The Hobson November 2018

november 2018

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The November Issue, No. 53 8

35

the editor’s letter

the plan

10

Auckland Transport has released its “Vision Zero” safety plan. Hamish Firth buckles up

the columnists

37 the second act

13 the village That rubbish Hobson Bay pathway in Parnell, a community stand on sharing food takes off; the basin fence, again, plus, new chums in town are welcomed in The Village Voice, the Remuera Business Association’s new page

28 the councillors

Status update! Sandy Burgham’s not one for putting it all out there on social media

37 the suburbanist Tommy Honey hops aboard the global phenomenon of ride-sharing

38

News from Waitematā ward councillor Mike Lee

the magpie

29

She’s flying north, and this is what she’s packing

the hobson + edmund hillary

40

Former EGGS principal Gae Griffiths leads a happy and independent life at Edmund Hillary Retirement Village

30 the councillors The councillor for the Ōrākei ward, Desley Simpson, shares her updates

31, 32

the neighbourhood After a very long time in the making, an apartment complex will rise on the shores of Hobson Bay at Orakei Bay Village. Developer Kerry Knight talks about the journey Plus, as it heads towards its 80th year in the aquatic business, plans are afoot for a splash of upgrades at the Olympic Pool in Newmarket

48

the politicians News from local MPs David Seymour and Paul Goldsmith

33 the hobson + farro

the sound Prince, a piano and a microphone — Andrew Dickens hears joy

49

Mmmm, Christmas dinner’s ready for you . . .

the diary What’s going on in November

34

50

the investment Warren Couillault considers what an effective board member brings to the table

the cryptic Our puzzle, by Māyā.

Hint: some answers are local

Make it a Sassy Summer Madam Sass Central Otago Pinot Noir Rosé 2018 is named in homage of the gutsy heroines of the Otago gold rush, and she’s really turning some heads. Awarded a gold medal as Champion Rosé at the recent New World 2018 Wine Awards, Madam Sass was described by the judges as having “dedicated floral strawberry and peach notes, fresh pure aromatics, great texture and length”.

Courtesy of Madam Sass wine, we have four bottles to give away. You must be a grown-up to enter, and we may ask for proof of age on delivery. Email business@thehobson.co.nz with “Madam Sass” in the subject line by 5pm, Friday November 15, and please include a physical delivery address.

Four winners will be selected at random. In the meantime, you can buy Madam Sass at New World Remuera and enjoy instore tastings of gold medal-winning wines on November 7 and 14, 3-6pm. the hobson 6

issue 53, november 2018 Editor & Publisher Kirsty Cameron editor@thehobson.co.nz

T

o celebrate our fifth anniversary issue in September, we were privileged to be able to give away a luxury night at Huka Lodge.

Recently voted Australasia’s No 1 resort by Travel + Leisure magazine, its reputation precedes it as a haven of hospitality, fine food and a stunning Taupo setting. From the tone of many of the entries, it seems the peace and quiet is as much of a draw as the cuisine.

Art Direction & Production Stephen Penny design@thehobson.co.nz News Editor Mary Fitzgerald maryfitzgerald.thehobson@gmail.com Writers This Issue Kirsty Cameron, Gretchen Carroll, Mary Fitzgerald, Wayne Thompson, Justine Williams Sub-editor Fiona Wilson Columnists Sandy Burgham, Warren Couillault, Andrew Dickens, Hamish Firth, Paul Goldsmith, Tommy Honey, Mike Lee, Māyā, David Seymour, Desley Simpson Photographers Mary Fitzgerald, Stephen Penny, Wayne Thompson

Cover Party at the pool: concertgoers enjoy a live band at the Olympic Pool, Newmarket, in 1988. See story page 44 THE HOBSON is published 10 times a year by The Hobson Limited, PO Box 37490 Parnell, Auckland 1151. www.thehobson.co.nz F: TheHobsonMagazine I: @TheHobson Ideas, suggestions, advertising inquiries welcome. editor@thehobson.co.nz

There was a theme to several entries from very tired parents, including from the mother of very busy 17-month-old twin boys. We had entries from several couples with significant anniversaries coming up — the deserving roll went on. There were also thoughtful sons and daughters wanting to treat parents to a night away, a mother thinking it would be a beautiful 21st birthday gift to give her daughter (we agree) and more. And there were some lovely notes about The Hobson too, but we couldn’t let that sway us.

We even received a haiku: Falling water roar Emerald aquamarine Spirit calm renew

But, there can only, I’m afraid, be one winner and that’s Fiona McCrae.

Fiona’s got three small children, they’ve got a new business and she really would like a break with her husband, Patrick. So off to Huka they go!

Thank you to all who entered, and thank you too to our friends at Huka Lodge for this special prize. Enjoy all this issue has to offer, and if you’re keen to have a go at another appealing prize, have a look at our Madam Sass rosé giveaway on the previous page.

THE HOBSON is Remuera, Parnell and Ōrākei’s community magazine. We deliver into letterboxes in these neighbourhoods, and copies are also at local libraries, cafes, and at businesses including the Vicky Ave and White Heron dairies, and Paper Plus Parnell. For more about us, see TheHobsonMagazine on Facebook.

The content of THE HOBSON is copyright. Our words, our pictures.

Don’t steal, and don’t borrow without checking with us first.

We aim for accuracy but cannot be held liable for any inaccuracies that do occur. The views of our contributors are their own and not necessarily those of THE HOBSON. We don’t favour unsolicited contributions but do welcome you getting in touch via editor@thehobson.co.nz to discuss ideas.

The Hobson Ltd is a member of the Magazine Publishers Association This publication uses environmentally responsible papers

Kirsty Cameron editor@thehobson.co.nz 0275 326 424 Facebook: The Hobson magazine Instagram: TheHobson

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The Columnists

Left to right from top row: Sandy Burgham (The Second Act) is a brand strategist and an executive coach with a special interest in midlife change and transformational behaviours. She runs a central Auckland practice. www.playclc.com Remuera resident Warren Couillault (The Investment) is an executive director and the major shareholder of Hobson Wealth Partners, a private wealth advisory group. He is a shareholder and director of Generate Investment Management Ltd; and manager of a registered Kiwisaver scheme.

Andrew Dickens (The Sound) is the host of the afternoon show on Newstalk ZB. For 13 years he was the breakfast host on Classic Hits. He grew up in Remuera.

Hamish Firth (The Plan) lives and works in Parnell and is principal of the Mt Hobson Group, a specialist urban planning consultancy. www.mthobsonproperties.co.nz Mary Fitzgerald is The Hobson’s News Editor. A Mainlander who transplanted to Remuera 14 years ago, she is passionate about hearing and telling our stories.

Urban design critic Tommy Honey (The Suburbanist) is a former architect. The Remuera resident is a regular guest on RNZ National, discussing the built environment.

Judi Paape (The Teacher) is a parent, grandparent and highly-experienced teacher and junior school principal.

A Parnell resident, her column appears bi-monthly.

Contributing writer Wayne Thompson is a former The New Zealand Herald journalist, covering Auckland news. He has been a resident of Parnell for 34 years.

Contributing editor Justine Williams is an interiors stylist, writer and fashion editor. The Remuera resident has been the editor of Simply You and Simply You Living.

the hobson 10

“At Auckland Obstetric Centre we understand that pregnancy and childbirth is the most important time of your life and that you and baby should have the highest standard of care.”

– Jane Patten, Clinic Manager

Auckland Obstetric Centre is a unique practice in Parnell made up of six leading specialist obstetricians and support staff. Together we have many years of experience and feel privileged to be able to share in the care of women during their pregnancy.

To find out more about how we can care for you and your baby call our team on 09 3671200 or visit our website obstetrics.co.nz.

Lynda Batcheler | Astrid Budden | Eva Hochstein | Katherine McKenzie | Kirstie Peake | Martin Sowter

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12/10/18 10:42 PM

the village

Town & Around The fallen pohutukawa blocking access around the western side of Hobson Bay

THE ROUGH WALK IMPROVES, AT SNAIL’S PACE Walkers on Hobson Bay’s city-side foreshore are facing a second summer of risking rough terrain, since residents urged Auckland Council to get on with forming a dry track from Bloodworth Park, Remuera, to the Parnell Baths footbridge.

After autumn storms last year, the Council cleared slips blocking the unpaved pathway between Tohunga Cres and the boardwalk to Bloodworth Park. However, it decided on safety grounds to close the northern half of the tidal path — officially called the Freda Kirkwood Walkway — which skirts the toe of the cliff between the Awatea Reserve access point and the headland of St Stephens Ave. Above the headland, on Taurarua Pt Reserve, the Waitematā Local Board completed a new staircase and smooth paths linking the avenue and the footbridge to Tamaki Dr and the Parnell Baths.

Although the long staircase has proved popular with runners testing their lungs and legs, few of them would risk soiling their expensive shoes on the shore below the headland.

And they are being deprived of a pleasant environment, says Parnell Community Committee chair Luke Niue. “This is a muchloved recreational asset and another summer of this walkway being blocked will be very frustrating to all.”

Niue has repeatedly pushed a case to the Waitematā Local Board for getting the walkway up to standard. (See The Hobson June and

November 2017). To walkers the only change is that a “Track closed” sign that the council nailed to a tree a year ago has disappeared. A replacement sign on a stake says: “This structure is closed due to environmental damage.” Someone with a pen has added “lack of maintenance.”

Frustration extends to the southern section, which needs repairs to the Logan Tce stairs and clearance of a large pohutukawa tree that has fallen from the Logan Tce cliff, blocking walkers across the small bay below. “I’m pushing to get it open,” says Niue. “It’s a crying shame that things are happening at snail’s pace and we’ve lost two summers for doing the work. I was told the tree would be cleared in September. Someone who loves this special part of Parnell has already done some tree limb removal, which speaks volumes on how easy a job it would be to trim the rotting tree back further.”

With this in mind, Niue is asking for volunteers for a four-hour working bee early next February, and to contact him by email parnellpcc@gmail.com. They will face an explosion of cliff weeds such as cutty grass, to push back from the path in the northern section that has been not been maintained since Council declared it closed.

Walking the southern section with resident Rosey Eady reveals some of the regard in which she and her neighbours hold a neglected part of the biggest bay in the Waitematā Harbour. “Look

the hobson 13

the village

at the pushchair marks in the mud from when families walk down here,” she says. “Shoes sink in. Some concerned citizens have put bricks in the mud to step on and used stones fallen out of the cliff to form sides of the path. But it’s not safe footing. Residents have planted the coastal margin at the foot of properties.

This is our park. But it’s not just the neighbourhood using it. People come from all over to walk it. I invite my friends here to walk because it’s gorgeous to be by this quiet, sparkling bay. But we see it’s in disarray.”

She gives as an example the Bentley Steps, which from Elam St go down to the foreshore, but were closed by Council five years ago. Below the steps, infant mangroves are thriving in the clay spilled into the bay by a slip on a neighbouring property.

Rosey Eady is disappointed at the untidy vegetation on the walkway. “We asked for weeds to be cleaned up, like the privet, which affects residents with its pollen.

A pohutukawa came down last year and we can’t get round to Waitoa St and Awatea St. If things like this happen the Council must come in and fix it. It’s a public amenity. Residents are paying huge rates and the money should be spent on finishing things off.”

Her hope for this western side of the bay is that the authorities find the money to complete the walkway northward from the Bloodworth Park end, bring in sand to create a beach below Tohunga Cres, or form a tidal pool nearer the park for youngsters to take a dip after playing sport.

Waitematā Local Board chair Pippa Coom, who was a prime mover of the 1.4km Weona-Westmere boardwalk — an exemplary coastal walk since it opened two years ago — suggested to The Hobson last year that it might make sense to construct a boardwalk well away from the cliff toe so that it would not be affected by slips. “Options are still to be considered and investigated,” she says. In addition, a spokesperson for Auckland Council says there are a number of considerations with any extension of the walkway, including consultation with iwi, but says a feasibility report is expected in the 2018/19 financial year.

As for the pohutukawa blocking the way, Coom says a removal is not straight forward because the tree is holding up the bank. A work plan has been devised and clearance is scheduled for February-March 2019. Repair of the Logan St steps is tied up with that. The necessary work has been The Bentley Steps linking Elam St with the foreshore have been closed for five years. Locals have allocated $25,000 for this financial year. attemped to create a pathway by with bricks, stones and timber. Photos by Stephen Penny Niue welcomes the advice from Coom that the rebuild of the Bentley Steps down from Elam St has been designed and a resource consent is pending. The job is scheduled for this summer.

Gammie confirmed to The Hobson that the work was expected Coom says: “The board is concerned about the delays and shares to be completed by the end of the year. However, the project the community’s desire to fully open and improve the walkway.” has been delayed further, now scheduled for completion by — Wayne Thompson p mid-2019. Ōrākei ward councillor Desley Simpson says this is disappointing but that “public consultation is vital and if, as a result of that consultation, NZTA is able to deliver a design our DON’T FENCE ME IN - AGAIN community is happy with, meeting everyone’s needs, the wait will be worthwhile”.

Updates and proposed fence design options have been announced In June, the original wooden 1.2m fence along one side of the by the NZ Transport Authority and Auckland Transport for the pathway was removed and installation of a 1.4m metal railing fence Orākei Basin shared pathway, but there’s been little applause from commenced. The installation left residents and local authorities local residents. frustrated because of the design and composition of the fence. Due The $4.9 million project to widen the pathway from 2.7m to to the metal fence height and its vertical railings, it has the visual 4.5m, to accommodate pedestrians and cyclists, is one stage in effect of a high, solid wall from some angles. In June, residents the four-stage Glen Innes to Tamaki Dr shared pathway project indicated their preference was for the original lower 1.2m timber partnership between NZTA and AT. In August, with the project fence. already six months behind schedule, NZTA chief executive Fergus the hobson 14

One of the revised Basin fencing options now on the AT site. See end of story for the link to view all three designs

In September, AT and NZTA announced that the metal fence would be replaced with a different design following public consultation last month. NZTA senior manager Chris Hunt says that three new metal fence design options have been developed, and made available for viewing on the NZTA and AT websites as part of the public consultation process. A decision regarding which of the design options will be implemented will be made on December 21.

“To ensure the boardwalk meets the expectations of the community when it is completed, we have reassessed it. The designs need to balance safety and building code requirements with meeting the needs of the community and various users of the path, as well as fitting with the local environment”.

While NZTA and AT confirm they are committed to working closely with the community to deliver the Orākei Basin section, locals are underwhelmed by the latest design proposals.

Architect Paul Clarke, Remuera resident and director of Studio2 Architects, says AT and NZTA need to try harder. He says the three design options are “industrial looking and not enough thought has been put into what is really needed for the area”. He says that whatever option is chosen needs to have a 50-year life to comply with the building code.

“The galvanised steel used in each of the options is unsuitable for a marine environment and will require treatment for rust,” says Clarke. “They need to consider using natural products like treated timber together with a very simple design suitable for the natural Ōrākei Basin environment”. He says they also need to rethink the proposed synthetic material pathway surface. “A treated timber product instead, like the NZ-produced Accoya timber anti-slip decking, will be much more appropriate in this outdoor, natural environment”.

Another local who lives near the Basin has been a vocal critic of the existing metal rail. Roy Champtaloup describes the proposed new designs as “ridiculously stupid”.

“It’s great that AT and NZTA have admitted that this balustrade cock-up needs reviewing and fixing,” says Champtaloup. “But it’s incomprehensible to me that they are only offering 1.4m high metal solutions as options, after conceding that their 1.4m galvanised metal wall is not acceptable and a totally inappropriate eyesore that destroys the views for the users of the pathway.

And not reinstating the most logical, cost-effective, totally safe, environmentally and aesthetically appropriate solution — a 1.2m wooden balustrade with a discreet handrail on top. All at a cost of $4.9 million and climbing”. Ōrākei Local Board Chair Kit Parkinson says he agrees with Champtaloup, but that he believes “we can get the 1.2m height in the end, and this will be part of the public consultation process”.

the village

NZTA’s Chris Hunt confirms that there is $44 million budgeted for the entire Glen Innes to Tamaki Dr shared pathway development. “Redesigning and constructing a new balustrade for Section 3 is an unanticipated cost and as such, costs will only be able to be finalised when the final design is determined and we know the cost for the manufacture and installation of the new balustrade. The NZTA works to ensure value for money and we will be re-using the balustrade that is being removed from Section 3 for another project”.

While decisions are being made regarding the balustrade, work still to be completed on the pathway includes finishing the decking. Hunt says that for this work to be finished, it is likely that the existing wooden fencing on one side of the pathway will need to be removed. “If the new handrail designs have not been finalised by the time the decking has been completed, we will re-install the existing wooden handrail to ensure the path can be reopened again as soon as possible. When the new design is agreed it will be used to replace both the wooden and the metal handrail”.

The pathway will be fitted with sensor LED lighting along the fence to extend the hours it can be used. To see the new proposed railings, go to at.govt.nz/projects-roadworks/glen-innes-totamaki-drive-shared-path (scroll down for the designs) .

— Mary Fitzgerald p

CHAOS AT THE SCHOOL GATES You will have noticed how local traffic congestion noticeably eases during school holiday periods. Mary Fitzgerald spoke to neighbourhood principals about what they’d like to see happening to mitigate traffic snarls and make travel to and from school as safe as possible for all As Aucklanders are aware, traffic congestion is part of our city life, as public transport struggles to offer enough services and the car remains crucial for many. One related issue familiar to road users in our neighbourhoods is the school drop-off and pick-up congestion crunch. Within The Hobson’s physical distribution area of Remuera, Parnell, Meadowbank and Ōrakei, there are 15 schools, not counting kindergartens. Add in Selwyn College, which serves eastern Remuera and Meadowbank, and the Epsom campuses of St Cuths, Dio, Grammar and EGGS, all filled with local kids as well as their wider communities, that’s a total student population of 15,300. No wonder there’s a build-up of vehicles along key routes in the morning and between 3-4pm on weekdays.

So many cars, road designs not intended for modern school transport and, principals say, bus route changes that have in some cases removed a public transport option for students, all contribute to the crunch.

Speaking to school principals and local community leaders, a common theme is a call for better communication with Auckland Transport on road design around schools with emphasis on safety, and better school bus transport services. In July AT made significant changes to its school bus timetables, altering and even deleting several routes to area schools.

Parking and good-for-purpose pick-up and drop-off zones are also raised as being in limited supply close to schools. It is common to see cars obstructing traffic by parking over yellow lines and bus-stops as drivers wait to collect or drop-off students.

Last month, St Cuthbert’s College was forced to remind its parent community not to use the Market Rd bus bay outside its junior school for drop-offs, as the school bus was forced recently to go past the school, instead stopping on Manukau Rd and requiring

pupils to navigate the busy road back to school.

AT’s Joanna Glasswell, senior media adviser walking, 3

the hobson + the remuera village voice

Meet Our New Friends The Remuera Business Association is delighted to introduce you to four of the new businesses who have joined us recently in the Remuera Village precinct

Judy Liu from Go Go Kids is passionate about education. She believes learning through educational toys and books is excellent and feels it’s important to emphasise fun whilst learning.

Judy loves Remuera with its great local schools and strong emphasis on education. Go Go Kids brings accessible creative, technical, educational resources and products to locals and visitors to the area. 315 Remuera Rd. Dylan Jones, owner of Jones Chiropractic and Health Centre was inspired to open his business as he believes health is about maximising the most out of your body, and your life. A local resident, Dylan aspires to make Remuera the healthiest community in New Zealand! Along with the Jones team of chiropractic and body specialists,

you’ll also get a warm welcome from Winston, Dylan’s French Bulldog.

Level 1, 360 Remuera Rd. Hai Hello Cafe owner Tharnthip “TK” Kumjumpol is a passionate foodie who was inspired to open Hai as she has a real drive for great food and creative beverages. TK, whose family are the long-time hosts of the ever-popular Thai Village restaurant, believes eating should be an experience and a journey.

TK was happy to open up on the corner of Remuera and Clonbern roads so she could serve coffee, brunches and lunches to the neighbourhood. 367 Remuera Rd. Alice Yoon opened AJ Studio to provide children art, art history and literacy lessons in a fun and educational way, exploring different mediums to

communicate artistic language. AJ Studio also offers digital tools where children’s creative imagination isn’t limited by paper — they make, design and print as well. Alice is a Remuera local and her guiding mission is that “childhood only happens once.” Level 1, 427 Remuera Rd. With new businesses such as these, Remuera continues to offer a notable, diverse selection of stores and services — it’s an exciting place to visit and Live Life Local. And if you’re looking for a reputable location for your business, now is a great time to secure your place in Remuera. Please contact cecilia@ remuera.org.nz for an information pack From left above: Cake at Go Go Kids to celebrate their opening; Dylan Jones (second left) and team; delicious treats at Hai Hello Cafe; children’s artwork at AJ Studio.

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cycling and road safety, says that AT is aware of the issues and actively monitors traffic at peak school times, issuing tickets if necessary. AT issued 113 infringement notices to illegally parked drivers outside one neighbourhood school in the first six months of this year.

So what would principals do to alleviate congestion around schools?

Justine Mahon, principal, St Cuthbert’s College “We encourage our students to catch buses which is good for their independence and for our roads. However, we are concerned that AT has cancelled some of the dedicated school buses with a view to students travelling on public buses and trains.

Many parents of primary and intermediate-aged students have concerns around putting their young ones on public transport”. She would also like to see more effective consultation with AT. “While St Cuthbert’s is in an excellent location for public transport with lots of train and bus options, we need to ensure our roads are safe for students to both catch public transport and arrive at school on foot. A recent example was the introduction of the T3 lane on Manukau Rd, which has pushed more cars onto Market Rd. Auckland Transport has also removed some bus options which has resulted in more parents using cars for dropoff. In addition, the Council made changes to Campbell Cres, but did not create a roundabout on the west side of this area,which would have improved traffic flows.

“St Cuthbert’s request for a 40km school zone and improved zebra crossings to support safety was denied, as was our request to have a controlled crossing on Manukau Rd towards Cornwall Park.

These initiatives would support student safety, and encourage students to walk to school if possible, or catch public transport.”

Tony Sissons, headmaster, King’s School “I believe one of the most effective ways we can ease congestion around schools is to stagger our pick-up times. King’s School has created a school day that starts at 7.50am, before most of the rush hour, and finishes at 3.40pm, well after other schools in the area. We also stagger our school finish times between various year groups.

“We also collectively need to encourage our families to either walk their children, ride-share or use minibuses to come to school, rather than continue to rely on single family vehicles.

Since 2016 we have introduced four new minibus services to suburbs across Auckland for our school families.”

Sissons also believes working closely with AT is key, particularly for schools “in an inner-city environment on major arterial roads”. “In collaboration with AT and Auckland Council, we have recently succeeded in getting agreement for a dedicated drivethrough off Portland Rd for parents to be able to pull their cars off the road when arriving at school. The school is funding this initiative.”

Sandy Pasley, principal, Baradene College of the Sacred Heart Pasley lists encouraging older, local students to walk to school if possible, and for parents dropping off and picking up, organising a set meeting place away from the school entrance helps, as does neighbourhood carpooling.

Baradene is well served by buses, she says.

Russell Brooke, principal, ACG Parnell College Brooke identified three key factors that have increased school transport congestion — bigger schools, more parents shuttling students by car (rather than walking or bussing) and the relative affordability of secondhand cars “means cheap and easy transport for year 12 and 13 students”.

Council’s reluctance to work with and listen to schools is one of the difficulties with school traffic, says Brooke. “Schools need space around them with five minute drop-off and pick-up areas. They need space for buses to load and unload safely, with room for students to assemble and load safely too. It would help if they consulted re bus routes. The latest changes have caused problems for schools and staff. Also many parents won’t let their children cycle to school as there are so many accidents. More genuine thought needs to be given to the whole situation around a school.”

Brooke also likes the idea of lower speed zones around schools, “however not all schools are entitled to this for some reason.

Apparently Parnell has been refused this in the past. In many ways having a bit of a ‘crunch’ around schools is a good thing as it forces drivers to slow down and be vigilant.”

“School neighbours expect schools to manage parents who temporarily stop across their driveway to pick up a child. In reality schools have no authority to manage traffic and this must fall to the authorities. It would be good to work with them productively.”

Local community leaders also have ideas to throw into the mix, and advocate for better safety on behalf of all road users. Desley Simpson, Auckland councillor for the Ōrākei ward, has been a prime mover in getting King’s School’s new Portland Rd dropoff zone through the AT approvals process. “The school traffic congestion problem was bad 25 years ago when my son attended King’s School and it has not got any better. I was keen to do something tangible with the school to improve this for parents, boys and for all travelling through Remuera at peak school traffic periods.”

She also notes that as far as road safety statistics go, Ōrākei is well down the list. “We’re ranked 17 out of the 21 local board areas for rates of death and serious injury on our roads. This rate has increased by four per cent in the last five years, and this is a trend that we need to reverse.”

Plans to do this include 14 pedestrian safety projects planned for completion across the ward in the next two years, three of them outside schools. One of the schools to benefit will be Saint Kentigern Boys’ School, on Shore Rd. Ōrākei Local Board chair Kit Parkinson would like to see schools considering more options for the to and from — “the obvious ones

PHILIP OLDHAM

They say you can’t beat experience. Philip’s successful transition to real estate after 42 profitable years in the highly competitive field of fashion is testament to his wealth of business acumen and depth of people skills.

As a business owner Philip’s extensive knowledge and instinctive talent for sales and marketing allowed him to successfully run 5 fashion brands distributed throughout Australasia.

Needless to say, it will only take a conversation for you to feel at ease with the prospect of entrusting your real estate business to him.

We’re thrilled to have Philip dismiss retirement in favour of furthering ‘real estate by design’ throughout central Auckland.

A GREAT EXPERIENCE! We consider ourselves very lucky to have found Philip Oldham, he is very enthusiastic, always positive and he obviously enjoys his role as an estate agent. He is always polite and sensitive to the feelings of those he is dealing with, and all the suggestions and advice we received from him turned out to be excellent. We can thoroughly recommend him and he has certainly eased the stresses of selling our home. — Roger Peak

Philip Oldham M 021 921 031 philip.oldham@uprealestate.co.nz LICENSED AGENT REA 2008

the village

of walking, walking school buses, using bicycles, skate boards and scooters”. And, he says, given the rolls of local kids at private schools, he calls for parents to advocate to the board of trustees of each school to put on dedicated school buses “as AT does not supply dedicated school buses as a standard. Working with AT to set up safe, dedicated walking and cycling routes to schools would be good.”

“I appreciate the concern of parents who drive because they feel it is the safest option,” says Pippa Coom, chair of the Waitematā Local Board. She ticks off three ways to diminish school traffic congestion. “Provide the infrastructure to make active travel safer and more pleasant, including slower speeds. Two, Auckland Transport working with schools to encourage carpooling and public transport, and three, extending AT’s Safety at the School Gate programme to include innovative parking and drop-off options — backed with enforcement.” p

LOCAL BOARD NEWS Somerville Hockey Club needs a new home and has proposed a shared sports space concept including hockey, cricket and rugby at the Shore Rd sports grounds to the Ōrākei Local Board.

Established in 1915, Somerville is Auckland’s oldest hockey club, and needs a new base, as its current lease at the increasingly crowded Grammar-owned turf at Normanby Rd is ending. Club representatives Jo Hazard and Bruce Catley say the club has experienced significant growth, but it has been constrained by the lack of turf availability. The club had 44 teams in 2018, but had to turn away around 80 Year 5 to Y12 players this season. To be viable the club needs a turf base by the end of 2020. Catley says that there are no full size community turfs in the Ōrākei ward, and that Shore Rd is an ideal location for new turfs to be used by both Somerville and other club teams. Ōrākei Ward has gained a new reserve for public use, as part of Auckland Council’s $43.7 million purchase of parks and open spaces in the last financial year. Over 2000m2 at 5 Ngapipi Rd has been purchased for $1.8 million. The new reserve sits on the site of the old Hobson Bay wastewater pipeline, constructed in 1913 and

decommissioned in 2009. The local board has plans to clear the area and develop it as an open green space. It will open up access to the esplanade along Hobson Bay, says chair Kit Parkinson.

The board has asked AT to provide the engineer results concerning the Clonbern Rd carpark over the last two years. As reported in the October issue of The Hobson, the Clonbern car park, built in 1982, was fenced off in parts on the top level by AT in 2014 due to seismic safety concerns. At the time AT considered closing the top deck but the local board proposed it remain open and be monitored on a monthly basis. The board has also requested AT report on its involvement with the redevelopment of the carpark and Remuera New World. As reported last month, New World’s parent company, Foodstuffs, has signed a memorandum of understanding with AT to develop the site.

The Ōrākei Local Board is supporting a campaign run by the Sea Life Trust to encourage local businesses to restrict their use of plastic. Sea Life Trust is encouraging participants to make small changes in plastic use, that will have bigger follow-on effects.

Businesses are encouraged to switch to packaging, spoons, cups and straws that can be composted or are biodegradable, causing less risk to sea life and reducing plastic pollution in the water. Kit Parkinson says one of his personal missions in his role as board chair is to support initiatives that actively reduce plastic use. “I’m delighted that the board has been able to support this initiative through a grant of approximately $2000. The Hoyts Berkeley Cinema in Mission Bay has just signed up to the campaign and is going to be replacing its plastic straws with an eco-friendly straw alternative”.

— Reporting by Mary Fitzgerald p

CAPTAIN CRANEKEY RULES! There were some very small visitors in hi-vis to Westfield’s Newmarket construction site recently. Year 1 students from Remuera Primary School (pictured oppposite page) and from Newton Central School were the winners of a crane-naming competition for local Y1 classes run by the shopping centre

the hobson 20

developers. Public votes via Westfield Newmarket’s Facebook page saw Newton Central name the two cranes on the site at 309 Broadway. The cranes are now dubbed “Lightning” and “Sharko”, with flags bearing their monikers. Remuera Primary won the Westfield staff vote for the name of the crane on the 277 site — meet “Captain Cranekey”. Pupils from each school were invited to special naming ceremonies, and took home prizes of $500 of supplies for their schools. p

TAKING A STAND ON CARING “Take what you need, give what you can” is the motto of the Remuera Sharing Stand.

Jo Minnery opened the stand in Lillington Rd in August, and what’s on offer changes daily – it can include fresh fruit and veges, herbs, bread, snacks and homemade preserves.

There are many reasons why people come to the stand. Some have excess garden produce and want to swap it for something else; some are after herbs for a recipe; others simply just need food for their family.

Minnery was inspired to set up the Remuera Sharing Stand after seeing Mark Dennis from the Community Fruit and Vege Stands group interviewed on TV. She has a background working in the charity sector, and is motivated to help vulnerable people.

“Food insecurity is my main reason for setting this up.

Auckland’s a city of extreme wealth and poverty. There are working poor who struggle to buy food after paying their rent and bills.”

Originally people were sceptical about a stand like this working in Remuera, Minnery says, but the location, 44 Lillington Rd, is close to the motorway so is accessible from other areas, and in any case, not all Remuera households can be counted as comfortably-

off. Minnery says she’s met more people from the neighbourhood in the last few months than she has in years. There’s a guest book on the stand, with people leaving comments of gratitude.

“It’s more than just a stand, it’s a way to be involved. Neighbours catch-up and have a chat, and it’s a social thing for elderly residents. People of all ages have been coming along, which is neat.

“I’m astounded by how positive the reaction has been. One neighbour, when she heard I was setting up a stand, was negative about what it might mean. Now she’s the number one fan, and says she comes here almost every day!”

And although you don’t have to donate to take something, people are generous with their donations and groups such as the Brownies have dropped off groceries. Starting with a simple plastic shelving unit, the stand is now both these shelves and a wooden structure built and donated by Express Solutions, a friend’s company.

Years 1–13

New Senior Campus Opening Term One 2019 for students in Year 12 and 13 2 Titoki Street, Parnell | 0800 222 877 parnellcollege.acgedu.com

the hobson 21

the village

PARNELL’S PARKING SQUEEZE

The Remuera Sharing Stand — produce and donated goods change daily

Minnery maintains careful health and safety, with food on the wooden structure, and non-edibles (such as sanitary items, kitchenware, books) on the other. Expired goods are not accepted, and preserves must display the date they were made. She sees herself as the caretaker, and hasn’t had any problems to date, perhaps she says, because the stand is on private property and people respect that.

The sharing stand is not unique – it’s part of a bigger national and international movement. People are sharing pantry items and spare produce from their gardens, both to reduce food waste and help those in need. Minnery created the site freefood.co.nz to show where stands are located around New Zealand, and what they offer.

The Remuera Sharing Stand is part of a collective, listed under “Auckland Free Food Pantries” and another group, “Community Fruit and Veg Stands”, both found on Facebook. A similar initiative is the Community Fridge in the CBD, aimed at the homeless and backed by the Waitematā Local Board and filled with donated food from the public and businesses.

And it’s not just food stands that are part of the community sharing economy. Book swap boxes are also popping up. These are set up by bibliophile residents (usually at the front of their property) and people can borrow, swap, or donate adult and children’s books. Locally there are book swaps in Ingram St, Remuera and Gowing Drive, Meadowbank.

Whatever the sharing outreach, as Jo Minnery says, it’s a wonderful feeling to see someone leaving with a big smile on their face. — Gretchen Carroll p

Follow the Sharing Stand on Facebook, RemueraSharing, or Instagram: @RemueraSharing For similar stands across the city, see freefood.co.nz, or Facebook pages for Auckland Free Food Pantries and facebook.com/groups/communityfruitandvegstands

Auckland Transport’s surprise plan to place 120-minute parking restrictions on only some parts of streets in eastern Parnell has created a pushback from residents who are fed up with an invasion of commuters snapping up parking spots outside homes. The problem has been exacerbated by the overflow of parkers looking to avoid the resident parking scheme in other streets of the suburb.

Parnell Community Committee chairman Luke Niue says the committee’s letter of protest to AT was boosted by more than 70 residents, despite the agency seeking feedback on the plan during the October school holidays.

They were upset by the agency’s proposal to introduce P120 from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday at selected spots along lower St Stephens Ave and side roads Takutai, Lichfield, Awatea and Crescent.

This is merely playing with the problem, says Niue. Motorists from outer suburbs have long prized parking spots in Parnell in order to work and study in the CBD and points in between. But they were forced to look farther afield in December 2017 when Auckland Transport cobbled together most residential streets east of Parnell Rise and Gladstone Rd into a Residential Parking Zone. This new tool for managing parking in the city fringe streets brought in P120 restrictions and, in some streets near businesses, pay and display.

The result of not including all of east Parnell down to Hobson Bay, says Niue, was a dramatic increase in commuters parking from 6am to 6pm in the residential streets.

Safety as well as lack of parking spots for residents created concerns in lower St Stephens Ave, where commuters’ cars vie for space with 755 route buses, tradies’ trucks and traffic generated by Parnell District School, Judges Bay and the Parnell Baths.

The PCC told the agency’s parking planners back in 2016 that all the eastern streets had to be included in the Parnell Residential Parking Zone if it were to help the agency’s higher goal of reducing the number of single-occupancy cars coming in to the city. Niue says the agency’s rejection of the committee’s urging to extend the P120 zone to the edge of Hobson Bay, and for a P30 outside Parnell District School, resulted in the ripple effect of extreme commuter parking pressure which had been expected.

By May, the agency was talking about extending the Parnell zone to lower St Stephens Ave and streets to the east in 2018-19, subject to a public consultation and a full review of feedback. However, Niue says the agency went to individual residents with a “band aid” relief plan of restricting parts of one side of St Stephens Ave and the tops of feeder streets. One resident says this meant the rest of the area would become a free park ‘n’ ride for commuters.

After the committee complained, AT sent letters to all residents of St Stephens Ave. They also went to householders in other streets who would lose their all-day parking outside their homes because exemption permits were not available. The agency says it gave two weeks to respond with a deadline of October 15, though some residents say they had 10 days.

In reply to The Hobson on why it proposes a “half and half” solution, AT says it is not possible to immediately begin work on a whole new parking zone for this area without changing the agreed programme. It hoped to introduce a zone early in the 2019/20 financial year when new funding would be available. Meanwhile, its proposal for a number of P120 restrictions would alleviate pressure on short-term parking by ensuring turnover of spaces.

Residents say it won’t soothe their worries about traffic safety outside the school because commuters will still park across the road. The agency says: “This is why it is important that parents park legally at peak times and that at all times the pedestrian crossing is used to cross St Stephens Ave rather than attempting to cross between parked vehicles.” — Wayne Thompson p

the hobson 22

O P E N 7 D AYS FROM NOVEMBER 1 DINNER M O N D AY - S U N D AY FROM 4PM LUNCH T H U R S D AY - S U N D AY F R O M M I D D AY BRUNCH S AT U R D AY - S U N D AY F R O M 10 A M Stacy Gregg, left, and Ruth Paul with a little friend before their book launch

MINI WHINNY RIDES IN Parnell author Stacy Gregg chose a receptive audience to launch her first picture book — the junior school at St Cuthbert’s.

Better known for her 21 internationally-selling pony books aimed at 8 to 12-yearolds, Mini Whinny — Happy Birthday to Me! is for younger readers. For their launch to an alternatively giggling and entranced audience, Gregg donned a horse’s tail and wig to play a lady horse, while illustrator Ruth Paul dressed as a carrot.

“It was a day of firsts,” says Gregg. “We’d never read the picture book to kids before and in fact for me, it is my first picture book. Also the first time, I believe, that Ruth has dressed up as a giant carrot, although I can’t be certain of that. We had wonderful audience participation.

Our biggest problem was convincing our adorable Mini Whinnys to throw a tantrum for us — apparently this is something that St Cuth’s girls simply don’t do, even for the sake of theatre!” p

WIN

We have a copy of Mini Whinny and a copy of Stacy Gregg’s latest book for preteens, The Fire Stallion, to give away. Email business@thehobson.co.nz by 5pm, Friday November 16 to win. Please put the title of the book you’d like in the subject line.

w w w.morell.co.nz bookings @morell.co.nz 09 600 3259 91- 9 5 U P L A N D R D REMUERA

the village

STARS IN THE EAST The winners of the inaugural Ōrākei Business Awards were announced at an event held at the Ellerslie Event Centre, with Tamaki Drive’s enduring Mission Bay Café taking home the supreme award. From almost 300 nominations, there were 53 finalists in six categories. Finalists had to submit detailed written entries about their business (50 per cent of their total mark), mystery shoppers visited each business or service (45 per cent) and 6300 votes were cast by the public (5 per cent of the final mark). The event was funded by the Ōrākei Local Board and key sponsors Barfoot and Thompson Remuera and Urban Partners.

Business and Professional Services (sponsored by Presentations Design & Print) Winner: Let’s Talk! Mortgages & Insurance

Judges’ comments: “This is a fantastic sole operator business with exciting opportunities for growth and expansion. A great start to a business.”

Highly Commended: AML Loans, The Business Alliance Health and Beauty (sponsored by Ellerslie Jewellers) Winner: Mortimer Hirst “Outstanding vision, values and culture”, said the judges. “Your commitment to implementation is admirable. It’s great to see diversity in employment practices and the team as well as the customer.”

Highly Commended: Simply Fit Gym Hospitality — Licensed (sponsored by Urban Partners) Winner: Mission Bay Café Also the winner of the Supreme Award. “It’s unbelievable to survive and thrive in a tough industry for this long,” the judges noted. “You must be

consistently good. An asset to the community. A mature business, in a highly competitive industry doing “well” through knowledgeable, capable management; an asset to Mission Bay and the wider community.”

Highly Commended: Ampersand Eatery Hospitality — Non-Licensed (sponsored by The Hobson) Winner: Movenpick Mission Bay The judges commented that being part of a global brand can bring pros and cons — “the pros are very evident and the metric of being number one worldwide speak directly to the product and service given to the community”.

Highly Commended: Sebastian’s Boutique Café & Catering Recreation & Leisure (sponsored by Hoed Research) Winner: YMCA at the Ellerslie Recreation Centre “This organisation shows a great

combination of community focus and practical business sense,” said the judges.

Highly Commended: Sea Life Kelly Tarlton’s Retail (sponsored by Property Funding) Winner: Maman Boutique “Great business,” said the judges. “You clearly have a love for fashion and your customers.

Keep doing what you are doing.”

Highly Commended: Hedgerow, and Crisp Home + Wear Sea Life Kelly Tarlton’s was recognised for Environmental Excellence, Community Excellence went to Ellerslie Jewellers and Engravers, Simply Fit won the Excellence in Business Culture Award.

The Remuera Golf Club People’s Choice Award went to Sebastian’s Boutique Café & Catering. p

LAING, MAISON BLANCHE AND SABEN. 09 524 0843

Visit us for Ashley & Co, Ecoya, Voluspa, Hux Baby, Papinelle, S’well, Stella + Gemma, Rains, Helen Kaminski and much more…

Mary Fitzgerald

THE STORY OF . . . THE ŌRĀKEI WHARF In our ongoing series looking at commemorative plaques in our community, Mary Fitzgerald visits the Ōrākei Wharf Just along from Michael Joseph Savage Memorial Park, across the road from Sea Life Kelly Tarlton’s, is the Ōrākei Wharf. It extends out from the edge of Tamaki Dr, and is a favourite place for people to fish, and to amble. It is a great place to take in the views back to Remuera, Parnell and the Museum, of the city skyline and across the Waitematā to Devonport and Rangitoto.

The wharf is used for recreation now, but once served as an important transport link before Tamaki Dr was constructed in the 1950s. In the early to mid-1900s, residents in Ōrākei, Kohimarama and St Heliers relied on water transport to get them to and from the city. The Devonport Steam Ferry Company’s Tainui, Ruru, Kawau, Britannia and Ngorio provided a regular service to these suburbs.

The original passenger ferry wharf was built in 1902 (it was replaced in 1985 with today’s structure). The wharf was also used for boats off-loading cattle and sheep from farms in the gulf islands. In 1915, a bus company started providing services from the city around the bays. As a result of the competition, the Devonport Steam Ferry Company stopped providing ferry services in 1924. p

What you need to know about . . .

Take the ramp beside Parnell’s Metrix showroom, 155 The Strand, and you will arrive at Kouzina, a cook’s heaven of the best in kitchen requirements. We asked Martin Cross to tell us about his business.

What exactly does Kouzina Appliances do?

Kouzina is a specialist appliance retailer working with many major international brands including Miele, Wolf, Sub-Zero, Qasair, Bora, Liebherr plus many more. We work closely with our clients and suppliers to provide up-to-date product information and selection, in a friendly, relaxed environment.

Why did you choose to specialise in this area?

I have been involved with our industry for just on 25 years and have always enjoyed working with people, and their projects from large to small. The many customers we have become acquainted with rely on us for the correct information and advice. Repeat and referral business is very strong for us, which is a good indicator that we are providing great service and products.

When customers walk into the showroom, what’s drawing their eye?

I think customers, designers and architects enjoy spending time in our showroom where they can browse at their leisure and can see the very latest products, whilst being advised on the right solutions for them.

Our customers are attracted to the combination of kitchen finishes we have on display, and the latest product designs. We have many integrated appliances which completely hide away for nice clean design lines.

What is your role in the business?

We operate as a team and have great support from our brand partners. Extensive staff training is undertaken both nationally and internationally and we keep up with the latest technology and trends by regular visits to the trade fairs in Europe. My role as company owner is to

ensure everything runs smoothly from day-to-day, and to plan ahead which involves considerable research into new products and brands. I focus on making sure the overall experience for our clientele is the very best it can be.

What’s in your own kitchen at home?

I use Wolf and Miele cooking appliances with Sub-Zero refrigeration and wine units, and also a Zenith hot and cold water tap system.

Outside of work, what will we find you doing?

I love spending time with my family — my wife and I have three school-age children, so busy times, particularly with sport! I also enjoy catching up with friends. Last year I ran the Queenstown marathon, so running has become an occasional but enjoyable pastime. p the hobson 25

Simply Matching Pe

www.remuerareale

The most beautiful envir

Front view showing return verandah and French doors to garden

37 Bell Road, Remuera Originally built in the 1880s, this original farmhouse was positioned on the land to make the most of the sun, flat terrain and shelter; the garden has its own micro-climate.

The current owners spent more than two years having the house rebuilt from the foundations up; the style and quality of finishes give it an elegance that is very European, and it all comes with the Master Builder Guarantee.

The return veranda has French doors to the garden from the kitchen, drawing room and library.

The main living areas and bedroom suites are either tongue and groove, or Chinoiserie wallpapers with matching drapes. There are 3-4 bedrooms depending on how you wish to use the spaces, and the master bedroom has wonderful morning sun and views over the Portland valley.

The service areas have the best of European equipment and appliances. The three bathrooms are all marble tiled.

From the road all you will see are the chimneys, the roof line and the top of one of the garden pagodas. You are in your own world here whether it be the garden or the house. Peace, privacy, calm and beauty.

For a video walk-through of this beautiful environment, see our website.

FOR SALE

Floor: 342m² Land: 760m²

Terry King 021 484 332 terry.king@remueraregister.co.nz

Telephone: 0

Remuera Real Estate Register

eople with Property

estateregister.co.nz

ronment in which to live

Matching French doors and skylights are a feature throughout

Garden view from verandah

Diana King 021 613 884 diana.king@remueraregister.co.nz

09 520 6624

Limited licensed REAA 2008

the councillors

Mike Lee

A

s previously reported in The Hobson, Auckland Council has undertaken a representation review, part of which is to ensure there is a ‘fair’ balance between the population sizes of the wards. After months of deliberation (I was never consulted), a Council working party, chaired by Waitematā Local Board member Richard Northey, found the Waitematā and Gulf ward significantly out of alignment with others in terms of population-to-councillor, and therefore ‘under-represented’. That is, the ratio of population-to-councillor within Waitematā and Gulf is 33 per cent above the recommended ±10 per cent difference with that of other wards. To lower the population it recommended chopping off significant parts of Grey Lynn and Westmere, Parnell, Grafton and Newmarket; the latter three to be transferred to the neighbouring Ōrākei ward. Bizarrely, the current Waitematā Local Board area boundary would remain untouched. To me this just didn’t make sense, so I undertook my own investigation.

My first question was: is there really ‘under-representation’ in this ward?

The Auckland Council ‘Super City’ is markedly different from all the other 77 councils across New Zealand. In terms of representation, not only are there 20 councillors and a mayor, but because of the Council’s unique, co-governance, there are also 140 elected local board members. While I am the only elected councillor in Waitematā and Gulf, there are seven local board members for Waitematā, five for Great Barrier and five for Waiheke – 17 in all. So rather than just 20 councillors, the Council has 160 elected members, plus the mayor, plus 9 unelected Independent Maori Statutory Board members, plus 25 unelected CCO directors, all having an active role in the ‘functions, responsibilities and duties and executing the powers’ of the Council.

My next stop was Electoral Services, the agency charged with running our local elections. In order to do so, 130 different voting paper combinations must be produced to ensure voters receive the

correct papers for their Council wards, local board areas, district health boards, and licensing trusts. The proposed changes to the Waitematā and Gulf ward (but not the local board) boundaries and consequent changes to other ward boundaries across the isthmus, and dislocation from their local board areas which cannot be changed, will significantly increase the number and complexity of voting paper combinations and their cost. Election Services predict the resulting confusion is likely to generate significant complaints. I suspect it will also act as a turn-off for voter participation.

Then I researched the legislation.

The Local Electoral Act requires ‘fair representation’. Representation presupposes ‘electors’, a category referred to frequently throughout the Act, which also refers in one key instance (the ±‘10 per cent rule’) to ‘population’.

Normally this is not a problem. Across NZ about 70 per cent of the population are electors (the rest are mainly those too young to vote). Across Auckland, the ratio is similar – 67 per cent. But here in Waitematā, I discovered a remarkable difference — a ratio of only 51 per cent of electors to population. This is due to the CBD having the highest concentration of non-elector residents in the country.

Many are students and not surprisingly for the ‘CBD of New Zealand,’ many are ex-pat workers on temporary work permits. Most, I understand, are actually eligible to vote – but in their hometowns: Hamilton, Christchurch, London, Dublin, Los Angeles, Beijing, Singapore, New Delhi and so on.

So Waitematā and Gulf has a population of 119,100 but only 69,700 electors. Ōrākei, where the Council wants to shift the high voting areas of Parnell and Grafton, has a population of 91,500 with 65,339 electors, therefore a much higher ratio of councillor to electors, at 72 per cent. So Ōrākei too will have to shed parts of its southern areas to the Maungakiekie-Tāmaki ward.

Unfortunately the Council has focused rigidly on population and (typically) the hobson 28

overlooked the required ‘effective representation of communities of interest’.

Not surprisingly, the proposed changes are deeply unpopular. Of 145 written submissions from Waitematā residents, a remarkable 88 per cent were opposed.

I attended the hearing where local community leaders, including from Parnell and Grafton, made persuasive arguments to keep the ward and local board boundaries aligned. These, they argued, comprise a genuine community of interest which should not be divided.

There is a remedy, and it lies within the Local Electoral Act s19V ( 3 ) (a) (ii) which allows the Council to retain the status quo if complying with the 10 per cent rule would ‘divide communities of interest’. If Waitematā is a ‘community of interest’, as 88 per cent submitters attest — and as the Local Government Commission in 2010 deemed it to be – then the answer is obvious. Mr Northey’s hearing panel only half-listened, sparing Grey Lynn and Westmere but recommended shifting Parnell, Newmarket and the east side of Grafton to the Ōrākei ward and the western side the Albert-Eden ward. At the same time, confusingly, these must remain within the Waitematā Local Board area. The whole messy proposal will now to go to the Local Government Commission where it can be appealed. I will continue to advocate keeping Waitematā and Gulf together. It’s one of the few good things to come out of the Super City.

Mike Lee is the Councillor for Auckland representing the Waitematā and Gulf ward

the hobson + edmund hillary retirement village

Happy Times at Edmund Hillary Remaining independent is former EGGS principal Gae Griffiths’ motive

M

oving into Ryman Healthcare’s Edmund Hillary Retirement Village was not an admission by Gae Griffiths that she was becoming less independent. Far from it, in fact. This is the lady who still managed the stairs in her two-storey Remuera townhouse — despite having a fractured pelvis. But it was the pelvis issue, which was then followed by an ‘absolutely ghastly’ cold, which prompted the former principal of Epsom Girls Grammar School to start actively looking at retirement options.

“Being solo with no family and no immediate relatives nearby it was something I thought I should be thinking about,” says Gae, 79.

“After Dad died my mother chose to go into a retirement village, but she was 86 when she moved in and so she didn’t really engage. I didn’t want to leave it too late, as she did.”

Being a very active member of the Pakuranga Ladies Choir, now known as the Eastside Singers, Gae had an insight into lots of different villages. “We sing in rest homes, hospitals and retirement villages so I’ve had a great look around by doing that,” she says.

“I’d been to Edmund Hillary once before too.”

Gae liked that the village was close to ‘her patch’ so she got in touch with sales advisor Becky Gillanders, who showed her an available townhouse. “I was quite attracted to the idea of that, but then I said to myself ‘why would I move to a townhouse here when I already had a perfectly lovely townhouse?’” So she viewed apartments in three different blocks within the Edmund Hillary complex. The third place she looked at was on the fourth floor, overlooking the beautiful landscaped gardens, water feature and bowling and putting greens, and with views of the cityscape and volcanic cones beyond. “I walked in here and straightaway said ‘yes!’” laughs Gae.

Once she had moved in, Gae was warmly welcomed to a dinner and a morning tea by friends already living at Edmund Hillary, which has led to her joining the village quiz team. “That has been fun,” says Gae, who also regularly attends Ryman’s inhouse Triple A (Ageless, Active and Aware) exercise sessions. She’s also made friends with residents on her floor, who hold a monthly catch-up.

“I’m probably going to do bowls too. I did go along but then the following week I managed to crack a rib, so I haven’t quite done anything about that yet!”

While she has certainly engaged in village life, Gae is also a keen traveller and has a long list of activities she involves herself in outside of the village. As well as the Eastside choir, she is on the committee of Parnell U3A, and is a member of their poetry and art appreciation groups.

She still visits her beloved St Mark’s Church in Remuera, and is a fan of orchestra and theatre performance.

Then there’s her connection to Epsom Girls Grammar School, where she was deputy principal, and then principal between 1974-88. Even though she retired three decades ago, the legacy of her connection endures.“I’m still closely involved with the school and go to their events. Even here I have had people come up to me who had children there at the time, or grandchildren who go there now.

“I was delighted and am proud to be a part of it but after 30 years it doesn’t fully define me,” she says, adding with a smile, “there’s so much more to me than that!”

Edmund Hillary Retirement Village provides independent living in a townhouse or apartment, assisted living in a serviced apartment, and resthome, hospital and dementia care.

Townhouse available now!

For more information please phone Becky on 570 6432 or Pauline on 570 0072 221 Abbotts Way, Remuera

the councillors

Desley Simpson

O

ften the media stories about Auckland Council focus on things that are dysfunctional, gone wrong, or need significant improvement, and often they are right.

This month however, I would like to share some good news and highlight some improvements and progress that Council has made over the last financial year.

In the three year political and planning cycle, the second financial year is unique — it is the only year where the same group of councillors and the Mayor have responsibility for setting the budget through the Annual Plan, monitoring Council performance through the year and then finally receiving the Annual Report, which gives the final results.

The 2017/18 Annual Report spans the year from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018, and shows that over this period Council has controlled more of its costs, reduced reliance on rates as a funding source and improved organisational efficiency, all while delivering a record capital investment programme to support Auckland’s growth. It has also maintained its AA credit rating, making us lead the list of local governments in NZ and keep a ranking higher than most NZ retail banks. This isn’t to say Council’s performance is all a bunch of roses. It’s not, and I’ll explain why. But first, let’s look at the good news.

This time last year, I was very vocal about my dissatisfaction that Council had spent more on staff than was in the budget.

This year, I am pleased to confirm that not only did the Council parent ( that’s not including the Council Controlled Organisations, or CCOs) meet budget, they actually managed to underspend it (and trust me, that’s not common). This is actually doubly pleasing, as ‘back room staff’ numbers were reduced, but staff for key services were actually increased.

All this within the context of Auckland’s continuing strong population growth of more than 800 new Aucklanders each week.

Other highlights of the report for me included the 2.5 per cent average general

rates rise in the 2017/18 Annual Plan.

I know that this will be welcomed by many members of my community, who often remind me of the 10-40 per cent rates rises many Ōrākei ward ratepayers received in the past. Our CapEx programme has delivered $1.7 billion in assets this year, an all-time high for Auckland, (but one which will be eclipsed as we work to deliver the ambitious $26.2 billion CapEx programme set out for the next 10 years in our Long-Term Plan).

The Value for Money programme, which I fully support and have championed, has delivered benefits of $112.4m (on top of $106m last year) in procurement alone. A further $179m benefit has been realised from Watercare’s smarter prioritisation of Capex works too. While Council’s expenses were $77m higher than expected (and yes this has to be better next year) our revenue was $199m higher than budget. So all up, a total of a $122m favourable result. The launch of Green bonds in June showed that we were a leading example at NZ local government level for environmental funding initiatives. Green bonds have delivered a $200 million source of funding for Council and provided a welcome investment to meet market demand for environmentally driven investments.

In terms of performance, we saw increased numbers of visitors and issues at our libraries, the punctuality of public transport was 96.5 per cent (target 94 per cent) and we improved our engagement with our Asian communities, who now make up a large part of our population.

We created efficiencies by using more digital options for services like booking parks, registering dogs and booking a building inspection online. We bought 13 new local parks and open spaces (one in the Ōrākei ward) and 10 of our regional parks have been recognised internationally through Green Flag awards.

We have made our stadiums more financially sustainable through sporting and musical events, alongside making public transport cheaper, and exceeded the hobson 30

the target number of historic heritage places formally protected in the Unitary Plan.

With regards to our debt, there is no getting around the fact that it is eyewateringly large. Our debt has increased, but this needs to be put into the context of the capital investment that has been realised over the year. As mentioned, Council added $1.7b in new assets, but new debt only increased by $253m, or 14 per cent of the new assets, significantly below forecast. For comparison, the previous Long-Term Plan anticipated this ratio to be around 24 per cent. What’s important to remember is that Auckland Council’s debt is well managed, and within the appropriate prudential limits.

Maintaining our AA credit rating affirms this.

Of course, there are still many areas where we need to improve.

Our performance in the key area of processing our regulatory consents is a cause for concern, with timeliness statistics showing that we are not meeting the statutory deadlines nearly enough. However even here, there are signs that in more recent months the regulatory teams have been improving their responsiveness. I’m very interested in where you think Council needs to improve and would welcome your feedback on that.

As your ward councillor, a key part to my role is ensuring that the performance and finances of Council are well-managed, as a well-functioning Council is crucial for Auckland’s future. I am satisfied that the 2017/18 Annual Report is one that reflects an improving Council. Progress has definitely been made, certainly in financial management with some performance areas showing efficiency in operation. Is it good enough? Absolutely not. But it’s better than what it was, and I’ll do everything I can to make it even better.

Desley Simpson is the Councillor for Auckland representing the Ōrākei ward

the politicians

David Seymour

I

f we are going to live as the Auckland Unitary Plan would like us to, in denser and denser accommodation, then the need for green spaces will become more important than ever. Parks will have to replace back yards and other public utilities such as education and healthcare will require space to keep up with the growing population.

The University of Auckland is retreating from the old teachers’ training college site in Epsom as it consolidates into a U-shaped campus on a public transport corridor: up Symonds St, through Grafton and down Khyber Pass to the new Engineering School site. It’s anticipated that the teachers’ campus will be empty by the start of 2021.

So what will happen with the Epsom campus? According to Council documents, it has already been sized up for residential buildings up to 24m high, potentially housing thousands of people. Who will develop it? Hopefully not the university, property development is not a core business for the critic and conscience of society, but in theory they could.

There is a strong argument that it should become a park, or a reserve for future public utilities. There is just the small matter of the reported $80m value that the University understandably wants to capture. In any

case, it is not possible for another entity to purchase it due to a Treaty settlement.

The Epsom site must be offered to the Tāmaki Collective. The Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Act 2014, the settlement with a range of Auckland and Thames based iwi, provides that University of Auckland land is subject to right of first refusal if the university decides to sell.

So, the seemingly inevitable outcome is that the Tāmaki Collective will use its right of first refusal to purchase the land and develop it at the densities the university has sought permission for. The pressure on local infrastructure such as schools, transport, and green spaces will intensify, but there will be more housing in central Auckland.

I say seemingly inevitable, because the Unitary Plan and the Tāmaki settlement are well entrenched, but only having their effects felt now. The best we can do is take lessons from how these initiatives have turned out.

You have to be very unreasonable to oppose Treaty settlements. Generally speaking, if you take something you should give it back, and the various Tāmaki iwi certainly had a lot taken. What’s not clear is whether some of the settlement has really made Auckland better for anyone.

Former Attorney General and National MP Chris Finlayson recently made the most extraordinary admission in Parliament this year that maybe the Collective could be taking better care of the volcanic cones. If you’ve been a close reader of this column you’ll be just as astonished as I was, after Finlayson’s earlier, rather acerbic, defence of the cone transfer. Treaty settlements walk a very fine line between the need to compensate past wrongs and the need for future public spaces.

More importantly, we have underfunded infrastructure for too long. Because of our incomplete motorway network and limited public transport, we resort to packing in housing near the infrastructure we have.

The government’s initiative to pack the old Unitec site in Mt Albert with 6000 houses, reaching the same density as Mumbai, is another example of the same folly.

The history of urban development is that transport technology gets better and people use the dividend of time and convenience to live further apart, not closer together. NZ is not short of land, just serviced and zoned land. We can have more housing without living on top of each other if only we get infrastructure right.

David Seymour is the MP for Epsom

Yes, even Mahé needs a navigator.

J U S T N O T O N T H E W AT E R

GUIDING, GROWING, AND P R O T E C T I N G YO U R W E A LT H

H O B S O N W E A LT H .C O. N Z | 0 8 0 0 74 2 7 3 7 Hobson Wealth Partners Limited (FSP29782), is an NZX Advising Firm. The disclosure statement for Hobson Wealth Partners is available upon request, free of charge.

the hobson 31

the politicians

Paul Goldsmith

S

ince writing the last column I’ve picked up the Transport portfolio for the National Party in Opposition.

I’m very pleased to have it, particularly as it fits so well with my other area of responsibility, Economic Development and Regional Economic Development. A good, functioning transport system is so important to our economy.

Traffic congestion adds to the cost of everything that is transported – from concrete and materials to build our houses, to the food we eat.

But, of course, the impact of the transport system is much broader than business – our quality of life is hugely affected by our ability to get around freely, safely and affordably. Transport patterns have a huge impact on house prices, which is also central to our living standards.

For many decades we under-invested in transport infrastructure in Auckland. The Southern Motorway was built with two lanes each way in the 1960s. Since then, the population has more than tripled and in some parts there’s still two lanes each way – should we be surprised there’s a problem?

The previous National Government got stuck in and made huge investments to get us moving again – the Waterview Tunnel, electrification of the rail system, the CBD

rail loop and many improvements to the motorway system.

I’m pleased to see the new government is continuing to invest, though I worry about the ideological nature of some of the decision-making, particularly around light rail down Dominion Rd, which should be considered transparently. I’m not pleased with how they’re paying for it.

We’ve calculated that the average Auckland household is now paying $324 a year more in petrol taxes than this time last year.

This from a government that has inherited massive surpluses from the previous government’s careful fiscal management and is happy to waste billions on poor quality spending, such as Shane Jones’ slush fund or free tertiary fees.

Already, every time a New Zealander puts $1 of fuel in their vehicle, 53 cents of that is going straight into the Government’s back pocket.

But the Government’s share and the costs faced by Kiwis are only going to increase as fuel prices climb and the Government imposes new taxes.

National has a better vision for New Zealand. The Government needs to tackle the cost of living. We oppose these new fuel taxes being put in place and have pledged to abolish regional fuel taxes. We remain

DI

committed to investing in major transport projects up and down the country. They can be funded without extra taxation if we are disciplined in our normal spending.

Another area that I’ll be watching closely is what seems to be a determination by transport planners to slow us down unreasonably. Long, beautiful parts of the motorway system that have had 100kph speed limits for decades now have been turned into 80kph zones – where we have to crawl along, despite driving safer cars and despite the road toll being a third of what it was, per person, in the 1980s. The proposal to turn the entire Auckland CBD into a 30kph zone is a ludicrous joke.

Transport policy should be focused on making life easier, not to drive us all mad.

Finally, Simon O’Connor, MP for Tamaki, and I are hosting a public meeting with National Party Leader, Simon Bridges, Wednesday 14 November, 2.30pm-4pm, Remuera Club, 27-33 Ohinerau St. If you can pop along, it would be great to see you there.

Paul Goldsmith is a National list MP based in Epsom

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the hobson 32

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the investment

A Direct Approach

W

e’re currently in the process of seeking and appointing a new director for Hobson Wealth Partners, so I am focused on all matters regarding boards, their composition, skill assessment, governance, diversity, “best practice” etc. And recently there has been a number of high-profile, well-publicised cases where company directors have come under fire - rightly or wrongly - for inadequate corporate governance, resulting in company failures. So I need to make sure we choose the right person.

So what constitutes “best practice”? The Institute of Directors in New Zealand refers to the code which “provides guidance to directors to assist them in carrying out their duties and responsibilities in accordance with the highest professional standards”. Pardon me? This description seems vague at best, and classic corporate speak at worst. Does anyone think that a week-long intensive company directors course prepares you for the rigour of the boardroom in a company about which one might have very little understanding?

Clearly, there are a number of high calibre directors with many years of experience operating very successfully in our listed market, but among some companies there appears to be a worrying trend of ‘box ticking’ in order to satisfy the latest governance trends.

To my way of thinking, those board members with an intricate understanding of the business they are representing will undeniably be the most effective and exactly the sort of director we want at Hobson Wealth Partners. An obsession with a broad mix of skills may seem reasonable on paper, but not if the core competencies are not there?

In a recent presentation to a large group of our clients in Christchurch, Mainfreight managing director Don Braid outlined what I believe to be a very compelling case to its approach to people and any board appointments. In its latest correspondence, Mainfreight mentioned the upcoming departure of Carl Howard-Smith from its board.

Howard-Smith has been a director of Mainfreight since its listing on the NZX way back in 1996, and prior to that

when it was a private company, so it’s fair to say he has had a significant influence on the success of the company: Carl was closely involved in the company’s decision to internationalise and take its approach to logistics global. He was around the board table when the company established its initial operation in Sydney way back in 1989, as well as signing off on a string of acquisitions over the years in the USA (Target) and around the world (including Owens here in NZ in 2003 and The Netherlands-based Wim Bosman in 2011).

That business experience and industry knowledge cannot be easily replicated and certainly it is exceedingly difficult to “buy in” when needed. Mainfreight notes that Carl’s length of tenure as a director flies in the face of modern governance guidelines (director turnover is deemed to be “healthy”), a clear example of what it sees as flawed thinking in terms of “best practice”.

Mainfreight is in the enviable position of having a board of directors with extensive company and sector specific experience, who in many cases, have been with the business from the beginning. The continued strong performance of the company’s share price over a long period of time, is therefore no coincidence.

Another issue I need to consider in potential directors has to be the number of directorships that the candidate holds at any one time. I do not see how someone can give the sufficient time and energy to drive commercial outcomes for that underlying business if they’re on the boards of more than half a dozen or so companies.

Boards of directors have major responsibilities and obligations to shareholders – even those of private companies like Hobson Wealth Partners — so surely a core group of experienced directors, all of whom possess a strong understanding and sector specific business knowledge, should be the minimum starting point.

I don’t feel particularly inclined to overly consider other factors at the expense of those detailed above, especially not if it’s just “box ticking”. — Warren Couillault

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the plan

Hi-Vis Safety

I

recently sat through an Auckland Transport presentation on Vision Zero.Vision Zero is a concept which originated in Sweden over 20 years ago with a mantra that no death or serious injury is acceptable on our roads. In 1997, when Sweden adopted Vision Zero, the road toll was 541. Twenty years later and the road toll was reduced by more than half, to 254. It has been introduced in New York, San Francisco and Mexico City with record success in the reduction in road deaths.

It is coming to Auckland, and it’s going to be ambitiously and progressively rolled out over 700kms of our roads, both local and rural over the next three years. A policy and budgets have been prepared over the last year, the full Council and local boards have been briefed, and consultation is proposed to the “customers” (that means you and me) before Christmas.

The Auckland region has seen road deaths and serious injuries grow by three times faster than the rest of the country over the last four years. While Auckland has seen population growth, fuelled mainly by migrants who are new to driving in our conditions, the road deaths have still increased disproportionately to the population expansion.

So what is going to happen? There are a number of “interventions” planned, including lowering speed limits, installing more safety cameras, laying down high friction road surfacing, creating better and safer pedestrian infrastructure, targeting high-risk intersections and fixing poor alignments on rural roads.

Speed limit reductions will be the most noticeable change to drivers. It is proposed to reduce the speed limit in parts of the CBD to 30kph, to major arterial roads like Hobson St and Nelson St to 40kph, and a similar 40kph reduction to retail centres like Parnell, Newmarket and Remuera. Many rural roads will be reduced to 80kph from 100kph as they were never designed for such speeds, especially with many new migrant drivers who may not be experienced with cornering at these speeds.

While the roll out of Vision Zero will be widespread throughout Auckland, we already have localised evidence of a successful reduction in speed limits. For nearly 10 years

Ponsonby Rd has had a 40kph speed limit. The evidence is clear – there has been a substantial reduction in deaths and serious accidents and no real reduction in journey times. Not only did they reduce the speed limit but additional pedestrian refuges were added alongside other engineering improvements, designed to ensure 40kph becomes the maximum speed you expect to travel at.

This is not about stopping crashes, as they still happen on Ponsonby Rd. It is more about reducing deaths and serious injuries. The goal is to reduce deaths and serious injuries by 60 per cent over the next decade. This has to be a positive story. I support the strategy in general as long as it is evidence-based, and not rolled out with a “we know best” so beset by previous Auckland Transport initiatives. It also needs more than just a speed change on a roadside paddle to get the public buy-in.

You may remember that NZTA tried to make a large portion of the newly minted North-Western motorway 80kph. The westies did not want a bar of it, and they were right, the road was purpose-built and designed to be used at 100kph. It took a year to get the speed increased and it was resisted at all levels, except by those people who used the road.The road looked like 100; it felt like 100, so drivers went at 100.

My concern is that once a speed limit is reduced it will almost never go back up and while we the public will have the opportunity to make submissions, the policy has already been drafted. So these will largely be a waste of time as the approach is not customer-led but driven from a production-led focus that suits the end goal. There will be a lot of promotional material which will be very hard to argue, until the roll-out occurs and people deal with the new environment.

It’s well-established practice that if you want to be successful you must listen to your customers. It is also true that sometimes the customer needs to be shown and not asked.

It will be interesting to see how the public buy in to the concept that they must drive slower – for their own good.

— Hamish Firth

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Public meeting with Simon Bridges Remuera Club, 27-33 Ohinerau St, Remuera Wednesday 14 November 2:30pm—4pm

Authorised by Paul Goldsmith MP, Parliament Buildings, Wellington.

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the second act

the suburbanist

Like Me (Please)

Zoomy My Ride

am really trying to get with the social media programme like,“normal people” but I just can’t seem to get the point of it.

Until around seven years ago, I wasn’t even on Facebook, but fearing that I was heading to 50 and being left behind, I hired a pointy-headed friend who made a living up-skilling laggards like me to give me a crash course on what the hell it was all about.

I’d just come out of running a large team in the fashion business, where social media was increasingly critical, but I trusted my Generation Y team to do it all. The most junior member, an even younger millennial, used to irritate us all by having the audacity to go onto her personal Facebook during office hours. (I imagine she is now earning a six-figure salary doing just that). My friend who runs a large empire has an obligation to keep an eye on her brand through social media. When her gaggle of millennials start updating her on what they are doing on her behalf, she asks them to communicate to her as if she was an eager-to-learn, yet clueless golden retriever.

When I was 21, I took up smoking, willingly I might add, nothing passive about it, primarily to look cool and again get with the programme, as everyone was doing it. Now I am well out of that addiction I find it incredulous I didn’t listen to my higher self, or even just plain commonsense, that it was a road to nowhere.

Because that’s what the hours I now spend trawling (not trolling) through the echo chamber of my Facebook feed seems to be. Why do I do it? Unlike smoking, I don’t even like it. My niece, also my younger mentor, works for a social media agency, a business idea not yet invented when I was her age. She tells me my dilemma stems from me wanting to keep up with the play, yet not having found my social media channel of choice.

Well maybe I don’t belong on Facebook because the social code of sharing happy relationship shots with one’s husband of 25 years I find embarrassingly inauthentic. (“Look at us, we communicate well and never irritate each other!”). Not to mention those overloads of “isn’t my daughter pretty!” shots, parties you weren’t invited to, or pets that are not nearly as cute as your own. Ok, admittedly when I’ve posted a column I am particularly chuffed about, I obsessively check my “likes” — all the while feeling very disappointed with myself. “Yes, you see”, says my learned niece. “It gives you a little hit of dopamine”. Oh god, what have I turned into?

So I am shifting over to LinkedIn; it feels more appropriate as noone overshares personal status updates, opting for more reasonable online behaviour and generous tips for the workplace . . . kind of.

There is a little shameless self-promotion going on and maybe I do that when I share information about upcoming courses, but I cannot stoop as low as to put selfies up — the “so proud to be here at the opening of an envelope” — sort of thing. So I did share a selfie of me meeting Gloria Steinem, but come on – that was extraordinary!

A study was done last year which revealed that the average person will spend more than five years of their lives on social media. OMG. I need those five years. I want those five years! So, my commitment is to limit social media usage to 10 minutes a day, and so far that has been rather difficult. Most of the allotted time goes onto Instagram, which I think might be my natural social media place. My feed celebrates the little things that I find inspiring in Auckland city that I do genuinely want to share, because it’s not about me, me, and me. I am ignoring the expert’s advice that if I put myself into these photos my likes will go up; it would feel counterintuitive and embarrassing, which shows you my social media behaviour is indeed abnormal. I am not so self-absorbed that I want people to like my feed to validate my interests, but while you’re here, if you are interested in Auckland city . . . can you follow me?

Thanks, @aucklandtownie — Sandy Burgham

his month the IPCC report on climate change came out telling us that if we don’t get our act together we’re all going to hell, not in a handcart, but in a fossil-fuelled vehicle of our choosing. While we wait for the price of electric cars to fall and their range to rise, what choice do we have?

Well, public transport, yes, and the Phil’s in government – local and national – are doing their best to make this happen. But will it be enough, or soon enough?

While we nobly embrace the concept of public transport – especially for others – we secretly love our private mobility. Take the cars off the motorway by all means, but don’t take mine out of my driveway. I need it – dropping the kids to school, a quick trip to the supermarket, out to a movie of an evening . . . where’s the public transport solution for this? Sure, I could Zoomy or Uber, but the cost would quickly mount up. Wouldn’t it?

Maybe, maybe not. A new trend in the US could one day arrive here; Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) is to transport as Netflix is to viewing. You would pay a monthly subscription fee that would give you access to multiple mobility options on a single platform: ride-hailing services (Uber etc), bike-share and carshare. Currently some ride-sharing systems in the States are offering limited options for this; Via offers ViaPass – unlimited rides for $255/month. For those that use these services often, travel anywhere for under $10/day would certainly look attractive.

Lyft has acquired Motivate, a bike-share start-up and Uber has bought Jump, ditto for electric bikes, in an effort to offer their customers more personalised and flexible options. Uber is exploring integrations with public transport to widen these options and exploit already available public services. The reverse is happening in some areas where public transport apps are suggesting ride-sharing possibilities to their users – you might have noticed that Google Maps has ride-sharing as an option when you seek directions.

The future may well lie in this mix of public and private transport that balances the fixed regularity of buses and trains with the flexibility of ride-sharing and personal mobility. In Helsinki, Whim is a service that delivers this combination where a subscription of around NZ$75 per month gets you a limited offering of public transport, bike-sharing and ride-sharing. For NZ$750 a month, you can have unlimited options, replacing the need to own a car – go to the movies, the supermarket, school, whenever you like. No depreciation on your car, maintenance costs or worries about the price of petrol, with or without increasing taxes.

MaaS operators are looking to the evolution of the mobile phone industry which once charged for every call and every text. Consumers are now used to a monthly subscription where they might pay more for the occasional busy month or ‘all-you-can-eat’ plans that cover everything. If it works for communications, why not transport?

Some places are looking at making public transport entirely free; Estonia has instituted it nationally and Paris is considering it. The theory is that the collective benefits of increased use – reduction in traffic, parking and pollution – outweigh the cost of provision. And if the public transport options are increasingly electric – light rail particularly – then we will more quickly be able to reduce our use of fossil fuels and address the issue of climate change. The convergence of innovation in public transport with the rise of MaaS opportunities could make a bigger difference to the world than the path we currently travel.

— Tommy Honey

I

T

the magpie

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5. No trip is complete without your favourite hat, and a light but protective panama is perfectly sized to travel well in your suitcase (fill it with socks or smalls and then pack around it) and arrive in style. Rebe White Panama Hat, $375, rebe.co.nz 6. The ever-popular duffle is back with a few improvements to boot.

Perfect for a long weekend or as your (approved sized) carry-on. You can even have your initials embossed on the luggage tag that comes with it. Deadly Ponies Phantom Duffle Saddle Bag, $955, deadlyponies.com

11. This kit is the one-stop shop - and cabin-size friendly. All your hair, body and oral care staples, along with classic skincare formulations for normal to dry skin types. Aēsop Vienna Travel Kit, $91, from aesop.com/nz

7. The Magpie always gets a little chilly when flying and generally finds the whole experience much more

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The Next Big Things A decade after it was first mooted, an apartment building will rise on the Orakei Bay Village site.

The Peninsula is the vanguard for residential use of the long-delayed new neighbourhood, developer Kerry Knight tells Kirsty Cameron

I

t’s been some time coming, this story. To get here, there’s been a decade of backwards and forwards between successive versions of Auckland Council. Two different developers.

Negotiations with KiwiRail, with Auckland Transport, with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei. Not to mention the opprobrium of local residents, concerned by the impact of hundreds more car movements onto already inadequate roads, and protective of the precarious existence of a stand of ancient pohutukawa. There’s been the Environment Court, four or five sets of plans, and $10m already spent on lawyers, architects, engineers, planners, sewage consultants. Who’d be a property developer?

Kerry Knight would. He became one mostly due to the GFC. A lawyer and partner in Knight Coldicutt, the practice his father started, Knight had segued into becoming a financier of development projects with his business partner, Chong du Cheng. From that, they did a few codevelopments, putting up the money with a construction partner. When the economy took its major dive in 2007, Knight and du Cheng’s Equinox Group found they owned land and several fledgling developments in lieu of debt. So they rolled with it, moving from financiers to full-time developers with a track record — in the past four years alone they’ve completed some 400 homes across the city.

“It’s a funny dynamic, development,” says Knight. “When I think about it, it’s a bit like opening a shop and hoping your customers will come. It’s sort of ‘I’m going to buy a piece of land, I’m going to commit to it, I’m going to make this thing work’”.

Making Orakei Bay Village work has taken some grit. In 2007, Equinox partnered with Tony Gapes’ Redwood Group on a sizable apartment, townhouse and retail complex on a run-down, semi-industrial site bordered by Orakei and Ngapipi roads, and the eastern shores of Hobson Bay. There were to be buildings on both sides, and over, the Ōrākei rail line, nudging towards the Waitematā harbour, onto leasehold land owned

by Ngāti Whātua. Redwood left the project in 2010 and Equinox forged on, working with the newly minted Auckland Council. More plans were drawn up and apartments sold, but an increasingly complex planning process saw the development grind to a halt. “Council changed the ground rules,” says Knight.“They changed most of the criteria and that made it impossible

to work financially.” Buyers were refunded their deposits, and Knight and du Cheng went back to the drawing board.

Today the Ōrākei development by Equinox — EQ for short — is a different entity than what was first planned. The leasehold land (with its stand of pohutukawa) has been relinquished, and the necessary crossing of the rail tracks is gone. Now, EQ is focused on the 2ha it owns outright, on the Remuera side of the railway line, which is pretty much what you see between Orakei Rd and the water, with the exception of the building beside the driveway nearer the rail line.

To kick things off, they created Orakei Bay Village, putting hospitality and retail into a onetime gin bottling warehouse. Anchored by key

tenants like Farro, Brothers Beer and Ampersand restaurant, OBV has brought life and commerce to the front of the site, while plans have been finessed for the first long-term development — The Peninsula apartments, which will sit where Kings Plant Barn was at the water’s edge, facing north to the harbour and west to the CBD. Given the number of nascent apartment builds that haven’t been able to get the banks onboard, why will The Peninsula work? Because they’ve got the numbers right, says Knight, and they’ve owned the land for some time, which gives them more equity than starting from scratch.

Knight and du Cheng are drinking coffee in the sun, on the terrace of Ampersand at OBV. OBV is the project of Kerry’s son, Elliot, who is also in the EQ business. The EQ team is tight — Knight and du

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the neighbourhood

- Opposite page: Business partners Kerry Knight and Chong du Cheng. This page, top, The Peninsula at Orakei Bay. The nine-level building by Hulena Architects includes a wet-edge pool for residents, and a private pool for one of the ground-floor apartments. The home-sized apartments range from 155m² up to 500m² and include double-glazed and heated lanai-style terraces.

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the neighbourhood

Cheng go back 30 years to when the young lawyer did a lot of conveyancing for the Harcourts office in Remuera. Vietnamese refugee du Cheng was one of Harcourts Remuera’s star performers, bridging the interests of Eastern suburbs vendors with the new wave of Asian migrants. Du Cheng sat beside another young buck in the land business, future developer Tony Gapes.

“The cost to build almost every apartment is very similar construction in fees and consent levies and all that,” says Knight of the development sliderule. EQ builds right across the isthmus, from luxury like The Peninsula — a boutique block of 32 large apartments ranging in price from $2.7m to $13m — to master-planned greenfields builds in South Auckland, and now, for KiwiBuild. Where developers are getting stuck, says Knight, is trying to make a margin, balancing what the market will pay per square metre, and the land cost. “Most developers are borrowing to buy the land from a bank, and from a secondary source, and they’re borrowing for the soft cost to get started.”

Below Ampersand’s terrace is Ōrakei Train Station. Being a direct line with the port, it’s also a freight line. As if on cue, a diesel freight train rushes through – for 13 seconds, Knight counting it down as it passes. As much as the water and city views have informed the design of The Peninsula, so has the rail line. It’s a plus and minus for the site — be in the CBD in minutes — but the noise of the freight trains meant creative thinking from the developers and architect Brent Hulena’s team. With double-glazing now the building code, EQ has doubled-down on The Peninsula, with the lanaistyle exterior terraces also double-glazed, a solution it worked out with KiwiRail.

“We came up with the idea with the acoustics so you can sit on your deck and not be disturbed for 13 seconds [as the freight trains go through]. It’s turned out to be a really good thing.”

On the land where Kings Plant Barn was is now a showroom for The Peninsula. As well as the samples of finishes and interior imagery of the two different styles — “Aman” and “Four Seasons” — there’s a scale model showing the details that talk to its location and the community it wants to create, from a storage room for paddleboards to a potting shed for the shared vegetable garden. It’s the first construction of other buildings to come, Knight pointing out they’re starting with the “best site first” so whatever ultimately happens on the Orakei Rd side will not affect The Peninsula.

For now, du Cheng and wife Jo live in a Parnell apartment, and Knight, who grew up on Remuera’s Burwood Cres, lives on the Shore with wife Jacq.

Will they live in The Peninsula? The du Chengs may stay put, but the Knights could be on the move if Jacq prevails. “We’ve designed it to live in, definitely, so it’s got a whole lot of features that I would want if I was living here,” says Knight. “My wife definitely would like us to live there.”

See obv.co.nz, contact info@eqgroup.co.nz or call Colliers, 0800 Orakei for further information. p

Edition presents a facade of Italian glass bricks to the street

Also rising ...

C

onstruction has commenced on Edition, the luxe boutique complex of just 19 apartments in Churton St, Parnell. Developed

by LEP Group and designed by architects Monk Mackenzie, the investment threshold for construction was reached in September after the sale of two penthouse apartments for $9.25m and $8.25m respectively, by NZ Sotheby’s International Realty agent, Ross Hawkins.

“It’s a bold, contemporary, confident piece of architecture,” says LEP Group owner, Russell Thompson. “Aucklanders are becoming more sophisticated in their demands for homes.”

“The two penthouse sales have set a new benchmark price in the Parnell area, and a record price in Auckland, for a penthouse floor made up of just two apartments in a high-end development,” says Ross Hawkins. “The architectural design, quality of the interior fitout and the stunning views on offer in Edition have been determining factors in setting these new benchmarks.” Hawkins says the demand has come

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from empty nesters and the baby boomer market. “Many of our buyers are coming out of larger family homes and still require the design and function of an architectural home. Buyers in this demographic are moving into a change in lifestyle, freeing up more time to travel and spend in their lifestyle properties.”

With its distinctive glass brick facade, Edition has already won recognition for its design — it was a winner in the mixed use category at the prestigious 2018 International Architecture

Awards; and was a residential finalist in the World Architecture Festival Awards 2017. Apartments are one-plus-study, two or three-bedroom, all have patios, and some gardens. The interiors have been designed by Bureaux studio. Completion is expected in March 2021.

Edition, 2 Churton St, Parnell. See editionparnell.co.nz or call Ross Hawkins, 0274 720 577 or Jason Gaddes, 021 994 921 p

The atrirum at Rahwhiti Estate

Rawhiti opens its doors

A

lso new to the neighbourhood is the almost-complete Rawhiti Estate boutique retirement complex in Remuera, which was due to welcome its first residents into apartments in mid-October. Developed by Guy Eady’s BeGroup, Rawhiti’s main entrance is on Rangitoto Ave, Remuera, on the site of the former Rawhiti Bowling Club. Its townhouse-style exterior presents 27 apartments to the street frontages. The complex also includes 48 rest home and hospital-care suites, and 20 suites in a secure memory loss area, as well as gardens, an indoor pool, gym, treatment rooms, resident lounges and multi-purpose rooms to host anything from bridge afternoons to private dinner parties.

The apartments — which all include smart details like a boiling water tap and a wine fridge — have interiors by Anna Desbonnets, with Lauren Hare designing the common area decor.

“When we started the design process we wanted to ensure the building was designed to help us deliver the type of care we want to offer,” says Rawhiti general manager, Helen Martelli. “We made a lot of changes along the way to ensure we never compromised

our care. We want people to feel they are able to maintain as much independence as possible in a dignified space that they are proud to call their home. It was most important to us that it doesn’t feel like a hospital or an institution.”

To that end, colours used through the complex are soft and calming, natural light is in abundance and in the care wing, bedrooms have spacious ensuites and any clinical equipment is discreet. The design details are myriad. For example, the memory loss unit has different signage, easier to read for those with vision difficulties. Suites in this area also include floor sensors to light the path to the ensuite at night, and clear-fronted armoires so clothes can be found easily.

“Our staff love it,” says Martelli of the development. “We are really looking forward to our residents moving in and enjoying their new home.”

A limited number of suites and apartments are still available: see rawhitiestate.co.nz or call Angus McPhee on (09) 522 7001 p

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Renders of the proposed upgrades to the Olympic Pool complex, including another entry via Davis Cres, leading to new addditional change facilities.

Images courtesy of Pacific Environments Architects. Opposite, majority shareholder leasee, John Fay, poolside.

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the neighbourhood

Into the Deep End With an 80th anniversary next year, the operators of the Newmarket Olympic Pool would like to give the place a major overhaul, but only if the pool’s unusual public-private status can continue. By Kirsty Cameron

T

he Newmarket Olympic Pool holds a gold medal position in welcoming you to the neighbourhood, right on the junction of where Parnell Rd meets Broadway and the commercial strip unfurls. Constructed in 1939, it was opened with great ceremony the following year by the minister for Internal Affairs, William Parry. The crown jewel of Newmarket Borough Council’s public assets, the 55-yard pool’s open air grandstands were packed with spectators for the swimming events of the 1950 Empire Games. Over the next two decades, it remained Auckland’s premier pool, the place where swimmers like Pip Gould broke world records for backstroke, and the city’s competitive swimmers could set PBs and smash times. But when Newmarket amalgamated with Auckland City Council in 1989, it was a run-down establishment that the city acquired. The City Council had managers in its pools — Pt Erin, the Tepid Baths, Parnell Baths — but taking on Newmarket needed more than managers and lifeguards.

John Fay knew about running pools. The Fays lived in Remuera: John and elder brother Michael (now Sir Michael) attending St Peter’s College. John had swum competitively for school, often at the Olympic. After a stint at Victoria law school — “I can’t sit in an office all day” — he’d worked in publishing before taking on the lease and management of the Tepid Baths for a decade. From there, he spent a summer running the Parnell Baths.

So the Council rang him.

“They didn’t know what to do with it,” he says of the Olympic. “They asked me, and I said sell it, and with the money we could do up the Parnell Baths properly.

But it turns out they couldn’t sell it — there was a Deed of Gift way back from a family, and it had to be kept as recreational.”

Here the story takes a very Auckland-in-the-80s turn, which Fay enjoys recounting over a post-swim coffee in the Olympic’s adjoining cafe. “Around the same time [former Chase Corporation director] Peter Francis’s Force Corporation were looking for a property in Newmarket they could put a multiplex in”. The pool was mouldering, but there was opportunity above it.

So Force, working with cinema and mall developers Village, proposed building its cinemas over the pool,

giving the open air pool “a roof for nothing” as Fay puts it. It seemed a great idea — until it reached the desk of Auckland City’s then-deputy mayor, Phil Warren.

“Phil wasn’t always right, but he was prepared to listen. He phoned me and said ‘no ex-director of Chase Corporation will get a deal from the Council while I’m deputy mayor’”. Fay suggested a discussion over lunch. “I explained that I’d be willing to run it cost-free to the Council. He said ‘you’d run a 50-metre pool in Newmarket at no cost to the Council? He said ‘you’re right, I’m wrong. You’ve got a deal’.”

“

I understand public swimming pools because I was a swimmer

So the cinemas were built — Westfield is now the leaseholder, with Event holding the exhibitor rights — and Fay and two partners took on the pool (he remains majority shareholder). The new roof allowed them to put in a gym and redevelop the interior, which also includes two learner pools and facilities for the Hilton Brown swim school. The structure retained the tiered concrete stands, which remain, for now. The cinemas and the updated pool attracted retail to that end of Broadway, which until then was light industry and car yards, bathed in the yeasty wafts from the Lion Brewery just up the road.

The Olympic swam along until another political change in 2010. Then, Fay says, things “got squirrely,” as

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”

the neighbourhood

Top and left: 1939, construction starts. Right: a crowd enjoys When The Cat’s Away, playing live at the pool in 1988. Photo by John Dixon

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the concept of a public-private pool operation bobbed up against a Labour mayor and local board, which was philosophically opposed to idea of public assets in private hands for the long term. “When the Super City came in, it brought Len Brown from the south, people from west and north. They all had different ways of running their pools — Auckland City had contracted out all its pools, it didn’t run any. Then suddenly, you had all these other people coming in, and they were trying to lattice them together, and we found ourselves on the outer.

“What we had done, no-one else had done, which was to invest in the pools and take a long lease. And to run it totally separately from the Council . . . the only concession we make is that we keep the pool price the same as all the other pools.”

Where Fay used to deal with a Council recreation committee, he says there is now no desk within Council itself for him to work with, which can be a plus or minus.

The Super City also saw devolvement of local area decision-making to local boards. The Olympic falls into the Waitematā Local Board’s remit, and Fay is hopeful that the board chair, Pippa Coom, will be helpful in guiding the process to getting a longer lease sorted — he has five years to run, and wants an up-to-20-year renewal to make it worth the necessary investment in the facility. He has recently presented a draft document of renovation proposals to Coom. The local board There is no machinery in will be briefed by Council engineers on the the Council that we can condition of the pool next month — Coom could deal with, we’re stuck out not comment on possible lease arrangements or Fay’s draft document before that briefing on a limb by ourselves, happens. which is the way we like it.

Fay thinks around $5 million should do it for the renovations he has drafted up — that would create a new gym entrance on Davis Cres, sort out the access between the pool and café, and on that western side of the building, add a whole suite of new changing areas, including dry areas. At present there’s one changing and shower facility each for men and women, trying to cater to all needs. It’s one big wet mess, “hell on wheels” in the morning rush according to Fay, who swims with Rick Wells’ early morning training squads most weekdays. He has other plans too, like collecting water from the roof to use in the pool.

The fate of the concrete bleachers has a question mark too. Engineers recently inspected the almost80-year-old terraces, and while Fay hasn’t seen the report that will go the local board, he thinks the stands are likely “knackered, and they’ll have to go.” Any remedial work required will inevitably affect the outcome that Fay is looking for.

“All we are looking for is an extension of lease commensurate with the amount of money we’re going to put in,” he says. “All we want to do is finish the job, literally.” p

“

”

Keep up with developments via Facebook (The Olympic Pools & Fitness Centre) or online at theolympic.co.nz/future

TIMELINE 1939 1940 1950 1970s 1980s 1989

1993

1994 2014 2019

Construction started and swimming begins in the 55-yard pool The Newmarket Olympic Pool officially opens The pool is central to the Auckland-held Empire Games The length is shortened slightly to make the pool the new Olympic standard of 50m The pool continues to operate but becomes more and more dilapidated The Newmarket Borough Council amalgamates with Auckland City, bringing the rundown pool into Auckland City Council ownership Council grants John Fay and partners a 20-year lease to operate the pool.

Construction begins on a redeveloped facility — the cinema multiplex is built over the top of the pool The refurbished pools and a new gym are back in business, and the cinemas open 75th jubilee celebrations, and $1m invested in upgrades and a new filtration system The Olympic Pool turns 80

the hobson 47

the sound

30 Minutes of Purple Reign

S

o the Prince vault has finally opened. After Prince’s unexpected death in 2016, the recordings held at his Paisley Park studio became a centre of attention. Rumours circulated of a treasure trove. They talked of completed albums that in lesser hands would have been released to worldwide acclaim, but failed to meet the Purple One’s exacting standards and so had never been heard.

The rumours were of an El Dorado. But since his passing there hasn’t been a tsunami of tunes. Just a couple of songs that felt underdone. But now we have a release that is just as intriguing and complex, yet as simple as the man himself.

Piano & A Microphone 1983 was recorded just before the film and album Purple Rain threw Prince from Rn’B phenomenon to global superstar. It’s Prince, late one night in 1983, sitting down alone at a piano and fooling around for 30 minutes and nine songs. Taken from a home cassette, the recording is complete with dropouts and tape hiss. It’s actually a clever move as it echoes back to Prince’s final tour, the one that finally brought him to our shores, where he performed alone on piano.

We don’t know what he was thinking as he sat down to perform. Whether he was visualising an audience listening to his output, or not. I prefer to think that there was so much performance in him bubbling to get out that he had to sing and play or explode, and this was just one night of many.

So what do we get? Well, early versions of album tracks to come in the future, like “International Lover” and “Strange Relationship”, “Why the Butterflies” and “Cold Coffee and Cocaine.”

But the highlights say more about the man. Firstly, there’s 90 seconds of “Purple Rain” in the performance. Prince was in the middle of putting together the soundtrack for the movie and playing with the epic song, and how he would present it live. In this version it pops up briefly before a slither of a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case Of You”. Its presence lies jike a sleeping giant briefly poking its head over the barricade and saying “Peek-a-boo! Wait a little bit and I’ll be back to eat you later!”

The Mitchell cover is proof of the respect Prince held for Joni, and how her forays from folk into jazz was such a part of his musical DNA. But then, after just 90 seconds of that, we’re into an AfricanAmerican spiritual that dates from the US Civil War. “Mary don’t you weep” is a five minute tour de force performance

by Prince. His management have re-imagined the song in video, and dedicated it to the victims of gun crime in the States. As powerful as that is, just closing your eyes and listening to Prince’s falsetto swooping into a gruff blues bellow is electric. “Mary Don’t you Weep. Got a bad bad feeling your man ain’t coming home”. In the recording Prince is sniffling away. He had a bit of a cold. It adds to the raw reality of the blues sung from the heart.

But the song that really does it for me is the first song, and its presence surprised me because I’d been listening to it a lot recently and thinking I’d write an article about the greatest B sides of all time. “17 Days” is one of the greatest songs that never really found a home. I first discovered it back in the 80s as a B side to “When Doves Cry”. I flipped the 45 and found myself a little concerned that the B side was better than the A side. Nothing against “When Doves Cry”, but “17 Days” is an insistent song about vulnerability with lyrics that we can all relate to.

“You’ve been gone 17 days.

17 long nights”. Not that I’ve been counting. “I want to call you every day and beg you to be near me. But I know your head is underwater. I doubt that you could hear me”. It’s brilliant.

The former recorded version has a suffocating relentlessness to its beat. On Piano & A Microphone, it’s jazzier and scattier, but the message is the same. It’s a heartbroken, lonely and vulnerable man which stands at odds to the public persona of Prince — a strutty, confident lover. But as the co-writer of the song, Lisa Coleman says, the abandoned man was more the real Prince than anything else. The rhythm is still pounding but the melody is jazzed, his vocal performance is bang on and to cap it off, there’s is a long and creative piano solo with flying fingers. It’s a marvel of instrumentation and ability from a performer who was just 25.

It’s this version of an unacknowledged classic which makes Piano and A Microphone 1983 such a lodestone for diehard Prince fans and why they’ll spring good cash for a half-hour oddity. But if you’re at all interested in the creative process or for a glimpse of genius, you’ll find it and all the album on YouTube. Now this is also surprising, because when he was alive, Prince zealously prevented this sort of sharing. While Prince may not have approved, I do. Well done to Warner Music, because talent this good has to be shared with as many people as possible.— Andrew Dickens

Prince, 1983. © The Prince Estate - Allen Beaulieu. Courtesy Warner Music

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the district diary

November 2018

Taonga from the King’s College Art Sale: left, John Penman Focus on Green, blown glass, 360mm x 250mm diameter, $1600.

Rose McKellar, Large Feather Cloak, feathers, 1m x 750mm, $3250. kingscollegeartsale.co.nz

2 Head to the Laura Fergusson Trust charity race night dinner for an evening of food, silent and live auctions and harness racing. Tickets from laurafergusson.co.nz or 524 0537. Alexandra Park Raceway, Greenlane West, 5.30-10pm The sounds of Schubert, Schumann, Stravinsky, by pianist Christopher Park, will fill the Auckland Museum as part of the legendary Fazioli piano recital series. 7-9pm.

Tickets from aucklandmuseum.com 2-4 The annual King’s College Art Sale fundraiser will be open to the public at the school, Golf Ave, Ōtahuhu, all weekend. Paintings, photography, ceramics and sculptures, see kingscollegeartsale.co.nz for a preview. Free entry, Sat 10am-4pm, Sun 10am-3pm 3-4 The Very Vintage Day Out 2018 celebrates the 40s and 60s and everything in between, with live bands, car displays, fashion shows and more. Get your glad rags on for the Best Dressed competition, there’s also a huge range of vintage/retro products for sale. ASB Showgrounds, Greenlane West, 10am-4pm, ticketmaster.co.nz 5 Make sure your pets are safe and secured indoors, it’s bloody Guy Fawkes tonight

For fireworks of a different kind, the Tāmaki Electorate debate pits Paul Goldsmith and Sarah Dowie against Judith Collins and Simeon Brown for the topic “Politics has lost its spark,” hosted by MP Simon O’Connor. Doors open 6.30, debate starts 7.30pm. The Churchill Club, 259 Riddell Rd, tickets from eventfinda.co.nz Growing Food in Small Places will suggest the best plants for urban sites, as well as soils, fertilisers and how to control pests without compromising your health. Alongside the Parnell Farmers’ Market, 9am-11am, 545 Parnell Rd, free 9 Visit beautiful homes and support the homeowners’ nomiated charities at the Dio House Tour for Causes. 10am-4pm, Tickets $80, available at iTicket 10 Don’t miss all the fun of the fair at Michael Park School. This annual event is renowned for its exceptional crafts and phenomenal sell-out cake stall. 9.30am-3.30pm, 55 Amy St, Ellerslie 11 Live Music in the Neighbourhood at Pinchos Bar & Tapas, every Sunday from 5-7pm. Soul, folk, covers, jazz. Families with kids (and even pets) are welcome. 60 Coates Ave, Ōrakei, free At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, the Great War ended. At 11am NZ will be the first in the world to mark the

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100th anniversary of the Armistice, with a commemorative service at The Cenotaph, Auckland War Memorial Museum 14 Local MP Paul Goldsmith hosts his Nats leader, Simon Bridges, for a public meeting at the Remuera Club. 2.30-4.30pm, free entry, plenty of parking in the grounds, 27-33 Ohinerau St 17/18 The Auckland Rose Society’s annual show and competition for the best roses Auckland has to offer, plus the chance to meet other rose enthusiasts. Free entry, Selwyn Library, 8 St Stephens Ave. Saturday 11am-4pm, Sunday 10am-3pm 24 StarJam empowers young people with disabilities through music and performance, and the StarJam 2018 End of Year Concert is the culmination of a year’s worth of effort.

Singing, dancing, drumming and jamming; an evening for the whole family. Victory Convention Centre, 98 Beaumont St, Freemans Bay. 6pm, tickets from eventfinda.co.nz 25 You better watch out, you better not cry, because Santa Claus is coming to town! The Farmers Santa Parade is 85 this year, and it promises to be one of the best yet. Parade starts at 1pm, with Santa’s Party in Aotea Square from 2.30-5.30pm. (Rain date Dec 2)

the cryptic by mĀyĀ

ACROSS 1/6 Hang about to take in moon and planet, a source of many mysteries (5,5) 9 Hypnotic power barrier placed around Luxembourg (7) 10 Should when before to tough out (5) 11 First lawyer Benjamin meets alien and Norse god (5) 12 Firearm to end life, conceivably (7) 13 Qualifications given to English playwright (5) 16 Remove hair from the rich?

That’s back to front! (5) 19/23 down Haggard ruler’s pages ate dark buffet around a campaigner for 4 (4,8) 20 Out of order in hospital to

operate backwards on member (4,3) 21 Brand horse with loose coat and a slight shaking motion (6) 22 “Be more sustainable with rubbish? F off!” (5) 24 Ex-player I find rather hot (6) 25 Bomb threats? They’re mad!

(7) 26 Worker’s quarter has existed in the past (4) 27 Lower oneself like Sam (do tell!) (5) 30 Trade union leader Howard coming before the Spanish fairy Queen (5) 33 Arrange pay-outs to determine cause of lateness (7) 34 See 38 35 Bic pen (a French one) with rug rat (occasionally) (5)

36 Alan and Moira - he pulls the wool (7) 37 Religious discourse on cunning we rejected (5) 38/34 Aunty is initially hot and cold (5,5) DOWN 1 Sailor James: “I’m on a roundabout!” (5) 2 Aberdonian slugging a stand up? Seconds out! (5) 3 Frequently decimal (5) 4 Argues very loudly about franchise (8) 5 Sunday joints heard to expel irritants (6) 6 Setter with education’s getting just deserts (5) 7 Concerning, to hide under a

leading son of Rangi and Papa (5) 8 See 19 14 Discard 2 for a goer from Europe (7) 15 Stop playing? Not quite yet (7) 17 Weed in your meal? (4,3) 18 Adams ale to run in battle (7) 19/8 Kahupake Rongonui ends with “Schulmeister”, a piece by writer (4,5) 21/26 Placed at Janet and Ben’s a high flyer (4,6) 23 See 19 Across 27 Excitement aroused by boots?

(5) 28 Strict squeeze (5) 29 Claims he doesn’t have a soup (5) 30 My car’s got gas, Cicely (5) 31 Forbid weird guy’s stock (5) 32 Wasted right to be in study (5)

Set by Māyā. Answers will appear in our next issue (December 2018). Can’t wait, or need help? Visit https://thehobsoncrossword.wordpress.com

OCTOBER CRYPTIC CROSSWORD ANSWERS Across: 8/30 Landseer, 9 Icier, 10 Unit, 11 Artist, 12 Pizza box, 13 Abandons, 15 Elara, 17 McCahon, 19 Slip-ups, 22 Nihil, 24 Assisted, 26 Sketched, 28 Delphi, 31 Mache, 32 Dali Down: 1 Fair, 2 Adrianna, 3 Giotto, 4 Hippest, 5 Frizzell, 6 Kusama, 7 Miro, 14 Bacon, 16 Apple, 18 Oklahoma, 20 Postlude, 21 Van Dyck, 23 Hotere, 25 Sydney, 27 Klee, 29 Hals

the hobson 50

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CABO A-GRADE TEAK LEFT & RIGHT DAYBED

NAIROBI PURE RELAXING CHAIR

New products have arrived for Summer 2019!

Stunningly curated outdoor furniture from Italy, Belgium, Indonesia, France, and the Philippines. Visit our showroom in Parnell to see the many styles of high quality outdoor furniture. Sunbrella® cushions are free with the purchase of our deep seating pieces as shown on site.

Everything is fully assembled, in stock, and available to take home today. www.designwarehouse.co.nz / 0800 111 112 / 137 - 147 The Strand, Parnell, Auckland / Open Daily 9:30 to 5:30

Unprecedented.

Luxurious character loft conversion designed by Cheshire Architects. Only 3 lofts remain.

Completed and unveiled to market mid November 2018. Call for a viewing oppor tunity.

ROSS HAWKINS National Top Performing Licensee 2013 – 2018 +64 27 472 0577 ross.hawkins@nzsir.com nzsothebysrealty.com E a c h o f f i c e i s in d e p e n d e n t l y ow n e d a n d o p e r a te d. B r ow n s Re a l E s t a te Lim ite d ( li c e n s e d un d e r th e R E A A 2 0 0 8) M R E I NZ .