Avondale, Auckland

Avondale, comprising the statistical areas of Avondale Rosebank, Avondale West (Auckland), Avondale North (Auckland), Avondale Central (Auckland) and Avondale South (Auckland), had a population of 20,082 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 1,788 people (9.8%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 2,517 people (14.3%) since the 2006 census. There were 5,985 households. There were 10,086 males and 9,993 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.01 males per female, with 3,708 people (18.5%) aged under 15 years, 5,253 (26.2%) aged 15 to 29, 9,123 (45.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 1,998 (9.9%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 37.0% European/Pākehā, 11.1% Māori, 25.4% Pacific peoples, 36.4% Asian, and 4.7% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities).

The proportion of people born overseas was 47.2%, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people objected to giving their religion, 36.5% had no religion, 38.6% were Christian, and 19.3% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 4,776 (29.2%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 2,415 (14.7%) people had no formal qualifications. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 8,478 (51.8%) people were employed full-time, 2,115 (12.9%) were part-time, and 729 (4.5%) were unemployed.[1]

The first European settler in the area was John Sheddon Adam in 1843, but settlement did not occur in larger numbers until the late 1850s, with the completion of Great North Road. Expansion was rapid, with churches, stores and a public hall built by 1867. With a railway connection to the settlement in 1880, the rate of settlement increased further. Te Whau became Avondale District on 5 June 1882, although the old name survives in the Whau River, an estuarial arm of the Waitematā Harbour, which runs along the western edge of the suburb. A prominent community leader and Member of Parliament was John Bollard, who lived in Avondale from 1861 to 1915.

Early industries included brickyards, tanneries, mills and pottery works. Avondale also had numerous market gardens, especially on the Rosebank Peninsula. It was here that the "Hayward" cultivar of the Chinese gooseberry, later known as the kiwifruit, was developed by Hayward Wright.

From the mid-1920s Avondale became increasingly suburban. In 1927 the Avondale Borough Council was absorbed into the Auckland City Council.

The so-called Avondale spider (Delena cancerides), an introduced species of a spectacular but harmless Australian huntsman spider, was for decades only found in the area surrounding Avondale, and thus received its New Zealand name. It was introduced to New Zealand in a shipment of timber to the Aitkins Timber Yard in Patiki Road, and was left to spread, so its distribution pattern might help with the identification of future introduced species dispersal.

In 2017, the council-controlled organisation Panuku Development Auckland announced a major redevelopment of Avondale town centre, including a new library building, community and recreation centre, increased housing and local business development.[2]

Avondale had a local government just like other suburbs of Auckland at that time. The local government was called Avondale Borough Council, which started in 1922 and merged into Auckland City Council in 1927, eventually amalgamated into Auckland Council in November 2010.

• Lisa Truttman, 2003, Heart of The Whau, The Story of the Centre of Avondale 1841-2001, Words Incorporated.

• Photographs of Avondale held in Auckland Libraries' heritage collections.