Issuu

Milford, Castor Bay, Forrest

Charity weighs next steps after massive fire... p3

and Sunnynook

Takapuna duo win regional cricket awards... p5

Market showcases kids’ creativity... p14-15

Public park loss ‘shows erosion of democracy’

Land for a pocket park at the Spencer on Byron high-rise has been reclassified for car parking without community consultation.

The planning decision showed an erosion of democratic rights, says the Takapuna Residents Association (TRA).

“Of course we are disappointed – it was a

public facility that was taken away without consultation,” its chair Steven Salt said.

For years, the TRA has tried to have what was a condition of the original consent for the hotel and apartment building enforced, but the building’s body corporate has now won permission to use the western corner space of its Byron St frontage for extra parking.

The body corporate’s “re-consent” application followed talks with Auckland Council planners in late 2023, after the council had issued an abatement notice requiring the public area to be reinstated.

To page 2

Takapuna remembers the fallen

Team tribute... Harbour Voices members (from left) Visse Hopley, Nicky Laird, Anna Watson and Nicole Young with a wreath for laying at the Takapuna Anzac Day commemoration. The choir led a big turnout of people in singing the Australian and New Zealand National Anthems. Pictures, pages 8-11.

Former pocket park will provide 23 parking spaces

From page 1

This notice was then paused.

Duty planning commissioner Richard Blakey ruled last month that there was “nothing exceptional, abnormal or unusual” about the subsequent re-consent application that suggested it should be notified.

He approved the plan for 23 parking spaces on the land in question, to be used only in relation to on-site activities. Landscaping around its edges was a condition, as was an easement for a narrow set-back from the street, where seating would be provided, although that easement can be removed should the area be redeveloped for a different use.

Blakey noted concerns raised by the TRA and the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board along with around 30 letters and emails received in support of having the public amenity maintained and/or the matter publicly notified.

Five supported the change for parking. Backing the advice of planners, he found adverse effects were not more than minor

AT

admits

and that no special circumstances remained that required notification.

The 1998 requirement for the public park was a condition of the building being higher than allowed under the North Shore District Plan.

Takapuna was later classified as a Metropolitan Centre Zone under the Auckland Unitary Plan (AUP), lifting height restrictions and requirements for public areas to be provided when heights were exceeded.

Blakey noted the original pocket-park area had not been vested as public land by the former North Shore City Council, nor did the original consent include conditions the land be permanently designated as public space.

“Pocket parks are important,” Salt told the Observer.

In time, as the area further intensified, the site would be surrounded by other high-rise buildings. “An outdoor green space for people that will be surrounded by apartments has value.”

Another public pocket park had already been lost in Takapuna when the council

decided in 2022 to sell a strip of land on Blomfeld Spa, behind Lake Rd shops.

Salt is particularly concerned about how difficult it is for individuals and residents groups to have a say over issues such as the Spencer on Byron or the complex planned for prime central land seaward of Hurtsmere Rd and taking in the former Colmar-Brunton site overlooking Takapuna Beach.

“There is no democratic input into the breaking of the rules. It’s the same with the Colmar Brunton,” he said in reference to that project gaining over-height clearance with conditions.

“None of these things are made public. It’s only if you happen to hear that anything’s going on.”

Non-notified planning applications were a problem, he said. He wanted “a bit more democracy brought back into planning processes”.

The Spencer pocket park area has been fenced off for around six years, initially for use by construction workers during building maintenance then as informal parking space.

raised crossing could mean vibration and noise

Vibration and noise may affect houses near a proposed raised pedestrian crossing outside Campbells Bay Primary School in Aberdeen Rd, Auckland Transport admits.

“We cannot make any guarantees on noise and vibration,” said project manager Raymond Tong.

Another AT staffer whose input Tong sought had said the location might not be suitable due to there being properties opposite the school below road level and some being of two-storeys.

AT was reporting back to Devonport-Takapuna Local Board members at a

workshop last week on options for a safety upgrade sought by the school.

The board has already agreed to support an upgrade with discretionary transport funds.

But members wanted a rapid rethink on approaches after AT’s admission.

Member George Wood sought assurances at an earlier meeting that if any issues emerged with a raised crossing on the busy road used by buses it could be removed.

Following Tong’s remarks, member Peter Allen asked if a signalised pedestrian crossing might be a better solution.

SIMON WATTS

Board members liked the idea, but worried about the cost.

The board has around $300,000 available.

They asked AT to report back quickly and criticised it for not having costings for the three options presented, which included a flat crossing with a mid-road island and a flat crossing with speed bumps either side.

A final decision on the project is needed quickly, as the board’s transport funds will be lost if not spent by June.

The aim is to have safety improvement installed next summer.

MANAGING

EDITOR: Janetta Mackay

ADVERTISING: Candice Izzard

PRODUCTION: Brendon De Suza WRITE

Briefs

Racist tag on ramp

A racially offensive word was spraypainted on a Takapuna Beach boat ramp and remained there for more than a week without Auckland Council being alerted. Council staff went to remove the slur last week after being sent a photo by the Observer. Council has a hotline for grafitti removal, aiming to act within 24 hours for offensive tags.

TGS also defaced

Takapuna Grammar School was also hit by tagging over the school holidays. Its heritage facade was defaced by black paint in three places – on either side of the main building’s entrance steps and further along the block near the international students centre. The tags were removed over the break.

Authorised by Hon Simon Watts, Parliament Buildings, Wgtn.

Fire-ravaged charity looks to rebuild for workers

After Peter Fraher watched 21 years of his work life go up in smoke his thoughts quickly turned to how to manage the news for the 150 people for whom Abilities Group is more than a job.

This week he met with many of them and their families in a packed meeting, held in Takapuna to discuss how the recycling charity hopes to bounce back from the explosive fire that wiped out its Wairau facility on 24 April.

“We’ve been communicating with them – a little bit of counselling and support,” is how Fraher, the group’s managing director, puts it. “I don’t have definite answers yet, but I wanted to let them know we would do our damndest to rebuild.”

Temporary premises are being sought.

Abilities has 120 workers with disabilities and a further 30 support staff. Workers range from teens to retirement age and they face a range of disabilities and health challenges. Some can only work a few hours a day, but the chance to make themselves useful and be part of a team means much more than just a pay packet.

A woman who visited the site on Anzac Day to see the devastation first-hand told the Observer working there had proved a turning point for her young adult brother, who suffers from dyspraxia and ADHD.

“He found it so hard to get a job. He tried for so long,” she said.

Starting work at Abilities a couple of years ago had given him a sense of purpose. “He loved it. He made so many friends. It gave him so much confidence.” He was now looking at doing a computer coding course.

Her brother had been really upset to hear about the fire and she was saddened to see how totally it had wiped out the large building on Hillside Rd, opposite the Wairau Valley Special School. She hoped it would rebuild: “It’s such an amazing organisation.”

Fraher said the fire broke out in an e-waste section of the large building. He and a truck driver were the last people left at the facility after 5pm before the Anzac Day break.

They tried to extinguish the fire, but it got away on them, though they managed to get two vehicles out of harm’s way. “I’m still staggered the way it spread,” he said.. “But all recycling stuff is pretty combustible.”

Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) initially indicated lithium-ion batteries were suspected of having played a part, but a formal investigation is still under way.

At its height, the fire was battled by 90 firefighters from Auckland and Hamilton, with 16 fire appliances, four ladder trucks and 12 support vehicles in attendance.

It sent a fireball and black toxic fumes into the air. Smoke could be seen from a wide area. Residents were told to stay inside,with windows closed. Roads were blocked off.

The fire was controlled before midnight, but crew stayed overnight. The next morning two diggers were used to open up the wrecked

Now and then... Abilities Group managing director Peter Fraher in front of the ruins of the Wairau Valley recycling facility destroyed by fire last week. It has provided work and companionship for hundreds of North Shore people with disabilities. Below: a group photo at the facility as it was.

structure to fully douse small flare-ups.

Milford and Castor Bay beaches were black-flagged for swimming for three days due to contaminated run-off entering the Wairau estuary.

Fraher spent the day after the fire on site, discussing the damage with visitors, including local politicians. Equipment used in various recycling operations was destroyed.

People gathered on the footpath, shocked by the damage.

“Community support has been amazing, “ said Fraher. “It’s been humbling.”

A Givealittle appeal is under way, to tide things over as much as possible for the vulnerable workers until a relocation plan is in place. More than $100,000 was soon raised.

That so many donors recognised the value of Abilities work was heart-warming.

The group was now looking at “what we

can do, where”, Fraher said.

The not-for-profit business had its beginnings in the late 1950s in Barrys Pt Rd, Takapuna, as the Auckland Occupational Therapy Workshop, later shifting to two different Wairau sites as its operations expanded. It has come to focus on sustainable waste-handling.

The Hillside Rd facility was popular with the public for dropping off items for recycling, including electronics, packaging materials and batteries. Businesses also used its services, which included document shredding and data destruction.

Fraher is organising a third meeting to keep up morale among workers, after an initial reassurance one last Saturday at Windsor Park Baptist Church, before the Takapuna session, on Monday, at PHAB, another disability support group.

“Someone to talk to” was the biggest need.

Venue seeking tavern status in wrong place, hearing told

Fears of increased noise from a Milford venue were raised on the first day of a hearing over its application to switch from a restaurant to a tavern licence.

Thirty-two objections have been received to Milford Motel’s application.

Among objectors who spoke on the first day of a hearing before a Liquor Licensing Authority panel in Takapuna last month, residents living uphill of the hospitality venue at 1A Shakespeare Rd raised existing concerns about noise and fears this could worsen.

The lawyer for BCR Hospitality, trading as Milford Motel, and its owner gave a commitment that live bands would not be booked at the food and drink venue, which sometimes has DJs playing. The licence change was presented as correcting a technicality.

“They want us to trust them that it will be okay,” Milford Residents Association

(MRA) co-chair Debbie Dunsford told the Observer later. “What happens if they sell it in six months’ time?”

The case was adjourned on 14 April. When it resumes this month the applicant will be questioned, as will a licensing inspector who initially recommended the restaurant licence be retained, but changed his mind after seeing a risk report on noise. Neither the police nor the Ministry of Health raised any objections.

Residents who spoke cited the impact on their lives since the venue opened in 2023. Especially in summer, when its large outdoors area was full, noise negatively interrupted their lives.

The MRA submission said the venue was in the wrong location. A tavern rather than a restaurant licence was likely to draw more patrons, due to seats not being required for

Property owners want creek widened

Money should be spent on increasing Wairau Creek capacity, say two disillusioned property owners who fear initial flood-mitigation plans won’t tackle the main issues for Milford.

“The golf course [detention plan] won’t solve the problem,” Stratford Ave resident, Bob Lang, a former land surveyor and town planner, told the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board last month. Council should do more to clear waterways, he said.

Co-submitter to the board’s public forum and an owner of a rental property on the same side street off Shakespeare Rd, Franco Belgiorno-Nettis of Takapuna, said money would be better spent widening the creek and addressing issues around the Alma Rd and East Coast Rd bridges for a better passage of water out to the estuary. Debris screens were less than useless, he said, and should

be designed to be removable for floods not stay as chokepoints.

Board chair Mel Powell agreed more should be done to clear waterways and said the board shared frustration at slow progress

The men showed photographs from the 2023 floods and spoke of the impact on Stratford Ave residents. Water pooling was indicative of some fixable localised problems elsewhere, said Belgiorno-Nettis, suggesting levels rose up through drains because water could not get to the estuary fast enough.

Lang said life on the street of 40-odd homes and 30 pensioner units had been badly impacted. Uncertainty still plagued some residents over buyouts and yet three multi-unit developments were under way.

“Many have to look at moving away with little chance of finding equivalent dwellings in Milford.”

all, it said. Hours were also likely to be extended if the emphasis on dining shifted towards drinking. “Taverns tend to produce higher levels of noise.”

The submission said that while a neighbourhood tavern fostering social cohesion was an appealing concept, the business had to ensure it did not have adverse effects on residents.

Other taverns in the commercial area were smaller, with limited outdoor seating. “In our view the building is not fit for the purpose now proposed.”

A further concern the MRA said residents had raised was that drinking and entertainment activities would be highly visible to passers-by. “Local residents are concerned that a tavern on this site would change the amenity and good order that exists in Milford.”

Flood Recovery

Resilience ideas wanted

Milford residents wishing to share ideas for a more flood-resilient community have been invited to an informal meeting on Sunday 4 May at Nile Reserve playground, 2 Belmont Tce, from 10-11am.

A first session of the Milford Storm Recovery Project was held at the Milford SC Hall on Tuesday. The project is a council initiative to engage community voices through the Milford Residents Association (MRA) in a ‘well-being’ response to the floods in 2023.

The MRA welcomes people to drop by for a chat and coffee. One plan is for storyboards around Milford to keep people up to date with events, including land-use changes following property buy-outs.

Top achievers... Takapuna Cricket Club captain and Auckland men’s Cricketer of the Year Matt Jones (left) and the club’s women’s chair and Auckland Volunteer of the Year Lisa Kent

Influential Takapuna figures win Auckland Cricket awards

Takapuna Cricket Club’s Matt Jones and Lisa Kent both picked up top Auckland Cricket awards for the 2024-25 season.

Premiers captain Jones capped an epic season, winning the Auckland men’s Club Cricketer of the Year award.

“It’s a great personal milestone,” he said. “I was very happy my partner [Rebecca Fanning] and dad [Rob], who is chairman of the club, could be there with me.”

Jones, who began the year as the team’s captain/coach, set a club record taking 77 wickets, had five 5-wicket bags and took 14 catches.

Under his captaincy the premiers fin-

ished the season runner-up by just a point to Parnell in the Hedley Howarth two-day competition.

The Club Cricketer of the Year award is based on a points system but players had no idea who had won it until the awards night, said Jones, who won Auckland Cricket’s most promising cricketer of the year in the 2015-16 season.

Kent won the Carson Cup for Volunteer of the Year.

She “has been an outstanding advocate for women’s and girls cricket, fostering an inclusive and supportive environment for all,” Auckland Cricket’s citation said.

“It was very humbling to receive the award,” Kent said.

“I was blown away to be fair... there’s thousands of volunteers out there. Many do a lot more than me.”

Kent, however, puts in 20 hours per week on duties for Takapuna’s executive committee and as its women’s chair, plus game time on the weekends.

Takapuna has grown to have more than 150 women and girls players – the most of any club on the North Shore.

“It’s all about encouraging fun and friendship (for the girls),” she says. “I love it.”

Youth MP focuses on mental health

A newly selected Youth MP for North Shore is keen to use the platform to raise issues about youth mental health and encourage young people to realise they can have a voice.

Chelsea Brown, the co-head girl at Carmel College, was chosen from 18 applicants by North Shore MP Simon Watts to take up the annual opportunity.

As part of this she will attend a two-day Youth Parliament event in Wellington on 1-2 July, alongside other youth representatives chosen by MPs from throughout the country.

“I was impressed by Chelsea’s determination and commitment to serve our community.” Watts said.

In her interview she spoke about the importance of having an accessible youth mental health system and helping others.

Chelsea, aged 17, told the Observer she considers herself fortunate to have been given the opportunity.

“I hope to serve my community well throughout this Youth Parliament tenure.”

In turn, she hoped this would show other young people they could have a more prominent voice and participate in politics.

Mental health awareness was a focus for her, she said, because she had seen first hand the way young people could struggle with reaching out for help. “Supporting friends can be tough when you aren’t sure on how to help.” Rangatahi need to be educated in how to get help and to give it, she believes.

“I feel that a lot of the key stresses for young people in Aotearoa has to do with the algorithms they consume on social media.

“Mindset matters, and when you are already struggling it is really hard to separate your struggles from being normalised if that is what you are consuming on a daily basis,” she said.

“Ultimately, balance is the hard part of growing up as it can be a challenge to bal-

ance your school work, social life, family life and the drive to your own goals.”

After she finishes school this year, Chelsea is considering a potential career path in business, law or politics. “There is so much available, but I know that I want to work in a space with lots of collaboration with other people and problem-solving.”

With her already keen interest in politics, she is looking forward to seeing this in action in Parliament. She also likes the idea of collaborating with other similarly passionate Youth MPs and making connections across the country.

“This opportunity to be in Parliament and find realistic ways of improving awareness really drew me to the role, particularly as I love debating, communicating with others and pursuing a solution.”

The aim of the Youth MP programme is twofold: an opportunity for participants to understand the political process and for them to represent youth views at Parliament.

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Shore voices... North Shore MP Simon Watts with his electorate’s Youth MP, Chelsea Brown

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Leading the way... Following Drum Major Mike Pomeroy, North Shore Brass heads the parade down Lake Rd to the Strand, where (below, left) cenotaph guard Tyler Matairangi of the No 6 (North Shore) Air Training Corps was on flag duties and local schools, including St Joseph’s Catholic Primary pupils, were prominent in commemorations

Tea time...

for

Devonport-Takapuna Local Board chair Mel Powell invites guests

a cuppa as she winds up duties as MC; and (far left) Navy Lieutenant Commander Ray McLaughlin, vice-president of the Devonport RSA, talks with Navy veteran Dennis Manson who read the Dedication.

Community comes together for Anzac service

Veterans along with representatives from local schools and other organisations were to the fore as Anzac Day was marked with a wellattended traditional commemoration in Takapuna. Cool but dry conditions prevailed until the laying of wreaths, when rain fell for a few minutes.

Devonport-Takapuna Local Board chair Melissa Powell was MC for the event.

PICTURES: KATHRYN NOBBS

Showing respect.... Westlake Boys High School head boy Constantine Mataafa with Westlake Girls head prefect Julia Wilkins (centre), who read the Anzac Day address, and deputy head prefect Anahera Petera. Carmel College, Rosmini College, Takapuna Grammar School, Takapuna and St Joseph’s primaries and Age School were also involved in the commemoration. More school pictures, page 11.

Out and about... The chilly morning on 25 April did not deter a big turnout, including (centre) Takapuna veteran Terry Gunn; but for one little griffon dog it was all a bit much. Below (from left): North Shore MP Simon Watts was among dignitaries to lay a wreath, while many attendees took the time to plant a poppy; saluting during the National Anthem is the Parade Marshal, Squadron Leader Alex Koppenaal, of the New Zealand Cadet Force.

Anzac Day

Stepping up... Takapuna Primary School students (from left) Skye Ashton, Baliharjot Singh and Zehra Ozturk pause after laying a wreath. Right: Carmel College co-head girls Chelsea Brown (left), who read a poem, and Lily Dwyer with the wreath she later laid, and Westlake Girls head prefect Julie Wilkins delivering the Anzac address as local board chair Mel Powell looks on.

Badges and blazers... Rosmini College’s Anthony Angelo gives a scripture reading, Takapuna Grammar’s head boy Alexandre Berrux reads the prayer and Westlake’s Max Mitchell and Eddie Kim, who also read from scripture

Briefs

Teen sets world mark

A world’s best under-14 discus throw has been recorded by the Takapuna Athletics Club’s Sina Maria Su’a. The 13-year-old threw 48.66m at the End of Seasons Throw competition at AUT Millennium Stadium last month, breaking by 4cm the record held by a young Dutch athlete since 1990. Su’a, who also excels at shot put, is the national under-16 champion in both events.

Sprinter medals

Samanatha Lathwood from Takapuna Athletics Club claimed a silver medal in the 100m final at the recent Australian Under-20 Open Athletics Championships in Perth. She won a gold medal over the same distance at the NZ champs in March.

Rovers win Super 12

Shore Rovers premier netball team has won the Auckland-wide Super 12 club competition in an ideal lead into the start of the Netball North Harbour (NNH) winter season. Rovers beat Henderson-based Just Kruzin in extra time in a close final last month, after it and three other NNH teams contested a series against other top clubs from the Auckland, Waitakere and Pukekohe netball centres. The gritty extra-time win was particularly satisfying for Rovers, given four of its 12 players were unavailable.

Bell rings up records

Westlake Boy High School product

Connor Bell is knocking on the door of a 70-metre discus throw, having twice broken his national record competing recently in the United States. The 23-year-old Olympian threw 68.38m and seven days later 69.51m.

Sport Three in a row for WGHS yachties

Westlake Girls High School won the girls division at national secondary schools teams racing champs held at New Plymouth last week – its third title in a row.

The Westlake team (above left to right): Kiera Dimock, Charlotte Handley, Emily Turner, Jess Handley, Julia Nguyen, Bella Jenkins, Danielle Robertson, Gretel Satterthwaite, also finished sixth overall.

Captain Jess Handley said the nationals “were a super cool event and the result was amazing for us”.

The Westlake yachties were the only girls team in the eight-strong Gold Fleet. Handley said it was “great to get some victories over some of the boys teams”.

But a win over Westlake Boys High School, which came second in the regatta, was a step too far, with the girls losing three

races against the neighbouring school.

Handley said the local derby match-ups were hard fought, with both teams having respect for each other.

She said her team had shown marked improvement over the last three years of winning its three girls titles. In its first year it competed in the Silver Fleet, as it did last year, when it placed second overall at that level. This year it qualified through Auckland champs to step up to the Gold Fleet competition.

The Westlake girl’s team will be back on the water soon, training for the interDominion trans-Tasman secondary schools regatta to be held in South Australia in the September school holidays.

• A mixed Takapuna Grammar School team finished fourth overall.

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Takapuna footballers rise again in Easter defeat of local foes

Takapuna AFC premiers got their season back on track with a dominant 2-0 win over North Shore in a fiercely contested local derby during Easter weekend.

Prior to the win Takapuna had won one, drawn one and lost three of its early matches in the Northern Region Championship division.

Against Shore in Devonport, however, the visiting side was dominant.

The game was locked at 0-0 at halftime, but Takapuna took charge in the second half,

setting up several four direct shots at goal.

Abe Khalil hit the back of the net with a screamer from 25 metres (his first for the club after joining this season), before Daniel Gleissner-Broom slotted a penalty.

The Takapuna defence shut out Shore, with athletic goalkeeper Igor Gjorgievski saving at least two shots which seemed goalbound.

Last weekend, Takapuna won 3-2 away against Onehunga Mangere. On 3 May, they play Manukau at Taharoto Park at 3pm.

Airborne... Takapuna captain Connor Cahill-Fahey leaps over a Shore defender. Below: Takapuna’s player of the day, Harri McDowell, holds off Shore’s Louie Poletti.

Product plug... The Seidel brothers from Milford, Tiago (6) and Flynn (4), dressed to impress at their lemonade stand at the Sunnynook Children’s Market. Seven-year-old Jahoel Molijon (above right) sold beaded jewellery.

Young entrepreneurs... Wairau intermediate School friends (from left) Hayden Fish, Hashy Hussein and Shayan Dogar, all aged 12, with cards from their Fishy Photo Snap business

Young marketers put

The second Sunnynook Children’s Market gave dozens of youngsters a chance to make some pocket money and show off their creativity during the school holidays.

Organiser Iman Khattab, who lives in Forrest Hill, was pleased to see the Sunnynook Community Centre hall filled with shoppers at more than 20 stalls. Some children were selling unwanted toys and books, but most made items including food, crafts, cards and jewellery.

Paige Prescott (11) was selling earrings to help fund a cheerleading trip with her All Star Legacy team from Wairau, and Aimee Vernaak’s sand art project attracted sales, plus interest for a future party booking.

Hayden Fish and friends launched their photography business, selling cards with images of zoo animals, but also offering to do sittings. The trio helped Khattab market the event.

She got the idea for the first kids market held last year, because her older son “loves making money”. She hopes the event can grow from being held annually to running in each term break, with hopes for the next one mid-year.