Southdown, New Zealand

Southdown is an industrial suburb of Auckland City, New Zealand. The former main company in the suburb was the Southdown Freezing Works, part of a large industrial zone located near the main trunk railway at this point. The buildings were decommissioned during the 1980s & 1990s releasing large areas of land to be redeveloped as office parks.

For many years the abattoirs located here were discharging large amounts of untreated waste into the Manukau Harbour. This had had a detrimential effect on the ecology of the harbour which at the turn of the 20th century had been a popular and attractive place to swim, sail, fish and gather shell fish. For most of the middle of the 20th century it was a health hazard and its shell-fish a probable source of food poisoning. Since the freezing works were fully closed in 1981, the water quality has improved greatly.

It is well known as a cruising area.