Issuu

Hemlines fall at Takapuna

Grammar... p2

August 15 2025

Path cleared for landmark’s restoration... p10-11

Interview: Musician Alice Freya Jones... p18-19

Fright nights: Crowds flock to fearsome fundraiser

More than 800 visitors went through Cheltenham’s “haunted house” last week, raising over $12,000 towards the fitout of changing rooms for female cricket and rugby players in the former Devonport Bowling Club premises.

Co-organiser Matt Hunt said the sessions last Thursday and Friday nights were so popular that queues for a time extended sev-

eral hundred metres down Cheltenham Rd. Such was the success of the fundraiser, organisers are looking at running a Haunted House 2.0, possibly close to Halloween on 31 October – if another suitable house can be found, Hunt said.

Last week’s sessions were held at 10 Cheltenham Rd, which was recently bought by the Newman family, who came up with

the idea of a charity event before work starts on a major renovation.

Around 35 volunteers were involved in decorating the house and helping terrify the crowds. Students from Belmont Intermediate School donned ghoulish makeup for the occasion.

Members of the Newman family helped

To page 5

Look out behind you... Witches Jemma Glancy (left) and Diana Murray with student volunteers from Belmont Intermediate School outside the “haunted house” in Cheltenham Rd. More pictures, pages 4-5.

Don’t hem me in – TGS reveals new two-length code

Takapuna Grammar School is launching an option for girls to wear an ankle-length skirt –a first in the school’s nearly 100-year history.

From 2026, the skirt will be part of a uniform code, offering the current two-pleat senior skirt in two lengths for students of any year: at just above the knee or ankle-length.

Trousers remain an option, while the four-pleat junior skirt is being phased out by the end of 2026. It and other current skirts will have to meet the just-above-the-knee guideline.

The school says the new longer skirt option reflects “ the school’s ongoing commitment to listening to student feedback and evolving with the times”.

The full-length skirt had been welcomed by students, particularly for the added comfort and warmth it offered in winter.

The primary motivation was to give students more choice, the school said. Many other schools offered a full-length skirt option.

Principal Mary Nixon said many students were planning to start the new year in the updated skirt.

“They wanted a look that works well for both formal and informal occasions.”

Both new skirt lengths, along with the trouser option, paired smartly with the school blazer, which continued to grow in popularity, she said.

The school’s leadership team consulted staff and student representatives over the proposed changes.

With the school sock supplier closing, students may now wear plain navy socks.

Since the school’s founding in 1927, the TGS uniform has evolved from formal tunics and wide-collar blouses for girls, and caps for boys.

Recent changes have included relaxed shoe and jewellery rules and year-round flexibility to wear winter or summer items.

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The long and the short... Year 12 students Daisy Arthur (left) and Pippa Lynch-Blosse in TGS’s two new skirt lengths

Replace fomo with jomo – BIS speech winner

Speakers’ corner... Placegetters in last Friday’s Belmont Intermediate School

Juliette France and Arlo Brodie, with principal Nick Hill

The three placegetters in the Belmont Intermediate School speech-contest final last Friday all scored highly with entertaining and original entries.

Winner Erik Havranek’s topic, “Fomo”, was explored without notes, detailing the

anxiety induced by a social-media-fuelled fear of missing out.

Erik offered a solution: “Jomo”, the joy of missing out and being happy living in the moment.

Second-placed Juliette France focused

on the frantic “Life of a busy 12-year-old”, while third-placed Arlo Brodie told tales of “My Family as Fantasy Characters”.

Eight contestants were selected for the finals, giving four-minute speeches in front of the whole school.

speech contest, (from left) Erik Havranek,

Cheltenham house of horrors delivers for a good cause

Wigging out... Organisers Sarah Ostergaard, Rebecca Newman (whose mother and father own the “haunted house”), Matt Hunt and Toby Ballard

Scarily good... (clockwise from above ) Louis Johnston, Jemima Johnston, Sofia Feilding and Aurelia AbbittBuckingham; Dads Alex Carey and Nick Clarke with Toby Newman, Freddie Carey and Hugo Clarke; occupant of the bathroom; and Frankie Disher, Jack Disher, Frankie Lane, Fergus Tait and Mack Dough.

What a scream... (clockwise from above left) a thumbs-up from Taylor Meder-George (9) with brother Richie (5) and mum Minette Meder; Eva Herring (10) of Stanley Bay School waiting spookily in the shadows; and “Doctor Death” (Kevin Miles) in his surgery awaiting his next patient. run the event and staffed the eftpos machine, Hunt said.

Too scary for some

From page 1

It took seven to eight minutes for visitors to tour all the rooms of the house, with the terrifying atmosphere having the desired effect.

“Some did not make it past room two – that was young kids, older kids and some parents,” Hunt said.

“At one stage we had more people coming back out the front door than those going in.”

Footage of the house sale and the Haunted House event would be preserved in a time capsule inside the renovated house.

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Community creche’s family ties run deep after 30 years

As many as 2000 children have been through the Devonport Community Creche in the last three decades, some following in the footsteps of their parents.

Some of those dropping off grandchildren these days previously brought their own children, says Tessa Dunleavy, who started teaching at the creche in 1994 and has been its manager since 2006.

The not-for-profit centre next to the Devonport Community House in Clarence St celebrates its 30th birthday with a party this month.

It’s in great shape, says Dunleavy, with a committed, active board and stable staff – epitomised by the manager herself, who notches up 20 years in the role next year and has committed to another five years.

Dunleavy, who won a national teaching excellence award in 2008 for her work at the creche, puts the success and longevity of the operation down to its evolution alongside the Devonport community.

“When we opened, 100 per cent of parents [primarily mothers] were at home... now there is only around 10 per cent of women at home. Most families have both parents working, sometimes from home and office or in various combinations,” she says. “There’s a lot of support from grandparents.”

The creche is licensed for 25 children, catering to those aged from 18 months to four years and operating between 9am and 3.30pm.

Since 2018 it has been a stand-alone entity, having separated from the Community House.

“I feel very privileged to be in Devonport with a board and a community who believe in early childhood education and are prepared to pay for it,” Dunleavy says.

It seems to leave its mark on children, too. The centre focuses on off-line learning, with each child having their own personal journal which they are given when they leave. Dunleavy has known of cases where people treasure them for years. “Some even take them with them when they go flatting.”

• A 30th birthday celebration and fundraiser will be held on Saturday 23 August at the Stone Oven. A Rob Tucker painting is up for auction, as is a night of nannying by Dunleavy herself, while the winning bidders have a night at the Indigo Hotel in the city.

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Latest crop…Devonport Community Creche manager Tessa Dunleavy at rear and current board members Katherine McDonald (left, with baby Zoe and daughter Emme) and Claudia Reynolds (with baby Leo and daughter Olive) and other creche kids

By Rob Drent

The move by Takapuna Grammar School to offer a longer skirt option may seem old fashioned. But I think it’s a good thing.

Visitors I’ve talked to recently have commented on how short some of the TGS girls wear their skirts, having run into clusters of them at bus stops before and after school.

Girls’ school uniforms have been a talking point for decades.

My mother won a scholarship to an allgirls school in London in the 1940s and had to wear stockings and suspenders.

When I was at Orewa College in the 1970s, our headmistress held inspections in the gym to check uniform length and whether the girls were wearing regulation underwear. At the same time, Green Bay College –one of the most liberal in Auckland – had mufti, with most of the girls wearing miniskirts. Nowadays Green Bay is much more conservative, with a uniform and long skirts for girls.

Peer group pressure and the desire to look the same as your friends was a factor in my

teenage years, but it’s rampant now with the influence of social media and mobile phones. I know of at least one TGS girl who feels uncomfortable with the short-skirts trend and welcomes having a longer length.

Rather than a regressive step by TGS, for many it’s a progressive stance.

I always like seeing the council contractor teams in action around this time, busily planting the public flower beds with annuals. It’s a sign in the middle of winter, with its often damp, dreary days, that spring is indeed just around the corner. Many locals, visitors and tourists enjoy the flower beds, but few would remember that they were on the chopping block two decades ago in a North Shore City Council plan to replace them with native plants, which were cheaper to maintain. Devonport Community Board member Roger Brittenden fought a public battle to retain them. Roger, of course, has endured as well: a stalwart of the North Shore Cricket Club, he is often on the sidelines at the cricket and North Shore rugby matches with his long lens taking sports photos.

Picture the future at Bayswater: a restored Takapuna Boating Club building is a popular wedding venue, bar and restaurant with sunny decks and water-sports facilities retained on the lower floor, all of it being enjoyed by locals, visitors and residents from Simon Herbert’s development of homes on the

Thursday 21st August at 12.00pm

marina reclamation; such is the buzz at the tip of the peninsula, Auckland Council builds the ferry terminal it designed and approved 20 years ago but then shelved, while on the harbour, a ferry runs on a scenic route, stopping at Beach Haven, Northcote Point, Bayswater, Devonport, Kelly Tarlton’s and downtown. Pipe dreams you say? I’d like to see it all within my lifetime.

Speaking of the Bayswater clubhouse, I hope marina owner Herbert is able to put some money the way of owner, the Takapuna Boating Club, to help with its restoration. Refurbished and repurposed, it would be a great asset to the incoming residents of his development and a way to give something back to the community.

Something I’ve always enjoyed about community news reporting is heading out to children’s competitions. Sitting behind a computer reading about Gaza and world events, the prospect of covering the recent Devonport Peninsula primary schools’ cross-country or the Belmont Intermediate speech contest can seem a bit inconsequential – until you get there. The passion and commitment exhibited by kids at both events was truly inspiring. In a supposedly dying industry, I’m also always amazed how much young people enjoy seeing their names and faces in the Flagstaff. It’s a nice feeling to be, in a small way, part of their life journey.

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Club aims to give heritage building new lease of life

Inside the Bayswater boating clubhouse hall – once the scene of packed community dances – is an old sign high above the stage that reads: “Strive mightily... but eat and drink as friends.”

It’s a motto that neatly encapsulates the effort required to deliver on aspirations held by its owner, the Takapuna Boating Club, to restore the rundown landmark building for community enjoyment.

The passing by Parliament this month of legislation enabling more commercial use of the historic clubhouse finally opens up options to make its restoration and maintenance more viable. “We want to set it up for the next 100 years,” says club president Barry Ward. Commodore Wendy Baker says the law change, “ensures that we can restore the clubhouse and create a thriving community space”.

Baker and Ward showed the Flagstaff around the clubrooms last week, excited about the future possibilities.

They acknowledge returning the near 150-year-old wooden building to local icon status will be a big ask. The project will cost millions.

But if they pull it off, the three-level clubhouse could be a drawcard visitor destination as well as a peninsula gathering spot.

Extensive repairs and fundraising are required, along with a long-term anchor tenant willing to invest in setting up a hospitality operation. Conversations with the community are also on the agenda.

With Devonport-Takapuna Local Boardsupport, council walkways could eventually run on the seaward side of the building, linking the Bayswater Marina north to Sir Peter Blake Reserve, either on rebuilt wider decks or a new platform across the silted-up council pool. A jetty is also a possibility. A club committee is being formed to this

Big ask... Takapuna Boating Club’s Wendy Baker and Barry Ward know restoration of the heritage clubhouse will be a major undertaking

year firm up rough estimates of a $4.3m spend needed on the building alone. Spouting needs attention and rotten decks need replacing. Re-roofed in 2011, the building still requires some weather-proofing and a complete repaint, along with inspections of its services and earthquake standards.

Appointment of contractors will depend on funds. Ward says grants and philanthropic support will be needed. “People in Bayswater have said if you’re ever going to invest, tell us when.”

The club will look to extend its own boating activities from the site and lease out more of the other space. Existing tenants include a

windsurfing business and a sailmaker, with storage below. Baker talks of having rooms available for community use.

Ward suggests a brew bar and cafe or restaurant would be a good fit in the hall on the top level of the building, which is built into the slope facing west across the harbour.

The hall is accessed from the street, but new central doors would make for a more inviting entrance. The high-ceilinged interior could be opened up to a larger deck overlooking the sea.

There is talk of installing public toilets and outdoor showers on the lower level, and perhaps an ice-cream shop.

ALBANY HEAT PUMPS

Mention of ice-creams by North Shore MP Simon Watts as he shepherded the change of legislation through select committee stages in Parliament explains how it came to be jokingly referred to in Wellington as the Takapuna Ice-cream Bill. Its actual name is the Auckland Harbour Board and Takapuna Borough Council Empowering Act Amendment Bill.

Having a local facility governed by a law dating to 1923, rather than regional or local government regulations, was complex and unusual, Baker said. Previous commodores had pushed for change and she was grateful for the support the club had received.

Watts picked up the club’s case after being elected to Parliament in 2020. After the club gained Devonport-Takapuna Local Board support, Auckland Council drafted a bill, allowing the matter to go to Parliament.

“While the drafters of the original 1923 legislation had good intentions, in practice, it has meant the clubhouse cannot secure the commercial income necessary to maintain itself, and without a law change, the clubhouse will remain underused and unmaintained,” said Watts. The new law changes the way the clubhouse can be used, allowing some commercial usage, so long as the proceeds are used for the good of the community or to maintain the site’s heritage.

The 1923 act restricted use of the building after the former tannery was barged across the harbour to Bayswater in pieces to be the club headquarters. Regattas and dances there are still fondly remembered by older residents. But after the club moved its main operations and clubrooms to Takapuna in the 1960s, the building began to decline.

Watts said the boating club and the community would now create its next chapter. “The possibilities are now, for the first time in many years, truly open,” he told the Flagstaff.

When plans firm up, Baker and Ward hope the old sign – speaking to resilience and conviviality – will find pride of place in the restored building.

Bayswater landmark... the boathouse in 2012 shortly after re-roofing and (right) in its faded glory from the street today, where a new central entrance might be built.

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RSAs join to reach out to Shore veterans in need

North Shore military veterans are being offered a helping hand in a welfare outreach involving the Devonport Returned Services Association.

“They don’t have to be an RSA member to get help,” says president Muzz Kennett. “We want families to say, ‘Dad, have you thought about asking for help?’”

He says people may be unaware of Veterans Affairs service entitlements they are eligible for, reluctant to come forward or unaware of the help and connection RSAs can offer.

To help cut through these barriers, three North Shore RSAs have combined to run informal weekly drop-in sessions based at the Takapuna Library. Advisers from the RSA Devonport, Birkenhead and East Coast Bays are on hand to guide veterans. The sessions, on Wednesdays from 10am to noon, began in June. The plan is to continue them this year and then review the impact, says Kennett.

“It’s slow, but a number of veterans have popped in that we’ve given support to.”

This has ranged from pointing them in the right direction for support services, including benefits, to a case where food bank help was organised.

The Devonport RSA has also visited Ryman’s William Sanders retirement village to connect with veterans there, some of whom help erect the crosses on Windsor Reserve for

Offer of help... Devonport RSA’s

Anzac Day. Volunteers also makes welfare checks on veterans living independently, assisting in tasks such as form filling. It is also starting programmes to connect with younger service people or those who have recently left service.

Kennett, a commander in the Royal New

Zealand Navy, says the outreach is in line with the RSA’s national direction of focusing on welfare and commemoration. “We’re very much part of that,” he says.

Associations manage themselves, with several having come into public conflict with the national body over focus and property sales. Kennett says locally this is not a problem.

Devonport has a stable membership of around 180, owns its building and is committed to running core events on Anzac Day, Remembrance Day and with the Navy Museum to commemorate Purple Poppy Day, which recognises the role of animals in war.

The North Shore clubs are all different, due to their membership composition and location, but are united on the welfare collaboration. Kennett says Devonport cannot sustain opening daily for a hospitality operation, but has regular social events for members, with its Victoria Rd clubrooms also rented out for community events.

Future plans, involving younger service people led by Ensign William Harris and the RSA’s Takapuna Grammar School youth ambassador Holly Sherlock, aim to encourage younger volunteers to connect with older people and join in collecting on Poppy Days.

Kennett says he wants young sailors to be more involved in Devonport and to build a culture of volunteerism.

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Singer-songwriter builds on early foundations

With a new album of ‘folktronica’ songs winning plaudits, Devonport-raised Freya delivers on the promise she showed as a teenager, even if music isn’t to be her career. Helen Vause reports.

Ever since she started to bag regional prizes for singers and songwriters in her senior years at Takapuna Grammar School, people have been waiting to hear more of the unique, ethereal sound of Freya and her haunting lyrics.

An EP, produced at the Depot Sound studio in Devonport in 2021, was released to positive reviews, and she has stepped into the spotlight again with the launch of her “folktronica” album Of Water.

Yes, another songstress and musician from TGS is turning heads.

Alice Freya Jones, who just turned 21, is in the thick of gigs and activity surrounding her seven-song album, and delighted with the reception it’s getting.

And she included the Devonport Folk Club Bunker on Takarunga among the venues for her promotional performances.

The local folk club stalwarts, many of them three times her age, have cheered her on from the beginning, she says.

Although her music is now out in the wide world, hers is a local story.

Among her earliest memories, she says she can recall always wandering around home, making up little songs and tunes and singing them to herself or her family.

Words, music and stories were a core part of who she was by the time she reached the Devonport Primary School gate.

Although the little girl with the big blue eyes was a dedicated student, she was so short-sighted that she could barely see past the end of her nose.

“Maybe that is why I lived in my own internal world as a kid,” she says.

She has subsequently viewed the world through spectacles and contact lenses, but evidently not before she’d worked out that she liked living in her head.

Her parents Chris and Sarah Jones, and later her bass-playing brother Ben, were highly supportive of Jones’ singing and songwriting.

At the age of five she started taking piano lessons, learning about the theory of music, studying structure and how the elements of music can be organised to work together.

At eight, she began singing lessons with Rebecca Nelson, who is best known locally as the official singer with the Navy.

Those lessons carried on for a decade, marking a serious commitment from Jones to music and developing her talent.

There was even a time in her studies when she sang a little bit of opera, she chuckles.

In 2016 she was pictured in the Flagstaff, having been part of a duo who won their category in the Belmont Intermediate School “Idol” competition, singing Adele’s Send My Love.

When she reached her teens, Jones discovered the guitar and quickly found a passion for it. At Takapuna Grammar she won a school songwriting award three times.

In 2022 she received a regional AIMES Emerging Talent award that carried funding which helped cover costs for studio and production time.

When the then 17-year-old released her self-penned EP, the NZ Musician website noted her “lyrical artistry” and unique sound: “Freya’s beautifully crafted stories are enhanced with evocative dynamics in an outstanding example of how sounds and their stories should dance together.”

It was an exciting time for Jones, who clocked up around 9000 listens on various streaming services. Locally, she played at

Tuning in... Having learned musical theory through years of lessons, Alice Freya Jones can break the rules in her self-taught guitar playing, deploying chords of her own invention

The Vic in support of the EP.

She was over the moon at what her Spotify numbers were showing by December for that year. She wrote on social media: “This is insane and incredible, I never thought so many strangers would care enough to listen to my songs at all...special shout out to Ireland, Chile, Colombia, the Netherlands and Spain, so so so cool.”

Her songs, she says, are personal, private, vulnerable and confessional, although sometimes it’s all tied up in metaphors – not obviously about her and her own feelings.

The EP songs came out of her bedroom during Covid.

“Covid and the lockdowns were devastating for my age group. We were at a time in our lives when you are developing, exploring, taking risks with your peer group. Instead we had none of that. We

“Ultimately, the process of creating an album from beginning to end is vulnerable, tedious, and requires the best of your emotional, spiritual and technical skills.”

were isolated, and without the transitions of those teenage years we were lifted out of childhood and later dumped in the world at another life stage. It had a big impact.”

But there was no looking back. Jones started her studies at the University of

Auckland in anthropology and criminology and she found her groove there.

“I love the academic world and I realised that is my future, not a career in music, I think. But music will be my passion.”

For a time, songwriting went off the boil for her. A gap year she had taken to pursue it was cut short when she decided to head to university.

The songs were no longer flowing and she’d morphed back into Alice Jones, the student riding the bus every day.

She has since found her way back to music, however, with the confidence to develop her own sound.

She is very quick to acknowledge the accomplished musicians and teachers –such as Nelson – who have helped her on her way.

“I have been very lucky to have had some amazing mentors, some of them much older and with many years in their own musical journeys, to take inspiration and support from,” she says. “I have a lot of respect for other musicians.”

She says investing so much time in music education, from singing lessons through to piano and playing the flute, has given her a solid technical foundation both in singing and playing.

“Without any doubt, learning singing techniques will improve your voice and that’s been really important to me and where I am now.” Her own sound, however, is quite unlike that of any mentors.

“I suppose you could say I learned the rules so that I could break them.”

She is self-taught on guitar and has taken a unique approach to playing it, using an uncommon tuning – which is apparent at the first strum of her instrument.

Instead of following the widely used patterns of chords known to all guitarists, Jones has written her own chords with which to explore and produce a sound she likes.

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melody and commit it to memory, she’s usually writing lyrics that are looking for a tune. Somehow, she says, other skilled musicians who play with her can understand the patterns of her music and work with her.

Notably, her brother is part of it all, and she says having all the family behind her has been a great support.

Her new album was many months in the making. Her father has been working with her to market her music and schedule launch gigs.

She is getting used to talking about herself and her work.

For a student publication she wrote: “Ultimately, the process of creating an album from beginning to end is vulnerable, tedious, and requires the best of your emotional, spiritual and technical skills. But I do find it so fulfilling: it is a piece of my heart, captured and shared through the wondrous and awe-inspiringly impactful medium of music.”

Solid grounding... Jones has had help from other musicians

People needed – or risk being a stagnant museum piece

Many thanks to Margot McRae of Devonport Heritage for highlighting the need to promote more awareness of the Māori history of Te Hau Kapua Devonport and the importance of Takarunga as one of our town centre’s predominant landscape features (“Wish for higher buildings at odds with Takarunga’s landscape primacy”, Flagstaff, 1 August) in response to the exhibition of architecture students’ work at the Depot last month.

The objective of the students’ work was to answer the question, “How can the future development of Devonport village be a model of sustainable intensification while reflecting the mana of our bicultural and built heritage?”

Their answer to revitalise Devonport town centre is simple – more people! The more diverse a range of people living, working, studying and recreating in Devonport, the more socially and economically active, vibrant and sustainable the town centre becomes.

But to accommodate more people in the town centre, we need to build up – not too high, but just high enough to better support businesses and infrastructure, in a way that respects the human scale of the existing built fabric.

The students’ designs, informed by mana whenua and its pre-colonial, colonial and archaeological histories, ranged from 3 to

7 levels, and tested the impacts on the visual integrity of Takarunga, while providing a mix of uses. This included apartments for small families and empty-nesters; affordable housing for students, service workers and those in need (about 650 people); 200 hotel and backpacker beds; expanded facilities for the creative and services industries; and spaces for a university satellite; supported by retail and hospitality offerings in a new network of laneways and communal open spaces.

They demonstrated that you can build through the 9m and 13m Height Sensitive Area height limits, if this is done with care, without compromising the visual integrity of Takarunga. A 1:500 site model demonstrated the physical dominance of Takarunga and the tiny scale of the town centre.

Devonport has had many histories. At present it appears to have been captured by a nostalgia for the Victorian and Edwardian colonial past and risks becoming a stagnant museum piece and an exclusive pakeha-dominated retirement village, that limits cultural diversity and excludes diverse younger generations.

Fear of change is understandable given the many examples, especially in Auckland, of poor urban intensification that litter our CBD and inner suburbs. However, there are many fine examples of intensification

done well, internationally and locally, such as the Nightingale housing developments in Melbourne or Auckland’s developments at Britomart, Wynyard Quarter, Hobsonville Point and Northcote. They demonstrate that with the right processes and the right people, successful models of urban intensification can be achieved.

We should consider adopting the philosophy of “Te Wa” – The Cycle of Time, a Māori world view, that incorporates change while retaining the traditional. This was the guidance that mana whenua provided for this student design project and this remains relevant to Devonport’s development.

If we don’t intensify in a careful, respectful, proactive and creative way now, the Devonport town centre will continue to slowly die. We can have it both ways – good economic design outcomes and environmental protection are not binary, and we can achieve win-win outcomes. This can be done in a design- and community-led way that would again celebrate and identify Devonport as the innovative and progressive community it once was, when the first woman in the world voted here, when we created New Zealand’s first recycling centre and when we became the first nuclear-free borough in the world.

We know what we would rather have... so let’s do it!

Ken Davis and Julie Stout

Where was Devonport Gaza march criticism of Hamas?

Margaret Taylor, Amnesty International NZ, (Flagstaff 1 August) claims that the Gaza march in Devonport was a “positive experience” and that (when asked) they “consistently condemn Hamas and Palestinian militia” and their “brutal attack” in Israel on October 7. If chanting “From the river to the sea” is positive, that is a matter of opinion. I did not see any signs condemning Hamas for October 7, nor calling for them to release the

Lake Rd reality check needed

Get Real! Lake Rd cannot be “fixed”. Everybody knows it’s congested. Everybody would like a solution. But any serious solution would cost a huge amount of money and require compulsory acquisition of multiple properties. Not only too expensive, but painful for the owners who live there or who run businesses. It would be disruptive and unpopular.

In the meantime, let’s not make it worse. Developments that result in more people living south of Esmonde Rd mean more congestion. Other developments such as the (now canned) “pick-up pre-orders” supermarket could have eased some of the congestion.

So, all you politicians and would-be politicians, please stop ranting on about pipe-dream solutions. If you don’t know they won’t work, you really don’t have enough intelligence to do the job. If you do know they won’t work, then you are lying to us and we cannot trust you.

When the next person says they have a fix for Lake Rd, I suggest you challenge them: “How would you do it; how much difference will it make; how much will it cost; how long will it take; and how much pain will be inflicted?”

Sam Luxemburg

hostages, nor for Hamas to stop sacrificing Palestinian civilians to their cause (their avowed intention). I engaged with a number in this group – none would condemn what happened on October 7; only one agreed the hostages should be returned. Nor do I see any petitions on Amnesty NZ’s site re Hamas. Shouldn’t Amnesty International NZ be calling for the release of the hostages?

J. Leighton

Clarification: local board funding

Auckland Council has taken issue with points in a 1 August Flagstaff story about local board funding and the need for the board to find big cost savings in its budget. We referred to these as cuts and stand by this.

A council spokesperson says: “You reported that the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board (DTLB) faces budget cuts under the new fairer funding model introduced by the council. In fact, the DTLB funding includes modest increases for inflation. However, it faces challenges with increased costs beyond inflation to run its community services and facilities.

“The DTLB has not had its budget reduced or cut. Its budget has been maintained at levels consistent with previous years, with a modest increase for inflation. The operating budget in their Local Board Agreement is $17 million for 2025/2026 – not $1.7 million.

“However, the cost of delivering current services is forecast to increase at a higher than inflationary rate in areas like utilities (electricity and gas) and facilities maintenance in the 2026/27 financial year, and this needs to fit within set funding levels. These cost pressures beyond inflation are the $460,000 referred to. Also, the full facilities maintenance contract costs for DTLB are $6

million, not $800,000.

“Council staff are working with the DTLB on options to manage these increases in costs within the funding levels they have. The DTLB will consider advice on the options and consult with the public for input on significant changes.”

The Flagstaff responds: We inadvertently omitted to specify that the reference to the board having $1.7 million to spend related to its discretionary spend, rather than council’s $17m total spend in the board area. Board members focus on their discretionary spend, the area over which they have a direct say. As reported, the board has $460,000 less than it would have had before the looming move away from assets-based funding to the new “fairer funding” model. This reduction is confirmed in a council memo to board members. Cuts for inflationary rises are indeed being sought across council, but “fairer funding” also demands savings.

Our reference to $800,000 of spending relates to the Ventia contract for the area, not all contracted services. We regret not making this clear, but the point remains, such contracts are largely beyond the board’s control. In general, our stories naturally focus on local budgets, not overall council spending.

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Brave shaves and bold styles: Students raise funds for blood cancer support

Eight courageous Takapuna Grammar School students have shaved their heads in solidarity with those affected by cancer, raising close to $7,000 for Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand.

One of the most dramatic transformations in the Shave for a Cure event came from Year 11 student Brooklyn Carew, who had only ever had her long hair trimmed.

“I’ve been growing my hair for years now, but I’ve always loved helping those in need any way I can,” she said.

Head Boy Alexandre Berrux also took a seat in the barber’s chair.

Head boy Alexandre Berrux and deputy head boy Hugo Chapman mid-shave

“Losing your hair is something people having treatment for cancer don’t choose - but I can,” Alexandre said.

“This is my way of showing support and

Sam Azizi from Azizi Barbers shows the crowd Brooklyn Carew’s long locks - and Brooklyn after.

raising money to help find a cure.”

A huge thank you goes to Azizi Barbers and Year 13 student Zack Fisher of Fishy Fades, who donated their time and skills.

Talent on show at Dance Showcase and Takapuna Winter Lights

Our students displayed their talents in two recent events: the 2025 Dance Showcase and the Takapuna Winter Lights Festival.

More than 160 students impressed in the annual Dance Showcase at the school’s Georgea Tindall Performing Arts Centre, delivering a vibrant mix of ballet, hip hop, jazz, tap, lyrical, contemporary, and traditional cultural dance. Stunning costumes and expertly tailored lighting and audio effects added to the atmosphere of the four sold-out shows.

Our performers also impressed audiences at the Takapuna Winter Lights Festival. Vocalists Milla Rodrigues-Birch, Nathan Fry, and Ruby Jacobs delivered powerhouse performances, while Andre Smirnov captivated with his award-winning accordion artistry. The school’s Ballet group enchanted festival-goers with their illuminated wings for the fifth consecutive year.

TGS hosts first International Student Leaders Conference

Our school recently welcomed student leaders from 12 North Shore schools for the first-ever International Student Leaders Conference - a day focused on leadership, cultural identity, and international student wellbeing.

The event helped student leaders form new friendships and networks and also inspired many to bring new ideas and initiatives back to their schools.

Year 13 student Carrie Guo shared her journey as an international student in New Zealand, offering powerful insights into leadership, resilience, and identity. Carrie is a top academic and one of New Zealand’s top-ranked table tennis champions.

Takapuna Grammar triumphs at home chess tournament

TGS hosted the North Shore Regional Interschool Chess Competition, welcoming nearly 100 keen competitors from eight schools across Auckland, including Pinehurst, Kristin, Rangitoto, and Westlake.

The full-day event was a showcase of strategic thinking and sportsmanship, with students battling over the boards in a series of intense and closely fought matches.

TGS’s Premier A Team - Daniel Wang, Hayden Steele, Qixuan Liang, and Zane Sarmad - delivered a standout performance, finishing first equal with Rangitoto College and qualifying them for the National Interschool Championships in Christchurch.

The school’s Junior A Team also impressed, claiming second place in the Major Division - a promising sign for the future of chess at TGS.

Ruby Jacobs performing at Winter Lights Festival

Belmont welcomes mountain-film fest

The New Zealand Mountain Film Festival is being hosted over two evenings at the Rose Centre in Belmont this month.

The programme’s short films celebrate the human spirit and the power of nature. Four are award-winners.

The screenings on 21 August are New Zealand-made films, with international offerings the next day.

The centre’s community engagement manager, Abby Jones, said it had reached out to be a venue for the festival, which shows at cinemas around the country, in a bid to attract new audiences.

The sessions run from 7pm to 9.30pm. Tickets are available from humanitix.com/ nz-mountain-film-festival.

Loo gets an upgrade

The public toilets on King Edward Parade next to the Devonport Yacht Club are about to be refurbished.

The toilet block, although old, is functional and structurally sound, a council spokesperson said. “We don’t plan on demolishing the toilet block,” he said. Work would concentrate on addressing plumbing issues.

Council was currently getting costs for the works. No consents are required for the renewal.

Fort Takapuna sculpture show returns with more arty places to perch

NZ Sculpture OnShore’s return to Fort Takapuna in November will include a new “Take a Seat” trail, making a feature of installations people can rest up on.

The event, held two-yearly as the major fundraiser for Women’s Refuge, will involve a record 20 schools exhibiting artworks, including Devonport Peninsula primary schools and Belmont Intermediate School.

Programme highlights revealed this week, when tickets went on sale, confirm more than 120 sculptures will dot the seaside site.

Local artists exhibiting include renowned Helen Pollock from Devonport, Debbie Barber from Hauraki and newcomer Brianna Parkinson from Bayswater.

one-of-a-kind seats invite visitors to take a moment to sit, rest, and take in the breathtaking views.” The trail is expected to be a photographic drawcard. So too a number of giant sculptures by leading artists from across New Zealand.

Smaller and accessibly priced works will be available from the exhibition shop at the Officers’ Mess building and an extended outside area.

Takapuna-based Merle Bishop is back and included on the Take a Seat Trail, after a work featuring her dog Spot on a bench (pictured),proved a popular attraction in 2023. This time Spot will welcome visitors with flowers cast in bronze.

Exhibition curator Sally Lush said: “These

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Thousands of people are expected at the event, which runs from 8-23 November.

In 2023 it raised $350,000, and since its start in 1996 has raised more than $2.6 million. Volunteers help with its operation and organiser, The Friends of Women’s Trust, is keen to recruit more helpers; it needs 400. Trust members include a number of Devonport locals, including new chair Paul Walsh.

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Architecture firm recognised in awards

A Devonport architecture firm has been recognised in the 2025 ADNZ Resene Architectural Design Awards for Auckland and Northland. Michael and Rebecca Macfie (pictured) of Macfie Architecture were highly commended for the firm’s entry ‘Northcote Point House’ in the new home up to 150 sqm and ‘Devonport Villa Interiors’ for their own home at Stanley Point (above) which was commended for Home Interiors. The couple’s Devonport house was included in the Homes Of Devonport Tour last year.

Jigsaw event boosts dementia charity’s coffers

A jigsaw-puzzle sale and competition at the Devonport Community House last weekend raised around $1500 for Dementia Auckland.

Puzzlemania was held to support the group’s work after it ran workshops at the house earlier in the year which have grown into regular get-togethers for locals supporting family or friends living with dementia.

Doing puzzles is known to aid brain health.

Plenty of shoppers of all ages checked out more than 200 donated pre-loved and new puzzles for sale. Forty people also competed in teams of four to be first to finish identical 500-piece Wasgij puzzles.

The four top teams finished close together, with the winning group, Go Puzz Girls, taking 1 hour and 9 minutes. The women had travelled from outside the area and had competed at similar events previously, but this was their first competition win.

A team from Ryman’s William Sanders retirement village was second, with supporters on hand to cheer them on. Local Ray White real estate agency staff finished third.

Ray White agents Natalie Denton and Bruce Parkinson, who are both keen puzzlers, came up with the Puzzlemania idea, along with Rixt Brownlow, who works at

Piece offering... Puzzle fans (from left) Devonport Community House worker Rixt Brownlow, and Carolina De Armas, Natalie Denton, Denise Whitfield and Bruce Parkinson, all of Ray White, at the Puzzlemania fundraiser

the Community House. They donated Wasgij puzzles for the competition. The agency collected donated puzzles and awarded prize medals and

spot prizes. Denton said Puzzlemania would be repeated. Leftover puzzles from the event were donated for use by residents at Ryman.

Darby calls time as five seek Shore’s two council seats

Five candidates are competing for two Auckland Council seats in the North Shore ward at the local body elections – but three-term councillor Chris Darby is not among them.

The other current councillor, Richard Hills, is standing again, but Stanley Point resident Darby is bringing his council career to a close, telling the Flagstaff it felt like the right time to go. “After 21 years in public service, my council chapter closes – making space for something new.”

The other candidates for the ward when nominations closed last week were two pre-announced Kaipātiki Local Board members, chair John Gillon and deputy chair Danielle Grant, along with Act Local candidate Helena Roza and independent Eric Boon Leong Chuah. In 2022 seven people sought the seat.

Gillon, Grant and Chuah are also standing for the Kaipātiki Local Board and Roza for the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board. Chuah is also standing for mayor.

Gillon, who leads the Shore Action board team, is standing for council as an independent “Putting the North Shore First” candidate. Grant, who took a tilt at council under the Communities and Residents (C&R) banner in 2022, is going it alone this time as “The Shore Choice”. Left-leaning Hills is running under a “Positive Leadership for the Shore” banner.

• Darby was first elected to public office as a

Big field in race for local board roles

Twenty people are contesting the six seats on the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board, the same number as in 2022.

They include the previously announced six-strong tickets from the two groups on the current board – A Fresh Approach and Communities and Residents (C&R) – and former board member Trish Deans, who is running as an independent. Deans, cochair of Devonport Heritage and chair of Grey Power North Shore, was on the local board from 2019-2022, on the Heart of the Shore ticket.

A Fresh Approach is without board chair Mel Powell or member Peter Allen, who announced last month they weren’t standing again. Deputy chair Terence Harpur is sharing the ticket with Kimberly

North Shore City councillor in 2004. When Auckland Council was created he had a term as Devonport-Takapuna Local Board chair, before he was elected as a Northern Ward councillor. He had two terms as Planning Committee chair. Transport and urban design were among his key interests.“I’ve loved this work. Not every day was easy, but every day mattered. I gave it everything,” he said.

Among his successes he lists his role in ad-

Graham, Karin Horen, Scott MacArthur, Karleen Reeve and Lewis Rowe.

C&R’s current board members George Wood and Gavin Busch are running with Mike Single – who was last election’s highest polling unsuccessful candidate – and newcomers Kaumosi Opie from Hauraki, Kamini Schoonbee and Neil Zent. The ticket held a launch event at the Hauraki Social Club on Sunday 3 August.

Others in the running are Act Local’s Helena Roza and independents MaryAnne Benson-Cooper, Paul Cornish, Pete Cronshaw, Garth Ellingham, James Rohloff and Kent Tregonning.

Cronshaw, a broadcaster, and Cornish, a former manager at North Shore Rugby Club, have profiles as Devonport locals.

vancing the Devonport Library and Takapuna’s Waiwharariki Anzac Square. He cites the lack of progress on an upgrade for Lake Rd as a disappointment.

• The Flagstaff will publish candidate profiles next month and cover the candidate meeting at the Devonport Community House on 3 September. Postal ballots will be delivered between 9 and 22 September. Voting closes on 11 October.

Back to the future — candidate produces own newspaper

North Shore local body candidate John Gillon has printed his own four-page newspaper distributed to letterboxes.

The North Shore Gazette features key issues affecting the North Shore ward, along with Gillon’s potential solutions.

He said the initial print run for the four-page glossy tabloid was 30,000, costing around $5000 – a substantial part of his campaign budget, which will include billboards and advertise -

ments in the Rangitoto Observer and Devonport Flagstaff.

Ironically, the Gazette appeared at the start of the week in which the final issue of

the North Shore Times was printed. Gillon said he had used newspaper-style letterbox drops for the Shore Action ticket during campaigns in the Kaipātiki Local Board area, where he is board chair.

Standing for Auckland Council as an independent ward councillor this year, Gillon said the letterbox drops would primarily focus on other suburbs in the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board area, where he was less well-known.

Kia ora and Hello Devonport,

Welcome to your new monthly advice column, Ask Mrs. N0ughty!

Mrs. N0ughty (aka Ann Langis) can be found in the Education Space at Resource Recovery Devonport, your local experts in reducing, reusing, and recycling… wasting NOUGHT a single thing! Mrs. N0ughty knows that rubbish and recycling rules can be confusing, and she’s here to help. Each month she’ll answer your most pressing waste questions, like this one:

Dear Mrs. N0ughty:

Can I put Tetra Pak containers in my home recycling bin?

Signed, Devonport

Dear Devonport:

Unfortunately, No. But the good news is that you can recycle them for FREE here at Resource Recovery Devonport! Here’s what you need to do:

1. Cut them open so they lay flat, leave the top on.

2. Give them a quick rinse.

3. Drop them off to us at RRD 27 Lake Rd

Bonus points: Ask your fave cafe if they have signed up for our business tetra pak recycling scheme!

Signed, Mrs. N0ughty

Send your burning questions to community@ devonportrecycle.co.nz and let’s sort through this rubbish together!

Award boosts Hauraki artist’s

Hauraki artist Leanne Aroha Mulder is celebrating major art competition success which she hopes will build her profile and aid a gradual move into painting full-time.

After quietly working on her craft through years of juggling family and work, she was named runner-up in the 2025 National Contemporary Art Awards this month.

“It’s very validating and very exciting,” she says.

Mulder’s large abstract landscape was among more than 480 entries, from which 53 finalists were chosen for final judging at host venue Te Whare Taonga o Waikato (Waikato Museum). At a gala awards night, her painting What the Land Remembers received the $7500 Hugo Charitable Trust Award and has been acquired for the trust’s permanent collection.

“This painting began as a poem — a reflection on the quiet memory of the land, and how it holds emotion and time,” the artist (pictured right) says. “To have it recognised nationally is incredibly meaningful, especially as an artist rooted here on the North Shore.” Her works are inspired by skies, light and coastlines, with favourite walks including Maungauika.

Mulder plans to invest some of the prize

in art supplies. “They’re all really expensive”, she says. “I’m on a journey to being a full-time artist.”

A more pressing journey is a trip to Bali, a delayed honeymoon from her marriage in March. Accompanying the couple will be her children, Grace Moore, who is in Year 11 at Takapuna Grammar School, and Jacob, who is at university, with both having also gone through Vauxhall School and Belmont Intermediate.

The 48-year-old has lived much of her adult life on the Devonport peninsula, landing first in Devonport 25 years ago, before a time in Bayswater and now Hauraki.

Finding time to paint was tough when the children were younger and Mulder had become a solo mother juggling working full-time. She had loved art at high school, but didn’t feel it would make a career, so instead she focused on design – “it used artistic flair” – and then marketing and sales.

Having got back into art over the last decade, she says it is now firmly established as “my passion”.

Mulder sells her works through Next Door Gallery in Birkenhead, where she has previously had a solo show.

She has also been in group shows, in-

Auckland Philharmonia is bringing Tuba Tones to Devonport, as part of In Your Neighbourhood concert-series outreach.

Bookings open now for our Sept school holiday programme!

Principal tuba player Alexander Jeantou (pictured) has curated a wide-ranging programme to showcase his instrument alongside other brass players from the orchestra. They will perform at Holy Trinity Church on Tuesday 19 August at 6.30pm. Five pieces, including a spirited march and the jazzy sounds of Andre Previn’s Four Outings for Brass, will feature.

“I’m looking forward to joining my fellow lower-brass musicians to explore both the deep, rich sounds that many will be familiar with from our section, but also repertoire that showcases the diverse range of sound that our instruments can produce,” Jeantou said.

“There will be some surprises for even the most avid brass enthusiasts.”

• Tickets, $30 for adults and $15 for children, are only available through aucklandphil.nz.

Holy Trinity hosts tuba showcase

career aims

cluding a post-Covid pop-up in a Devonport shop with Gather Collective, a group of local creatives. In October she will exhibit at the Queenstown Art Show.

“It’s enough to keep things ticking,” she says, but not quite enough yet to give up her territory manager job for a herbal company.

But with the award under her belt and a supportive family, she is quietly optimistic. “New Zealanders love their landscapes,” she notes.

Hers are drawn from her mind, rather than life. “They’re definitely abstract.”

As well as being inspired by the peninsula, a special place is Ngunguru, near Whangārei, with its hills and mist. Mostly she paints in acrylics on canvas, but sometimes watercolours on paper, adding inks and charcoals for atmospheric tones.

Both she and the overall award winner, Zena Elliot, who received a $20,000 prize, coincidentally whakapapa to Waikato.

Mulder (Ngāti Maniapoto), grew up and went to university in Dunedin, before the move to Auckland.

“So much of my work is about presence and place,” she says. “I try to create pieces that offer stillness and connection — and often that begins right here at home.”

Posse reads for Poetry Day

A “Posse of Poets”, including CK Stead, will give readings at the Devonport Library on National Poetry Day, Friday 22 August.

Locals Geoff Chapple and Tina Frantzen are also on the programme, along with Greg Hall, Hussain Shah Rezaie, Eliza Sagar, Denys Trussell and Jan Dickens. Others may be added to the bill.

The Devonport Library Associates event is dedicated to Stead, who will read from his latest collection. It begins at 6.30pm, with nibbles. Readings are at 7pm. Koha appreciated.

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SHOWING NOW

Nobody 2 (R16) 90min

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life (M) 99min

Freakier Friday (PG) 111min

The Friend (M) 120min

Weapons (R16) 129min

Riviera Revenge (M) 94min

The Life of Chuck (M) 110min

Fantastic Four: First Steps (PG) 114min

Four Letters of Love (M) 109min

The Count of Monte Cristo (M) 178min

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The Naked Gun (M) 85min - Advance Screening 16 Aug

Eddington (R16) 149min 21 Aug

Relay 112min 21 Aug

Workmates (M) 102min 21 Aug

Potluck - Live Comedy (E) 22 Aug

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