Massey is a northern suburb in West Auckland, New Zealand. It was formerly a northern suburb of Waitakere City, which existed from 1989 to 2010 before the city was amalgamated into Auckland Council. The suburb was named after former Prime Minister of New Zealand William Massey. Massey is a relatively large suburb and can be divided into three reasonably distinctive areas, Massey West, Massey East (separated by the north-western motorway) and Massey North (situated to the north of Royal Road). Parts of Massey East are also known as 'Royal Heights', which is home to the Royal Heights shopping centre. The suburb features the Massey YMCA Leisure Centre, Library. The Westgate Shopping Centre on Hobsonville Road next to the north-western motorway and NorthWest Shopping Centre (which opened in October, 2015) to the north of Hobsonville Road are north of Massey. History The area is within the traditional rohe of Te Kawerau ā Maki, and is the location of Pukewhakataratara, a mountain known as Redhill to European settlers. The literal translation of the name is "hill that poses a challenge or obstacle", and is one of Ngā Rau Pou a Maki, the hills in the upper Waitākere Ranges area that reference Maki, the eponymous ancestor of Te Kawerau ā Maki. In pre-European times, the bush-covered hill was a natural obstacle for people attempting to access the Waitākere Ranges from the Waitematā Harbour. The area was a part of the walking routes connecting the settlements of the upper Waitematā Harbour, Waitākere River Valley to other areas of West Auckland and the Tāmaki isthmus. The area was purchased by the Crown for European settlers in August 1853, as a part of the Mangatoetoe Block. The first known settlers on record were the Nicolas family, who were awarded a government land grant in 1882. The area was originally named Lawsonville, and was the site of the Birdwood Estate. From the 1890s until the early 1910s, the south-west Massey area was known for the camp of Don Buck, a Portuguese immigrant to New Zealand who employed ex-convicts in the gum digging trade. The area was renamed Massey circa 1915, in honour of Prime Minister William Massey. The area experienced growth in the 1960s, after the Poultrymen's Association opened a branch in Massey in June 1960. Demographics Massey covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. Massey had