Huapai

The name Huapai was coined by property developers Lionel Hanlon and G.W. Green in the early 1910s, which they created from Māori language words to mean "Good Fruit".^[3] Prior to this, the area has a variety of names during early European settlement, including Kumeu North, Kumeu Flat, and Pukekorari.^[4] Hanlon and Green applied the name to an area of 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) north of Kumeū, which their company Northern Fruitlands Ltd. developed into apple and pear orchards.^[5] The traditional Māori name for Huapai is Tūrakiawatea, a name associated with Te Kawerau ā Maki ancestor Ruarangi, who likely travelled through the area in the 16th century.^[6][7]

Huapai is a town north-west of Auckland, located along the Kumeū River, a major tributary of the Kaipara River.^[3][8] It is located to the west of Kumeū, and the two towns share a conurban metropolitan area, and is close to the towns of Riverhead (to the north-east) and Waimauku, to the west. Urban West Auckland suburbs are located 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) to the south-east of Kumeū, including Westgate and the NorthWest Shopping Centre.

The Kumeū River area has traditionally been a wetland and flood plain, prior to European settlement.^[8] The Kumeū valley regularly flooded during the 1920s and 1930s, and a major flood occurred in 1954.^[9]

The Auckland Region has been settled by Māori since around the 13th or 14th centuries.^[10] The Kumeū River valley was sparsely populated, but was an important transportation node due to Te Tōangaroa, a portage where waka could be hauled between the Kaipara Harbour and the Waitematā Harbour, via the Kaipara and Kumeū rivers.^[11][12] By the early 18th century, Ngāti Whātua tribes had settled the southern Kaipara Harbour and Kumeū River valley areas.^[13][14] During the Musket Wars of the 1820s, Ngāti Whātua and Te Kawerau ā Maki vacated the area, returning in the late 1820s and 1830s.^[13][12] The Ngāti Whātua village was not resettled after the war.^[7] During modern times, the area is considered parts of the rohe of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara and Te Kawerau ā Maki.^[7]

The first land blocks of the Kumeū River valley were purchased by the Crown from Ngāti Whātua in 1853.^[15] Ngāti Whātua sold land in the hope that this would lead to Europeans settlements developing and stimulate the economy of the area.^[16] The Kumeū River valley was difficult to navigate,^[17] until the railway between Kumeū and Riverhead was established in 1875.^[18] Kumeū land owner Thomas Deacon gifted land for the railway, which led to the construction of two railway stations: Kumeū in the south, and one near his hotel at modern Huapai, which was established in 1877.^[19]

The railway brought more settlers to the Kumeū-Huapai area.^[19] Initially the Kumeu Flat area was developed by Deacon into a village, with Kumeū remaining a rural for longer.^[19] The villages of Kumeū and Taupaki slowly grew during this period, and the first Kumeu Hall was constructed by 1876. The hall became a hub for the community, used as a school, church and for social events.^[20] In 1881, a continuous railway between Helensville and Auckland opened,^[21] causing significant growth in the Kumeū area.^[7] Sheep and dairy farmers were increasingly drawn to the Kumeū area from the 1880s, as land was gradually cleared of forest, kauri gum and flax.^[22]

Establishment of Huapai

In the early 1910s, Lionel Hanlon and G.W. Green established a company called Northern Fruitlands Ltd., which subdivided 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) of land northwest of Kumeū into 10 acres (4.0 ha) plots, which they called the Huapai Estate.^[3][23] During this time, the Pukekorari train station was renamed to be the Huapai train station.^[5] The first sections were sold in 1914,^[24] and new institutions came to the area, with Huapai School established in 1919,^[25] and St Chad's Anglican Church in 1925.^[26] Gradually Yugoslav, Croatian and later Dutch communities joined the primarily British and Australia/New Zealand people of the Kumeū River valley settlements.^[27].^[28][29]

In Huapai in 1932, E. D. Forester established the first kiwifruit orchard in New Zealand to grow the Hayward variety of kiwifruit, which later became the standard green variety of kiwifruit.^[30]

By 1936, 303 people lived at Huapai, while 198 were living in Kumeū, and 113 in the surrounding rural area of Kumeū.^[31] Winemaking was established at an industry at Kumeū and Huapai in the early 1940s, led by Croatian families such as Nick and Zuva Nobilo, and Mick and Katé Brajkovich.^[32] Most notably for Huapai, the Nobilo family operated the Gilbey-Nobilo vineyard from Huapai, producing wine from Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinotage grapes.^[33]

By the 1970s, the fruit growing industry in Huapai became less profitable, after areas such as the Hawkes Bay became more efficient growers.^[34] During the same decade, industrial firms began opening operations in Huapai and Kumeū, during which the villages of Huapai and Kumeū began merging into a single urban area.^[35]

From 1876 until 1974, the Huapai area was administered by the Waitemata County, a large rural county north and west of the city of Auckland.^[36] After this, Huapai became a part of Rodney County.^[37] In 1989, the county was abolished, and in its place the Rodney District was formed. Rodney District Council was amalgamated into Auckland Council in November 2010.^[38]

Within the Auckland Council, Huapai is a part of the Rodney local government area governed by the Rodney Local Board. It is a part of the Rodney ward, which elects one councillor to the Auckland Council.

Huapai District School is a coeducational full primary school (years 1–8), with a decile rating of 9 and a roll of 436 in 2013.^[39] Huapai School currently hosts 22 classrooms and has a roll of 535 students as of October 2025.^[40] The school has one large and one medium-sized field, with association football and rugby goals respectively, and two playgrounds, with another soon-to-be built adventure playground worth over NZ$50,000. There is a sealed bike track covering the whole school, as well as a BMX track for students. The school also has a tennis / hockey court, swimming pool, flag court, dedicated music suite, professional audio system, and a soon-to-be built completely new administration block including a large library.^{[citation needed]}