| Mount Roskill / Mt Roskill | |
|---|---|
Mount Roskill from Big King. The Waitakere Ranges in the background. |
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Location of Mount Roskill in Auckland. |
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| Basic information | |
| Local authority | Auckland City |
| Facilities | |
| Surrounds | |
| North | Balmoral |
| Northeast | Mount Eden |
| East | Three Kings |
| Southeast | Hillsborough |
| South | Waikowhai |
| Southwest | Lynfield |
| West | New Windsor, New Zealand, Wesley |
| Northwest | Owairaka, Sandringham |
Mount Roskill is both a volcanic peak and the suburban area in the city of Auckland, New Zealand.
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The peak, which is to the southwest end of the suburb, is 110 metres in height, and is one of the many extinct cones which dot the isthmus of Auckland, all of which are part of the Auckland Volcanic Field. The scoria cone was built by fire-fountaining from two craters. The main southern crater was excavated in 1961-62 and filled with a reservoir. Lava flowed from the base of the cone to the north and northwest. It was the site of a pā, and was known as Puketapapa.
Since 2009, the extension of State Highway 20 passes close to the cone. The effects of the new motorway on the cone had been the subject of significant discussion, and a major mitigation package had been proposed to reduce the impact of the motorway (and the continuation of the Waikaraka Cycleway that runs parallel to it).[1]
The funding of this mitigation and the missing cycleway section was briefly in doubt in 2009, when a cost blowout to $2 million was criticised after Council had set aside $1.6 million. Cycling advocates from Cycle Action Auckland, the Mount Roskill Community Board Chairman Richard Barter and Councillor John Lister however noted various elements unrelated to the cycleway that had driven up the cost, such as a toilet block, bluestone walls, extensive landscaping and artwork, much of it related to Winstone Park itself, or the effects of the motorway. The cycle path section itself was priced at only $300,000.[2] The path section was finished after six months of construction work and it (and the park facilities) opened to the public opened on 25 July 2010.[3]
The suburb, named after the Mount, is located seven kilometres to the south of the city centre, and is surrounded by the neighbouring suburbs of Three Kings, Sandringham, Wesley, Hillsborough and Mount Albert. The Mount Roskill shops are located at the intersection of Mount Albert and Dominion Roads.
One of the city's larger suburbs, it was largely farmland until after the Second World War. It was a separate borough from 1947 until local government reorganisation in 1989 amalgamated it with Auckland City.
In the past, Mount Roskill was referred to as the Bible Belt of Auckland, as it contains the highest number of churches per capita in New Zealand.
Mount Roskill is an ethnically diverse community with at least 54 different nationalities represented there, making it one of the most diverse suburbs in New Zealand. A mix of Indians, Pacific Islanders, Europeans, and various East and South Asian groups make this middle class community interesting.
The local secondary school is Mount Roskill Grammar. Catholic students attend Marist College or St Peter's College.
Mount Roskill has been home to many successful New Zealanders who attended the local schools. Among them are:
In 2007, the Mount Roskill Community Board commissioned a 176 page book titled Just Passing Through: A History of Mt Roskill (Jade Reidy) which covered the growth of the district from 1840 up until the present time. It identified the significant input of Mount Roskill residents internationally, such as athletics coach Arthur Lydiard in the chapter "How Sport Put Mt Roskill on the World Map."