East Coast Bays is a string of small suburbs that form the northernmost part of the North Shore, part of the contiguous

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

metropolitan area in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. The suburbs line the north-east coast of the city along the shore of the

Hauraki Gulf The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2,Rangitoto Channel The Rangitoto Channel is one of several passes between the islands of the inner Hauraki Gulf, close to the mouth of the Waitematā Harbour to the east of Auckland in New Zealand. The channel is an important stretch of water as it is the only deep ...

. They stretch from Long Bay in the north to Castor Bay in the south. They include, from north to south, Long Bay,

Torbay Torbay is a borough and unitary authority in Devon, south west England. It is governed by Torbay Council and consists of of land, including the resort towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham, located on east-facing Tor Bay, part of Lyme ...

, Waiake Bay, Browns Bay, Rothesay Bay,

Murrays Bay Murrays Bay is a small suburb in the East Coast Bays region, located in the North Shore of Auckland. The suburb is roughly the same size as Rothesay Bay, the suburb to the immediate north. It is primarily a residential area but does have a co ...

Mairangi Bay Mairangi Bay is a coastal suburb of North Shore, Auckland, located in the northern North Island of New Zealand, on the south-east-facing peninsula forming the northern side of the Waitematā Harbour. Mairangi Bay came under the local governance ...

Campbells Bay Campbells Bay is a suburb of the North Shore located in Auckland, New Zealand. The suburb is currently under the local governance of the Auckland Council and is in the Albany ward, one of the thirteen administrative divisions of the city of ...

and Castor Bay.

History

The land within the modern-day district was originally part of the Mahurangi Block, which extended from

Te Arai Te Arai is a small community on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand, near the northern end of the Auckland Region (specifically within the former Rodney District). Mangawhai lies to the north, and Tomarata to the south. The name of ...

in the north, all the way to North Head to the south. The land in the district was claimed by several Maōri tribes, through a series of conquests and marriages. Most settlers in the European settlement of New Zealand established farms in the flat lands of the bays. With opening of the

Auckland Harbour Bridge The Auckland Harbour Bridge is an eight-lane motorway bridge over the Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand. It joins St Marys Bay on the Auckland city side with Northcote on the North Shore side. It is part of State Highway 1 and th ...

in 1954, the district experienced rapid growth of population, in 1954, the population was at around 7000, but by 1966, it had increased to 12,000 people, and by 1986, it had risen over 30,000 people living in the East Coast Bays.

Education

Notable high schools in the area include

Long Bay College Long Bay College is a state co-educational secondary school located in Torbay, a suburb of the North Shore in Auckland, New Zealand. The decile 10 school serves Years 9 to 13, and has students as of Christopher (CJ) Healey is the school's cur ...

and

Rangitoto College Rangitoto College is a state coeducational secondary school, located on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. Serving years 9 to 13, Rangitoto has a school roll of as of making it the largest "brick-and-mortar" school in New Zealand (on ...

, the largest high school in New Zealand with a school roll of students as of Year 9's to 13's ('Form 3 to Form 7') attend the schools.

Politics

From 1876 until 1954, the area was administered by the

Waitemata County The Waitemata County was one of the counties of New Zealand in the North Island. Established in 1876, the county covered West Auckland, Rodney and the North Shore. The county shrunk in size between 1886 and 1954 when various urban areas on the ...

, a large rural county north and west of the city of Auckland. In 1954, the area split from the county, forming the East Coast Bays Borough Council, which became East Coast Bays City in 1975. In 1989, the city was merged into the

North Shore City North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' i ...

. North Shore City was amalgamated into Auckland Council in November 2010. Within the Auckland Council, 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 Hannam Edward Albany Ward (6 November 1879 – 18 February 1966), known as Albany Ward, was a pioneer English theatre proprietor and cinema developer, who ran one of the largest cinema circuits in Britain in the early part of the twentieth century ...

, which elects two councillors to the 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 The Devonport-Takapuna Local Board covers from Castor Bay, and Sunnynook south to the end of the Devonport Peninsula; it is separated from the Kaipātiki board area by the Northern Motorway. This local board sits in the Auckland Council office ...

. 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.

References

External links

Hibiscus and Bays Local Board
Auckland Council
Photographs of East Coast Bays
held in Auckland Libraries' heritage collections. {{Auckland Former subdivisions of the Auckland Region