Western Springs

Western Springs is a residential suburb and park in the west of the city of Auckland in the north of New Zealand.

It is located four kilometres to the west of the city centre, situated to the north of State Highway 16 to the east of the suburb of Point Chevalier and the west of Westmere and Grey Lynn.

The suburb is dominated by the large park, within which are situated Auckland Zoo, Western Springs Stadium and M.O.T.A.T. (the Museum of Transport and Technology).

History of Western Springs

Maori valued Waiorere (Western Springs) for the clean, clear spring water and the eels that lived in the stream. After colonisation, the area was part of a block of land farmed by a Scottish settler called William Motions.

As the city of Auckland grew, it became desperate for an unpolluted water supply. In 1874 Western Springs was chosen as the city's new water supply, and the city bought William Motions' mill and 120 acres (486,000 m²) of land including the spring. A lake was developed and a pumphouse built to pump the water from Western Springs to city.

The cost of maintaining the pump was high and by the early 1900s the city was getting its water from new reserviors in the Waitakere ranges.

In the early 1930s the area beside the lake was developed as a camping ground. These facilities were converted to a camp for American servicemen during WWII.

Little was done with the land after the war until 1961 when the Auckland City Council took over its management and began to develop a park. The old pumphouse now forms the centrepiece of MOTAT (the Museum of Transport and Technology) which was opened in 1964.