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49-464: The Hunua Ranges is a mountain range and regional park to the southeast of Auckland city , in the Auckland and Waikato regions of New Zealand's North Island . The ranges cover some 250 square kilometres (97 sq mi) and rise to 688 metres (2255 ft) at Kohukohunui. Auckland Council owns and manages 178 square kilometres (69 sq mi) of the ranges, including part located in

98-570: A consensus for reform, starting in 1960 with a meeting of 400 local body politicians from 32 local bodies. An Auckland Regional Authority Establishment Committee resulted. Robinson used the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works as models. He started with a draft comprehensive empowering bill but soon ran into opposition, with some Establishment Committee members deliberately avoiding meetings, and

147-792: A good relationship with the Prime Minister Keith Holyoake , Robinson persuaded the Government to support his second compromise Bill in 1962, which was passed. Many of the compromises persisted though the duration of the ARA and its successor, the ARC. Robinson was rewarded with his election by the Authority members as its first chairman. The ARC was preceded by the Auckland Regional Authority (ARA), which

196-416: A holding company, but was injuncted by Auckland City Council in respect of the water and wastewater function and had a failure of political will in execution. Bassett's successor, National ’s Warren Cooper , took the process further. He promoted legislation requiring that the remaining ARC corporatisations take place and transferred ownership of the resulting companies from the ARC to a new short-lived body,

245-669: A name used to describe the wider country between the Wairoa River valley and Papakura . Māori made some use of the ranges and early European visitors found areas of clearing that had been used as gardens. Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki are tangata whenua for the ranges, and many archaeological sites are known within the ranges. In November 1769, Captain Cook visited the Hauraki Gulf area. Cook gifted pigs and potatoes to senior members of Te Uri ō Pou from Ōrere , who then planted these along

294-538: Is at work while the mountains are being uplifted until the mountains are reduced to low hills and plains. The early Cenozoic uplift of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado provides an example. As the uplift was occurring some 10,000 feet (3,000 m) of mostly Mesozoic sedimentary strata were removed by erosion over the core of the mountain range and spread as sand and clays across the Great Plains to

343-463: Is the highest point in the Hunua Ranges. The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "great mist" for Kohukohunui . Tāmaki Māori have traditionally used the ranges for a wide range of resources. The traditional name is Ngāherehere ō Kohukohunui ("The Expansive Forest of Kohukohunui"), named after Kohukohunui, the highest peak of the ranges. Te Hūnua was

392-760: The Andes of South America, extends through the North American Cordillera , the Aleutian Range , on through Kamchatka Peninsula , Japan , Taiwan , the Philippines , Papua New Guinea , to New Zealand . The Andes is 7,000 kilometres (4,350 mi) long and is often considered the world's longest mountain system. The Alpide belt stretches 15,000 km across southern Eurasia , from Java in Maritime Southeast Asia to

441-551: The Annamite Range . If the definition of a mountain range is stretched to include underwater mountains, then the Ocean Ridge forms the longest continuous mountain system on Earth, with a length of 65,000 kilometres (40,400 mi). The position of mountain ranges influences climate, such as rain or snow. When air masses move up and over mountains, the air cools, producing orographic precipitation (rain or snow). As

490-782: The Department of Conservation and volunteers. Of the rates collected by the ARC, 50% would go to fund public transport via ARTA, which is to amount to NZ$ 155 million in 2007/2008, up from $ 124 million in the preceding 2-year period 2006/2007. The ARC also managed regional parks with 400 km and 150 km of coastline, for which 15% of its total funding is spent. A further 19% was spent on ecological concerns, such as water quality and protecting ecosystems. Other minor percentages funded areas like "built environment" (4%), "safety" (1%), "economic development" (3%) and "regional leadership and community development" (8%). The following have served as chairpersons of ARA or ARC: The legacy of

539-804: The Iberian Peninsula in Western Europe , including the ranges of the Himalayas , Karakoram , Hindu Kush , Alborz , Caucasus , and the Alps . The Himalayas contain the highest mountains in the world, including Mount Everest , which is 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) high. Mountain ranges outside these two systems include the Arctic Cordillera , Appalachians , Great Dividing Range , East Siberians , Altais , Scandinavians , Qinling , Western Ghats , Vindhyas , Byrrangas , and

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588-605: The Mithrim Montes and Doom Mons on Titan, and Tenzing Montes and Hillary Montes on Pluto. Some terrestrial planets other than Earth also exhibit rocky mountain ranges, such as Maxwell Montes on Venus taller than any on Earth and Tartarus Montes on Mars . Jupiter's moon Io has mountain ranges formed from tectonic processes including the Boösaule , Dorian, Hi'iaka and Euboea Montes . Auckland Regional Council The Auckland Regional Council ( ARC )

637-519: The cities and districts of the region, but its regulatory power and funding abilities were restricted to areas such as public transport, environmental protection and regional parks. The ARC was an elected body, and collected its own rates . In 2003 the ARC commenced direct rating and ceased to collect levies through the territorial councils. The creation of the Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA) followed

686-493: The ARA seized upon, to Robinson's dismay. The OPEC oil price shock and the 1975 election of the Robert Muldoon lead National government was the end of the scheme. It has been mythologised since then as "Robbies Rapid Rail". ART was disbanded in 1976. From then on and despite the focus of successor organisations on public transport, ARA had a mixed record on the matter, in 1983 going so far as to propose abolishing

735-532: The ARA. The ARA at one stage looked to sell its holding in the port company but the proposal was defeated politically. The Government also wanted a more commercial arrangement for the Auckland International Airport and it was corporatised in 1988, with the shareholding split between the Government and Auckland local authorities. Substantial airport reserves were also dispersed to the same parties. The ARA had no ongoing role, despite being

784-571: The Auckland Mayoralty and as a member of the Authority marked a return to progress. A more detailed plan of a rapid transit system was worked on, and a planning committee known as Auckland Rapid Transit was formed. The scheme design as finalised in 1972 had a tight inner city underground ring, operating in one direction only. The existing suburban rail line routes were to be used with track duplication to avoid freight conflicts, with extensions to Hobsonville and Howick and two new lines; under

833-687: The Auckland Regional Services Trust (ARST). The businesses transferred included the shareholding in Ports of Auckland and the Yellow Bus Company. Watercare Services (formed 1992) was one resulting company, the largest local government corporatisation in New Zealand. The Auckland Regional Services Trust was later required to privatise the Yellow Bus Company, which was bought by Stagecoach. The ARC later recovered

882-550: The Auckland Transport Board. Water supply activities included constructing further bulk water storage dams, and treatment and water distribution works. Other achievements were completing and upgrading the Manukau wastewater treatment plant, creating the largest bus fleet in the country at the time, constructing Auckland Airport representing local government in a joint venture with central government and creating

931-692: The Auckland railway system altogether. As late as 1987, major ARA transport strategy reports were still paying little attention to public transport. In 1975 a documentary was released which charts the short history of the Auckland Rapid Transit project, presented by project manager Ian Mead. In the late 1980s the Fourth Labour Government , consistent with its policy of corporatising and privatising government-owned entities, looked to other quasi-commercial entities to apply

980-625: The Mayors of the many small boroughs fearing for the ability of their bodies to continue to govern themselves, lobbying against the proposal. Auckland City was the principal supporter of the initiative. A Bill to create the ARA was introduced to Parliament in 1961 but the Establishment Committee then thought better of it and it was withdrawn from the Parliamentary process by the Government. Robinson sought compromises about what

1029-591: The Ports of Auckland shareholding when ARST was wound up, and later forcibly purchased the minority shares. Watercare did not continue ownership of the catchment lands in the Waitakere and Hunua Ranges, taking a lease from the Council of the dam, pipeline and lake areas only. The result was the largest addition to the land in Regional Parks in the ARC's history. The ARC had an umbrella function covering all

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1078-584: The Waikato region, as a regional park open to the public. The ranges are located approximately 50 kilometres (30 mi) southeast of the main Auckland urban area, above the western shore of the Firth of Thames . They are sparsely populated, and mostly lie within the boundaries of the Waharau and Hunua Ranges Regional Parks. The settlement of Hunua lies at the foot of the Hunua Ranges. The ranges are covered by

1127-534: The Wairoa River, as one of the first crops of potatoes grown in New Zealand. The pigs were released into the Hunua Ranges, where they were hunted by Ngāi Tai. The main part of the ranges was subject to confiscation after the New Zealand Wars . Early European use of the ranges was for timber extraction and for farming but low soil fertility limited success. There has been some mining of Manganese in

1176-627: The air descends on the leeward side, it warms again (following the adiabatic lapse rate ) and is drier, having been stripped of much of its moisture. Often, a rain shadow will affect the leeward side of a range. As a consequence, large mountain ranges, such as the Andes, compartmentalize continents into distinct climate regions . Mountain ranges are constantly subjected to erosional forces which work to tear them down. The basins adjacent to an eroding mountain range are then filled with sediments that are buried and turned into sedimentary rock . Erosion

1225-497: The area: Upper Mangatawhiri (1965), Wairoa (1975) and Mangatangi (1977). Combined, the dams have a capacity of 77.1 million cubic meters, and supply approximately 68% of Auckland's potable water, through the Ardmore Water Treatment Plant. A decision was made to reforest the ranges in the early 1960s, after the area had gradually reverted into farmland. The bulk water supply operation and the land passed to

1274-520: The concerned Councils who normally regulate such matters. This criticism surfaced especially during a short-lived 2006 debate on further integration of the Auckland area, where many of the proposals included a proposed abolishment of the ARC, or a changed, less independent role. One of the mainstays of the ARC's work was expanding the parks network, which as of 2010 included 26 regional parks with more than 40,000 hectares, including many restored natural habitats and sanctuaries developed in co-operation with

1323-403: The developer of rental of the extra space but the failure of that guarantor, owned and asset stripped by Equiticorp, left it worthless. The controversy helped in creating a political justification for the subsequent separation of many of the ARC's functions. The power to corporatise local government operations as local-authority trading enterprises (LATEs), modelled on state-owned enterprises ,

1372-401: The dividends. In the final period before its subsumation into Auckland Council, the ARC was concentrating on the electrification of the Auckland railway network , building the case for a CBD rail tunnel, and an extension of rail to Auckland Airport. In its final years, the ARC had been getting more involved in land use regulation , a move which was met with criticism from some politicians of

1421-485: The east. This mass of rock was removed as the range was actively undergoing uplift. The removal of such a mass from the core of the range most likely caused further uplift as the region adjusted isostatically in response to the removed weight. Rivers are traditionally believed to be the principal cause of mountain range erosion, by cutting into bedrock and transporting sediment. Computer simulation has shown that as mountain belts change from tectonically active to inactive,

1470-425: The entire park was closed during a 1080 pest control programme . The programme was subject to an unsuccessful legal challenge. Activities in the regional park include walking, mountain-biking, bird-watching and drone-flying. Mountain range Mountain ranges are usually segmented by highlands or mountain passes and valleys . Individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have

1519-611: The first organisations in New Zealand to propagate native trees through grafting techniques, and were the first to successfully graft kauri trees. The forestry service was shut down in the late 1980s, as the Auckland Regional Authority was replaced with the Auckland Regional Council . The water operation was corporatised as Watercare Services in 1992, but the land itself remained with the Auckland Regional Council. Watercare took ownership of

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1568-566: The harbour to Whangaparaoa and south to the Airport. The station spacings were larger than the existing system and travel speeds would be much higher. Local opposition and obstruction within the elected ARA members continued, as there was from the New Zealand Railways Department and railway unions. The ruling Labour government showed little enthusiasm for the scheme and proposed a cheaper alternative in 1973 which

1617-469: The larger territorial councils were regional roads and a role in stormwater on the isthmus. Anticipating a greater role in the region's governance and needing better accommodation for its staff, the ARC commenced acquisition of a new headquarters in Pitt St, completed in 1990. It was a controversial move, the building later criticised by an Audit Office review for being out-sized. The ARC had a guarantee from

1666-594: The largest area of native bush in Auckland, with streams, waterfalls, and hills overlooking the Auckland Region and Hauraki Gulf . Auckland gets much of its water from reservoirs sources from rivers and streams, including the Hunua Falls on the Wairoa River. The Mangatawhiri Ridge is one of the last remaining breeding grounds of the North Island kōkako . Kohukohunui (688 metres (2,257 ft))

1715-705: The massive public support for Regional Parks even they were the subject of political division with the rural based district councils successfully resisting paying a contribution towards them. They were essentially built for the urban population and paid for by them. The ARA turned its attention to commuter transport. It commissioned a comprehensive transportation plan completed in 1965 – the De Leuw Cather reports. The rail aspect of this made little progress with minimal support from Authority politicians and staff, from Central Government and opposition from other Auckland councils. The return in 1968 of Dove-Myer Robinson to

1764-468: The newly formed Auckland Regional Authority in 1964. The Authority completed the water supply development and continued the exotic afforestation on some of the north and western catchment land, started by the City Council, and its Water Department administered the land. The ranges were planted with a mix of exotic forest and native species, predominantly rimu . The forestry service nursery was one of

1813-557: The ownership of the former Auckland Regional Council park land went to the Auckland Council and that of the water assets is unchanged with Watercare Services. Extensive flooding in the Hunua Ranges in March 2017 cut off roads. People staying on the ranges had to be evacuated. In May 2018, parts of the park were closed to stop the spread of Kauri dieback . Some of the tracks reopened in late 2020. In September and October 2018,

1862-411: The past. Gold prospecting for quartz reefs has never found payable reefs. From the 1920s onwards the land was progressively bought by Auckland City Council utilising funds from its water supply operation. Development of the water supplies commenced in 1946, with the first of the four dams, Cossey's, completed with a capacity of 11.3 million cubic meters in 1956. Three embankment dams were constructed in

1911-627: The rate of erosion drops because there are fewer abrasive particles in the water and fewer landslides. Mountains on other planets and natural satellites of the Solar System, including the Moon , are often isolated and formed mainly by processes such as impacts, though there are examples of mountain ranges (or "Montes") somewhat similar to those on Earth. Saturn 's moon Titan and Pluto , in particular, exhibit large mountain ranges in chains composed mainly of ices rather than rock. Examples include

1960-658: The regional parks network, founded on the Centennial Memorial Park in the Waitākere Ranges which was transferred from Auckland City Council control and added to first with the purchase of what became Wenderholm Regional Park . Functions added at later dates included a regional role operating and regulating refuse disposal, regional roads, the regional water board under the Water and Soil Conservation Act 1967 and harbour master and marine regulation. Despite

2009-435: The representative of the region's councils in the former joint venture with Government. In 1989 local government minister Michael Bassett concluded a reform of all local government in New Zealand. This greatly reduced the number of territorial councils in Auckland but did not materially alter the ARA, which essentially retained its previous functions under the new name of Auckland Regional Council. Two functions transferred to

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2058-475: The return of assets to the Auckland Regional Council in 2004. They picked up on projects initiated by the ARC, territorial local authorities and government agencies such as Transit NZ. These included projects like the Northern Busway , as well as significant rail and public transport investment. Soon after, the Council purchased those shares in private hands Ports of Auckland to fund the improvements with

2107-588: The same geologic structure or petrology . They may be a mix of different orogenic expressions and terranes , for example thrust sheets , uplifted blocks , fold mountains, and volcanic landforms resulting in a variety of rock types . Most geologically young mountain ranges on the Earth's land surface are associated with either the Pacific Ring of Fire or the Alpide belt . The Pacific Ring of Fire includes

2156-542: The same process to. Power boards received early attention, but local government was not considered as potential owners of these and their corporatisations proceeded separately. Port authorities were considered part of local government and the Auckland Harbour Board was corporatised in 1988 as Ports of Auckland , with the majority shareholding held by the ARA and the minority by Waikato local government. Some non-commercial assets and maritime regulation came to

2205-409: The water related assets and took a long term lease from the Auckland Regional Council of the reservoir areas and the operational areas. The exotic forestry land was also leased to another party. The catchment land became regional park land. In November 2010, the southernmost part of the Hunua Ranges were transferred to Waikato region. This determines the local government administrative boundaries, but

2254-401: Was created. However this was voluntary, with the exception of transport, where council road design and delivery operations were required to be corporatised. Council bus operations were likewise required to be corporatised, with the ARC bus operation emerging in 1991 as Transport Auckland Ltd, trading as the Yellow Bus Company. The ARC studied forming its commercial operations into LATEs held under

2303-630: Was formed in 1963. The ARA took over a number of existing operations from other bodies. One of its first areas of responsibility was bulk water supply, which it assumed from Auckland City Council . Other functions taken over were regional planning, from the Auckland Regional Planning Authority, bulk sewage collection and treatment (south of the harbour only) from the Auckland Metropolitan Drainage Board, and bus passenger transport from

2352-679: Was the regional council (one of the former local government authorities) of the Auckland Region . Its predecessor the Auckland Regional Authority ( ARA ) was formed in 1963 and became the ARC in 1989. The ARC was subsumed into the Auckland Council on 1 November 2010. There had been earlier attempts to rationalise Auckland's local government dating back to the early 1900s. Dove-Myer Robinson in standing for Mayor of Auckland City in 1959 campaigned on wanting to unify all of Auckland. Once elected he sought to build

2401-575: Was to be included (the Auckland Harbour Board, Electricity Supply Authorities and North Shore Drainage Board were excluded), on representation (appointment by the Local Authorities was used in the first term), on funding (direct rating was excluded) and restricting the role so only specifically empowered functions were allowed. Opposition continued with some parties implacably opposed, others wanting sub-regional councils and some promoting an alternative, much more limited Bill to Parliament. Through

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