Albany, New Zealand

History

Māori history

thumb|Monument to Te Ha Kaiaraara near Albany Hall.

Māori settlement of the Auckland Region began around the 13th or 14th centuries. The North Shore was settled by Tāmaki Māori, including people descended from the Tainui migratory canoe and ancestors of figures such as Taikehu and Peretū. Many of the early Tāmaki Māori people of the North Shore identified as Ngā Oho, and the Lucas Creek has significance to modern iwi including Ngāti Manuhiri, The poor clay soils of the area were not suitable for Māori traditional gardening techniques, but the creek was a good source for eels, crayfish and flounder.

An (traditional path) connected Lucas Creek and the Ōkura River to the north, which led to Long Bay and the upper Hauraki Gulf. This was used as a portage, where waka could be hauled overland between the two bodies of water, which follows the ridge line of Lonely Track Road. The upper Lucas Creek area was the location of several kāinga, After Maki's death, his sons settled different areas of his lands, creating new hapū. His younger son Maraeariki settled the North Shore and Hibiscus Coast, who based himself at the head of the Ōrewa River. Maraeariki's daughter Kahu succeeded him, and she is the namesake of the North Shore, ("The Greater Lands of Kahu"), Many of the iwi of the North Shore, including Ngāti Manuhiri, Ngāti Maraeariki, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Poataniwha, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki and Ngāti Whātua, can trace their lineage to Kahu.

By the first half of the 19th century, the mouth of the Lucas Creek to the southwest of Albany was one of the most densely settled areas of the North Shore by Tāmaki Māori peoples. During the early 1820s, most Māori of the North Shore fled for the Waikato or Northland due to the threat of war parties during the Musket Wars. When Tāmaki Māori returned in greater numbers to the Auckland Region in the mid-1830s, Te Kawerau ā Maki focused settlement at Te Henga / Bethells Beach.

Early European settlement: kauri logging and gum digging

thumb|left|Statue of Daniel Clucas at Kell Park in Albany

The Albany area was a part of the Mahurangi Block, which was purchased by the New Zealand Government in 1841. While kauri logging was one of the first industries in the area, the supply of kauri was exhausted by the early 1840s. By the late 1840s, kauri gum digging had become a more prominent industry for the Lucas Creek area. Itinerant gum diggers would scour the area for kauri resin to sell at stores, including one located at Schnapper Rock. In the 1990s, commune leaders including founder Bert Potter were charged on child sexual abuse and drug charges. Strawberry and dairy farms were redeveloped into lifestyle blocks and intensive housing, beginning in the late 1980s, and the Albany Shopping Centre was greatly expanded by 2007 to cover , including over 140 retailers including Farmers, Kmart, New World and JB Hi-Fi. Development in Albany slowed with the 2008 financial crisis.

In 2007, the Upper Harbour Motorway was opened, creating a motorway connection between West Auckland and the North Shore via Greenhithe. In 2008, the Northern Busway was opened along the Northern Motorway, which included the Albany busway station. On 1 August 1974, the Waitemata County was dissolved, and Albany became a rural area incorporated into Takapuna City. In 1989, Albany was merged into the North Shore City. North Shore City was amalgamated into Auckland Council in November 2010.

Within the Auckland Council, Albany is a part of the Upper Harbour local government area governed by the Upper Harbour Local Board. It is a part of the Albany ward, which elects two councillors to the Auckland Council.

Demographics

Albany covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km².