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Mount Roskill / Mt Roskill
Mt Roskill from Big King.jpg
Mount Roskill from Big King. The Waitākere Ranges in the background.
Basic information
Local authority Auckland Council
Electoral ward Albert-Eden-Puketāpapa Ward
Population 17319 (2018)
Surrounds
North Balmoral, Eden Valley
Northeast Mount Eden
East Three Kings
Southeast Hillsborough
South Waikowhai
Southwest Lynfield
West New Windsor, New Zealand, Wesley
Northwest Owairaka, Sandringham

Mount Roskill is a suburban area in the city of Auckland, New Zealand. It is named for the volcanic peak Puketāpapa (commonly called "Mount Roskill" in English).

Mountain

The mountain formed as a result of volcanic activity some 20,000 years ago. Its peak, located in present-day Winstone Park towards the southwest end of the suburb, is 110 metres in height - one of the many extinct cones which dot the isthmus of Auckland, all of which form part of the Auckland Volcanic Field. The scoria cone was built by fire-fountaining from two craters. Lava flowed from the base of the cone to the north and to the northwest. It was the site of a pā, and was known as Puketāpapa ("the flat-topped mountain" in Te Reo Māori) and as Pukewīwī. The main southern crater was excavated in 1961-1962 and filled with a water-supply reservoir. The reservoir is no longer in active service, and is only maintained as an emergency supply.

Since 2009 the extension of State Highway 20 has passed close to the cone. The effects of the new motorway on the cone had been the subject of significant discussion, and a major mitigation package had been proposed to reduce the impact of the motorway (and the continuation of the Waikaraka Cycleway that runs parallel to it).

The funding of this mitigation and the missing cycleway section was briefly in doubt in 2009, when a cost blowout to $2 million was criticised after Council had set aside $1.6 million. Cycling advocates from Cycle Action Auckland, the Mount Roskill Community Board Chairman Richard Barter and Councillor John Lister however noted various elements unrelated to the cycleway that had driven up the cost, such as a toilet block, bluestone walls, extensive landscaping and artwork, much of it related to Winstone Park itself, or the effects of the motorway. The cycle-path section itself was priced at only $300,000. The path section was finished after six months of construction work and it (and the park facilities) opened to the public on 25 July 2010.

Suburb

The suburb, named after the Mount, is located seven kilometres to the south of the city centre, and is surrounded by the neighbouring suburbs of Three Kings, Sandringham, Wesley, Hillsborough and Mount Albert. The Mount Roskill shops are located at the intersection of Mount Albert and Dominion Roads.

In the 1920s, a new subdivision off Dominion Road was established. It was named the Victory Estate after notable First World War personnel.

One of the city's larger suburbs, it was largely farmland until after the Second World War. It was a separate borough from 1947 until local government reorganisation in 1989 amalgamated it with Auckland City.

In the past, Mount Roskill was referred to as the Bible Belt of Auckland, as it contained the highest number of churches per capita in New Zealand. The electorate was one of the last in the country to go "wet", in 1999, having formally been a dry area where the selling of alcohol was prohibited.

Mount Roskill is an ethnically diverse community with at least 54 different nationalities represented there, making it one of the most diverse suburbs in New Zealand.

The local secondary school is Mount Roskill Grammar.

Library

Mt Roskill Library was built and opened to public in August 1977. It was refurbished and the floor area extended in November 2011. Mt Roskill Library has English, Maori, Chinese, Tamil, Arabic and Somali collections.

Sport and recreation

Mount Roskill Rugby Football Club, Bay Roskill Vikings, and Eden Roskill District Cricket Club are based in the suburb.

Dominion Road School

Dominion Road School
Location
Quest Terrace,
Mt Roskill,
Auckland,
New Zealand
Coordinates 36°54′16″S 174°44′36″E / 36.904472°S 174.743460°E / -36.904472; 174.743460
Information
Type State, Co-educational, Primary
Motto Onward and Upward
Ministry of Education Institution no. 1261
School roll 246 (April 2023)
Socio-economic decile 3
Website dominionrd.school.nz

Dominion Road school is a decile 3 primary school on Quest Terrace. As of 2014, there were 332 students and the school principal was Marian Caulfield, who started in 2001. The school has 20 teaching spaces which are all multipurpose. It is close to the central city.

People

Maori carvings at the Winstone Park
A Maori carved gate at the Winstone Park on the road to Mount Roskill

Mount Roskill has been home to many successful New Zealanders who attended the local schools. Among them are:

In 2007, the Mount Roskill Community Board commissioned a 176-page book titled Just Passing Through: A History of Mt Roskill (Jade Reidy) which covered the growth of the district from 1840 up until the present time. It identified the significant input of Mount Roskill residents internationally, such as athletics coach Arthur Lydiard in the chapter "How Sport Put Mt Roskill on the World Map."


  • Nicola Legat:"In God We Trust? The Mount Roskillisation of Auckland" Metro 152 (February 1994): 58-67.
  • Volcanoes of Auckland: The Essential Guide. Hayward, B.W., Murdoch, G., Maitland, G.; Auckland University Press, 2011.

Demographics

Historical population
Year Pop. ±% p.a.
2006 15,336 —    
2013 16,131 +0.72%
2018 17,319 +1.43%

Mount Roskill, comprising the statistical areas of Mount Roskill North, Mount Roskill White Swan, Mount Roskill Central North, Mount Roskill Central South and Mount Roskill South, had a population of 17,319 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 1,188 people (7.4%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 1,983 people (12.9%) since the 2006 census. There were 5,187 households. There were 8,754 males and 8,556 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.02 males per female, with 2,853 people (16.5%) aged under 15 years, 4,788 (27.6%) aged 15 to 29, 7,605 (43.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 2,064 (11.9%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 29.1% European/Pākehā, 5.5% Māori, 15.5% Pacific peoples, 53.5% 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 56.3%, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people objected to giving their religion, 31.5% had no religion, 34.1% were Christian, and 29.9% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 4,764 (32.9%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 1,842 (12.7%) people had no formal qualifications. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 7,014 (48.5%) people were employed full-time, 2,016 (13.9%) were part-time, and 588 (4.1%) were unemployed.

Education

Mount Roskill Grammar School is a secondary school (years 9-13) with a roll of 1768. Mount Roskill Intermediate is an intermediate school (years 7-8) with a roll of 522. Mount Roskill Primary is a contributing primary school (years 1-6) with a roll of 630. These schools are on adjoining sites.

Dominion Road School, Hay Park School and May Road School are contributing primary schools (years 1-6) with rolls of 246, 160 and 177, respectively.

Monte Cecilia School is a state-integrated Catholic contributing primary school (years 1-6) with a roll of 151.

All these schools are coeducational. Rolls are as of April 2023.

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