Te Atatū Peninsula (also known as Te Atatu North) is a waterfront suburb of West Auckland surrounded by the Waitemata Harbour with extensive views of the city skyline, central city and north shore. There are also direct views of the Auckland Harbour Bridge. The name "Te Atatū Peninsula" was put forward by Emi Groot in the 1980s and officially adopted by the New Zealand Geographic Board on 5 May 1994, and was formally adopted by the Waitakere Council in 1997. "Te Atatu North" is still commonly used, particularly by older generations. History The peninsula is within the traditional rohe of Te Kawerau ā Maki, who in pre-European times had two kāinga at the mouth of Te Wai-o-Pareira / Henderson Creek on the peninsula, known as and , named after ancestors Rukuwai and Rangihina. The name for the peninsula in the 19th century was Henderson Point, named after settler Thomas Henderson and the Henderson mill, located at the modern suburb of Henderson. The north-western side of the peninsula was a site where Māori farmers grew potatoes, kūmara (sweet potatoes), and dug for kauri gum. The rua (storage pits) made by the farmers for potatoes gave rise to the name "The Pits", a colloquial name given to the peninsula by European settlers. On 12 March 1894, Henderson Point was subdivided and sold as the Henderson Mill Estate. Many of the purchasers of the land parcels were the Māori families who had lived in the area. In the 1900s, the area was renamed Te Atatū ("the dawn") by Reverend Thomas Jackson Bennett (father of Frederick Bennett), referencing the morning sunrise views of the Waitematā Harbour seen from the peninsula. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Te Atatū was the location of two brick and pottery yards adjacent to Te Wai-o-Pareira / Henderson Creek and one on the Whau River, however the major brick industries in West Auckland were located to the south, closer to New Lynn. Until the 1950s, Te Atatū Peninsula was mostly rural. The construction of the north-western motorway lead to development on the peninsula. During the 1960s and 1970s, Te Atatū Peninsula was covered in low- to medium-income houses. Te Atatū Peninsula was the site of the Footrot Flats Fun Park in the 1980s, originally known as Leisureland and set up in collaboration with the Accident Compensation Corporation complete with a Drivertown and pleasure rides. The park closed