Gills Reserve and Lucas Creek Waterfall

The area today comprising Gills Reserve was likely the original site of Te Rere, a small Māori kaianga (village). The settlement sat on a bluff above Waikahikatea Stream, which is one of the principal feeders of Lucas Creek. Māori and Pākehā alike used the shallow waters above the waterfall as a ford. This was later replaced with a low bridge that proved inadequate and was replaced by the high bridge where Dairy Flat Highway crosses Lucas Creek today. The waterfall became a popular destination for visitors to the area, especially in the summer months when children would play in the pool below the falls.

The first European to own the property was Joel Samuel Polack, who acquired it in 1844. Like most early landowners on the North Shore, he never lived there and eventually had the property confiscated from him. One of his likely lessees was Daniel Clucas, who may have established a rudimentary flaxmill within the bounds of the reserve around 1845. That was the first year that Lucas Creek is recorded under that name. The venture failed and Clucas left the next year.

The reserve was formed over several years. The lower lot had been a fruit orchard before the Public Works Act requisitioned it for state housing in 1964. It was never used, though, and in 1992 was donated to the North Shore City Council. The upper parcels were originally part of the Hull family estate and acquired by the council in 1993. These form the core of the reserve, which was created in 1994 in honour of the Gill family, which laboured for many years to acquire the lots and turn them into a usable park.

Return to Dairy Flat Highway and turn left. Continue until crossing Oteha Valley Road Extension, and then cross Dairy Flat Highway. Cross Library Lane and then stop.