing and distribution hub of 2,000 businesses contributing $3 billion for the New Zealand economy each year, $19 million in rates annually, and 30,000 jobs with projected jobs of 45,000 on completion of Highbrook Business Park. It is consistently one of Auckland’s highest performing industrial property areas, and has a higher growth rate than the regional average.