Westfield is an industrial suburb of Auckland, New Zealand For many years the abattoirs located here were discharging large amounts of untreated waste into Manukau Harbour.

Portage Road is the location of Te Tō Waka, one of the overland routes between the two harbours (and thus the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea), where the Māori would beach their waka (canoes) and drag them overland to the other coast, thus avoiding having to paddle around North Cape.

This made the area of immense strategic importance in both pre-European times and during the early years of European occupation.

At one point during World War II there were plans to create a canal between the two harbours; this was not constructed but a canal reserve remains in place between the Tamaki River and Manukau Harbour, midway between the Westfield and Otahuhu railway stations.

[citation needed] This was once the site of the Westfield Freezing Works, part of a large industrial zone located near the North Island Main Trunk railway at this point.