East Coast Bays is an urban area along the east coast of the North Shore in New Zealand. First established as independent borough during the 1950s, East Coast Bays became contiguous with the Auckland urban area and was amalgamated into North Shore City and later into Auckland Council. East Coast Bays lines the north-east coast of the city along the shore of the Hauraki Gulf and Rangitoto Channel. They include, from north to south, Long Bay, Torbay, Waiake Bay, Browns Bay, Rothesay Bay, Murrays Bay, Mairangi Bay, Campbells Bay and Castor Bay. Most of the East Coast Bays are covered under the East Coast Bays subdivision of the Hibiscus and Bays local board area.

Definition and etymology

The East Coast Bays is a stretch of coastline in the North Shore of Auckland along the Hauraki Gulf, from Long Bay in the north to Castor Bay in the south. Milford and Takapuna to the south are occasionally included in the definition. The first uses of East Coast Bays from the 1870s referred to the eastern coast of the North Island. The first references to East Coast Bays as an area of the North Shore come from the latter 1920s.

Geography

thumb|left|Eroding [[Waitemata Group sandstone cliffs at Campbells Bay]]

The East Coast Bays area begins at the Ōkura River and Karepiro Bay in the north, starting from Long Bay Regional Park. In the south, the mouth of the Wairau Creek forms the border between Castor Bay and Milford.

The East Coast Bays are primarily formed from Waitemata Group sandstone, which accumulated on the sea floor during the early Miocene era, between 22 and 16 million years ago, and uplifted due to tectonic forces. The sedimentary layers of the Waitemata sandstone can be clearly seen in the cliff faces along the bays. Basement rocks in the area are greywacke and argillite, By the 19th century, the area was primarily scrubland, vegetated by plants such as mānuka, tutu and harakeke flax. An area of Torbay, the Awaruku Bush Reserve, is a remnant kahikatea forest, with the oldest trees in the reserve estimated to be over 650 years old.

History

Māori history

thumb|Until the 1850s, [[Long Bay, New Zealand|Long Bay (Te Oneroa ō Kahu) was one of the most densely settled areas of the North Shore by Tāmaki Māori]]

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. During his arrival in New Zealand, Hoturoa, captain of the Tainui, guided the waka to the Waiake Lagoon (Deep Creek), which was a safe anchorage for the canoe.

Many of the early Tāmaki Māori people of the North Shore identified as Ngā Oho. While the poor soils of the East Coast Bays area was a barrier to agriculture and settlement, Long Bay was one of the three most densely settled areas of the North Shore, Long Bay was a focal point for transport in the wider area, with many (overland paths) connecting Long Bay to Ōkura over the cliffs, and to Oteha and the Lukas Creek in Albany to the south-west. Outside of Long Bay, most areas of the East Coast Bays were utilised for seasonal resources.

After Maki's death, his sons settled different areas of his lands, creating new hapū. His sons Manuhiri and Maraeariki settled the North Shore and Hibiscus Coast. Maraeariki's daughter Kahu succeeded him, and she is both the namesake of the North Shore, ("The Greater Lands of Kahu"), and the beach and bay of Long Bay, ("The Long Beach of Kahu").

By the 18th century, the Marutūāhu iwi Ngāti Paoa had expanded their influence to include the islands of the Hauraki Gulf and the North Shore. After periods of conflict, peace had been reached by the 1790s. The earliest contact with Europeans began in the late 18th century, which caused many Tāmaki Māori to die of , respiratory diseases. 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. Most people had returned by the 1830s,

Early European settlement

thumb|Steamer ferry at Waiake Beach, ca 1910

The first Europeans to visit the area were timber merchants and kauri gum diggers in the 1830s, The Crown spent until 1873 rectifying this sale, by making further deals with stakeholders. and English settler Thomas Murray, who farmed Murrays and Mairangi bays.

The East Coast Bays became popular vacation destinations in the 1910s and 1920s. In 1973, community groups including the Taiorahi Wilderness Committee and Deep Creek Valley Bush Society were established, to oppose the development of suburban housing in native bush areas. In the early 1990s, Browns Bay Mall was opened. This was followed by Campbells Bay Primary School, which opened in August 1925. Population growth in the East Coast Bays area led to the construction of new schools, including Torbay Primary School, Murrays Bay Primary and Intermediate schools, and Rangitoto College. Rangitoto College grew to become the largest secondary school in New Zealand, with a roll of 3775 students as at 1 July 2024.

St John's School was the first Catholic school established in the East Coast Bays area, and was established in Mairangi Bay in 1961. The secular Mairangi Bay School followed soon after in 1967. Long Bay College is a secondary school that opened in 1975. Three further primary schools were established in the 1970s: Glamorgan School in Torbay in 1972, Sherwood School in Browns Bay (1976) and Long Bay Primary School (1979).

In 1973, Kristin School was established at the former Methodist Health Camp in Campbells Bay. As the school grew rapidly, a new campus was opened in Albany in 1978. The Corelli International Academic School of the Arts was a private composite (years 1–13) school which ran specialist programs in visual arts, music, drama and dance as well as the general curriculum. It opened in 2001,

Politics

From 1876 until 1954, the area was administered by the Waitemata County, a large rural county north and west of the city of Auckland. In 1954, most of the area split from the county, forming the East Coast Bays Borough, For the next twenty years, Long Bay remained a part of the Waitemata County. In 1974 the county was dissolved, and Long Bay became a rural area incorporated into Takapuna City.

In 1975, the population of the East Coast Bays had increased enough that it became the East Coast Bays City.

Within the Auckland Council, the majority of East Coast Bays is a part of the Hibiscus and Bays local government area governed by the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board. It is a part of the Albany ward, which elects two councillors to the Auckland Council. This area is defined as the East Coast Bays subdivision of the Hibiscus and Bays local board area by Auckland Council. The southernmost of the bays, Castor Bay, is a part of the Devonport-Takapuna local government area governed by the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board. It is a part of the North Shore ward, which elects two councillors to the Auckland Council.

East Coast Bays is also the name of an electorate from which an MP is elected to serve in the New Zealand Parliament, which first formed in 1972. Its current MP is Erica Stanford.

Mayors of East Coast Bays

Five people served as mayor of the East Coast Bays Borough Council, and two serves as mayor of East Coast Bays City Council.

Mayors of East Coast Bays Borough

  • 1954-1956: Reginald Henry Greville
  • 1956-1959: Claude Kendall
  • 1959-1962: Reginald Henry Greville
  • 1962-1968: Walter Stredwick
  • 1968-1974: Noel Liam Bradford
  • 1974-1975: Alan Morton McCulloch

Mayors of East Coast Bays City

  • 1975-1983: Alan Morton McCulloch
  • 1983-1989: Joseph John (Jack) Hinton

References

Bibliography

  • Hibiscus and Bays Local Board, Auckland Council
  • Photographs of East Coast Bays held in Auckland Libraries' heritage collections.