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The old Manukau County
In 1876, with the demise of provincial government, county government was introduced. The old County of Eden was at this time contracted within the isthmus. Manukau County as defined in the Counties Act 1876 stretched from Otahuhu to the Waikato River. However, no effective county administration was set up within the latter area, and local affairs remained in the hands of the highway boards (from 1883 called road boards). Papakura, always the maverick, set itself up as a town district in 1882.
From 1899 onwards representatives of the highway districts throughout the county met in an annual Manukau County Conference where they discussed matters of mutual interest, such as the state of the roads, liquor licensing, the control of gorse and blackberry, gum digging revenues, bird pests, etc.
The new Manukau County
By now some of the southern settlements such as Otahuhu, Papakura and Pukekohe were quite substantial towns. The road boards system could not last. In 1911 Manukau County was divided into Manukau County in the north and Franklin County in the south. The newly elected Manukau County met for the first time, in Auckland, on 21 June 1912 (the county offices were to remain in Auckland for more than fifty years).
Map: Manukau County, Wellington, New Zealand Lands & Survey Department, 1918.
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Soon afterwards Otahuhu became a borough in its own right, and in 1913 Papakura made the transition to an independent town district (outside Manukau County).
The other highway boards were gradually absorbed into the county. However, the growing towns and villages within the region then sought their independence. Manurewa became a town district in 1916. Papatoetoe became a town district in 1919. Howick became a town district in 1922. Some years later these metamorphosed into boroughs: Manurewa in 1936, Papakura in 1938, Papatoetoe in 1946, and finally Howick in 1952.
Manukau County Council thus administered a largely rural area adjoining a number of growing towns. In 1950 it proposed a new form of local government, the urban county, which would unite all of South Auckland’s local bodies. The proposal was unsuccessful. Manukau County Council used existing legislation to establish county townships instead: Mangere Bridge, Bucklands and Eastern Beaches, and Beachlands in 1954, Mangere East in 1955, Pakuranga in 1956, Maraetai in 1962, and Otara in 1964.
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