North Shore Heritage Thematic Review Report ... - Auckland Council

5.1 Local Government
Following the establishment of the signal station in 1841, Flagstaff was included in the Parish of Takapuna,
one of the six parishes for land registration in the First Territorial District, County of Eden, in 1842. 56 In
1848 the Hundred of Pupuke was created and wardens appointed to control the use of Crown „waste land‟
through the licensing of animal grazing rights. (The term „hundred‟ is an English unit of local government.
It was a subdivision of a shire and existed from medieval times until the 19 th century.) In 1853, as a result of
the Crown subdividing and selling off most of the Crown land in Devonport, the Hundred of Pupuke was
dissolved. For the next 15 years the administration was taken over by the Provincial Government.
The Flagstaff District Highway Board, formed in 1866, was the first true local government elected by
citizens. The board‟s initial tasks were to form roads and provide drainage. Efforts to designate some
remaining Crown Land for public reserves were at first turned down, but in 1873 the Minister of Crown
Lands gave Flagstaff Hill (Mt Victoria) to the citizens for recreational use. In 1876 the Board also took on
the duties of a Board of Health. The Flagstaff District Highway Board opened the first library in the
Auckland Provincial District in 1878, and achieved another milestone in 1882 with the installation of gas
street lighting.
The formation of Devonport Borough in 1886 was the result of an increase in population and reflected the
growing importance of Devonport as a military, naval and commercial centre on the North Shore. As early
as 1927 Devonport Borough Council resisted attempts at a forced amalgamation with the four other
boroughs on the North Shore. It also resisted joining schemes for sharing electricity and water supply.
Devonport residents believed that their interests in both social and commercial development were with
Auckland City and not with the more rural boroughs of Northcote, Birkenhead and Takapuna. It was as
much a suburb of Auckland City as Mt Eden or Remuera. Further amalgamation proposals were resisted in
1958 and again in 1967. 57
The opening of the Harbour Bridge in 1959 affected Devonport immensely. Development and population
moved north to the „bays‟, the suburb began to decline, and the Council considered various schemes in the
1960s to bring people and tourism to the Borough. Proposed projects aimed at increasing the population
included: a high-rise housing development on Devonport Domain (1962); a 12-storeyed block of flats with
100 units at Torpedo Bay (1964); houses in Alison Park and high-density housing on North Head.
Windsor Reserve, immediately adjacent the shopping area and convenient to both road and ferry
transport, was seen as particularly appropriate for commercial attractions. Some projects proposed for the
area were a miniature railway, a swimming pool, a marineland park and stage or soundshell.
At Narrow Neck it was suggested that the beach was most suitable for a motorcamp, a hotel and skating
rink (1963). The most bizarre proposal, however, was a restaurant on top of Mt Victoria reached by a
gondola cable-car from the wharf. 58
In 1968 Council approached Fletcher Holdings to undertake a feasibility study for a marina in Ngataringa
Bay. The resulting proposal was approved by the Auckland Harbour Board and supported by the Auckland
Regional Authority in 1969. The development was to reclaim 24 acres and provide berthing for yachts and
launches. The Ngataringa Bay Protection Society was formed and successfully fought the proposal. In 1971
fierce public opposition voted out the „old guard‟ on Council, and the decision was reversed by the
incoming Council. The subsequent compensation paid by Council to the developer raised Devonport‟s
rates for many years.
Opposition to local government reform and the amalgamation of North Shore‟s five Boroughs in 1988 was
also opposed strongly, and Independent Devonport waged a long campaign against the legislation, even
taking the matter to court. The cause was lost and North Shore City was formed in 1989. Devonport
56 „A Chronology of the Borough Council‟, The Hundred of Devonport p.139; Verran, p.119.
57 „A Chronology of the Borough Council‟, The Hundred of Devonport, pp.155-157.
58 Ibid.
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