Pukekohe

Pukekohe
Secondary urban area
Pukekohe
Coordinates:
Country	New Zealand
Region	Auckland
Territorial authority	Auckland
Local board	Franklin
Area
• Urban	87.09 km2 (33.63 sq mi)
Population (June 2015 estimate)
• Urban	29,000
• Urban density	330/km2 (860/sq mi)
Postcode	2120
Area code(s)	09

Pukekohe East Church

Pukekohe is a town in the Auckland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the southern edge of the Auckland Region, it is approximately 50 kilometres south of Auckland City, between the southern shore of the Manukau Harbour and the mouth of the Waikato River. The hills of Pukekohe and nearby Bombay Hills form the natural southern limit of the Auckland region. Pukekohe is located within the political boundaries of the Auckland Council, following the abolition of the Franklin District Council on 1 November 2010.

With a population of 29,000 (June 2015 estimate), Pukekohe is the 18th largest urban area in New Zealand, and the second largest in the Auckland Region behind Auckland itself.

The Māori word puke-kohe means "hill of the kohekohe", New Zealand's native mahogany.

History

Pukekohe was part of the Auckland area attacked during the musket war period 1807-1843 by Northern tribes. From the 1820s as a result of these attacks the resident Maori population who survived mainly migrated south. When European settlers arrived the remnant Maori population initially provided them with food supplies. As the number of settlers grew, the Pukekohe area, which was largely bush covered, was opened up after 1843 and individual farmers purchased small blocks of land which they cleared by hand. By 1863 the land was still bush covered but with an increasing number of small isolated farms. When Kingitanga Maori refused to swear an oath of allegiance to the crown many Maori moved out of the area but some remained. A Maori from this area guided the first gunboats through the Waikato Heads and through the shoals of the Waikato River delta to help put down the rebel Kingitanga uprising.

A major battle of the 1863 Land Wars was fought at Pukekohe East between 11 armed settlers, who were converting the Pukekohe East church into a redoubt and approximately 200-300 Maori rebels,mainly from the Waikato area. Although surprised and severely outnumbered, the settlers held off the Kingitanga invaders until troops arrived. No settlers were killed or injured while 30 Maori were killed with an unknown number wounded. 6 bodies were found near the church and 24 were later found buried in the bush. The church still exists today and the bullet holes are still visible.

Although there were many other attacks on settlers in Auckland the Maori preferred isolated targets. As most women and children had been evacuated to Auckland city most of those murdered were men and teenage boys. Rebels were able to hide in the pockets of bush and live off the settlers goods and livestock. Nearly the entire Pukekohe area was abandoned to the rebels apart from Military outposts. Isolated attacks occurred as late as November 1863 after the Battle of Rangiriri.

Function

Pukekohe is a rural service town for the area formerly known as the Franklin District. It has a population of 29,000 (June 2015 estimate), mainly of European descent, with significant Māori and ethnic Indian and East Asian communities. There are also a notable number of people of South African and Dutch descent. The population growth from 2007 to 2008 was 2.2 percent.

The fertile volcanic soil and warm moist climate supports a large horticultural and dairy farming industry. The Pukekohe long keeper onion is well known internationally.

The small community of Buckland is on the south-east side of Pukekohe, between Pukekohe and Tuakau, and adjacent to the boundary with the Waikato region. Buckland has an historical hall and a primary school.

Education

Main article: List of schools in the Auckland Region § Franklin local board

There are many schools in the Pukekohe area, including Pukekohe High School, Pukekohe Intermediate School, Valley School, Hill School, Puni School, Pukekohe East School.

Pukekohe High School is known for its strong science department and regularly places highly in the Auckland City Secondary Schools Science Fair.

Sports

ECOLight Stadium is home of the Counties-Manukau Steelers Pukekohe Park Raceway is a motorsports and horse-racing facility. Opened in 1963, this circuit is famous for having hosted the New Zealand Grand Prix 29 times between 1963 and 2000, as well as the V8 International (a round of the V8 Supercars championship) between 2001 and 2007. The V8 Supercars event was moved to Hamilton for five years, but returned to Pukekohe in 2013.

Pukekohe is home to Pukekohe AFC who compete in the Auckland Football Federation/Northern Football Federation Conference League, and Pukekohe High School football teams.

Media

Franklin County News is the local newspaper distributed twice weekly to homes in Pukekohe and surrounding towns, including Waiuku and Tuakau.

In 2015 the online directory, events calendar and photo news Franklin Life was launched.

In 2014 the online community local news company We Love Pukekohe was launched.

In 2013 the film Mt. Zion was released in New Zealand, portraying Maori life in 1970's Pukekohe.

Transport

Pukekohe is on the North Island Main Trunk Railway and is the southernmost station of the Auckland rail network, at the end of the Southern Line. The southern portion of the line between Papakura and Pukekohe is not electrified, so diesel shuttles connect Pukekohe with electric trains at Papakura.

There is also a bus service to Papakura provided by Waka Pacific.

Famous people

• Peter (Possum) Bourne, Rallycar driver
• Simon Doull, cricket representative and radio personality
• Malietoa Tanumafili II, Samoan Head of State—educated at Wesley College
• Jonah Lomu, All Black, born in Pukekohe, educated at Wesley College
• Bill Birch, MP—was a long-time resident
• Leslie Comrie, astronomer and pioneer in mechanical computation
• Allan Wilson, molecular biologist—grew up in the area
• Andy Dalton, resident and All Blacks captain
• Rex Mason, mayor and MP
• Madonna Harris, resident and sportswoman

External links

• Pukekohe - the heart of Franklin
• Franklin district
• Pukekohe Park Raceway
• Photographs of Pukekohe held in Auckland Libraries' heritage collections.