hands. The army base was made much smaller in the 2010s and become a residential area for a large number of modern houses, both detached and terraced. The subdivision is called McLennan Housing Development next to McLennan Park, home of Papakura Football Club. McLennan being the name of the farming brothers that first settled in the area from Scotland. Transport State Highway 1 and the North Island Main Trunk railway run through the Papakura District. State Highway 1 ran down Great South Road through central Papakura until 1965, when it was bypassed by the Auckland Southern Motorway. Public transport is provided by train and bus services, with frequent trains on the Southern Line between Papakura and the CBD (Britomart). Recent investment has focused on upgrading and refurbishing the region's trains and suburban railway stations, most recently with the opening of a modern station facility at the town centre. Papakura is the final stop for most southbound public transport in Auckland, and Papakura is the third busiest station on the rail network. Drawn by frequent services into and out of the city, rail commuters come from Papakura itself, Franklin County and the northern Waikato. Though the motorway and Great South Road flow relatively freely at peak times, road commuters are affected by the acute traffic congestion as they get closer to metropolitan Auckland. Sport and recreation Some notable sports facilities include an indoor-outdoor swimming pool, an international-quality athletics track, a sports stadium, and venues for rugby, netball, cricket, golf, tennis, badminton, soccer, and many other sports. The council also operates a library and a theatre. Papakura also has a number of skate parks, and a skate bowl. Papakura is home to association football club Papakura City, who compete in the Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Division 2, rugby union club Papakura RFC who are members of the Counties Manukau Rugby Union, rugby league club Papakura Sea Eagles, who compete in the Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial competition (division 1), and Papakura Cricket Club who compete in the Counties Manukau Cricket Association competition. Papakura and the surrounding area is represented by the Counties Manukau Steelers in first-class rugby union and Northern Districts in first-class cricket. Museum Papakura Museum showcases the area's local history. It opened in 1972. Notable people Fleur Adcock – Poet John Afoa - Rugby union player, All Black Sir Edmund Hillary - Mountaineer and explorer Katrina Grant – Southern Steel