The southern supercity of '63

The proposed amalgamation of Howick, Manukau, Manurewa, Otahuhu, Papakura and Papatoetoe in 1963.

Bruce Ringer

In 1963 Manukau County applied for municipal status (to become a city). The mayors of the neighbouring boroughs of Howick, Otahuhu, Papatoetoe, Manurewa and Papakura had their own territorial ambitions and were mostly hostile to the idea.

However, on 30 May 1963, at a Local Government Commission hearing in Otara, a miracle occurred. Nobody knows exactly what went on at the meeting, but all five mayors and the county chairman emerged united in their intention to form a single southern city. This would stretch from the northern edge of Otahuhu to the southern outskirts of Papakura.

It took only a few days – and perhaps some ratepayers’ pressure - for the mayors to have second thoughts. By the time the Local Government Commission had drawn up a draft scheme in July, the boroughs were now united only in their opposition. Some mayors claimed the Commission chairman had tricked them into it.

The scheme was dead by November 1963. As we all know, Manurewa and Manukau amalgamated in 1965, and Howick and Papatoetoe came into the fold in 1989; but Otahuhu and Papakura remained outside it. The great southern city of 1963 was an idea whose day had not yet come.

For more information: see Manukau’s Journey.

Publication record: first published in Connexions, no. 88, October 2006, p. 4. Revised for publication on the Manukau Libraries website in September 2009.

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