Commercial property investor Elliot Knight says he is “doubling down’’ on Takapuna, despite the slow pace of town-centre apartment developments.
Knight, who lives locally, said he took a long-term approach to buying and tenanting commercial buildings, meaning he was not worried that big town-centre projects in the pipeline from other developers are not yet under construction.
“Success is not driven by what happens in the next six months,” he said.
Knight’s comment – made to the Observer on the first day’s trading for the Takapuna Surf Club, in his building at 111 Hurstmere Rd – comes as apartment developers are holding off intended projects, such as the Takapuna Central apartments on the Anzac St public car-park site, in an uncertain market.
Yet he has new retail and office projects on the go and more in the pipeline.
Willis Bond said in November it would begin selling its 11-storey Takapuna Central early this year, with a view to breaking ground in late 2025.
But when asked by the Observer for an update this week it provided no specific dates. “Construction has not yet commenced as our focus is on preparing for marketing,” said its managing director – development, David McGuinness. “With resource consent secured, we remain committed to bringing this project to life.”
It continues to take registrations of interest on what is the first of the central sites it has a staged agreement to buy from Auckland Council property arm Eke Panuku.
A start date on the consented 39-storey
Local team behind new Takapuna bar
build-to-rent tower being developed by a trans-Tasman consortium, including McDonnell Developments, on the old gasometer site next to the Toka Puia car-park is also unclear. It will be Takapuna’s tallest building.
At a recent Devonport-Takapuna Local Board meeting, acting chair Terence Harpur said it looked likely HND TS Ltd would be
the first big town-centre project to begin construction, when work starts on its four-block complex of up to 10-storeys on the former Colmar Brunton site, with Willis Bond next off the mark.
Harpur, who is also Takapuna Beach Business Association chief executive, later To page 3
Quick work foils car thief... p7
Honey, they shrank the local board... p2
Takapuna chases cricket premiership... p10
Shore boys... Two of the Five Fellas, the company behind the new Takapuna Surf Club, Reuben Ruscoe (left) and Andrew Roborgh (right) and building owner Elliot Knight. Story, page 3.
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Ruling faction shuts out eligible board replacement
The Devonport-Takapuna Local Board has controversially decided to leave a vacancy in its lineup, rather than boosting its numbers from five members back to six.
The move – decried by two of the five members as undemocratic – was decided 3-2 as the Observer went to print.
Members George Wood and Gavin Busch argued unsuccessfully at a board meeting on Tuesday that Mike Single – the highest-polling unsuccessful candidate at the 2022 local body elections – should have been invited to step up. Single stood on the same Community and Residents ticket as Wood and Busch.
Terence Harpur, Mel Powell and Peter Allen, from the majority Fresh Approach grouping, took the view that with council elections decided in October there was little point filling the vacancy, left by the resignation in February of chair Toni van Tonder, who has moved to Australia.
Council rules only require a vacancy to be filled when it is more than 12 months from an election – when a by-election must be held. However, the neighbouring Kaipatiki board filled a vacancy with a next-in-line candidate in February.
Van Tonder’s departure also triggered the election of a new chair, with Mel Powell,voted in, on the same 3-2 split. Harpur, the board deputy and acting chair since van Tonder left, nominated Powell. Wood and Busch had opposed this, instead nominating Harpur.
Wood said he believed Harpur would more capably represent the board at council’s forums, such as when the chairs of all 21 local boards met.
On assuming the chair, Powell said she hoped the board would work productively, as it had for much of the term.
On his recommendation not to fill the board vacancy, Harpur said a new member,
would find it hard to get up to speed. The next few months involved 98 projects and programmes and 18 leases being worked through.
Any new member would not have been joined the board before its April meeting. The public would have their say soon, he said, with nominations for new candidates open in July and postal voting starting from 9 September.
The board’s dynamic had been good, he added, with most decisions unanimous, but a new person could disrupt this.
Wood and Busch said Single deserved a shot and the public deserved a full board to represent it. With six months of meetings to go having fewer than six members “isn’t in our interest,” Wood said. Big decisions loomed regarding the Takapuna library and the Francis St to Esmonde Rd connection.
Had Single been appointed, the board may have split 3-3 at times, with the chair having to cast a deciding vote, as occurred frequently in the often fractious 2019-2022 board term.
Authorised by Hon Simon Watts, Parliament Buildings, Wgtn.
New board chair…Mel Powell
Transforming Takapuna
New rooftop bar hopes to be catalyst for hospo surge
With a pizza oven from Italy that was craned in through the roof and a slick contemporary interior flowing to two large decks, Takapuna’s latest bar has been pulling in punters since its opening last week.
Takapuna Surf Club co-owner Andrew “Red” Roborgh says he hopes the rooftop bar and eatery will cement itself as a favourite with locals and a destination drawcard for the North Shore. It employs around 70 staff, many of them local, across its seven-day operation from lunch, until as late as midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
The venue is the latest of several new hospitality openings in the town centre. But due to its size and prime position by the Hurstmere Rd roundabout and its founders’ hospitality pedigrees, it has by far the highest profile.
Narrow Neck resident Roborgh says he and the other four partners in the Five Fellas company behind the club want to create a relaxed beachside vibe suited to the site.
Known for opening the Dr Rudi’s, Saint Alice and Queens bars in the city, Roborgh – who lived in Hauraki before shifting his young family closer to the beach – says business-wise he is in Takapuna for the long haul. One of his partners, Reuben Ruscoe, who looks after staffing, flats just down the road, and says returning to his North Shore roots is a great spin-off of the job.
The site’s local connection extends to Takapuna resident Elliot Knight, the developer who saw potential in buying and revamping the building, which also houses a real estate firm, travel agent and health studio.
He first met the Five Fellas team when they rented an office from him on Princes Wharf. “We became friends,” said Roborgh, explaining he had been working on the project for three years, in tandem with Queens.
“We would love if this [place] was a catalyst for more hospitality in Takapuna,” Roborgh told the Observer.
“The reality is people will go to the Takapuna Beach Cafe for coffee or lunch, go for a walk on the beach and come here for a beer, or go to Tok Tok for dinner and come here later for a cocktail.” He expects 30 to 40 per cent of the club’s turnover will be from food, such as pizza.
With regard to concerns about possible late-night noise, Roborgh says there will sometimes be a DJ playing music with a mellow tone, on the Hurstmere Rd end deck, positioned away from nearby apartments.
As a former Heineken account manager for DB for 10 years, who went on to develop venues before launching his own, Roborgh says what Five Fellas aims to do is not new.
Although the look of their Takapuna operation has been influenced by modern Australian beachside venues, the formula is more in attention to detail and choosing staff carefully. “We’re just relying on known hospitality truths. The need for connection and a meeting spot that is safe and welcoming.”
Timelines for major apartment projects remain uncertain
From page 1
told the paper he had no specific timelines, but expected it could be at least a year or two before any big builds got under way.
He noted that real-estate listings on the North Shore were the highest in years, and that a high proportion of properties up for auction were being passed in.
The Colmar Brunton site, which stretches from The Strand to Hurstmere Rd, has resource consents, but building consents are yet to be processed and can take up to a year for such large-scale projects.
It is understood HND prefers not to take a piecemeal approach with the build, which could delay a start, given further demolitions are required to clear the site.
Knight, who with fellow former Kristin School student Shane Crawford owns Knight Crawford, concentrates on prime suburban sites, said he remained buoyant about Takapuna’s future. “Takapuna is the only metropolitan-centre land on the North Shore outside Albany.”
It would only become more sought after. Regeneration had been held back by Covid, a concentration of commercial property ownership in a few hands and tired 1960s-era buildings.
Knight Crawford, which focuses on retail, hospitality and office space, has built its portfolio by upgrading existing properties.
It owns 40 Hurstmere Rd, with the Eat St hospitality laneway, and the Parkway Arcade, which both link Hurstmere to
Waiwharariki Anzac Square. Above the renovated arcade, it is developing business studios. Consent to open out the rear of the building to the square has also been received.
The company also owns the 150 Hurstmere Rd building, next to the Bruce Mason Centre and more recently bought the former Aon building on Fred Thomas Dr north of a site Pak’nSave is seeking consent to develop. Knight said that it provided the opportunity for retail next to the supermarket along with continued use by medical tenants.
Knight said there was a lot of outside interest in Takapuna. Crawford, who is now based in Hong Kong, was able to tap into this, with investors who took a long-term approach.
“Kiwis are too short-term in their thinking,” Knight said.
Plan to repair lava mulled by council
A remedial plan to fix ancient lava flows on the coast between Milford and Takapuna damaged by concrete infilling is still being evaluated by Auckland Council.
A wider investigation into the damage is ongoing, a council spokesperson said last week. “All I can say at this stage is that the remedial plan has not yet been approved,” the spokesperson said.
Auckland Council served the owners with an abatement notice requiring remediation of the lava.
The flows are part of the Takapuna Reef Fossil Forest, dating back hundreds of centuries, which has been described as “one of
Cook Islanders benefit from Shore
North Shore audiologist Teresa Burns says a recent volunteer trip taking hearing aids to the Cook Islands was busy, rewarding and one she is keen to repeat.
Along with three colleagues from other parts of New Zealand, Burns set up a clinic for a week at the Raratonga Hospital in Avarua, seeing 165 patients. She took over “a giant-sized suitcase of equipment”, including donated hearing aids, which she recalibrated for reuse for 37 people.
“A lovely young man delivered hot coconut donuts on our last day. He said, ‘My nan can hear again because of you.’”
Burns is now looking to fundraise for more such initiatives and to encourage more
Burns has holidayed in the Cook Islands previously, but this was her first aid visit. On top of hearing testing and other assessments, she says the team encountered “probably more need than I expected”.
This included serious middle-ear infections and eardrum perforations in children as well as adults. Luckily an ear, nose and throat surgery team is due to visit over the next week, allowing for quick surgical follow-up of some issues.
Burns said a particularly worthwhile aspect of the trip was the upskilling of local healthcare workers. One was a nurse who Burns trained, and coached in microsuction wax removal. Equipment and resources were
audiologist’s volunteer mission
Briefs
Speed limit to rise
A 30km/h speed limit near Sunnynook School will revert back to 50km/h in May or June. The current 30km/h zone encompasses Trinidad Rd, Wylie Ave, Tonkin Dr, Lyford Cres, Jonathan Pl, Juipe Rd, Datura Pl, Sequoia Pl, Kerria Pl, Erica Rd and Cassia Pl. A section of Lyford Cres close to the school will be 50km/h most of the time, but 30km/h per hour at the start and end of a school day. The other streets will be 50km/h at all times. The change will apply from when signs are updated. Auckland Transport has to make the changes under a government requirement for all speed limits lowered since January 2020 to be returned to their previous limits by the beginning of July.
Armed police pounce
Armed police raided an apartment in a block on Lake Rd near Harley Rd in Hauraki on Monday 10 March, but came up empty handed. Armed members of an Offender Prevention Team were deployed in an attempt to find a man who had warrants for his arrest for breaching court bail and who police said had been known in the past to possess firearms. “All attending staff were armed as a precaution,” a police spokesman told the Observer. “The man sought by police was not located and enquiries continue.”
Meeting a need... Audiologist Teresa Burns with a patient in Rarotonga
Quick action foils thief who took vehicle from Takapuna
The combined might of new technology and the police proved too much for thieves who stole a Toyota Hilux from the Takapuna Beach car park recently.
Kevin Campbell (pictured), a regular morning swimmer, got out of the water around 8am on 7 March to find his vehicle gone.
“I thought initially I may have parked it somewhere else, or my kids [who know the code to its lock box] had picked it up.
“I’d taken off my wetsuit and was wandering around in my Speedos”
Campbell borrowed a phone to alert his wife, Donna, that the vehicle had been stolen. His bag with his iPhone was locked in the truck’s back tray.
Donna checked her ‘Find My’ app and could see the Hilux was being driven along Oteha Valley Rd in Albany. She called 111 and began liaising with police about its whereabouts.
Police deployed cars and a helicopter to search for the car, which stopped at Postman Rd then Blackbridge Rd at Dairy Flat, then travelled to School Rd, Waimauku, where police put down spikes to attempt to stop it.
“The guy stopped the vehicle under the cover of trees and jumped into his girlfriend’s car, where he was stopped and arrested.”
The general public also assisted the operation, with a report of suspicious activity around the car at Takapuna car-park and a report of erratic driving at Waimauku, Campbell said.
He picked up the car at around 12.30 pm. Mystery still surrounds how the offenders broke into the car. The lockbox attached to the towbar was missing and the car key was found on the offender.
Late last week the Hilux was still in the shop having its electrics repaired.
“When I started it up (to drive back home
Not guilty plea after alleged attacks on
A 38-year-old man charged with assaulting a person with a blunt instrument, common assault and obstructing police, after allegedly attacking two Takapuna restaurant owners in mid-February, has pleaded not guilty.
Joshua Thornton appeared at North Shore District Court on 11 March, where he sought a judge-alone trial. The case was adjourned until 16 May. Thornton did not seek bail and will remain in custody until his next appearance.
Meanwhile, the Rudder Bar in Hauraki – where an aggravated robbery happened around midnight on Saturday 1 March – was the
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after the theft) the dash light warning light was on, alarms were ringing and the radio, navigation and air-conditioning weren’t working.”
Campbell said they may have broken into the car using a key scanner or attempted to disable the electrics to avoid it being tracked. “The lock box was pretty substantial so it would have taken a bit of getting into.
“There’s a few theories floating around on how they got in.”
Campbell, who has lived in Takapuna for three years, is shocked this type of crime, seemingly more common at night, would occur in a public spot near sunrise.
Police deserved credit for their quick response.
Indeed, Campbell says he has had “really great experiences” with emergency services over the last few months.
In December, the multi-time Ironman competitor suffered a heart attack following a bike ride. An ambulance arrived immediately and by the time Campbell was transported to North Shore Hospital “10 people were waiting for me”. Two stents were inserted into his heart straight away and then another two, two days later.
“The police and health services have been great. I can’t complain.”
restaurant owners
scene of an assault four nights later.
The owner of a neighbouring business came upon a beaten-up man in the bar’s rear outdoor area in the early hours of 5 March. Police said they took a person at the premises into custody. The man found outdoors had received minor injuries.
After the 1 March robbery, a man, aged 42, was arrested the following afternoon. Police later said he was the driver of a vehicle connected to the robbery which was spotted in Papakura.
After a pursuit, a second person in the vehicle was apprehended and tasered. He subsequently died in police custody.
Threatened golf club fights on against ‘wetland’ plan
Takapuna Golf Club will this week argue the case for preserving at least some of the wellused public course, which could largely be lost to proposed flood protection measures.
A session scheduled with Auckland Council staff on Friday follows a messy meeting council hosted at the golf course at AF Thomas Park on Sunday 9 March, which was attended by more than 100 players, neighbouring residents and representatives of other concerned sports groups, including North Shore Archery.
Questions to Healthy Waters head of sustainable outcomes, Tom Mansell, were cut short 10 minutes after the session began.
This consisted of a brief introduction, including showing photographs of the damage caused to the Wairau Valley in the 27 January 2023 floods, with staff then keen to switch to one-on-one engagement, rather than responding to questions from the floor.
“They’ve just lit the blue touch paper and
run away now,” a woman in the audience said to the Observer.
Some people walked out angry, others stayed on to ask questions or leave written suggestions, ranging from “leave the course alone” to suggesting flood remediation proceed, but in a way that still allowed some play to continue.
“We’re still no clearer with their plans,” said club spokesman Steve Dowd, who is the head greenkeeper. He hoped the Friday meeting would be more informative and was taking a civil engineer to it. “We’d like to work with them if we can.”
The club was blindsided to learn its future was on the line last month, during a discussion on its council lease. “There won’t be new lease, we were told,” Dowd said.
While it knew AF Thomas Park was being looked at for expanded use as a water detention area, it did not realise this could extend to turning it fully into a wetland, with
Hello neighbours
Castor Bay resident Peter Bartlett (left) and friend Roger Warner lounge in a shady spot where they watched the North Shore Brass Academy Band perform at the annual well-attended Neighbourhood BBQ day on the beachside reserve last Sunday
walkways and changed ground levels. It believes a way can be found to allow for golf to co-exist with flood protection, possibly on a course of nine rather than 18 holes.
An online petition in support of the the near 100-year-old course, has been signed by 2150 people, with hundreds more signing in person at the course, which caters for 400plus people on busy days. It also operates a golf driving range, with the facilities’ commercial lease generating revenue for council.
Council says there will be more opportunities for the club and the wider public to have their say on the Making Space for Water programme. But there is some urgency in advancing the plans in time to secure midyear Cabinet approval, bringing it under a co-funded $1.984 billion package for such measures.
Dowd fears this urgency will mean the case for keeping the course is not properly considered.
Kindy kids get up close with sealife
A beach clean-up and studying fish were on the agenda for the children at Milford Kindergarten during Sea Week earlier this month.
Head teacher Amanda Bowen said the kindy did all sorts of sea-related learning activities during the week. This included activities with fish, mussels and clams.
They examined the teeth, scales and guts of the creatures, learning about them in a “sensory-rich” way, Bowen said.
“The children are watching, tasting, smelling and feeling the physical fish themselves.”
The kindy also did sea-themed literacy and numeracy activities and had a family picnic at Milford Beach Reserve which included a beach clean-up.
Bagged... Onyx Smale with the rubbish he collected at Milford Beach
Bucket list... Oliver Ingle and Eddie Szczepanski showing the rubbish they picked up off the beach. Below: Mat Szczepanski and Agnieszka Szczepanski with their children (from left) Eva, Eddie and Bruno.
Takapuna cricket skipper breaks record in hunt for title
Takapuna Cricket Club premiers captain
Matt Jones has broken a club record for wickets in a season, taking seven in a victory last weekend, as the side chases a premier title. With one game to play, the side is second on the table, only narrowly behind firstplaced Parnell.
Jones topped the previous record of 67, set by Elliot Herd in 2015-16, after taking six in the second innings of the two-day match against Suburbs New Lynn last Saturday. Takapuna won the match outright. They
scored 180 batting first, before dismissing Suburbs for 140, then racked up 166 for three in just 20 overs in the second innings, taking another 10 New Lynn wickets to win by eight runs. Takapuna opener Campbell Brighouse scored 80 not out in the second innings.
Jones (29) has taken more than 430 wickets in his premier cricket career, with 56 in the 2019-2020 season his previous best.
He’s had a busy time, not only as captain but as a player-coach in the early stages of the summer, organising the squad and
pre-season games until the arrival of coach Brad Cachopa.
Jones, a left-arm spinner, said the team environment created by the new coach had contributed greatly to his bowling success.
Takapuna had been “perhaps a bit light on runs” over the season but top-quality fielding and “pretty miserly bowling” had kept the side in the hunt for the title, he said.
After last weekend’s win, Takapuna’s last two-day match is at home at Onewa Domain against Grafton on 22 and 29 March.
Club athletes show good form at nationals
Takapuna Athletics Club members won a haul of medals representing Auckland at the New Zealand Track and Field Championships. Athletes from Westlake Girls and Boys high schools added to the tally for North Shore talent at the Dunedin event from 6-9 March.
Eliza McCartney underlined her senior pole-vaulting class, winning gold, although only on countback from Olivia McTaggart (Harbour Bays), with both clearing 4.65m. In open para competition, Takapuna’s Sionnan Murphy won the shot put and discus finals.
Thrower Kate Hallie (18) came third in senior shot put and took two under-20 medals. Shot-putter Jacko Gill, who won the national title two years ago, withdrew injured.
Under-20s
Rival throwers Hallie (Takapuna club) and Karmen Maritz (Westlake Girls) won the shot put and discus respectively. Hallie was second in discus.
Maritz, aged 17, also qualified to compete in U18 events, winning both throws.
Westlake Boys product Tai Rhodes took pole-vault gold and student Oliver Chung won the hammer throw.
Samantha Lathwood (Takapuna) won the 100m and got a bronze in the 200m. She and younger sister Jessica were in the second-placed women’s U20 4x100m team.
Sascha Leticia claimed two bronzes, in the U20 1500m and 5000m.
Under 18s Takapuna’s Connor Brady won five medals
in his five events: comprising gold in shot put and pole vault, silver in javelin and 110m hurdles and bronze in 300m hurdles. He will represent in decathlon at the Australian championships next month.
A German exchange student, Teresie Hess, who trains at the club, won long jump, came second in 100m hurdles and third in high jump, plus made other finals.
Jessica Lathwood won a silver medal in the pole vault.
Under 16s
Takapuna’s Sina-Maria Su’a won double gold, in discus and shot put, with impressive distances that signal her as one to watch.
Alex Hallie won silver in discuss at his first nationals and was fourth in shotput. Romey Jewell was fourth in the 400m race.
several years’ experience to join the team at the Devonport Flagstaff and Rangitoto Observer fortnightly newspapers. You will produce general news stories, as well as reporting on sports, arts and local-body politics, writing longer features, taking photos and generating news leads from community contacts.
Excellent opportunities exist to build on these skills to take on an editing, layout and management role. Send CV and covering letter to
Editor, Rob Drent at rob@devonportflagstaff.co.nz
Forget the gym: scientific studies prove you only need 20 minutes a week
Most people struggle to find the willpower to go to the gym—the effort of getting there, changing clothes, and making time often feels harder than the workout itself. It’s a feeling Rob Donaldson knows well.
A contrarian approach to fitness
For most of his life, Rob was a gym regular, lifting weights five days a week. So when he first came across Fit20—a fitness programme claiming you could get the same results in just 20 minutes once a week—he was sceptical. “It caught my attention because it was so contrarian,” he says. “It went against everything I had ever believed about exercise.”
The science behind Fit20 Rob signed up for Fit20 because he had done some research, but he was still a sceptic, but three months in he was fully convinced of the results.
What he discovered was a fitness model backed by science: slow, controlled, high-intensity strength training designed to work muscles to momentary failure. This, according to research, stimulates muscle growth, improves metabolism, and enhances overall strength and fitness—with no need for hours in the gym.
Fit20’s approach is based on evidence from studies showing that short but intense resistance training is enough to drive muscle gains.
One long-term study tracked nearly 15,000 participants over seven years and found that just one 20-minute high-intensity session per week could increase chest-press strength by 50% and leg-press strength by 70%. Other research on the ‘Super Slow’ training method, a technique used by Fit20, indicates it produces superior strength results compared to traditional weight training in as little as 10 weeks.
A different way to train
For Rob, the shift in mindset was one of the biggest challenges. “I was used to the idea that fitness meant sweating it out for a solid hour, needing a shower and a change of clothes afterward,” he says. “But with Fit20,
you train in your normal business attire, no need for a post-workout shower, and you’re done in 20 minutes.”
Now, 18 months later, Rob has the data to back up his experience. The Fit20 app logs his progress, tracking weekly improvements in muscle tone, flexibility, and strength. “You see the graphs, and it’s clear—steady progress every week,” he says. “It’s not about becoming a bodybuilder, but keeping your muscles working so you can keep doing what you love as you get older.”
Staying strong with age
One of the benefits of Fit20 is that it gives Rob the strength, energy, and health to do the things he enjoys—like regular swims in the sea and bike riding.
Rob joined Fit20 when he was 75, and understands firsthand the importance of maintaining muscle strength. “Most people my age sit on a bike at the gym, pedalling slowly, just passing time. I didn’t want that. I wanted something that would challenge me,
that would keep me strong. Fit20 does that.”
Sessions take place in a private, climate-controlled studio, always with a personal trainer who ensures correct form and safety. “The trainers push you but in a way that’s smart,” Rob says. “They know their stuff. At the end of a 20-minute session, my whole body is shaking—I know I’ve had a proper workout.”
Rethinking fitness
Despite its effectiveness, Rob is frustrated that more people don’t know about Fit20. “There is research out there that proves it works, but we’re still stuck with the old ideas about fitness,” he says. “People think they need hours of gym time when, really, they just need 20 minutes a week.”
For those looking for a proven, research-backed alternative to traditional fitness routines, Fit20 might be the answer. It’s efficient, effective, and completely reshapes what we think exercise should be.
Just ask Rob.
Auckland should back push for easier heritage-status removal
The saga over the Firth property, along the coastal walk at Blackrock between Milford and Takapuna, continues.
When Paul Firth died in 2021, it was thought that some arrangements could be found to give the local community continuing access through the coastal property. Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be the case, so the beneficiaries of the Firth property initially decided to cut off this access. Then they agreed open the path over the summer. How long that will continue is uncertain, but the public have been very appreciative of this access.
Wellington City Council has recently asked the government to relax the rules relating to removing heritage status over
properties seen by the community as less important than other heritage-listed buildings.
The government says it will look at the concerns raised by Wellington City Council, while Auckland Council told the Minister for the Environment they were happy with the current rules.
It seems it is time for the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board to lobby Mayor Wayne Brown and the 20 councillors requesting that they fall into line and support the Wellington City Council position.
The walkway through the Firth property was last considered by the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board in October 2023. George Wood, Devonport-Takapuna Local Board member
Local businesses bear parking brunt
I see (letters, March 7) that Work and Income has responded that its new building on Barrys Point Rd has dedicated parking.
This would imply that there is customer/client parking. This is not the case. There is no customer parking. They have 26 car parks under the building for their staff and one for disabled customers out front.
Neighbouring businesses, including mine, spend the day shooing Work and Income customers from their car parks.
The closest bus stops are at least a six-minute walk away according to maps.
Luke Jenkins
Get
Young actor has hefty role in PumpHouse show
A well-meaning but flawed character played by a North Shore actor is at the centre of a play showing at the PumpHouse Theatre.
Così, by Australian playwright Louis Nowra, tells the story of a young director tasked with the job of staging Mozart’s opera Così fan tutte with a group of eccentric patients in a Melbourne psychiatric hospital who can’t sing, act, or speak Italian.
Set in 1971, it is based on Nowra’s own experience directing a motley crew of patients in a one-off opera performance.
Aidan Allen (22) plays the lead role of Lewis, the young director, who he describes as a man with the right intentions but not without weaknesses and shortcomings. “He’s the character that the audience is meant to see all that happens through.”
The character is on stage throughout the entire performance, which has required Allen to learn his role thoroughly. “It is very different [to anything he’s done before]. I’ve got to have all of that just in my head. I can’t go off stage at any point and look at my script.”
It’s Allen’s second role in a production by the Forrest Hill-based Phoenix Theatre, after appearing in last year’s Call Girls.
He’s also been in Company Theatre productions of Death of a Salesman and History Boys in recent years and is nominated for the Best Performer in a Supporting Role award at the Auckland community theatre awards for his performance as Bottom in a Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare in the Park at the PumpHouse last year.
Although Allen enjoys acting as a hobby, the Northcote resident “very much likes the prospects of stability” so aims to go into a career using a counselling degree, for which he’s currently studying at AUT. Così, at the PumpHouse until 29 March. Tickets and session times at pumphouse. co.nz/whatson.
Key part... Aidan Allen plays a young director with good intentions. Below: The rest of the cast includes (from left) Louisa Hutchinson, Grace Rhynd, Nat Churches, Richard McFadgen and Christina Cie.
Theatre hopes seats offer will cushion shortfall
The PumpHouse is running an ‘Adopt a Seat’ campaign in the face of an expected $100,000 shortfall in revenue this year.
This follows the folding of its most regular booker over two decades, the Tim Bray Theatre Company, due to Bray’s ill-health.
PumpHouse business manager James Bell said the unexpected loss of Bray’s school-holiday theatre performances for children, which ended in December, had left big gaps in the Takapuna arts venue’s programming. While there was interest from other groups, it would take time to refill the calendar. “The challenge for us is to just limp through until next year and until others get going,” he said.
The predicament has been signalled to the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board and Bell said he was exploring grants options, but it was already a challenging time for the arts.
The PumpHouse seats scheme follows the $10,000 replacement of 30-year-old seating in its auditorium with 69 new seats that Bell said were “a lot more comfy for the audience”.
For $199, people can take a ‘Leading Role’ option to adopt a front-row or other seat in the auditorium and have the chance to attend a “meet your seat’ event, where they will be photographed in the seat and acknowledged at the theatre as a seat supporter. A second-tier option is to take a ‘Supporting Role’ for $99 and receive a certificate of acknowledgement. Bell explained the scheme, based on a successful fundraiser in the United Kingdom, does not provide a right to book and use a particular seat. “You get the warm-fuzzy glow of knowing you’ve helped,” he said. “It’s a bit of fun to help the theatre.”
The scheme will run until the end of March, allowing people who donate to get a receipt enabling them to claim a charitable tax deduction this financial year.
Money raised will help cover the costs of numbering the seats, installing a handrail and general theatre maintenance.
So far this month, 14 seats have been adopted, but Bell is hoping more community members will sign up.
The old seats needed replacing, because they had already been much repaired, rewashed and reupholstered. “They’ve done their bit,” said Bell. The new seats can be stacked away if additional downstairs floor space is required.
A bonus of this is the theatre has been able to allocate a front row space for a patron in a wheelchair, adding to its accessible options. There is also more room for people going to their seats to move about.
Some of the old seats have been used elsewhere in the PumpHouse buildings and others donated to a venue starting up in Ellerslie.
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