1959 - Norana Ave showing market gardens plus some horse stud areas
- The Favona area has a long history of habitation owing to its fertile soil, productive harbour and proximity to the Manukau-Tamaki isthmus.
- Māori of Ngāti Whātua were the inhabitants until European farmers arrived in the 19th century.
- Favona Farm - a stud farm for racing horses, owned by WG Mosman, first put up for sale in 1908 - 125 acres of 'first class volcanic land and buildings'. Then later the entire farm (over 300 acres) when Mr Mosman died.
- Market gardening brought more people into the area and the land remained used in this way until the 1960s when housing developments were created to service Auckland's growing population and industry in nearby.
- Some parts of Favona had large areas of greenhouses, such as for tomato production (some of which remain in Norana Ave).
- The area is one is of relative poverty and until 2005 had one of New Zealand's largest trailer parks. Next to Norana Park is the national distribution headquarters for Progressive Enterprises.
Time Line (Favona)
1800s
- Intensive European settlement of the Mangere area began in the mid-1800s:
- Early Europeans established a settlement at Onehunga in the 1840s, and by the 1850s the area around Mangere Inlet was Auckland’s agricultural centre.
- In the 1860s the Maori Land Wars lead to the establishment and growth of Otahuhu, where troops were stationed.
- In the 1870s numerous small industries were becoming established around the inlet including meat works, tanneries, and brickworks. The railway line was constructed along eastern foreshore by 1875.
- In the 1880s continuing industry growth was centred on Westfield shoreline where wastewater was directly discharged into the inlet.
1910 Land Sales
"...A pretty illustrated booklet has just been issued, giving some fifteen views and a full description of Favona Park, which is to be auctioned by Samuel Vaile and Sons, in conjunction with Alfred Buckland and Sons. Favona Park is situated midway between Otahuhu and Mangere, on the shores of the Manukau Harbour, and contains a little over 300 acres. It was recently sold by executors of the late Hon.Hugh Mosman to three Auckland gentlemen. The now owners at once set about roading the block, and they have been successful in arranging with the Mangere Road Board to bridge a tidal creek, and connect the estate with the Otahuhu railway station through the farm of Messrs. Buckland and Sons. Thus the main road of the block will run practically in a straight line right through to the station. This new road will shorten the distance from Mangere Mountain and surrounding country to Otahuhu by about two miles, and will bring the estate within a mile of Otahuhu railway station.Favona has been subdivided into fifty lots, ranging from three acres upwards, and more than half of them have salt-water frontages. Owing to the close proximity of Favona to the city, its rich soil and its picturesqueness, there should be keen competition for the various lots, particularly those on the water front. "Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 289, 6 December 1910, Page 6
"One of the finest suburban blocks ever put on the Auckland market will be submitted to public competition ... This is the Favona Park Estate, some 300 acres, once the property of the late Hon. Hugh Mossman...This property has been cut up into fifty lots ranging from four to fourteen acres.
Favona is as level as a table. The soil is rich volcanic, and more than half the sections have salt water frontages. "Observer, Volume XXXI, Issue 12, 3 December 1910, Page 8
16 Dec 1910 -'Favona the beautiful'
"'Favona' the Beautiful. The most magnificent suburban subdivision ever placed upon the Auckland market comprising: 50 farmlets from 4 to 20 acres ... fertile land, sea frontages, superb views ... Enthroned on a commanding position on the southern shores of the Manukau harbour ... 'Favona' will appeal strongly to the business man who wants an ideal home in a pure atmosphere, peaceful surroundings, and general healthfulness ... an ideal site for a week-end camp ... As soon as the bridge which the Mangere Road Board is about to construct, is completed, there will be a straight level road right through 'Favona' to Otahuhu Station ...", Favona Park [brochure], Auckland, Samuel Vaile & Sons, [1910], (12p.); 'Auctions', Auckland Star, 19/11/1910, p. 7, col. 3;
***What was not advertised was the proximity of several industrial waste outlets further along the Mangere Inlet. And it was several years before the advertised road and bridge to Otahuhu were actually completed: Mangere Road Board, Accounts Book, 1904-1915, p. 81 (Manukau City Council archives, W2079); Mangere Road Board, Minute Book, 1912-1916, pp. 14, 88 (Manukau City Council archives, W2078); Mangere Road Board, Letter Book, April 1916 - March 1917, p. 119 (Manukau City Council archives, W2078).
1919 PROPERTY AUCTION
"There was a fair attendance at the auction sale of valuable freehold ..., this morning. Bidding was spirited, and in several cases the margin between buyer and seller was very small. Amongst the properties offered was the "Favona" homestead, 22 acres 22 perches, having extensive frontage to Favona Road and the Manukau Harbour, with dwelling of seven rooms and outbuildings, which was passed in at £4150" Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 223, 19 September 1919, Page 61929 SEVERELY INJURED CHINAMAN IN COLLISION
Severe concussion and a broken right leg were received by Wah Sun, market gardener, Favona Street, Mangere, when riding a motor cycle in Manukau Road this afternoon. He was involved in a collision with a car driven by a lady.Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 147, 24 June 1929, Page 101933-1938 (?) CLAY-BIRD SHOOTING
The Auckland provincial clay bird championship was shot at the metropolitan grounds. Favona Road. Mangere, on Saturday...1900s Industrial Discharges into the Inlet
Urban and industrial development expanded during the 1900s, with ongoing discharges leading to the environmental degradation of the inlet from:- 3 large meat works; an abattoir; 3 phosphate fertiliser works; 2 wool scours; fellmongeries; soap and candle works; a wood-pulp works; a battery works; a woollen mill; a tannery; and a glue works.
- plus inputs from: Middlemore Hospital; Otahuhu Borough Council's septic tank; leachate from various refuse tips; run-off from the Otahuhu railway workshops and later from the Pacific Steel plant at Otahuhu.
1948 (July) 'MUCK IN THE MANUKAU'
"Favona residents held a meeting to protest against the continuing pollution of the Mangere Inlet by sewage and trade wastes. At the time there are 14 waste outfalls in the inlet discharging raw sewage and industrial waste."At the request of the convenor of the meeting, [the] Medical Officer of Health, who attended the meeting, walked with others over areas where parts of animals had been left by the tide on the foreshore. Thick with grease and fat, are the edges of the once sandy shores, and flies and rats breed in their thousands ...", 'Manukau Harbour: Pollution of Waters', South Auckland Courier, 23/7/48, p. 5; [Letter], ibid., col. 5.
1962 Mangere Sewage Purification Works opens
In 1962, the Mangere Sewage Purification Works opened and took the household and industrial wastes previously discharged into the inlet. This led to a significant improvement inenvironmental quality.
1964 - RESIDENTS & RATEPAYERS ASS. FORMED (Sep)
The Favona Residents & Ratepayer's Association is formed. "A sound financial position and a membership of 95 had been achieved ... in the first nine months of existence ...", 'Favona Ratepayers', South Auckland Courier, 27/6/62, p. 18.1966 - NORANA RESERVE (5 Oct)
Manukau City Council resolves to buy the five-acre D.G. Paul property in Norana Avenue, Favona, to develop as a reserve.
2008
1967 HARANIA CREEK RECLAIMATION
The reclamation of a 71-acre area of tidal land in the Harania Inlet, Mangere, is authorised. The aim is to provide for the development of a 'buffer zone' of light industry between the existing heavy industrial area and residential areas of Favona. (The reclamation takes almost 30 years to complete.)The Harania Creek reclamation: Auckland Harbour Board (Reclamation) Empowering Act 1967, first schedule, part IX, second schedule, part IX. Pacific Steel had previously applied for permission to reclaim more than 20 acres in the creek to expand its works. It eventually combined with Manukau City Council and the Auckland Harbour Board to develop a larger scheme that would also buffer the heavy industrial zone: 'Future of Harania Creek: Attempts to Limit Steel Mill Growth', South Auckland Courier, 23/11/66, p. 1; 'In Committee Meeting Angers Ratepayers Assoc.', South Auckland Courier Central Edition, 19/4/67, pp. 1, 6; 'Harania Creek: Residents Get Their "Buffer" Industry Strip', South Auckland Courier Central Edition, 3/5/67, p. 3; 'Last Stages', Manukau Courier, 30/4/93, p. 3.
1956
1996
1970 SOFTBALL GROUNDS
The Auckland Softball Association begins work on the development of its newly acquired home grounds in Norana Avenue, Mangere, one of the few privately owned parks in Manukau City. 'Softball Park', as it becomes known, is fully ready for use by the summer of 1977.
'New Softball Field for Mangere', South Auckland Courier, 22/4/70, p. 46; 'Softball Scheme under Fire', NZ Herald South Auckland Section, 24/5/77, p. 6; "The new Mangere international softball arena at Norana [i.e. Softball] Park will [also] be used for first-class rugby league and soccer matches ... The park is near completion and the first softball matches will be played here this summer ...", 'Lack of Funds Holds up Softball Park Development', Manukau Courier, 2/3/82, 'Mangere Site for World Softball', Manukau Courier Central Edition, 18/6/85, p. 1; cf. "Norana is long past its glory days and needs major investment to reclaim first-class standard. There is a push within Auckland softball to sell the diamonds ...",
The park was sold in 2008.
1971 CLEAN BEACH AT FAVONA
The Favona Ratepayers Association reports that the Mangere Inlet has become much cleaner since the opening of the Manukau Sewage Purification Works and there is now good swimming to be had offshore from a newly developed park in Norana Avenue.
"About half a mile from the Favona bridge is a six acre reserve which the Ratepayers' Association is developing. The reserve has a sandy beach frontage, which ... is becoming sandier each year - since the Mangere sewerage plant has been operating ... A raft, anchored about 15 yards off shore, was put there by the association and provides a much used diving platform for school children who swim there after school ...", 'No Risk for Kids on this Beach', South Auckland Courier Central Edition, 24/2/1971, p. 60.
1997 TONGAN CHURCH OPENS IN FAVONA RD
The Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga opens a large new church in Favona Road, Mangere. The building is able to house a congregation of 1000 parishioners and is reportedly the largest Tongan church in the southern hemisphere.'Tongan Church Spans Western and Traditional Styles', Manukau Courier, 4/7/97, p. 1.
2001 Mangere Wastewater Treatment Plant upgraded
In 2001, the Mangere Wastewater Treatment Plant was upgraded , and the areas previously occupied by oxidation ponds were returned to the harbour.
Norana Reserve
There is 5ha of sportfields on the West end of the reserve; the main current use is sports. The furthermost eastern area (now separated from the sportfields by 49/51 Norana Ave) was home to the Auckland Softball Association until around 2010.
- 2009 - Manukau City Council expanded the reserve to just over 300m long.
- 2009 - (confirm date?) a block of land at 49 and 51 Norana Ave was purchased by the Government of Samoa to develop staff housing for a new consulate they wished to establish in Mangere Town Centre.
- 2009 - the reserve was considered for airfield use (see link below) but this would have meant buying land from the Samoan Consulate (they tried but were refused) so the idea was ditched.
http://www.airparkstrust.org.nz/index.php?page=norana-reserve; As part of this consideration, investigations into noise and airspace requirements were made - 2010 - Auckland Softball Association moved to the North Shore after they sold their site along Norana Reserve (to the council?)
Consent (?) for a new change room/club room facility in the park approved in 2010
DOC land inventory including land around Norana Park:
Problems with tire dumping in the area
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