Mount Roskill

Mount Roskill / Mt Roskill

Mount Roskill from Big King. The Waitakere Ranges in the background.

Location of Mount Roskill in Auckland.
Basic information
Local authority Auckland Council
Facilities
Surrounds
North Balmoral, Eden Valley
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.

Mountain

Mt Roskill was formed as a result of volcanic activity some 20,000 years ago.[1] The peak, which is in Winstone Park 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. 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 (the flat-topped mountain in Maori). The main southern crater was excavated in 1961-62 and filled with a water supply reservoir. The reservoir is no longer in active service, and is only maintained as an emergency supply.

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).[2]

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.[3] The path section was finished after six months of construction work and it (and the park facilities) opened to the public on 25 July 2010.[4]

Suburb

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.

Library

Mt Roskill Library was built and opened to public in August 1977. It was refurbished and the floor area extended in November 2011. Mt Roskill Library has English, Maori, Chinese, Tamil, Arabic and Somali collections.

Sport and recreation

Roskill District RFC, Bay Roskill Vikings, and Eden Roskill District Cricket Club are based in the suburb.

People

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."

References

Coordinates: 36°54′45″S 174°44′14″E / 36.912594°S 174.737259°E

  1. ↑ Mt Roskill Borough Council: Roskill: An Illstrated History of New Zealand's Largest Borough; 1984; ISNB 0908570848
  2. ↑ "Motorway fight hits a peak". The New Zealand Herald. 12 March 2003. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
  3. ↑ Horrell, Rhiannon (6 May 2009). "Cycleway costs soar". Central Leader. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  4. ↑ "Scenic cycleway opens". CityScene. Auckland City Council. 25 July 2010.