7 August 2026 Rangitoto Observer

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Takapuna, Milford, Castor Bay, Forrest Hill and Sunnynook VERED FORTNIGHTLY AN INDEPENDENT VOICE Issue 1 – 15 March 2019

177 – August 7, 1 2026 TNIGHTLY DELIVERED FORTNIGHTLY AN2019 INDEPENDENT VOICE AN INDEPENDENT VOICE Issue 1 – 15Issue March 2019 Issue – 15 March

VERED FORTNIGHTLY

Issue 1 – 15 March 2019

Plan emerges for ancient lava repairs... p2

AN INDEPENDENT VOICE

Local suburbs dodge major density proposals... p7

Sunnynook skatepark finally opens... p16-17

Long closure looms for Bruce Mason Centre

Repair and upgrade work at Takapuna’s Bruce Mason Centre could result in a lengthy closure from mid-2027.

A number of sources have told the Observer the facility could be out of action for up to 12 months. The building, which opened in 1996, is understood to have had leaks.

Tātaki Auckland Unlimited acting chief executive Justine White says no decisions have been made about the timing or duration of any “potential disruptions or closure”, and planning for the work is still in its early stages.

“Programming and availability beyond mid-2027 are being carefully managed while

this work progresses to allow flexibility once the scope and timing are clearer,” she says.

White says potential hirers have been made aware of alternative venues. “A more detailed update will be provided once the scoping phase is complete.”

• Venue turns 30, page 18

All lit up for the festival

Cool fun... Mia (7) and Olly Tan (4) were among the crowds who wrapped up warm to enjoy the first night of the Takapuna Winter Lights festival last Thursday. More pictures, pages 8-11.

The Rangitoto Observer Page 2

August 7, 2026

‘Small tools’ repair planned for ancient lava flow An application for resource consent to repair illegal concreting of ancient lava flows on the coast between Milford and Takapuna has been lodged this month with Auckland Council.

The work would be done with small tools so as not to damage the remnants of the Takapuna Reef fossil forest and cliff lava exposures any further, says the resource consent application lodged by Campbell Brown planners on behalf of Lichun Gao. Only the concrete would be removed.

The illegal concreting (pictured right) took place on the boundaries of 17-19 O’Neills Ave, Takapuna 18 months ago. Three separate abatement notices were issued by Auckland Council – in November 2024 and July and December 2025 – requiring remediation.

The remedial action plan submitted by Gao includes “specialist input by [geologist] Dr Bruce Hayward and [geotechnical company] Geovert who will be the party who will complete these works,” the consent application said. Around 40sqm of concrete had to be removed.

Auckland Council will now assess the consent application.

Lake House bid for $640K turned down Creative New Zealand funding for the Lake House arts centre has been declined in an increasingly tough funding environment for the arts.

The centre sought $640,000 over three years for business development.

Its failure to secure Creative NZ money follows news the Depot arts hub in Devonport has lost funding from the same agency recently, having previously enjoyed long-standing support.

Lake House operations and programmes manager Grae Burton told the Rangitoto Observer that while the organisation had

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hoped for Creative NZ funding, it wasn’t dependent on it.

The centre hires out its main gallery, and operates a subscription model for its other three galleries.

Burton says Lake House suffered from reduced funding of $20,000 in the last financial year and has been in recovery mode this year.

“We had hoped our application to Creative New Zealand might have helped with that, but it wasn’t to be,” he says.

All community galleries receive a small proportion of Auckland Council funding per programme, Burton says.

MANAGING EDITOR: Rob Drent REPORTERS: Alisha McLennan Maria Teape ADVERTISING: Candice Izzard PRODUCTION: Brendon De Suza Our team also works on the long-standing and award-winning Devonport Flagstaff newspaper.

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Meet the candidates A meet the election candidates event will be held on Tuesday 20 October at the Milford Baptist Church Hall.

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Youth award launch A new Environmental Youth Award is being “soft launched” at North Shore Rotary Club’s expo evening on 17 August.

The evening is being held at Pupuke Golf Club between 5.30pm and 7pm.

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The Rangitoto Observer Page 3

Catwalk beckons for Westlake fashion hopefuls Two Westlake Girls High School students have been selected as finalists for “Walk the Line 2026”, a youth fashion showcase.

Students Yashica Lal and Eva Makarova-Paton will have the chance to showcase their work at New Zealand Fashion Week on Saturday 22 August.

The girls were two of 78 selected finalists from 108 entries – a record year for submissions for the showcase.

Twelve finalists were from the North Shore.

Lal (17) is competing in Walk the Line for her second consecutive year.

“It’s a fun opportunity to do it again, I was in last year and it was a really fun experience.”

Although she did not place last year, she says this time she has increased confidence and more knowledge of what the judges are looking for.

Entering the high fashion category, Lal has been working on a “Barbie” garment design. “It’s very bedazzled, very pink, very Barbie.

“I always liked Barbie as a child, she was very much ‘we can be whatever we want to be’, which I thought was a good theme to bring into this event.”

Makarova-Paton (16) is a first-time entrant for Walk the Line, but has a couple of years’ experience entering the Toi Wearable Art competition.

“I’m really excited – it’s quite different to other competitions I’ve been in,” she says.

She is working on an ocean-inspired Runway bound... Westlake Girls gown. “It’s flowy, with lots of pleats,” she High School students says.

Eva Makarova-Paton (above) and “I hope I place, that’d be really cool, but Yashica Lal (inset) will showcase it’s very much my first time so I’m not sure their work in this year’s “Walk what to expect.” the Line” youth initiative at New The entrants have a dress rehearsal two Zealand Fashion Week weeks before their outfits hit the catwalk.

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The Rangitoto Observer Page 4

August 7, 2026

Former local lawyer adds his economic

Plight of the Kiwi... Retired Milford lawyer and former Act Party figure David Schnauer believes the New Zealand economy is in a precarious state and needs governments to make some tough decisions

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“There’s no point in writing something if no one is reading it.”

So 18 months ago Schnauer set about writing a book for the general market.

Although that was time-consuming and sometimes challenging, the writing turned out to be the easy part.

He took the best part of a year to finish it, with the aim of releasing it in 2025, but finding a publisher proved tricky. Eventually, he released it through Mary Egan Publishing.

The launch of the book this month proved opportune, just before the election, when people are thinking about the future. Fifteen hundred copies have been printed.

Schnauer was once vice-president of the Act Party, while Patricia was an ACT MP from 1996 to 1990. But today he says he is not a member of any political party and has no political affiliations.

When framing the future, Schnauer looks back at the past. In his lifetime, he says ,New Zealand has gone from being one of the most prosperous countries in the world to the precipice of slipping into second world country status.

Schnauer’s boomer generation are part of the problem: exploiting benign conditions such as free tertiary education and plentiful jobs, they have not saved sufficiently for retirement or healthcare.

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Publicising his book Uncomfortable Economics has been just as hard as writing it, says retired Milford lawyer David Schnauer.

Marketing was outside his comfort zone and the book is not a story: “I’m selling ideas,” Schnauer (76) told the Observer in a Milford cafe last week.

He was worried potential buyers would ask “What does a retired lawyer know about economics, when he is one step away from the dementia ward?”

The answer is: quite a lot actually.

Schnauer has always been interested in macroeconomics, and completed a co-joint law and commerce degree at the University of Auckland.

After working at national law firm Brandon Brookfield in central Auckland, he spent 22 years at Milford-based Schnauer and Co, established by wife Patricia.

He continued with aspects of commercial law but also dealt with clients wanting a variety of advice, “typical of what you need from a suburban law practice”.

He retired in 2012 and began writing economics articles for the New Zealand Herald and the National Business Review, and published an online book which was available on a website.

But he found very few people navigated to his page to find the book.

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The Rangitoto Observer Page 5

arguments to the election-year policy hubbub Rising debt, warnings of credit downgrades and tougher world conditions make New Zealand’s current economic position precarious, Schnauer believes.

A reversal of New Zealand’s fortunes will not be a quick and easy fix but possible with change and the correct long term polices, he says.

Schnauer is adamant that long-term

“If we can create awareness of the situation, political action to change things becomes more possible.”

– 100-year – planning is key to New Zealand’s resurgence rather than lurching from crisis to crisis, which appears to be what is happening currently.

He says the economy is like a “Kiwi guy whose 50kg overweight” but has to have an actual crisis – a heart attack – before changing his lifestyle.

Governments need to make hard decisions. In his view superannuation and healthcare at current levels are unaffordable for an ageing population with a lower number of taxpayers. The costs of superannuation and healthcare are going up at $3 billion per year.

Schnauer argues the superannuation age needs to be raised, means testing introduced and some form of compulsory saving started for young people. He also backs a capital gains tax, offset by lower income tax and paired with lower immigration to reduce the demand for housing.

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Keeping it local... David Schnauer outside Milford’s Booklover, where he launched Uncomfortable Economics last week But a cultural change is also needed, whereby New Zealanders accept they must save for their old age, he says.

In recent times, Kiwis have put money into property and relied on capital gains and later downsizing to fund their retirement.

The correction in property values across the country is rocking that concept, with “that philosophy running its course,” Schnauer says.

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uation, political action to change things becomes more possible.”

He’s in two minds whether to write another book but his family got a kick out of his first effort.

Schnauer’s granddaughter Ava drew a picture of a kiwi “for Grandpa’s book cover”.

• Uncomfortable Economics by David Schnauer is available at most bookshops and had a launch at Milford’s Booklover bookshop last week.

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The Rangitoto Observer Page 6

Simon Watts For

North Shore

Get in touch simon.watts@national.org.nz national.org.nz/team/simonwatts SimonWattsMP

Authorised by S Watts, simon.watts@national.org.nz

August 7, 2026

August 7, 2026

The Rangitoto Observer Page 7

Local suburbs dodge some major intensification moves Milford, Takapuna and Sunnynook have escaped some of the most extreme zoning changes threatened under central government’s push for greater intensification, though concerns remain about six-storey buildings in suburban areas.

Under the final version of Auckland Council’s “Plan Change 120”, adopted recently in response to government demands, many parts of Milford, Sunnynook and Forrest Hill and all of Castor Bay have reverted to the zoning in the existing Auckland Unitary Plan.

Six-storey catchments are still coming to Milford and Takapuna, but the high- density zoning between the Milford and Takapuna walkable catchments has been removed.

The 15-storey zoning initially planned from Hauraki north will now start at Tennyson Ave instead.

And Sunnynook has had the 10-storey area proposed in the initial plan reduced to six-storey zoning.

The new plan is expected to boost Auckland’s housing stocks by between 1.5 million and 1.7 million dwellings– meeting the minimum requirement of central government legislation of 1.4 million.

But North Shore Ward councillor Richard Hills said while the initial plan increased heights and density on “almost every site in Auckland”, under the update 85 per cent of Auckland would remain the same.

Locally, stronger rules had been introduced for lower density near the coastline and elsewhere.

“We have put in place the strongest requirements on building in floodplains, cliffs and hazard zones, which includes downzoning along the coast, in many pockets of Milford, including Nile Road, around the marina, near the estuary and near the Sunnynook Bus Station,” Hills said.

“We have removed the increased density south of Hauraki Corner, meaning Bayswater, Belmont, Devonport and surrounding areas stick with their unitary plan zoning,” Hills says.

The new plan is expected to open for public consultation late this month. Submissions will be accepted for 20 days after which it will go to an independent hearings panel. All submissions already received remain valid.

The decision to revert the stretch between Milford and Takapuna to what’s in

the Unitary Plan aligned with the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board’s feedback to council, said board member George Wood.

“This is certainly an excellent outcome for the residents of both the Milford and Takapuna areas, and a very positive result for the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board.”

He noted less attention was given to future development of land within floodprone areas.

Milford Residents Association co-chair Debbie Dunsford says the group is pleased with the removal of the catchment between Milford and Takapuna, but remains concerned about the “inevitable pepper-potting” of six-storey buildings in suburban areas.

“Unfortunately, even with this revision, the proposed zone will still have extremely negative effects,” she said.

She said two Terraced Housing and Apartment Building zones placed either side of East Coast Rd just north of the Milford town centre would cause multiple problems related to shade, stormwater runoff and excessive use of retaining walls. The land was too steep to qualify the catchments as “walkable”.

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“It feels feels like like getting getting your your life life back” back” “It Sarita’s grandson wanted to kick a ball.

He’s two. That’s what two-year-olds do.

It’s not meant to be hard.

But for Sarita, it had become a real mission.

“I thought I was just going to that stage,” the 68-year-old Southland woman says. “Getting old and sliding to the sideline now, you know?”

She had always been active. Walking, gardening, keeping the section tidy. But over time, everything slowed down. Her ankle, her knees, her back. It all joined in.

The worst moment came when her son visited. They looked at the garden she could no longer keep up with and made it easy-care.

“It was like ripping my heart out, but I couldn’t keep up.”

One afternoon, she walked into her local chemist. The woman behind the counter handed her a natural cream made in New Zealand. Koru FX. She wasn’t entirely convinced. But she took the bottle home. Rubbed it in morning and night.

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“Now, I can chase him around and even race him. Before, without the support, I just wouldn’t have.”

She had the kind of afternoon that twoyear-olds think is normal and grandmothers know is a gift.

“It feels like I have got life back in me.

And that’s all I want.”

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The Rangitoto Observer Page 8

Winter Lights

August 7, 2026

Ready, steady, glow! Winter Lights draws the crowds Just over 60,000 people attended the four-day Takapuna Winter Lights festival which ran until last Sunday. Takapuna Beach Business Association chief executive Terence Harpur said: “We are thrilled with the community support and attendance at the event. Takapuna was buzzing with people of all ages from across Auckland, restaurants full and people having a great night out.” Funding was tight for the 2026 event, but given its success the association is looking forward to staging it again in 2027, Harpur says. More pictures, pages 10-11.

Nearly show time... Terence Harpur of the Takapuna Beach Business Association with a list of event sponsors ahead of the first night of the festival. Right (from left): Takapuna locals Kelly, Maia and Ben Channing.

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The Rangitoto Observer Page 9

Sound and light... TGS students Nathan Fry (above) and Sylvie Phillip-Smith (below) provided entertainment at the event Standing by for the fun to begin... Top: Maisie Manolas (14) from Northcote with Ari Saffer (15). Below: Esne (6), Victor (3), Scot and Amanda FifieldSmith. Bottom: Westlake Boys High School volunteers Carter Galletly, Mason Butler and Kees Roelink.

The Rangitoto Observer Page 10

Feels good... Charlotte McNab (3) of Belmont gets up close to the lights. Right: Cyril Howard, Paihau Earnshaw-Howard (6) and Lucy Earnshaw from Takapuna. Below: One of the displays.

Winter Lights

August 7, 2026

August 7, 2026

Winter Lights

The Rangitoto Observer Page 11

Eyes and ears... Wesley and Kaison Loventz (2) from Takapuna.

Below: Damian Barbiera (3) from Wairau wields a light sabre.

On guard!... Caden and Albert Tan (6) from Albany.

Below: Camouflage buddies Luca Rickabu and Josh Richardson (both 6).

The Rangitoto Observer Page 12

August 7, 2026

Lake Pupuke Tennis Club 2026 championships Lake Pupuke Tennis Club’s Neev Hunkin (right) collected three major cups at its recent championships, winning the women’s singles and doubles along with the mixed doubles.

Results: Men’s singles winner, Ethan Luo; women’s singles winner, Neev Hunkin; men’s doubles winners, Morgan Cairns and Charles Chen; women’s doubles winners, Hunkin and Vanessa Cairns; mixed doubles winners, Hunkin and Cairns.

Juniors – 12 and under boy’s winner, Gerard Wang; 12 and under girl’s winner, Amelie Senarath; under 15 girl’s winner, Charlotte Lynch; under 15 boy’s winner, Oban Sills-Jones; under 18 boy’s winner, Daniel Cheng.

Champs... (clockwise from top left) triple champion Neev Hunkin; men’s doubles winners and finalists Nico Costa, Morgan Cairns, Charles Chen and Daniil Glumskov (right) ; 12 and under girl’s winner Amelie Senarath (left) and finalist Katherine Yang; 12 and under boy’s winner Gerard Wang and finalist Brad Wang; Hunkin (left) and women’s doubles partner Vanessa Cairns (right) with their final opponents Momiji and Tomoko Akiyama .

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The Rangitoto Observer Page 13

June spending in Takapuna down sharply on 2025 The amount spent at Takapuna retail businesses over June dropped 9.8 per cent year-on-year, says a Marketview Retail spending report.

Takapuna Beachside Business Association CEO Terence Harpur says businesses are experiencing a “really tough time”.

“There’s been a retraction in spending, consumer confidence is down, and this is consistent around Auckland,” he says.

The Takapuna area brought in $22 million through 447,128 transactions, compared to June 2025’s $24.4 million and 494,227 transactions.

Results were taken from approximately

60 per cent of electronic transactions made on Paymark Eftpos machines by credit, debit and eftpos cards.

These numbers are comparable to the drop in revenue seen in Newmarket (8.4 per cent). The CBD and Ponsonby areas improved, seeing revenue increase by 10 per cent year on year.

Milford’s revenue stayed consistent compared to last year, increasing by 1.1 per cent, while Devonport dropped by 2.7 per cent.

Harpur says the retail offerings in Takapuna are most similar to Newmarket, the CBD and Ponsonby.

“We don’t have a huge supermarket, so

our retail is more susceptible to [changes in] that disposable income,” he says.

He said it was worth noting that these numbers are directly compared to 2025’s “really good run”.

In Takapuna, accommodation and apparel stores were hit the hardest, dropping 26.8 per cent and 18.1 per cent respectively.

Hospitality dropped 16.3 per cent, and home, hardware and electrical businesses lost 15.5 per cent of their revenue after the number of transactions dropped by 34.5 per cent.

“Hospitality across Auckland is suffering at the moment,” Harpur says.

Funds for local transport projects approved The Devonport-Takapuna Local Board has approved transport spending of more than $2.7 million, across five projects.

They are: Takapuna town centre footpaths (expected to cost $1 million), Killarney Park greenway connection ($500,000), Milford Marina boardwalk extension ($350,000), Support your paper Hamana St speed-calming with driver feedback signs ($25,000) and Omana Rd pedestrian for the price of improvements ($199,472).

The board requested any cost savings from the fund be allocated to one or more of five a cup of coffee. contingency projects, including investigating the installation of a pedestrian crossing at Go to the intersection of Northboro Rd and Jutland Rd. rangitoto-observer.co.nz Other contingency projects that have already been investigated for estimated budgets and click on include pedestrian improvements on The Promenade, Takapuna ($340,000), Forrest Hill ‘Become a supporter’ Rd bus stop upgrade ($70,000), Victoria Rd bus stop upgrade ($70,000) and an ecological Devonport Flagstaff & Rangitoto Observer - Half at Page the top of the page. walkway from Henderson Park to Sylvan Park ($900,000).

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The Rangitoto Observer Page 14

August 7, 2026

August 7, 2026

The Rangitoto Observer Page 15

Bid to tighten board grip on projects is rejected

A move to improve council staff accountability to the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board has been rejected by the board.

A motion put by board member Terence Harpur with support from deputy chair Scott Macarthur sought a monthly meeting with a parks and community facilities staff member on the board’s priority projects, aiming to enhance accountability, improve fiscal responsibility and strengthen delivery.

Harpur said the move could give the board “greater governance” over the selected projects.

The proposed monthly check-in model was intended to seek timely delivery on priorities, including projects such as renewing the coastal staircase at Brett Ave Takapuna, the renewal of Dacre Park and renewing the toilet block at Devonport Domain.

Harpur said he would not want more than 10 projects on the list, and ideally “we could keep it at six or seven”.

He said the monthly catch-ups, which he was open to amending to quarterly catch-ups, would “make sure project managers and the board are all on the same page”, and establish the “next steps” for the coming three months.

Macarthur said asking questions of council staff often yielded a different view than simply reading a report. “This would give regular interaction with the staff.”

Auckland Council manager of area operations Eloi Fonesca argued existing workshops and contact with staff already allowed the board access to the information they sought. “We do try to keep those communication channels open.”

Board local area manager Trina Thompson said it was “important to keep the governance and operational split”. She said once the local board had approved a budget, it was up to council staff to determine how to deliver the project.

Harpur said “financial management is a

core purpose of good governance, to make sure we are spending correctly”.

Macarthur said it was a concern that the board could only tick off a budget, and then everything from that point was “operational”.

Board member Gavin Busch said although he understood the frustration and sympathised with the intent of the motion, it was an “overstep” into operations. “I cannot support this, I’m sorry.”

Board member Garth Ellingham agreed with Busch, and said the move would be “stepping into micromanagement”.

“We can ask for these updates ourselves,” he said.

Chairperson Trish Deans said although it might be helpful for board members to have a “greater understanding” of what council staff have to undertake, she was not in favour.

The motion was lost, 4-2.

Developer seeks consent for 12 homes on one Hauraki site

Twelve new dwellings are planned for a Hauraki site which is zoned for three or four.

Sentinel Planning has lodged a resource consent with Auckland Council for the project on a 1386sqm site at 19 Francis St, on the corner of Charles St. The 12 planned two-storey dwellings would be both detached and non-detached.

Most have three bedrooms, and each has a single carpark.

Only 72 vehicle movements per day from the site are envisaged after the 12-unit development is completed, the Sentinel Planning report says. Stormwater retention is planned to stop runoff affecting infrastructure.

The site is zoned as Mixed Housing Suburban (MHS), which allows three two-storey homes as of right, with a fourth requiring resource consent.

The 12-dwelling development meets the MHS zone goal of increasing housing, and as the homes are two-storey, they are said to fit in with the surrounding area, which is mainly single to two-storey detached and attached developments.

A few examples of more intensive development nearby include: • 46A-46F Hart Rd – six three-level terraced dwellings.

• 1/44-9/44 Hart Rd – nine two-level terraced dwellings.

• 66A-66F Jutland Rd – five two-storey detached and attached dwellings.

• 71A-71D Jutland Rd – four two-storey detached dwellings Auckland Council is yet to decide wheth- Intense…12 new dwellings are er the plan should be approved, or notified planned for the corner of Charles for public submissions. and Francis Sts in Hauraki

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The Rangitoto Observer Page 16

August 7, 2026

Long-awaited skatepark gets wheels spinning

Ramping it up... Young skaters and scooter riders enjoying the new Sunnynook skatepark. Below: (from left) Soyoung Park, Serah Rose Thekkan and Tejitha Ponnamperuma were among children who took a skating lesson at the opening event.

Residents gathered to celebrate the opening of the new Sunnynook Skatepark, a community-driven project almost a decade in the making.

The event featured the return of former Sunnynook police constable Penny Rusbatch, who initially spurred the project into action nine years ago. She says efforts included “a lot of submissions” to the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board, support from local schools—including a presentation to the board from Wairau Intermediate and Target Road Primary— and Bronwyn Bound from the Sunnynook Community Centre

keeping momentum going. “It’s been such an effort, a lot of hard work, but it’s always had the community support,” Rusbatch says.

Bound says the local desire for a skatepark has been around even longer, pushing the wait time closer to two decades. “We have waited so long for this, we have to celebrate the fact that it’s finally here,” she says.

Families, council staff and local board members attended to see the new skatepark and an opening marked by a karakia, Rusbatch cutting a ribbon, pizzas and a skating lesson.

August 7, 2026

The Rangitoto Observer Page 17

Open at last... Former community constable Penny Rusbatch cuts the ribbon on the skatepark. Below: Sunnynook Community Centre’s Ruth Moloney (left) and Bronwyn Bound with Rusbatch; pizza time; and Axyl and dad Nick Porter get in some practice on the neighbouring basketball court.

The Rangitoto Observer Page 18

August 7, 2026

How ‘an idea’ delivered Shore’s premier venue

The Bruce Mason Centre in Takapuna turns 30 this month, prompting memories of the community fundraising drive that turned dreams of such a venue into reality.

Since its 1996 opening the 1100-seat theatre has become a pillar of the North Shore entertainment scene, hosting amateur and professional productions, concerts and dance shows along with school graduations, citizenship ceremonies and more.

Centre technical manager Craig Dustin says many locals have graced the Bruce Mason stage. “We have people visit who remember dancing here 30 years ago,” he says. “Everyone on the North Shore knows the BMC.” The theatre is hired at a discount to North Shore community groups and organisations through the week, and hired out to bigger productions on the weekends. It typically hosts between two and four shows a week.

Before it was built, the Bruce Mason Centre was an idea promoted by arts aficionado

Angela Antony and barrister Geoff Clews.

Antony says the effort took 12 years from when the idea first struck her in March 1984 ,after the Tudor Theatre on Anzac St closed.

She rallied arts groups from across the Shore, gathered 30 people onto a steering committee chaired by Clews, and navigated the five councils on the Shore at the time.

Fundraising started in 1993, when a Thousand Foundation Members campaign was launched, grants obtained and performances at the PumpHouse Theatre and garden party events were held.

The centre is named after Takapuna local and world-famous playwright Bruce Mason.

Antony says when the facility changed hands, from the Bruce Mason Centre board of management to Regional Facilities Auckland (now Auckland Live) in 2014, the board was happy the centre was going to continue as a community facility.

“We built it because the North Shore didn’t have a town hall or anything like that.”

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Dig it... The project committee and North Shore mayor George Gair breaking ground in April 1995 before construction began: (from left) Joy Were, unknown, Meredith Caisley, Andrew Caisley, Gair, Diana Mason, Paul Titchener, Angela Antony and Geoff Clews In 2015 the centre won Medium Venue of the Year at the Entertainment Venue Association NZ Awards.

Devonport-Takapuna Local Board member, Takapuna Beach Business Association CEO and former Bruce Mason Centre venue manager Terence Harpur says the theatre is loved by the community. “The Bruce Mason Centre is special... I’m thrilled it’s reached thirty years.”

He says young locals often have a chance to perform on the stage. “They make memories that last forever, and the experience will inspire a love of the arts for a lifetime.”

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The Rangitoto Observer Page 19

More donations sought for annual winter food drive

Four local organisations in the Devonport-Takapuna area are backing the Shore Winter Food Drive in its third year, and are seeking more donations throughout August.

The drive, organised in collaboration with the Food Security Network and Auckland Church Network, has 16 collection points across the North Shore.

Locally, those wanting to donate can drop off food or monetary donations to St George’s Presbyterian Church, Grow Forrest Hill, the Devonport Community House or Sunnynook Community Centre.

St George’s parish administrator Flo Hunt says the drive at the church is going well.

“Each week the members of the church bring something on a Sunday.”

She says they also have a second collection going in Belmont.

Since the drive started in the school holidays, some collection points are reporting slower starts, but hope donations pick up this month.

The drive is supported by Kiwi Harvest, which collects donations and distributes them across the Shore’s food banks.

One of these food banks includes the Good Works Trust in Forrest Hill, which coordinates emergency and crisis food parcels, a social supermarket and most recently a school lunch kit programme.

“The North Shore has a perception of being ‘well off’, but we have beneficiaries in every corner, including people in Devonport, Belmont, Hauraki and Bayswater,” says Good Works Trust general manager Sophie Gray.

The lunch kits are vital for families, especially in an area where few schools benefit from the government school lunch programme, Gray says.

Schools in the programme identify families in need, the trust creates the lunch kits with enough food for five lunches for each

Sharing the love... Good Works Trust general manager Sophie Gray (above) and St George’s parish administrator Flo Hunt (right) child in the home, then the schools discreetly deliver them to homes. A kit for 17 lunches for a family of three can cost between $15 and $18.

Gray says this approach can help rebuild relationships between parents and children.

Goods the trust is looking for include muesli bars, jars of jam and peanut butter, cream crackers, canned meat and menstrual products. “We’d rather three cheap items than one expensive one.”

Gray says cash donations can also help food banks.

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August 7, 2026

The Rangitoto Observer Page 21

Keep postal voting – local board

Load of bollards coming for square

The Devonport-Takapuna Local Board has backed postal voting ahead of Auckland Council decisions about ways of running future elections.

Three options were presented by the council: continuing postal voting, changing to booth voting or a combination of postal and booth voting.

The postal voting option is costed at $15.5 million, switching to booths at between $26m and $97m and the combined option at between $41m and $112m.

Local board chair Trish Deans told the board meeting on 28 June that the booth option could risk cutting off vulnerable members of the community who rely on mailing their votes. “There’s no way to identify everyone vulnerable in our community, I don’t want to cut off the democratic process,” she said.

Board member George Wood was also for keeping postal voting, but suggested security needed to be increased to prevent fraudulent votes.

Deputy chair Scott Macarthur and board member Terence Harpur suggested the council investigate online voting, but Deans said this had already been ruled out by the Electoral Commission.

Harpur then backed the postal option based on the cost. “Keep it how it is.”

Moveable bollards are coming to restrict vehicles using a service laneway during events on Takapuna’s Waiwharariki Anzac Square.

The bollards are intended to decrease the risk to pedestrians during events at night or with large numbers of people.

The public space used for such events incorporates the area from Lake Rd to Hurstmere Rd in Takapuna, with a connection to Potters Park, and crosses part of the service lane that runs along one boundary of the council-owned property at 40 Anzac St. A council report to the DevonportTakapuna Local Board says the temporary bollards will allow restricted access for vehicles to this public space as required during events such as the Sunday market.

The Takapuna Beach Business Association wanted the temporary bollards only when 2000 people were expected at an event.

Closures for the Sunday market should be subject to further consultation, it said.

The priority location director at Auckland Council’s urban development office, Kate Cumberpatch, said the association’s concerns were being considered.

The board has endorsed moveable bollards, but requested clear signage at the entrances of the service lane.

Macarthur and member Garth Ellingham said they supported the voting booth option.

Member Gavin Busch said the issue with the last local election was that the “number of special voting centres was reduced”.

He moved in favour of the postal voting option in the board’s feedback to the council, with a recommendation to increase special voting centres. Wood added a recommendation to investigate a security system for postal voting. The motion was carried 4-2.

The board was asked to give feedback on whether to switch from First Past the Post (FPP) to Single Transferable Voting (STV), which allows voters to rank candidates.

Busch said local boards had too many candidates for the system to be practical. “If I had to rank 20 people, I’d stop at three or four.”

He supported STV for a governing body, not local boards.”

Harpur was also opposed. “Voting needs to be as simple as possible. We have the lowest voting turnout, STV is too complicated.”

The board recommended the council stick with FPP for local elections, but consider STV for the election of mayor and councillors. On the issue of how candidates’ names are ordered, the board voted 4-2 in favour of keeping the order alphabetical. Ellingham supported random lists, which Macarthur said could be “worth a try”.

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The Rangitoto Observer Page 22

Arts / Entertainment Pages

August 7, 2026

Beach chairs inspire duo in library’s art’n’poetry mashup Poetry meets art in a group show developed

by Takapuna Library and opening in the Angela Morton Room this month.

Where We Meet, which opens on 23 August, involves four North Shore artist-and-poet pairings.

Inspired by a similar project which ran in West Auckland around 15 years ago, librarian and Morton Room curator Pippa Mothersole approached each writer and artist, asking them to be involved. After they were paired, she and each duo discussed a topic to focus their work on.

Mothersole, who has worked at Takapuna Library for three years and been in her current role for just under a year, says her favourite part of the job is bringing people together and creating opportunities for conversations and connections that might not otherwise happen.

That’s certainly the case for one of the artist and writer pairings, and other people central to the pair’s art project. Although all lived relatively near each other, they had not met before taking part in Where We Meet.

Devonport residents Michele Leggott, who was the New Zealand poet laureate between 2007 and 2009, and Virgina Leonard, a painter and sculptor, readily agreed on the focus of their project together.

They discovered a strong mutual interest in the wooden chairs on Duder’s Beach in

Cheers for the chairs... (from left) artist Virginia Leonard, Colin and Terri Swager and poet Michele Leggott with her guide dog Ohana.

Colin made three of the four chairs.

Devonport. making, and his participation in Leonard and Key figures in their project include chief Leggott’s artworks for Where We Meet to chair maker, Colin Swager, and a local encouragement from his wife Terri. swimmer. One day, when the swimmer was The completed art project includes a sculpusing the chairs, her look caught Leonard’s ture by Leonard, who works with ceramic eye. She took a photo and Leggott says their and casting resin, and a four-part poem by collaboration stems from that.

Leggott. Swager has produced custom-made Leonard and Leggott tracked down Swa- plinths to support the works, which give a ger – and the swimmer – and a friendship nod to the style of the chairs. has grown.

• Where We Meet” opens 23 August, 2-4pm, Swager credits his involvement with the in the Angela Morton Room, upstairs at chairs to his neighbour, who started the chair- Takapuna Library.

August 7, 2026

Arts / Entertainment Pages

The Rangitoto Observer Page 23

Musical version of Kiri and Lou comes to Takapuna An orchestral concert based on animated children’s television series Kiri and Lou is coming to the Bruce Mason Centre in Takapuna this month.

Created by North Shore resident Esther Stephens and friend Liv Tennet – who voices the character Kiri in the series – the concert is being performed by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra around the country before the Takapuna show on Saturday 22 August.

Stephens (pictured), who is producing the concert and works for the Philharmonia, developed the concept through her friendship with Tennet. “I thought this was a uniquely New Zealand show that would make a really lovely orchestral translation,” she says.

It’s a very familiar show for Stephens, whose two young sons, aged seven and five, are fans. “The show has a really lovely way of helping kids to understand and navigate their feelings and experiences. So, we’ve endeavoured to continue to reflect that with the orchestral show as well,” she says.

Tennet will appear in the role of presenter.

As well as introducing the clips and speaking about the songs, she will encourage the audience to dance and sing along to the music.

The television series was created by Harry Sinclair and Don McGlashan. All the songs are written by McGlashan, and Stephens says the orchestral version has been fortunate to have his input. “He supported us in the selection of the repertoire and helped us structure the show so that we had the very best of the music to present.”

During the show’s development, Stephens sat down with her sons to watch clips from the series to help ensure the show choices were on the mark. At the time of her Observer interview, Kiri and Lou in Concert had already had positive reviews in Christchurch.

For Stephens, it has been a great learning experience. “It’s one of those kids’ shows that’s really enjoyed by whole families – parents and kids alike.”

• Kiri and Lou in Concert, Bruce Mason Centre, 22 August, 11am and 2pm. Tickets from Auckland Philharmonia or TicketMaster (children’s tickets from $22.50; adults from $45.00).

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