MIKE LEE

Te Arai Regional Park purchased by the ARC in 2008 for the people of Auckland

If you thought what Auckland Council is doing at Western Springs and at Dove-Myer Robinson Park with the national Erebus memorial, was pretty bad, what’s been planned for our regional parks and the Hauraki Gulf is even more concerning.

Auckland’s 28 regional parks have long been considered the ‘jewels in the crown’, the pride and joy of Aucklanders with an outstanding international reputation. Originally the creation of visionary regional politicians like Dove-Myer Robinson, managed by uniformed park rangers, they are an iconic part of Auckland’s beach and bush lifestyle.

In my years of service for Auckland, especially as the chair of ARC regional parks committee (1992-1995) and chairman of the ARC (2004-2010), I was involved with the acquisition of about one third of these regional parks, some of which were enormously difficult to achieve. I also worked with PM Helen Clark in 2009 to amend the Local Government Act to ensure our regional parks were protected in public ownership in perpetuity.

Unfortunately Auckland Council, true to form, has again been floating the idea of effectively breaking up the regional parks network. Hidden away in its 460 page Regional Parks Management Plan which went out for consultation late last year is policy 45, to ‘investigate’ the formal transfer of 20 (or 21) coastal parks, including much-loved Tawharanui, Wenderholm and Long Bay, as well as the Hunua Ranges, including five water storage lakes, into the DOC managed Hauraki Gulf Marine Park. This amounts to 17,700 ha of land owned by the people of Auckland, much of it priceless coastal real estate.

The planned transfer is in response to a written request in October 2020 from the ‘co-chairs’ of the Hauraki Gulf Forum, Nicola MacDonald and Cr Pippa Coom - without any authority at that time from the Forum. But here’s the kicker, the proposed move is happening at the same time the very same people are lobbying the government to transform the Hauraki Gulf Forum into a ‘co-governed’ Hauraki Gulf authority, and for the ‘removal of the ‘Marine Park concept’’. In plain English - abolishing the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park! a spin campaign suggesting critics, which included Judge Arnold Turner, one of the original founders of the regional parks network, Bronwen Turner, chair of ‘Friends of Regional Parks’ and Sandra Coney, a long-standing chair of the regional parks committee, and myself, were spreading ‘misinformation’. Despite this some 4684 public submissions were lodged opposing the regional parks transfer.

Furthermore, ignoring Local Government Act principles of public consultation, the council has refused to make available independent legal advice on the proposed parks transfer, despite LGOIMA requests, resulting in my having to appeal to the Ombudsman.

In the face of this public opposition, from what I could pick up when I made my submission to the council hearing panel on 20 May, council officers may be modifying the offending policy 45. However policy 271: ‘Management transfers: Consider the transfer of management in whole or in part, of: regional parkland to a relevant public agency or iwi authority...’ it seems will be staying.

Only three out of seven Auckland representatives on the Hauraki Gulf Forum voted with the bloc of iwi members in February to support radically changing the governance of the Hauraki Gulf. One of them was Waiheke Local Board chair, Cath Handley, and another was local councillor, Pippa Coom.

In contrast, councillor John Watson (May issue Ponsonby News) continues to speak out against the scheme to in effect hand over regional parks to a parks-unfriendly, undemocratic, ‘co-governed’ Hauraki Gulf authority. For doing this, Watson is now the subject of a formal code of conduct complaint from Coom and Handley in what appears to be an attempt to intimidate him.

The principle of free speech and that our parks are owned and managed for the people of Auckland – all of them - is being steadily undermined. Did anyone vote for this? (MIKE LEE))  PN

PARKING AT MOTAT 2 “You can find information related to the MOTAT 2 car park on the MOTAT website. As noted on their website, they are in discussion with AT on the possibility of charging for parking once construction of the car park is complete.

“No decisions have been made yet as to whether parking fees will apply to the new MOTAT car parking area. The revenue from any parking fees will go towards the maintenance of the MOTAT car park and any surplus will help enhance visitor experiences at the site,” Kind regards, Sandy Webb, Interface Lead, Auckland Transport

It lacks transparency and is disingenuous in the least, that Auckland Transport have released a public information brochure for the Pt Chevalier to Westmere Project with important detail missing. They mitigate the loss of all car parking along Meola Road with the yet to be completed MOTAT 2 carpark. It is unclear whether this facility will be free or fee paying.

However pay parking machines appear on the detailed map. The information is on the MOTAT website but not included anywhere on Auckland Transport platforms.

How does the public understand the impact of, and, have a say on projects that directly affect day to day living when relevant information is withheld?

Auckland Transport have lobbed this ball over the net to MOTAT. Unfair.

Catherine Moorhead

A boutique custom made signet rings store, the first of its kind in New Zealand, has opened on Ponsonby Road in Auckland.

The store, Custom Signet Rings by Benjamin Black, has replaced its sister brand, Black Matter Jewellery, to meet a growing demand for personalised signet rings.

Co-Owner, Benjamin Black (Master Jeweller), says the store is unique to the New Zealand market and has grown throughout the global Covid-19 pandemic. “Signet rings have been around for centuries, and have made a tremendous comeback in recent years. We initially developed an e-commerce website so people could order custom signet rings online, which has been incredibly popular.”

Since then, signet ring sales have increased from 15% to 30% of our entire business revenue, despite last year’s lock downs and subsequent strain on the economy.

Many of our customers are based in Auckland, so it made sense to take the business to where the people are. It’s the only physical store in the country specifically dedicated to providing custom made signet rings.” Black, who co-owns award-winning jewellery brand Benjamin Black Goldsmiths, alongside his partner Amy Cunningham, says every individual ring is handcrafted in Nelson. “A signet ring is an heirloom piece designed to stand the test of time. We handcraft every ring from our workshop in Nelson in solid precious metals - sterling silver, gold or platinum - ensuring they are made to the highest quality, so they can be worn and loved for generations.”

Happily married nearly 50 years and now both in their 70s, the couple were beginning to think about the next stage of life.

The retirement village lifestyle was becoming more and more appealing. The family home they had lived in for 35 years had outgrown them. Their girls were grown, the full section was starting to feel unmanageable and the stairs were a bit much for Richard since his knee replacement. They had a few friends who had made the transition and Tammy McLeod were absolutely raving about it. Richard and Becks discussed all this with their daughters, becoming more keen. They spent many weekends touring the different villages and finally settled on the perfect one. Richard and Becks were well-positioned financially. They had built a very successful business which they sold ten years prior, first investing the sale proceeds in term deposits and now managed funds. And of course, their Takapuna home had increased hugely in value since they bought it in the late 80s. The house and the managed funds were both in a trust, established back when they owned their business. Richard and Becks were the beneficiaries of the trust together with their three daughters and their children. The trustees were Richard, Becks and their accountant. In anticipation of their big move, Richard and Becks went to their lawyer to seek advice on the Occupation Right Agreement. She had helped them immensely with the establishment of the trust and sale of the business, but they hadn’t had much reason to visit in the last few years. She advised they take this opportunity to review their wills and trust documents at the same time. She explained that trusts had evolved over the years, becoming quite a specialty area. She referred them on to a lawyer who specialised in trusts for expert advice. The specialist explained that trust law had changed quite a bit since they set up theirs in the mid 90s. At that time, it was common for trusts to have extensive beneficiary lists. This would often include spouses as well as de facto partners. When the lawyer looked at Richard and Becks' trust deed, he saw that not only were their children and grandchildren’s partners and spouses potential beneficiaries, but also any caregivers for those people. This would include the nanny of their eldest daughter’s children. The lawyer said this wasn’t a common inclusion, but he had certainly seen it before. Clearly this is not what the couple had intended when they set the trust up.

Richard and Becks were particularly concerned about their youngest daughter who happened to be going through a messy divorce. They didn’t like the idea that her ex-husband was a beneficiary of the trust. Unfortunately, the lawyer informed them that due to the age of the existing trust, there was no way to remove beneficiaries.

He said that sometimes in these cases the trust deeds could be varied to include a power to remove beneficiaries which could then be exercised. But again, in their case there was no power to vary the trust deed. The only options open to them were to resettle the trust, which meant setting up a new modern trust with a smaller class of beneficiaries and settling the assets onto that trust or closing out the trust and putting everything back into their names.

Richard was reluctant to wind up the trust given the cost and effort of setting it up and maintaining it for decades. However, the lawyer advised them that the right to occupy the villa in the retirement village wasn’t able to be owned by the trust. Furthermore, now that they didn’t have the business risk or any obvious family issues necessitating a trust, winding it up would be the most sensible option. The trust had done its job and they could still protect their daughters’ inheritance with wellcrafted wills.

Richard and Becks took the advice. They wound up their trust and put in place new, more extensive wills. They sold their Takapuna home, purchasing the occupation right to a lovely villa in the retirement village. The balance of funds from the sale were added to their managed funds, which were now held under their own names. Their tax returns became more straightforward, without the extra cost of preparing annual accounts for the trust. Richard and Becks were very happy with the outcome, still with the understanding that the trust had done its job for all those years — providing peace of mind when they needed it.