Henderson Valley

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Henderson is a major suburb of Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 13 kilometres to the west of Auckland city centre, and two kilometres to the west of the Whau River, a southwestern arm of the Waitemata Harbour.DescriptionThe population was 4,026 in the 2006 Census, an increase of 123 from 2001.The suburb is in the Waitakere ward, one of the thirteen administrative divisions of Auckland Council. It was named after early colonial settler Thomas Henderson, who started a timber mill in the area in ca. 1847 to process the kauri trees which were cut from the Henderson Valley, and upstream from the eastern flanks of the Waitakere Ranges.Henderson features a large shopping and theatre complex, the Australian-owned Westfield WestCity shopping centre, with numerous other shops and large-scale stores also in the area.On the outskirts of Henderson is the Corban's Wine Estate, a major New Zealand export wine brand. The Corban's Estate Arts Centre hosts the annual InterACT Disability Arts Festival.Henderson Train Station is situated adjacent to the main shopping centre and a bus depot is planned nearby. The West Wave pool in Henderson, owned by the Auckland Council, was built to host the Aquatics at the 1990 Commonwealth Games.