St Lukes is a suburb of New Zealand's largest city, Auckland. It is under the local governance of the Auckland Council. After Westfield St Lukes opened in 1972, the area developed into a major commercial area of the Auckland isthmus.

Geography

St Lukes is a small suburb on the Auckland isthmus, located between New North Road and Sandringham Road in the vicinity of Saint Lukes Road.

History

The broader area was originally swampland, and known to Tāmaki Māori as Ngā Anawai, referring to the water-filled lava-flow caves that formed in the area. The lava caves were created by Maungawhau / Mount Eden and Mount Albert over 30,000 years ago. The area, especially the north-east along Sandringham Road at Gribblehirst Park was known to early European residents as Cabbage Tree Swamp, due to the number of tī kōuka (cabbage trees) that lined the swampland.

On 29 June 1841, the Mount Albert area was sold to the Crown by Ngāti Whātua, as a part of a 12,000 acre section. The terrain of the area was rough, meaning the area saw slower development compared to other parts of the Auckland isthmus. In the 1860s, New North Road was established as road access for the area and as an alternative to the Great North Road to the north. In 1864, reverend Alexander French purchased allotment 161 and established a farm in the modern St Lukes area. Allan Kerr Taylor, a major landowner in the Mount Albert area, gifted land along New North Road to the Anglican Church. The name Church of St. Luke was chosen during a community meeting in July 1872, and the church opened in November 1872.

In 1962, the Wagener subdivision, an industrial area of Auckland, was constructed on Saint Lukes Road.

In 1971, the St Lukes Shopping Centre was opened by Prime Minister Keith Holyoake, as the second modern shopping centre in Auckland after LynnMall. The centre was funded by the Mount Albert Borough Council, and was later extended in the early 2000s.

From 2003 to 2011, a large apartment complex called St Lukes Garden was built in the area. Many of the buildings in the complex had issues with leaking, which led to one of the largest  court cases dealing with leaky buildings in New Zealand. In 2018, Chemist Warehouse set up their first store in New Zealand in St Lukes.

Demographics
St Lukes covers  and had an estimated population of  as of  with a population density of  people per km2.

St Lukes had a population of 2,391 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 135 people (6.0%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 738 people (44.6%) since the 2006 census. There were 903 households, comprising 1,188 males and 1,206 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.99 males per female. The median age was 31.3 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 375 people (15.7%) aged under 15 years, 735 (30.7%) aged 15 to 29, 1,089 (45.5%) aged 30 to 64, and 192 (8.0%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 37.8% European/Pākehā, 6.0% Māori, 7.3% Pacific peoples, 54.2% Asian, and 5.8% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

The percentage of people born overseas was 59.5, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 43.3% had no religion, 25.2% were Christian, 0.3% had Māori religious beliefs, 15.6% were Hindu, 5.6% were Muslim, 1.9% were Buddhist and 3.6% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 885 (43.9%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 132 (6.5%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $33,900, compared with $31,800 nationally. 303 people (15.0%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,086 (53.9%) people were employed full-time, 282 (14.0%) were part-time, and 90 (4.5%) were unemployed.

Amenities

Mt Albert Library
St Luke's Plunket Family Centre
The Roy Clements Treeway Path, a nature reserve bordering the Meola Creek
Warren Freer Park, which includes a public playground and is the home of the Ramblers Softball Club
Westfield St Lukes, a shopping centre in central Auckland

Education

Mount Albert School and Edendale Primary School are contributing primary schools (years 1–6) with rolls of  and , respectively. Te Kura Kaupapa Māori O Nga Maungarongo is a full primary school (years 1–8)  with a roll  of . It is a Māori language-immersion school. The local state intermediate schools are Kōwhai Intermediate School and Balmoral while the local secondary school is Mount Albert Grammar School.

Transportation

Saint Lukes Road is the major arterial road in the area, which runs between Great North Road, and the Northwestern Motorway, New North Road and Sandringham Road. At this point, the road becomes known as Balmoral Road as it continues through Balmoral, and after crossing St Andrews Road is known as Greenlane.

St Lukes can be reached by public transport by using the OuterLink buses.

Local government

In October 1866, the Mt Albert District Highway Board, the first local government in the area, was formed to administer New North Road and the surrounding areas. In 1911, the board became the Mount Albert Borough, who elected a mayor. In 1978, Mount Albert became a city, and in 1989 it was absorbed into Auckland City. In November 2010, all cities and districts of the Auckland Region were amalgamated into a single body, governed by the Auckland Council.

St Lukes is a part of the Albert-Eden local board area. The residents of Albert-Eden elect a local board, and two councillors from the Albert-Eden-Puketāpapa ward to sit on the Auckland Council.

References

Bibliography

1860s establishments in New Zealand
Albert-Eden Local Board Area
Suburbs of Auckland
Populated places established in the 1860s