2 February 2024, Rangitoto Observer

COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARDS: BEST NEWSPAPER RUNNER-UP

DELIVERED DELIVERED FORTNIGHTLY FORTNIGHTLY DELIVERED FORTNIGHTLY

Former Takapuna library fetches $3.2 million... p3

Issue 121 –15 February 2, 2024 Issue 1 –Issue 2019 March 2019 Issue 1 March – 115– 15 March 2019

The life and times of local figure Frank... p10-11

AN INDEPENDENT AN INDEPENDENT VOICEVOICE AN INDEPENDENT VOICE

Realtor and bank shut local branches... p14

Huge demand for flood buyouts in Milford Milford accounts for the vast bulk of the 226 property owners across the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board area seeking buyouts for their badly flood-hit homes.

So far, the owners of 177 homes in the suburb have opted into assessment for the voluntary buyout process, latest figures from Auckland Council show. Of these 145

were listed as having been hit by floods and 10 by slips, with some causes not yet fully detailed.

In Sunnynook the owners of 10 properties have opted into the buyout process.

The figures supplied at the Observer’s request do not detail other surrounding local suburbs such as Forrest Hill and Takapuna.

A council spokesperson said “our data team is swamped”. A further breakdown has been promised soon.

Just over a year on from the disastrous Auckland Anniversary Day floods only a handful of buy outs have been settled – none of them from the DTLB area, which To page 4

Sunny side up

It takes two... A seat in the sun with a sea breeze gives welcome respite to Campbells Bay couple Olive and Don Rowlands at the Summer Days Festival in Takapuna. More pictures, pages 12-13 PICTURE: KATHRYN NOBBS

The Rangitoto Observer Page 2

Briefs Boarding house on hold A resource-consent application for a three-storey boarding house on a property that backs onto a flood-prone open culvert in Sunnynook has been put on hold by council planners, pending more information from the developer.

Neighbours and a daycare centre in Kapiti Pl were shocked to learn of the application in December. In its feedback the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board expressed concerned about flood risks and the building’s scale. Developer Forever Love Trustees Ltd had stated the facility would house a maximum of 26 long-term workers and students.

Auckland Council planners said last week they were waiting for the further information requested.

Coastal track slow slog Talks have been held to break the deadlock that since September has kept the Takapuna-to-Milford coastal track blocked by a fence where it crosses private property at Black Rock – but don’t expect a resolution this summer.

An update on the matter will be given to the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board in March, says board chair Toni van Tonder, who with Auckland Council staff met Firth-property beneficiaries in December. “We’re in negotiations with them to find a happy resolution, so I’m not able to give any details,” she said.

“I’ve been asking beneficiaries to take the fences down during this period, but their preference is that they remain up.” The March meeting will consider a staff report outlining potential options, from which the board will give its views to the council’s governing body.

Councillors will make a decision in April, as only they can sign-off on some of the beneficiaries’ original wishes to break the impasse.

Telephone: 09 445 0060 Email: sales@rangitoto-observer.co.nz news@rangitoto-observer.co.nz Website: www.rangitoto-observer.co.nz

Sign up online to receive our fortnightly issue by email

NZ COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARDS Newspaper of the Year: Runner-up 2022 MANAGING EDITOR: Rob Drent EDITOR: Janetta Mackay REPORTER: Lochlan Lineham ADVERTISING: Candice Izzard PRODUCTION: Brendon De Suza

February 2, 2024

Community farewell for Frank

A memorial gathering for North Shore identity Frank Blennerhassett will be held next week at Takapuna Beach, one of his favourite spots.

The informal community event is on Sunday, 11 February, from 5pm – a time that allows people who wish to bring dogs on leashes to do so without breaching rules.

Blennerhassett was a great lover of dogs, and made many connections by patting people’s pets in his decades of daily wanderings along the North Shore’s eastern coast.

The Takapuna resident, who in recent years took it upon himself to regularly collect supermarket trolleys in Milford, died at home in December. He was 68.

Friend and lawyer Alex Witten-Hannah, who organised a small private cremation before Christmas, said after he posted news of Blennerhassett’s death on social media, the public response had been enormous.

Some people called him an icon, others wondering about his backstory.

The outpouring led to Witten-Hannah’s decision to hold the remembrance gathering after the holiday season. This will be at the north end of the beach, near the boat ramp.

“To me it’s really about the power of community,” Witten-Hannah said. Frank had enriched the area with his presence and his interactions with those willing to engage with him in a kindly and understanding way.

“For more than half a century our com-

HON SIMON WATTS

MP for North Shore northshore@parliament.govt.nz simonwattsmp

Information in the Rangitoto Observer is copyright and cannot be published or broadcast without the permission of Devonport Publishing Ltd.

NEXT ISSUE: February 16 ADVERTISING DEADLINE: February 9

Email news@rangitoto-observer.co.nz

munity has looked out for Frank and other fragile people like him. It’s the hallmark of a caring community.”

Anyone who wished to come along was welcome. There would be no formal service or speeches, rather just an opportunity for people to share stories among themselves.

“We all have our own memories of Frank and people can come together and then take their dogs for a walk,” said Witten-Hannah.

Obituary, pages 11-12

Gone but won’t be forgotten Like many locals, I knew Frank – a little.

He befriended my long-departed cairn terrier Ruby and in doing so helped my then young daughter learn not to jump to conclusions about people.

The curious chap with a sack on his back would stop to say hello and be delighted when our dog replied with leaps and licks.

Finding out more about Frank’s sometimes tough life for this first Rangitoto Ob-

Our team also works on the long-standing and award-winning Devonport Flagstaff newspaper.

WRITE TO US: We welcome letters. Please limit to 300 words on local topics. Noms-de-plume or unnamed submissions will not be printed.

Frank Blennerhassett with one of the many North Shore dogs he befriended

Authorised by Hon Simon Watts, Parliament Buildings, Wgtn.

server issue of 2024 has been bitter-sweet.

Farewell to Frank, and others we have lost, as we pause to value shared memories in what sadly too often seems a time of division and rushed judgments.

This issue also focuses on local community-building events and people who give reason for optimism.

Here’s to a Happy New Year.

– Janetta Mackay, Editor

TNCT play

The Rangitoto Observer Page 3

February 2, 2024

Waka to forge new path for Waitangi Day

Practice run… Paddlers (from front) Kathy Giles, Charlie McKenzie, Robyn Scholes, Hilary Hunt, Martin Cooper, and Helen Garrett at Takapuna Beach last week, with tutor Bill Kapea in the boat at right.

Waitangi Day commemorations in Takapuna will take on a distinctly local flavour this year, bringing alive stories of the past in a way organisers hope will unite the community of today.

“There’s a real interest in learning a little bit more,” says waka ama tutor Bill Kapea.

“It just enriches our society in terms of sharing part of te ao Maori.”

Acknowledging the ancestral meaning of significant geographic features on Rangitoto and at the south end of Takapuna Beach is one aim for the day, he says. Another is reinforcing what Kapea says are underlying treaty principles of care for the environment and welcome or manaakitanga that “get lost”.

Six waka, lashed together in pairs for

strength, will – weather permitting – journey at dawn from the northern end of Takapuna Beach to Rangitoto, cross back to the southern end of the beach, then return around 8am to where formalities will be held on Gould Reserve by the Takapuna Boating Club.

The club, which will have kayaks and other craft out on the water, is providing safety support boats.

Thirty-six waka paddlers are lined up, including a 12-strong all-women crew under Sugar Te Pa. Others heading out include former All Black and Kiwi Frano Botica, who regularly paddles with what Kapea calls his “latte paddlers”, who take their morning exercise followed by coffee. Women from Takapuna who also train with Kapea will be in action

too, their ages ranging from 19 to 67.

North Shore MP Simon Watts is joining in, along with Devonport Takapuna Local Board chair Toni van Tonder and deputy chair Terence Harpur.

The paddlers will be welcomed back by singer Amy Boroevich, who performs under the name Hina. A mass haka will be a “challenge to local and central government to get their shit out of our moana”, Kapea says.

Breakfast will follow the haka, with speeches at 8.30am expected to last half an hour or more. The public will have a chance to see waka racing from 9.30am.

“People can jump in a canoe and give it a go,” Kapea says. Activities will wind up around 11am.

“Everyone is welcome along.”

Former library sells for $3.2m in Takapuna’s changing heart The sale of the former Takapuna Library at No. 2 The Strand has fetched $3,207,500.

Responding to Observer inquires, Auckland Council’s property arm, Eke Panuku, confirmed the amount after a deal struck in December was settled last week.

The purchaser wanted their identity to remain confidential for now, an Eke Panuku spokesman said.

The building, which dates from the 1950s with a later two-storey addition, carries a heritage listing on a section of original pink stone exterior wall and an internal feature staircase. This means any developer would need to consider how to retain these features in plans for the building, which sits in a zone allowing for greater height.

Some in the community had hoped the vacant building, considered a surplus asset by council, might become an art gallery or

museum. Money from the sale will be retained, however, for use in the local area, due to funds for the old library originally having been endowed for public purposes.

Apartments applications have come thick and fast for the central Takapuana area over the last year, so whatever the former library becomes it is likely to be surrounded by new residents.

Eke Panuku will meet and seek feedback from the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board on how the money might best be spent.

The board is awaiting updates on the feasibility and costings of adding another floor to house more community facilities in the existing library over the road.

A more central hub in the Waiwharariki Anzac Square development is another idea, but this currently has no budget available from council coffers.

The Rangitoto Observer Page 4

February 2, 2024

THE FORGOTTEN VALLEY: Floods update one year on

Buyouts long time coming From page 1 accounts for around 10 per cent of the property owners who are seeking assessment for them.

It would likely be March before assessments and categorisations for the DTLB area were completed, the spokesperson for the council’s Recovery Office said.

“We still have some complex cases that go through to midyear – particularly where there is an interaction with community-scale projects.”

Around 600 Auckland buyout approvals are expected overall, from more than 2200 assessments in the process currently.

The high number from the DTLB area underlines the extent to which its northern area – predominantly in the Wairau catchment, which funnels to the sea at Milford – was affected by the flood and is still at risk for repeat severe weather events.

Castor Bay and coastal areas of the

Devonport peninsula, were also impacted.

The council spokesperson said assessments were complex. To the end of last year, 173 detailed desktop assessments and 144 site assessments had been done in the DTLB. These are used to decide qualifying categories for potential buyouts. To qualify to enter into discussions for the joint council and government-funded buyout, homes must be considered in Category 3, meaning they carry a danger to life in future weather events, with no feasible way to mitigate risk.

Homes at risk, but with mitigation options available on site, may fall into Category 2P, where there is some support available for property owners to do the work.

The Wairau Valley catchment has been identified by Healthy Waters as needing mitigation, which further complicates individual categorisations.

Big projects may take up to 10 years to begin, adding to uncertainty.

Mates stage fitting farewell for adventurer Around 100 surfers staged a “paddle out” to salute Sunnynook man Daniel Newth, who was one of two people lost in Wairau Valley on the evening of 27 January 2023.

The send-off for the 25-year-old arborist and Westlake Boys High School old boy was held at Waipu Cove in December. Friends and family members came together for a farewell and a last toast.

Newth, an adventure-loving ardent surfer and top rock-climber, was kayaking in floodwaters on local streets before he was swept away into culverts. His body was recovered from a flooded Link Dr carpark, around 12.30 the next morning.

Wairau Valley man Daniel Miller, aged

34, was found dead earlier in the evening in a Target Rd culvert. The Napier-raised man had posted footage of himself wading up to homes to check on residents near the bus station, when he got sucked away through an open manhole. His father, who was watching the stream, told the New Zealand Herald his son was a hero.

The men were among four across the Auckland region who died that night. Surf lifesavers and emergency services plucked others to safety, including elderly people stuck in homes in Sunnynook and Milford.

Newth’s parents have since moved out of the city to Northland, the Observer understands.

Resilience-building with kai and korero Get togethers are planned as a way to mark and move on from the Auckland Anniversary Day floods last year.

“The focus is on building community resilience, so when things happen for us we know our neighbours enough to call on them for help,” explains Grow Forrest Hill founder and co-ordinator Phoebe Atkinson. The community garden trust on Seine Reserve plans to crank up its pizza oven and top home-made bases with freshly harvested produce for a casual dinner on 23 February at 6pm.

Its garden is one of three venues that will welcome those who were hit or helped in the floods, along with the wider local community, to mix and mingle in the weeks ahead.

In Milford, the senior citizens group has offered its MSC hall for a morning tea on 9 March in partnership with the Milford Residents Association. MRA co-chair Norma Bott said this would double as a way to promote “get ready” messages for emergencies.

“We want to remind people that this did happen and let’s not be complacent.”

Both Grow Forrest Hill and the Milford seniors were successful in gaining $500 each for the events from a city-wide Auckland Council recovery scheme aimed at supporting post-flood grassroots initiatives.

Sunnynook Community Centre has support for various post-flood projects, including from the Auckland Foundation. It will host its dinner on 18 February, after people are through the holiday period.

Centre manager Bronwyn Bound said over Anniversary Weekend she dropped a few small care packages to some of the hardest-hit local families. “There are still a lot of people in our community struggling one year on,” she said.

Cheers, New Ears!

100% Kiwi Owned

Hear well this year with upgradable hearing aids that evolve to meet your lifestyle

Call 09 475 9849 Level 1, Unit B, 25 Apollo Dr teresa@teresaburnshearing.co.nz

Rosedale, Auckland

The Rangitoto Observer Page 5

February 2, 2024

THE FORGOTTEN VALLEY: Floods update one year on

Growing together... Rotary members (from left) Peter Garnett, Sean Harris and the group’s East Coast Bays president Fay Norman, with volunteer community gardener Sandra Stretton at the Sunnynook Community Centre.

Garden project a healing symbol of renewal for Sunnynook “This garden is giving me all the joyful peace that I need in my life,” says Sandra Stretton of her voluntary tending of the beds behind the Sunnynook Community Centre.

Soon, she hopes the garden will bring the same solace – along with fresh produce – to the community she loves.

A Rotary project is expanding the planted area. Last weekend, members of the East Coast Bays branch built three raised beds, plus two bench seats.

“We were looking for a project,” explains branch president Fay Norman. She first started chatting to Stretton last year and was

interested to learn of ambitions to grow a sustainable community garden – and that the expansion already had council approval.

Rotary has since put $4200 into the project, with around a dozen members chipping in labour after a design was agreed.

“Children can sit there and Sandra can talk to them about the plants,” says Norman.

The raised garden beds will make it easier to grow vegetables, says Norman. Flowers will remain to help attract bees.

Harvested produce will be offered through the centre’s community pantry. Any surplus can be made into soups for the centre’s

Start your year with peace of mind.

Book in for a full skin check.

Dermatologist, Dr David Lim www.skintel.co.nz 0800 SKINTEL

community dinners which Rotary helps with.

For Sunnynook-raised Stretton, who was one of those whose homes were flooded last year, this sense of community is what makes the area special. Forced to move to the northern bays after the floods, she hopes one day to return, and still has a granddaughter she cares for attending school nearby.

Over the holidays she has been visiting to water the garden and during term time combines her gardening with school drop-offs.

A few locals help sometimes, but she would like to grow a regular team to help keep on top of weeding.

The Rangitoto Observer Page 6

February 2, 2024

During and after... A small home in Takapuna was massively damaged by a fast-spreading fire seen from miles away

Fire rips through family home and sends smoke soaring A spectacular house fire in Takapuna last Saturday 27 January prompted emergency calls from across multiple suburbs. Acrid smoke billowing from the single-storey property on the corner of Anzac St and Greydene Pl could be seen and smelled from kilometres away.

Neighbours told the Observer the family who lived there were out for the evening. The home was left uninhabitable, with a partially collapsed roof, after flames burst through its frontage then upward.

“I feel sorry for them,” said Josh Foster who lives in the motel next door. The home’s occupants were a couple and their five-yearold son who sometimes played with children who lived at the motel, said another of its residents, Roy McIntyre.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) said the cause of the blaze was being investigated.

Fenz was notified shortly before 6.30pm, fielding multiple calls. The first trucks were

on the scene shortly afterwards. Fire appliances from Devonport, Birkenhead and Albany attended, with a control unit then dispatched from Auckland Central, totalling six vehicles at the callout’s height.

The house was “totally involved”, said Fenz shift manager Ryan Geen.

Initially fire-fighters fought the blaze from both outside and inside, but those who entered the house in breathing apparatus had to withdraw as the fire quickly spread through the roof cavity, prompting several cave-ins.

Hoses played onto the exterior until the fire was brought under control at 7.22pm, with a remaining crew watching for hot spots.

The men from the motel said the fire seemed to have started in the front of the property, not at the rear where the kitchen is located. They and others heard a bang.

When they ran round the corner, flames were already apparent.

A section of Anzac St between Barrys Pt Rd and Auburn St was closed to traffic.

Many onlookers gathered along the northern and eastern sides of the supermarket carpark, including friends Philippe Matheoda, 15, and Draydreien Green, 16, who came from blocks away in Tennyson Ave to investigate after smelling smoke.

“I was walking round the room [at home] and wondering if there was an electrical fire and then I realised there was a lot of smoke,” said Philippe.

They thought the fire must have been closer than it turned out to be.

Other people who saw the smoke cloud from afar thought the petrol station across from the supermarket may have caught ablaze.

A resident in Byron Ave said: “The smoke stank and was so black.”

The fire could be clearly smelled in Hauraki and there were reports of it being apparent further south on the Devonport peninsula.

Smoke was also visible from the city side of the Waitematā Harbour.

Experience and Success Count 30 PLUS YEARS Countless happy clients GERRY PETRIE 021 923 352

GerryPetrie@premium.co.nz

PREMIUM REAL ESTATE LICENSED REAA 2008 | 916 6000

The Rangitoto Observer Page 7

February 2, 2024

A dedicated Middle School for Years 7-10.

Do you have children going into Year 7 or Year 9 in 2025 or beyond?

Don’t miss our upcoming information evenings and twilight tours! Come and hear about our unique Middle School environment that sets us apart and keeps them together.

YEAR 7 Thursday 14 March 2024, from 5pm YEAR 9 Thursday 21 March 2024, from 5pm Register to attend at kristin.school.nz.

Scholarships are available to enable new students to join Kristin in Year 9, 2025. www.kristin.school.nz

REGISTER HERE

KRI0086 MS Ad Campaign 240x171_Template.indd 1

Progress with vision, integrity and love.

22/11/23 9:46 PM

The Rangitoto Observer Page 8

February 2, 2024

Couple keen to keep giving back after 50 years service A Milford couple who have given a combined century of service as Justices of the Peace say what encouraged them to take on the roles in the first place is what still keeps them going.

Fay and Barrie Mason have lived in Milford for 40 years. Since a decade before they arrived they have been fulfilling the JP duties of certifying documents and witnessing the signatures of local residents.

Barrie, a wedding celebrant for 40 years and a funeral celebrant for 25, received his offer to become a JP in 1972. Fay, a former school principal, was invited to take up the same role a year later.

“I was at a working stage where I could provide some time and I saw it very much as a public service,” Barrie said.

Some people worked on charities or belonged to organisations, but he liked the idea of being out there helping people directly.

“There’s no reward other than the satisfaction of helping people with a particular issue.”

Fay, who is a former principal of both Murrays Bay Intermediate and Birkdale North School, became a JP when fewer women did so.

She said she was one of the first female government employees appointed to the role, when the Labour Government of the time wanted to encourage more gender diversity.

“I was active in those areas in my own

Sign here... Barrie and Fay Mason are long-serving Justices of the Peace field, in education, wanting women to have a profile up there with the fellows.”

The Masons’ service was officially recognised with certificates of appreciation from North Shore MP Simon Watts.

The couple said that the types of documents they verify have changed over the years, keeping them on their toes.

Immigration documents have become much more common, Fay said.

“The other one is anti-money laundering and counterfeit terrorism,” added Barrie.

“That’s created a lot of work.”

Originally from Canterbury, the Masons are glad they settled on the North Shore, overlooking Lake Pupuke. “Once you’re here you don’t want to live anywhere else”, Fay said.

The couple still provide JP services at the service desk in Milford Shopping Centre.

ENDS THIS SUNDAY 4TH FEBRUARY*

Open: Monday - Saturday 9:00am - 5:30pm, Sunday 10:00am - 5:30pm 24 Milford Road, Milford Centre, Auckland | www.seasaltcornwall.co.nz *Terms apply. Selected styles, while stocks last.

February 2, 2024

Obituary

The Rangitoto Observer Page 9

Club official helped foster generations of athletes North Shore athletics stalwart Mike Hartshorne leaves a near four-decade legacy of supporting the sport through volunteer and leadership roles.

Hartshorne, who died at his home in a Devonport retirement village on 16 December, was 81.

Until 2022, he was president of the Takapuna Athletics and Harriers Club, a position he held for 28 years. He was also club delegate to the Auckland Athletics Centre on junior committees and for annual meetings.

For club members, Mike wasn’t just a backroom official. He was the encouraging face of the weekly club nights he organised, alongside wife of 59 years, Meryl.

In 2019, Athletics New Zealand awarded the couple – who met at Takapuna Grammar School – with long-service awards. The national organisation’s obituary for him noted his profound contribution to grassroots athletics in Auckland.

Hartshorne took equal pride in introducing newcomers to athletics as to creating an environment for top athletes to thrive.

These include the club’s international representatives Jacko Gill, Imogen Ayris and Eliza McCartney.

With a new crop of rising talent emerging from the club this summer, he leaves the club in great heart.

Current president Dan Brady, who took over after illness led to Hartshorne stepping back, said his predecessor was responsible for thousands of children experiencing athletics and, through it, growing confidence and building lasting friendships.

The club’s intention is to work with the family to decide on a fitting and lasting tribute.

Michael Stephen Hartshorne grew up in Bayswater, with two brothers and two sisters. He developed an early love of sailing and went through Bayswater School, before high school at TGS and a career as a quantity surveyor.

His passion for athletics came later, when his two young daughters, Kara and Kylie, joined the Takapuna club. Like many parents, he and Meryl went along to watch and before long got hooked on helping out.

“When we both left, they just continued on because they loved the sport,” Kara told the Observer.

Mike often organised the running races and Meryl regularly oversaw discus. Both tall and trim, they became familiar figures to generations of young competitors and their families.

Travelling was long a love of the adventurous Hartshornes, who worked overseas before they returned to raise their children, in Northcote. Mike set up his own quantity surveying consultancy business and teacher Meryl, founded an early childhood centre.

He was president of the New Zealand Institute of Quantity Surveyors from 198384 and also edited its journal.

Long-time volunteers... Meryl and Mike Hartshorne were familiar faces running the Takapuna Athletics and Harriers Club weekly club nights Before settling down, the couple ventured as far as the Soviet Union in the 1970s. They also spent time working in Australia and the United Kingdom and caught boats to Japan and to the United States, where they bought a Mustang convertible and embarked on a big road trip.

Kara recollects the convertible, which her parents brought back from the US, was not a practical family vehicle. Being righthand drive, it presented difficulties with the Harbour Bridge toll booths.

Mike, a quiet but determined man, enjoyed watching top competitors. He travelled to world championships in Germany and China and to Olympic Games in Mexico and London, where daughter Kylie still lives with two of the Hartshornes’ four grandchildren. He was also a big All Blacks rugby fan and held season tickets for Blues games at Eden Park.

The couple moved into the Ryman William Sanders Retirement Village in Devonport several years ago. Mike lived with

cancer for some time, but died peacefully at home, with Meryl at his side.

The return to the suburb she grew up in, and where they married at Holy Trinity Church, also brought them closer to daughter Kara, who had settled in Bayswater.

Her two children are now third-generation members of Takapuna Athletics Club and last month did well at the North Island Colgate Games. It was a bitter-sweet moment for the family that club life member Mike was not there to see Romey Jewell, aged 12, win a silver medal in the 400m race for her age-group and brother Miller a bronze in the 10-year-old boys 4x100m relay.

A minute’s silence in Hartshorne’s honour was observed at the meeting in Auckland.

Kara, who is on the club committee, says the moving tributes since her father’s death have underlined his contribution to building the sport with countless hours of volunteer work. She is particularly proud that many comments recognise the family-friendly environment he was instrumental in creating.

The Rangitoto Observer Page 10

Obituary

February 2, 2024

North Shore’s inveterate wanderer collected hearts Frank Blennerhassett was a man thousands of North Shore people recognised, many cared about, but few really knew.

For more than five decades he was a familiar sight, walking the eastern coastal suburbs. Some remember him even earlier, from school days at Campbells Bay Primary.

His family history was clouded, his upbringing disrupted and his health a challenge to himself and those who cared for him.

His daily walks – stopping to pat dogs and collecting variously shells, golf balls and bits of wire in a sack he carried on his stooped back – made Blennerhassett something of a public figure. So too, the epileptic seizures that could bring him to the pavement in fits, leading to ambulance trips to North Shore Hospital, where he was well-known.

When Blennerhassett had not been spotted for awhile, the community online grapevine would start up, with questions about his wellbeing and whereabouts. Usually, they were answered with others reporting recent sightings. .

That came to an end on 6 December 2023 when Blennerhassett was found dead at his home in Byron Ave, Takapuna. The Kainga Ora property was visited each morning by carers. Neighbours also kept an eye on him.

“Frank will be really missed by our community… he touched a lot of people,” says Devonport-Takapuna Local Board deputy chair Terence Harpur, who for a time lived on the same street.

Blennerhassett’s age was put at 66, but since his death a distant cousin who had traced the family tree and sighted birth records from 1955 has clarified he was actually 68.

Frank William Blennerhassett was born in Waihi. He was the youngest of five children to George, an ageing Irish immigrant, and Louisa, a much younger New Zealander.

They divorced after about 20 years of marriage, when Frank was aged around six and his siblings were in or near their teens.

Some of the offspring, including Frank, ended up in foster care and contact between them was lost, after their mother left and their father struggled to cope.

Sadly, one full sister, and two halfsisters had only come to learn of Frank’s whereabouts shortly before his death.

Friend and lawyer Alex Witten-Hannah said Frank had been very excited at the thought of meeting them. But it was not to be, although he spoke to one half-sister by phone.

In his youth, Blennerhassett spent several years at a state boys’ home, Campbell Park School, inland from Oamaru. The institution later became notorious for historic cases of abuse.

His epilepsy was apparently triggered in his late teens after he was hit by a truck. The accident caused a brain injury that later left him unable to work.

His North Shore foster mother took

The neighbouring chemist sent medications in manageable batches.

New World Milford quietly assisted with food donations, including favourite chocolate and biscuits, in support of their volunteer trolley collector. Police officers would spot Frank on the beach and drop him a pie, sandwich or drink.

“Not so long ago Frank came to see me supporting a huge bandage on his head, patched up by Peter or one of his staff.

I asked him what had happened,” Witten-Hannah recalls to the Observer. “He told me that 74 supermarket trolleys had crashed into him. He would never concede that he had had a fit!”

Around 50 years after they first met, Witten-Hannah says he was amazed that Blennerhassett when quizzed could provide a detailed description of his dog from Castor Bay days. He made a fuss of countless more dogs of all kinds over the years.

This was disconcerting for some owners, but endearing for most, creating a connection with a man who otherwise eschewed much small talk, but knew their dogs by name.

“Many people in the North Shore community were kindly and caring towards Frank,” says Witten-Hannah. In turn, this meant so much to him.

Blennerhassett combined an impish humour with an eagerness to please.

When queueing along the Hurstmere Rd bar strip was at its heights – with waiting Younger days... Frank Blennerhassett with a lamp base he decorated in shells punters pre-loading on drinks they were forced to discard upon drawing near venue him to his father’s funeral in Waihi in 1973. doors – the teetotaller would retrieve unHis mother, with whom he had no ongoing opened bottles from the bushes and proudly contact, died around 10 years ago, having bring them to the law office, where young staff were willing beneficiaries. remarried and had other children.

He struggled with change, wanting new After his North Shore foster parents died, Blennerhasset’s time of stability went with it. banknote designs to be swapped for more He had some church connections and did a familiar old notes. But he had his own little gardening work. He got by on a benefit as coping mechanisms – coming up with an adult, being able to live alone, with support. descriptive words for such irritations, Witten-Hannah – whom Blennerhasset put including saying when the colour of his down as his “next of kin” with health and pills changed they were “desnipting” his welfare authorities – recalls he was around 20 medication.

A noisy toilet cistern was dubbed an and living in Castor Bay when they first met.

Frank was maybe 14 and liked to stop and pat eruption.

Neighbour of 10 years Dawn Wardle his dog and chat. Witten-Hannah thought little of the interactions until years later, when they said Blennerhassett had a daily routine of rising early and filling his day walking and crossed paths again.

This was after the lawyer purchased the old collecting. He ventured out in all weathers, Takapuna post office in 1990. The building, wearing shorts and sandals.

“Practically everyone on the North on the Hurstmere Rd and Earnoch Ave corner, serves as his office and home. Blennerhassett Shore knew him, especially in the last few took to dropping by regularly, chatting to the years when he helped with the trolleys in Milford,” she says. lawyer and his staff.

Sometimes he would venture as far as “For about 30 years, he was almost a conBrowns Bay, but over the last five years stant in my life,” says Witten-Hannah.

It wasn’t always easy, with Blennerhassett he had slowed down and limited himself in denial about his epilepsy and needing to Takapuna and Milford. Most days he prompts to take medication. But he had a would return home around 5pm, but often devoted weekday carer, Fiva. He also had head out again in the evenings to visit support from his doctor in Milford, Peter Witten-Hannah.

“Everyone felt he belonged to us all. He Cunningham, who patched him up after falls.

February 2, 2024

Obituary

The Rangitoto Observer Page 11

on his rambles will be missed because people were used to seeing him around.”

During Covid, Dawn and husband Jim worried about him. “He wasn’t going to stay at home!” But they figured he was out in the fresh air and she says he avoided coming down with the virus.

The couple held a spare set of keys for when he locked himself out and spare medication in case his weekend carers failed to turn up.

Often he would knock on their door to find out the time. Or he would call for help with appliances, having pulled them apart and become frustrated at not being able to reassemble them or deciding there was a problem no one could determine.

The Wardles, or Witten-Hannah, would then come to the rescue, twiddling a knob, or switching on the microwave.

Blennerhassett particularly disliked being bundled into ambulances, which at times made him cranky, especially if he had a seizure in public and considered he had recovered enough not to need to be checked out at hospital.

If he needed to be admitted, he would rather be driven by those who knew him well.

But hospital staff soon learned it was fine to put him into a taxi to get home once cleared, rather than calling for late-night pick-ups.

Before living in Takapuna, Blennerhassett was housed for a while in Belmont. During this time he became a regular walker to Devonport, where he retrieved balls from the Waitemata Golf Course. These were stowed in his trusty sack.

But he mostly liked heading in the other direction, back to his boyhood haunts, especially along the Takapuna and Milford coasts, where he collected shells. These he fashioned into trinkets he liked to show or give to select people.

Sandra Allen who lived down the road, treasures Frank’s gift of shell mice. She says he was thrilled late last year with the building of a front deck on his modest home.

Witten-Hannah says Frank was also tickled pink to be given a nice photograph of himself carrying an umbrella. This was posted on community pages last November, with Frank’s permission, to reassure people asking if he was doing okay. When it received more than 600 responses, he commented: “Boy, a lot of jokers know me!”

Blennerhassett took the photograph of himself carrying an umbrella off to be framed. But before it could be collected, he had passed away in his sleep in bed. More than 2300 responses were recorded to a public notification about this.

A coroner will determine the cause of death, but those closest to him are pleased a private life, albeit lived publicly, ended not on the street but in his haven.

The photograph will take pride of place at his memorial gathering on Takapuna Beach next week.

Last look... Frank Blennerhassett liked this recent picture of himself.

Below: Shells were among items he collected on his walks, turning them into trinkets such as mice and vases fashioned from old jars. He was also chuffed to find this discarded Halloween wig on an outing.

The Rangitoto Observer Page 12

February 2, 2024

Takapuna serenades long hot Summer Days Sunny weather saw big crowds turn out at the Takapuna and Milford beach reserves for weekend events. The family-friendly day-to-night Summer Days festival (pictured) was organised by the Takapuna Beach Business Association last month and a music event put on the afternoon before

by Auckland Council at Milford, featuring top performers including Sola Rosa. A busy schedule of free activities and cultural performances promises more fun in the sun over the rest of summer.

Chillax... Nathan Fry, a Year 11 student at Takapuna Grammar School, treats the crowd to some chilled-out tunes at the Summer Days Festival

PICTURES: KATHRYN NOBBS

Friends and neighbours... Belmont residents Sadna Kalanchidevage (left) with son Minul and daughter Linuki enjoy the day with their friends Hiranthi Perera and her children, Rehansa (right) and Tehan, who also live in the suburb

February 2, 2024

The Rangitoto Observer Page 13

Through the generations... The Germain family from Sunnynook (from left, rear): Sandy, son Jesse, his grandmother Annie, and (front) Sandy’s younger children Caden and Chloe at Gould Reserve, Takapuna, on a family outing

What’s ahead Make a diary date for the next few months’ event highlights in Takapuna. Drawcards will debut and old favourite festivals return.

First up, is the Chinese New Year Festival on Saturday 10 February from 9am to 9pm.

It again features cultural performances as a centrepiece. Activities will take place on the reserve above the beach, on Hurstmere Green and in Waiwharariki Anzac town square.

A movie night is planned for the square on Saturday 17 February (details yet to be confirmed at Observer publication date).

A new event for Takapuna will be the Taste of Turkiye Festival to be held in the square on Saturday 24 February. Run by the Turkish Society, it will showcase authentic eats and runs from noon until 7pm.

The popular Latin Fiesta is returning to the beach reserve on Saturday, 2 March, from 11am to 7pm.

A coup for the area is hosting the New Zealand Pipe Band Championships, on Saturday 16 March. This includes a march along Lake Rd to the main venue on the Strand.

A week later, on Saturday, 24 March, the square will be home to an Easter Festival.

Interwoven between these crowd-pullers, food-truck park-ups will also be held in the square on Thursday 1 February and 14 March from 5pm to 9pm.

And the Takapuna Sunday Market is on Lucky numbers... Noah Basalotte from Belmont tries his hand at shuffle board, in the square from 8am to 1pm every week. one of a number of games set up for the crowd to enjoy

The Rangitoto Observer Page 14

Briefs Transport fares rising

February 2, 2024

ASB says digital preference behind decision to shut Milford branch

Public-transport fares will increase on average 6.2 per cent from Sunday Milford will lose its ASB bank branch from 4 February. The Auckland Transport the end of the month. increase adds another 23 cents for bus The bank says in-person patronage has rides in a single zone, such as on the dropped away sharply, with most customers 814 from Takapuna to Devonport, which now using digital banking. will cost $2.60. A ferry ride to the city will “Over the past four years we’ve seen cuscost $6, up 20c per adult ticket. AT says tomer visits to this branch steadily decline, sustained operating cost rises forced down more than 80 per cent between 2019 its hand, after carrying Covid revenue and 2023,” said ASB executive’s general losses. But it predicts public transport manager of personalPROOF banking, Adam2:53:27 Boyd.

CUSTOMER: CORRECTIVE FOOT SOLUTION TIME 16/10/2023 PM patronage will continue to grow. The REP ID: NZ50C 10/17/23 “Today more than LAST 90 RUN: per cent of our cusintroduction later this year of contactless 1/2 PGhe HZ added. tomers prefer to bankSIZE:digitally,” payments for fares via debit/credit card, The Takapuna branch on Hurstmere Rd Apple Pay and Google Pay is expected and one at Smales Farm are the nearest to to make usage easier for those without remain open. a HOP card. A review is also looking Staff from Milford will be offered alterat a weekly fare cap and incentives for native roles. frequent users.

Firearms list Just over 8500 firearms have been registered in the Waitemata district by the 14,444 licence holders in the area, which includes North Shore. Nationally, 100,000 firearms were put on the registry in seven months, from around 10 per cent of the country’s 235,000 registered licenceholders. Waitemata is among the more responsive areas, fifth behind Canterbury, says the Firearms Safety Authority, which hopes for more registrations. These can be made online.

Boyd said decisions about closing branch-

es were not easy – Milford is one of four announced to go in Auckland, with another in Wellington – but efforts were being made to ease the transition.

Extra customer support staff are being put into busier branches, including Takapuna, to improve service levels and reduce wait times.

Regular Milford customers are being contacted and can seek advice in the branch NZ-12131312AA before it closes on 29 February. This could range from one-on-one coaching to access to small-group workshops. Customers aged over 65 can seek extra attention between 9am and 10am. The bank offers a priority phone line for their calls on 0800 272 119.

ASB still has 80 branches across the country.

Takapuna Ray White closes suddenly Ray White’s Takapuna real estate office has closed suddenly.

The office on Lake Rd shut down last month. The owner of the franchise which runs it, Gower Buchanan of the Damerell Group, was contacted by the Observer last Friday to explain what had happened.

He said he would email a response to questions over the Anniversary Weekend.

By Tuesday morning this week, no response

had been received and Buchanan did not return our calls.

Ray White chief executive Daniel Coulson declined to comment, referring the Observer to its Australian-based communications team.

No response came by deadline.

The office was closed on Tuesday.

The Observer has been told that some agents from the office have moved to other Ray White offices around Auckland.

Avoid feet like your mother, especially her bunions!

A NON- INVASIVE TREATMENT IS PROVING HELPFUL FOR MANY BUNION PATIENTS Bunions are a progressive deformity and if not assessed early can lead to a crooked big toe, osteoarthritis, clawed toes and pain which affects your ability to walk freely or even wear your favourite shoes.

SURGERY IS NOT THE ONLY OPTION Bunion surgery involves implanting metal roads and screws to straighten the big toe joint. However, surgeries often lead to complications,including infection, scarring, pain, inability to walk for months. Many sufferers who have had surgery, notice their bunion return and often worse than before.

A LESS INVASIVE TREATMENT CAN HELP My name is Shaun McCann, owner of Corrective Foot Solutions. Over the past six years since we’ve opened the doors, we’ve helped hundreds of bunion patients get rid of their bunion pain, improve toe deviation, wear more shoes and lead an active lifestyle without surgery. We use Foot Mobilisation Therapy which is a gentle hands-on technique that corrects the cause of your bunion by working on the misalignments in the foot, as well as strengthening the weakened muscles around the joints.

“I only wish I had found you sooner!”

We believe that the sooner a bunion is treated, the better the correction.

Have an expert podiatrist evaluate your bunion

FOR ONLY $35 (usually $105) Call before 9th February and here’s what you will get:

• An indepth consultation about your bunion • Gait analysis • A complete hands-on joint assessment • Answer all your probing questions

PRE Expiry 09/02/2024

CALL ON 09 212 12 Como TODAY Street, Takapuna CALL9250 TODAY ON 09 212 9250 3b/272Parnell Parnell Road, Parnell,www.correctivefootsolutions.co.nz Auckland 3b/272 Road,Parnell www.correctivefootsolutions.co.nz

POST

Sport

February 2, 2024

The Rangitoto Observer Page 15

Returning stars feed WBHS hopes of more rugby glory Westlake Boys High School seems assured of a strong first XV in 2024, with half of its world-beating rugby side returning for the coming season Westlake beat St Michael’s College from Ireland 28-21 to win the World School Festival in Thailand in December.

Head coach Robin Mildenhall said 14 of the 28-strong squad which went to Thailand were returning to school in 2024.

The winning team went out on a high at what is regarded as an unofficial world series. Top schoolboy teams from England, Wales and South Africa were also represented.

Westlake beat EG Jansen from South Africa in the semi-final by 25-16.

In August last year, Westlake was runner-up to Southland Boys High School in the New Zealand secondary schools Top 4 championship, representing the northern region for a second year in a row. It was invited to the world event, due to its consistent performance, with surprise South Island winner Southland choosing not to go.

“We are all really happy with the (World festival) achievement… the cohort of boys were exceptional and had put in a lot of work for a number of years,” Mildenhall said.

“Every team who went over to Thailand was a killer and it was a real growth experience for myself and the boys to mix with great players and coaches.”

The support of families, the school, old boys and the wider community had been immense, illustrated by the large crowd at the airport to welcome the team home, Mildenhall said.

Stars such as James Cameron and Issac Murray-Macgregor – who both made the national schoolboys side in 2023 – are among the departing Year 13 students.

But many of those who were returning to school have played in Auckland Blues development sides and various North Harbour age-group representative teams, Mildenhall said, so this year’s would be another quality team.

Westlake’s first pre-season game is on 23 March, with a yet to be confirmed opponent.

The side will play four to five pre-season matches, including regular fixtures against Hamilton Boys and St Peters Auckland. It is defending the Hugh McGahan Cup which was contested for the first time in 2023 by Westlake and St Peters.

Members of the World School Festival winning squad (with asterisks denoting those returning to school in 2024) were: Alex Vaaia*, Iggy Iversen, Kaiva Tulimanu*, Tom Buckley, Brooklyn Pohio, Travis Findlay*, Luke Matson, Jay Dunn, Taiga Kato, Blake Lidgard*, JD Van Der Westhuizen* Jarlon Lesatele*, James Cameron, Tyler Pulini, Hamish Gowans*, Isaac Murray-Macgregor, Tonga Paea, Jeremiah Samoa*, Clayton Wright, Harry Cornelius*, Jared Blake, Jordie Burbidge*, , Solomone Tuitupou*, Lee-Hanru Greyvensteyn*, Ashton Falloon*, Casey Good, Matereti Hoyt, and Brody Good*.

School leaver James Cameron was Westlake’s 2023 sportsman of the year. The centre went on to captain the first XV one last time in its worldbeating trip to Thailand. He is heading to Crusaders country to continue his education and rugby this year

8.75

%

RETURN

Citizens Brokerage Limited (Citizens) provides investors with an investment backed by a registered first mortgage over a specific property.

Citizens is a registered peer-to-peer lender with the Financial Markets Authority and its director J G Turrall has been involved in first mortgage lending for in excess of 30 years.

No investor has ever lost their capital.

Funds are sought for a first mortgage of $1,700,000.00 over two Auckland properties with a total estimated value of $5,644,000.00.

Details of the proposal will be provided.

The mortgage is for two years with a right to increase the interest rate after one year (subject to conditions).

Interest is paid monthly after Resident withholding tax has been deducted.

And investor does not incur legal or other costs in making an investment with Citizens.

For a copy of the product disclosure statement for Citizens and more information contact Citizens (09) 445 7347 or 027 419 0666 or by email to john@jturrall.co.nz

Citizens Brokerage Limited

The Rangitoto Observer Page 16

Sport

February 2, 2024

Young Takapuna club athletes shine at games

Takapuna Athletics Club members performed strongly at the country’s biggest athletics event for children, the Colgate Games, held last month in Auckland and Dunedin.

A 67-strong club track and field contingent, aged seven to 14, competed at the event’s North Island arm, held at Mt Smart Stadium over three days. A smaller number headed south the following weekend.

The games – which launched the national careers of many athletes, including sprint star Zoe Hobbs and the club’s own international shotputter Jacko Gill, drew more than 2000 junior athletes this year, including Australian state teams from Victoria and Queensland.

At their conclusion, 14-year-old allrounder Connor Brady from Bayswater – who collected seven medals across both meetings (three gold, one silver and three bronze) – was one of four athletes awarded a Nick Willis scholarship for outstanding performance.

He hopes to compete in Australia this year.

Another standout was Sina-Marie Su’a from Northcote who won double gold twice in the girls Grade 12 discus and shotput, at both the North and South Island Games.

Leo Simons from Devonport topped the podium after winning the boys Grade 10 long jump at Mt Smart.

Club president Dan Brady said a number of the club’s other representatives brought home silver and bronze medals (see results below), with other club athletes close behind.

Competitors aged seven to nine competed in small divisions and the older athletes against all others in their age group.

Among the younger group was Makaia Anesi who showed she is one to watch, with six first placings in the North Island and three more in the South, after she diverted from a holiday in Queenstown “to have some fun” competing. Oliver Ostergaard, Mackenzie France, Evie Alexander, Caleb Ferguson were among others who did well.

Seniors also shine

Connor Brady Brady said post-Covid the club had gone from strength to strength, with an emphasis on retaining athletes after primary school and working with winter codes.

Athletics provided a fantastic platform of cardio, strength and speed for other sports in its off-season, he said, while offering rewards in its own right.

Brady partly put the flow of good results from the club to its introducing structured training squads for sprints, hurdles, throws and jumps. A community-based culture also helped with camaraderie and retention.

His son, Connor Brady, had found one of his most personally rewarding results was bronze in the 4x100m Grade 14 relay, competing with mates he plays rugby with at the North Shore club in Devonport.

Connor backed up his strong outing in Auckland, where he won shotput and the 400m, by repeating his shot-put gold in Dunedin. He narrowly missed a third gold, pipped in the 100m hurdles by a visiting Australian.

The club’s older student athletes have spent the summer building on fine performances recorded at the New Zealand Secondary School championships held in Christchurch in December.

From this, thrower Kate Hallie (Takapuna Grammar School) was selected for the national under 18 team to compete at this year’s Australian secondary school championships. Two other local club members qualified for their respective U20 world championship events: Sascha Letica (TGS) in the 5km cross-country and James Ford (King’s College) in 400m and 800m.

“Any time someone meets international selection criteria or wears the silver fern, the entire club is so proud,” Brady said.

This year, the club hoped to have three members selected for the Paris Olympics: shotputter Gill and polevaulters Eliza McCartney and Imogen Ayris (all former TGS students). Sionann Murphy is a paralympian hopeful.

Colgate Games results Gold medals Boys: Connor Brady, Grade 14 shot put and 400m.

Leo Simons, 10 long jump.

Girls: Sina-Marie Su’a 12 discus and shot put.

Silver medals Girls: Kate O’Connell, 11 high jump. India Burke, 12, 1500m. Romey Jewell, 12, 400m.

Boys: Connor Brady, 14, 100m hurdles. Jacob Howell, 14 , 400m Bronze medals Boys: Leo Simons, 10, high jump. Jake Tuck, 11, 1500m. Connor Brady, 14 discus. Grade 10 4x100m relay (Leo Simons, Lachy Sara, Miller Jewell and Max Ferguson. Grade 14 4x100m relay (Baxter McNaughton, Jacob Howell, Alex Hallie and Brady) Girls: India Burke, 12, 800m. Grade 13 4 x100m (Dominique Maltby, Lula Free, Miya Riseborough and Elizabeth Plaistowe) Mixed: Grade 14 medley (Jacob Howell, Connor Brady, Jess Lathwood, Baxter McNaughton, with Bella O’Neil)

Westlake students bag black singlets at nationals Four students from Westlake Girls and Boys High Schools won the honour of competing in black singlets at selected athletics meetings this year after being named in the New Zealand Secondary Schools track and field and road championships team.

The national team is a team-of-the-tournament selection from the New Zealand Secondary School Athletics national championships, which were held in December.

The student athletes – Karmen Maritz, Thomas Cowan, Cameron Maunder and Tai Rhodes – have also been involved in club competition over summer.

Karmen won junior discus and shotput gold medals at the secondary school championships held in Christchurch, and was also named Junior Girls Athlete of the Meet. The 15-year-old won the junior discus event with a throw of 56.63 metres and the junior shot

put event with a throw of 14.80 metres at the three-day event held in Christchurch.

Tai won gold in the junior boys pole vault with a 4.15-metre jump.

Thomas came second in the senior boys 800-metre event and was in the second placed 4 x 400 senior Westlake relay team, with Conall McLean, Etienne Calonne and Cameron Maunder.

Cameron also collected an individual silver medal, in the six-kilometre road race.

The national team students are eligible for a travel subsidy to go to a national tournament of their choosing. Team members get priority selection to the Australian secondary school championships in April if they are still eligible to compete.

They were able to compete in black at the Potts and Cooks classics last month and at this weekend’s Capital Classic event.

Thomas took up the invitation for the Potts meet in Hastings on 20 January, taking silver in the 800m. (He also runs for the Harbour Bays club, and has bettered the 800m standard for the under-20 world championships).

Other Westlake medal winners at the New Zealand secondary event were seniors Etienne Calonne, who came third in the 1500 metres, and Roman Matson who placed second in the 2000m steeplechase.

Junior students to medal were Oliver Chung, who won the hammer throw, and Harry Witherbridge, who was third in the 3000m and second in the 4km road race.

Westlake seniors had a second 4 x 400 relay team on the podium, wearing bronze, with the line-up of Jacob Howell, Harry Witheridge, Lorenzo Ferguson and Arran Brodie following home the school’s silver medallists.

February 2, 2024

Sport

The Rangitoto Observer Page 17

Gold standard... Leo Simons long-jumped his way to the top of the podium at the Colgate Games, with Sina-Marie Su’a (right) achieving the same medal in discus and shot put

Winners are grinners... Takapuna Athletics Club juniors (from left) Oliver Ostergaard, Makaia Anesi, Mackenzie France and Mila Kailahi all picked up first-prize penants in age-group divisions, with older entrants competing against all comers

Trades & Services

The Rangitoto Observer Page 18

FENCE BROTHERS

February 2, 2024

RECOVER YOUR

LOUNGE SUITE North Shore based renovations, new builds, design & project management since 1985.

• FENCES • REtAiNiNG • PERGOLAS WALLS • DECKS • PROPERtY MAiNtENANCE

www.fencebros.co.nz CONtACt GREG FOR A FREE QUOtE

0800 336 232

Painters

Call us for a free quotation and put the life back into that favourite chair or lounge suite

AWARD FURNITURE

Paul Charleton 021 143 9138

Caledonian Premier Tiling Ltd.

Plumbing, Gasfitting, Drainage, Roof Leaks

MAINTENANCE SPECIALISTS Prompt courteous service Fully insured for your peace of mind

0800 277 566

Carried out and certified by local tradesman of 24 years’ experience

FREE QUOTES Contact Doug 021 187 7852 or 09 446 0687 or email calpremtiling@gmail.com

• Weed and Pest Control • Tree felling and removal • Hedge trimming 21 YEACRESAS • Path construction EXPERIERNANGER • Lawn mowing A PARK IHEKE • Landscape maintenance ON WA D ISLAN • Mini Digger and ride on mower

Call me on 022 326 4554 or email thelonerangerltd@gmail.com

Certifying Plumber, Gasfitter and Drainlayer

DELIVERED FORTNIGHTLY

Specialising in all aspects of Wall and Floor Tiling and Under-tile Waterproofing

www.efd.kiwi

Your Private Ranger for property enhancement.

Call Mat

For all your decorating needs call the wizards

Contact Alex Carey on 0274 660 666, or visit our website

Phone COLIN on 480 5864

Midas Touch Painting Contractors

Specialists in commercial and residential painting

Trustworthy licensed builders specialising in residential alterations/extensions, kitchens, bathrooms, tiling, re-cladding.

www.theloneranger.nz

AN INDEPENDENT VOICE

Issue 1 – 15 March 2019

CLASSIFIEDS

PROFESSIONAL PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER PHOTO PROFESSIONAL

SERVICES OFFERED

PHOTOGRAPHER PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRA

FixIT Handyman - excellent work, practical budget, most jobs welcome, interior/exterior free quote. Josh 021 261 8322.

PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER PROFESSIONAL PHOTO

WANT TO ADVERTISE?

Rangitoto Observer Classified Advertising.

It really works. To make a booking please email us at sales@devonportflagstaff.co.nz

EVENTS • PORTRAITS EVENTS • •PORTRAITS FAMILY EVENTS• •CORPORATE •PORTRAITS FAMILY • CORPOR • FAMI

https://www.kathrynnobbsphotography.com https://www.kathrynnobbsphotography.com https://www.kathrynnobbsph PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER PROFESSIONAL PHOTO email: kathrynnobbsphotography@gmail.com email: kathrynnobbsphotography@gmail.com email: kathrynnobbsphotogra Tel: 027•528 4566 Tel:•027 528 4566 456 EVENTS • PORTRAITS FAMILY EVENTS • •CORPORATE PORTRAITS FAMI EVENTS • Tel: 027•528

Reach your Milford and EVENTS • PORTRAITS • FAMILY • C Takapuna customers https://www.kathrynnobbsphotography.com https://www.kathrynnobbsph • PORTRAITS • email: kathrynnobbsphotography@gmail.com email: kathrynnobbsphotogra cost-effectively https://www.kathrynnobbsphotogra • FAMILY • Tel: 027 528 4566

Tel: 027 528 456

• CORPORATE • email: kathrynnobbsphotography@gm PORTRAITS • FAMILY EVENTS • •CORPORATE PORTRAITS • FAMI Contact the Rangitoto Observer forEVENTS our rates•and dates.

https://www.kathrynnobbsphotography.com Tel:https://www.kathrynnobbsph 027 528 4566 www.kathrynnobbsphotography.com email: kathrynnobbsphotography@gmail.com email: kathrynnobbsphotography@gmail.com email: kathrynnobbsphotogra W www.rangitoto-observer.co.nz Tel: 027 528 4566Tel: 027 528 4566Tel: 027 528 456

E sales@rangitoto-observer.co.nz

The Rangitoto Observer Page 19

February 2, 2024

Cash-strapped local board eyes extent of sports-club funds Local sports clubs looking to renew their peppercorn clubroom leases on council land may face annual fees of $1300.

The Takapuna Boating Club and the Devonport Squash Club dodged a bullet late last year, having lodged their renewal applications before the Auckland Council fees policy took effect, but the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board signalled at its December meeting that it would hold a workshop on how best to apply the fees in 2024.

The charge might be phased in, and the board has discretion on who is charged.

But clubs with a commercial element to their operations, such as those running a money-making bar or renting out rooms to other groups, will come under more scrutiny on their financial position.

“We’re providing a facility that offers them the opportunity to make money,” said local-board chair Toni van Tonder.

Though club profits were largely ploughed back into facilities and operations, the board, which was facing its own budget cuts, had to look at finding revenue sources.

It was not intended to charge clubs that were not in a position to make money. Encouraging community sports participation

was important, she said.

All clubs pay just $1 for their clubroom ground leases currently. The new council fees regime is to better cover its own administration costs administering leases. Council is also encouraging boards to add maintenance fees into some leases.

During discussion of the squash club lease renewal, the board heard the club made $68,000 a year in returns from use of the gym. Membership brought in under $20,000.

Van Tonder acknowledged the work it had done on its facilities and said there was no intention to penalise the club. But she recommended its lease fee be reviewed after two years, rather than the standard five years.

This would better reflect the changing approach that would be applied to applications lodged by other clubs, she said, with the aim of bringing them into line over time.

The squash-club lease itself was approved for a 10-year term, with a 10-year right of renewal.

Council staff also made clear that clubs would not be charged for using sports fields, after member George Wood raised this fear.

He voted against the lease renewal under the new review terms, which was passed 5-1.

Support your paper for the price of a cup of coffee.

Go to rangitoto-observer.co.nz and click on ‘Become a supporter’ at the top of the page.

Write to the Rangitoto Observer

Letters Watts must oppose Nats mining madness Simon Watts, as a candidate at a recent general election hustings, when asked whether he would, if elected, support his political party or his constituents on any given issue, stated he would put the people of North Shore first.

While locals continue to rebuild after terrifying weather events, Watts is now Minister for Climate Change.

On the very day he was attending COP28, at which it was agreed that fossil fuels must be phased out, we had the grotesque spectacle of his own government announcing new mining and drilling plans.

Watts has now to make good on his undertaking: he must support his constituents over the madness of his party.

Simon Sheen

Customers will go Congratulations NZRPG on your efforts to destroy the Milford Shopping Centre, which I am sure will be a great success.

Closing the Warehouse will ensure few people will venture to the eastern end of the mall. Anyone looking for reasonably priced products will now shop elsewhere. I fear loyal locals will desert the mall.

I would have thought the pulling power of the Warehouse would have given them almost free rental. Is your only concern the apartment blocks? Love to hear your reasoning. I must be missing something After all, we customers are your profits.

Vince West

We welcome letters. Please limit to 300 words on local topics.

Noms de plume or unnamed letters will not be printed.

Email news@rangitoto-observer.co.nz or write to Letters, PO Box 32 275, Devonport.

Milford / Takapuna Next Fortnight's Tides m am 3 4

Fri

6

Feb 2

9 noon 3

6

9 pm am 3

Sat

6

Feb 3

9 noon 3

6

9 pm am 3

Sun Feb 4

6

9 noon 3

6

9 pm am 3

Mon Feb 5 6

9 noon 3

6

9 pm am 3

Tue Feb 6

6

9 noon 3

6

9 pm am 3

Wed Feb 7 6

9 noon 3

6

9 pm am 3

Thu Feb 8

6

9 noon 3

6

9 pm

3 2 1 0

H 1:05am 1:22pm L 7:00am 7:29pm

m am 3 4

Fri

6

Feb 9

9 noon 3

6

H 1:48am 2:05pm L 7:47am 8:13pm

9 pm am 3

Sat Feb 10

6

9 noon 3

6

H 2:37am 2:52pm L 8:39am 9:04pm

H 3:34am 3:45pm L 9:38am 10:02pm

Sun Feb 11

Mon Feb 12

9 pm am 3

6

9 noon 3

6

9 pm am 3

6

9 noon 3

6

H 4:38am 4:45pm L 10:39am 11:06pm

H 5:42am 5:50pm L 11:40am

Tue Feb 13

Wed Feb 14

9 pm am 3

6

9 noon 3

6

9 pm am 3

6

9 noon 3

6

H 6:42am 6:54pm L 12:08am 12:39pm

9 pm am 3

Thu Feb 15

6

9 noon 3

6

9 pm

3 2 1 0

H 7:37am 7:55pm L 1:06am 1:35pm

H 8:29am 8:50pm L 2:00am 2:29pm

H 9:20am 9:43pm L 2:52am 3:21pm

H 10:10am 10:34pm L 3:42am 4:13pm

H 11:00am 11:23pm L 4:31am 5:03pm

H 11:50am L 5:21am 5:53pm

H 12:13am 12:40pm L 6:12am 6:43pm

©Copyright OceanFun Publishing Ltd

www.ofu.co.nz

The Rangitoto Observer Page 20

Arts / Entertainment Pages

February 2, 2024

Diverse styles... Artists Ljubica Grubic (left) and Paul Olson won the chance to show their works in creation at Takapuna’s Waiwharariki Anzac Square

Sculpture in the square shows public wonders in wood Instead of working solo in a studio, sculptors Ljubica Grubic and Paul Olson are each relishing the chance of showing their skills “live” to passersby in Takapuna.

“A lot of them are pretty curious and taken with the art work, which is great,” says master carver Natanahira Pona who is helping facilitate the local board-backed installation in Waiwharariki Anzac Square.

It includes around 20 works from the Sculpture Symposium held at Lake House Arts Centre in December, including the winning entry from Hohepa Penny.

Entries by Grubic and Olson into the big annual exhibition are what gained them their square residencies, which wind up on Saturday 3 February.

Both artists said interest had been high in

how they crafted wood. Their different styles and techniques were talking points.

Grubic sat on a table to chisel a sinuous shape into what began the fortnight as a large, solid rectangle of timber. When the Observer visited, she still had polishing to do to the flame-like abstract sculpture she is creating. The 27-year-old Serbian, who studied applied arts in Belgrade before moving to New Zealand with family last year, said the residency had been busy, with “quite positive” feedback. Her hope is to build her art career and connections here.

Olson, who hails from Northland and has been an artist for 25 years, is working on a panel depicting giant trees and a road.

It is the second of a planned series of 10 Painting with Wood panels. The first was his

symposium entry.

His work combines old school painting techniques into woodworking, using electric tools at times. Focused on painting when he studied fine art at Whitecliffe College, he has since transitioned to sculpting, but with a painterly perspective.

His second panel is titled Adventure, in a nod to the road it shows leading off into mountains. “I’m wanting to get a lot clearer with my story,” he says. “People get way too ‘arty’ and the story gets lost. I want to make it understandable to the general public.”

The approach seems to be working, with Olson having exhibited around New Zealand.

His work is in private collections, including in the Middle East. Webbs auction house recently acquired one of his pieces to sell.

Operation Science Explore 56 science projects

A collaboration with Belmont Intermediate School & Defence Science & Technology On now 10am - 5pm daily Free admission Suitable for all ages

navymuseum.co.nz

February 2, 2024

Arts / Entertainment Pages

The Rangitoto Observer Page 21 ADVERTISING FEATURE

The Queen of Soul set to soar in Takapuna!

Hold on tight to your seats North Shore, RESPECT – The Aretha Franklin Story is coming to town!

“The show is more than showcasing Aretha’s greatest songs; it’s a story about family, loyalty and victory, layered with glorious harmonies and sassy repartee” says Gold Coast-based Kiwi producer Monique Cribb.

“Not only was Aretha the undisputed Queen of Soul, she also changed the landscape of R&B music. With her incredible four octave vocal range, and a hurricane of a voice – she is one of the most successful divas that has ever lived.

“I wanted to honour her legacy with the highest regard, so when I went looking for a singer who could connect with Aretha’s journey, and the voice to match, I couldn’t go past Australia’s finest soul singer, Angie Narayan.”

Angie’s extraordinary talent was showcased on the hit reality TV show, Australian Idol. Dubbed Australia’s ‘Soul Mama’ by Ian Dickinson, she has continued to blow people away with her ground-breaking voice.

The show is a wonderful trip down memory lane for anyone who is an Aretha fan.

“We start in the 1960s, when Aretha’s career began, taking you on an intimate musical odyssey through her life. The 1960s was all jazz

and blues, the 1970s with disco, and 1980s with pop. Aretha constantly reinvented herself which is why she had a career spanning over 50 years.”

Joining Angie on stage are performers Ezekiel Narayan, Shelley Davies and the incredible Faith Sosene, top 5 finalist who blew Australia away in The Voice Season 11, together with an electric band!

You can expect all your favourite hits like ‘Natural Woman’, ’Think’, ‘Say A Little Prayer’,

The electrifying show RESPECT journeys through Aretha Franklin’s courageous life of love, tragedy and triumph, while showcasing her greatest hits over the last 50 years!

Starring Australia’s ‘Soul Mama’, Angie Narayan, RESPECT is a masterful piece of storytelling about family, loyalty and victory, layered with glorious harmonies and sassy repartee. Joining Angie on stage are performers, Ezekiel Narayan, Shelley Davies and the incredible Faith Sosene, The Voice Season 11 runner up, together with an electric band!

Taking you back to the1960s, you'll explore her childhood, the church, meeting her Husband, the Civil Rights Movement and the profound impact the song RESPECT had on the world! ‘Natural Woman’, Say A Little Prayer’ and ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ are just a taste of Aretha’s classics you can expect! Moving into the 70s and 80s, ‘Sisters are Doin it for Themselves’ and ‘Freeway of Love’ are just some of the hits guaranteed to have you up dancing out of your seat! There is one big surprise near the end of the show that no one expects but has people literally in tears!

‘Son of a Preacher Man’, ‘Chain of Fools’ to name a few.

RESPECT has received rave reviews: “We left on such a high!”

“BLOODY FANTASTIC!” “Absolutely the closest thing to watching Aretha live!”

You can catch RESPECT for one night only on Friday 9 February, 7:30pm at the Bruce Mason Centre, Takapuna.

Tickets available at Ticketmaster.co.nz

Arts / Entertainment Pages

The Rangitoto Observer Page 22

February 2, 2024

Young actor keen to share newfound love of the Bard A student actor from Milford, who is making her debut appearance in Shakespeare in the Park in Takapuna, is tackling roles that are more comedic than those she has played before.

Tanna Van Rensburg is a recent Shakespeare enthusiast who is bringing the characters Elbow and Friar Peter to life in this year’s production of Measure for Measure.

The youngest member of the cast, aged 16, says she was initially nervous about tackling the Bard, but was made to feel welcome by the more experienced cast from Shoreside Theatre.

“Everyone has just been wonderful and they treat me like a little sister.”

Tanna has acted previously at school – where she was first introduced to Shakespeare – but she says it took performing rather than reading the texts to make her appreciate them.

Like many teenagers, studying Shakespeare did not fall in love with him at first.

She even admits to “hating” the texts at one point.

Her admiration came later, when two years ago she and her family immigrated to Auckland from Johannesburg and the playwright’s works were covered in her drama class at Carmel College.

“My first drama assignment at school was Macbeth and I was like, ‘Acting this is very

different to just writing it and learning and analysing it’.”

“He was such a revolutionary and it’s so amazing to be able to still learn those and do those plays today.”

The production of Measure for Measure, directed by James Bell, is one of two Shakespeare plays being staged at the PumpHouse amphitheatre this summer. The popular seasons have been running for 28 years.

A dark comedy, Measure for Measure is set in a society of decaying traditional values where the citizens of Vienna have stopped following its laws.

The city’s Duke informs his deputy, Angelo, that he is going on a diplomatic mission and leaves him in charge.

Angelo, with a firmer view on public morals, starts his rule by enforcing laws that the Duke had turned a blind eye to.

This puts a citizen, Claudio, at threat of execution after his fiancée, Juliet, becomes pregnant out of wedlock.

Claudio’s sister, Isabella, a novice nun, pleads to Angelo for her brother’s life. The temporary ruler finds himself overcome with lust for her. He then attempts to use his power to manipulate the young Isabella.

One of Tanna’s parts in all this civic clampdown and confusion is as the dimwitted police officer Elbow, who is tasked with admin-

istering the morality drive, which includes shutting down the city’s brothels.

Playing the role for laughs, as with that of Friar Peter, is, she says, a quite different challenge than the intense and headstrong female roles she has performed before.

“It’s been fun because it’s given me an opportunity to grow my skill set. “(As Elbow) I can run around the stage, stomp my feet and be loud.”

Director Ball has put his cast in a mix of modern and Elizabethan costumes, rather than following Shakespeare in the Park’s usual practice of entirely period grab.

Tanna said this was because the events and dynamics of the play mirror what is happening in modern times.

By making the costumes relatable to audiences, it helps reinforce the relevance of the play itself, she says.

But the dialogue remains true to Shakespeare’s original, with the cast using a script written in 1604.

Measure for Measure alternates with is A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Grae Burton.

• Shakespeare in the Park runs until 17 February at the PumpHouse Theatre. Tickets $24 to $28, with children under 12 admitted free with a paying adult. Book at pumphouse. co.nz

Show puts focus on

NOW SHOWING

Argylle (M) 139min Priscilla (M) 114min Riceboy Sleeps (M) 118min The Iron Claw (R16) 132min Perfect Days (M) 125min Oppenheimer (M) 180min

NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW RE-RELEASE

SPECIAL EVENT

COMING SOON

Charcoal (R13) 108min 8 FEB Bob Marley: One Love (M) 104min 14 FEB Madame Web (TBA) 14 FEB May December (M) 118min 15 FEB The Trust Fall: Julian Assange (E) 128min 15 FEB How to Have Sex (R16) 91min Previews 15 FEB Kombi Man (E) 87min 16 FEB The Rocky Horror Picture Show with H&F Shadowcast (M) 16 FEB

Takapuna Library is first port of call for a national tour of book arts, showcasing hand printing and binding crafts.

The library’s Angela Morton Room will host the Miscellany – a Mixture from the Motu exhibition throughout February.

The show is organised jointly by the Association of Hand Printers and Association of Book Crafts.

Award-winning handmade books, including a number from Auckland artists, are represented.

Subject matter ranges from themes involving insects to fairytales and Shakespeare.

Some books are intriguing miniatures while the covers of others feature the likes of lace doilies transformed into flamboyant new bindings and sculpted paper depicting trees.

Melodies return

events@thevic.co.nz

www.thevic.co.nz | (09) 446 0100 | 48 Victoria Road

Morning Melodies is returning for another year – the 23rd – of popular monthly concerts at the Bruce Mason Centre in Takapuna, offering ensemble, jazz and brass performances.

Kumeu Vintage Brass are first cab off the rank on 12 February, with The Updos presenting a 1960s girl-group tribute in March.

February 2, 2024

Arts / Entertainment Pages

The Rangitoto Observer Page 23

Role reversal... Young actor Tanna Van Rensburg (right) is enjoying the challenge of playing male comedic roles for the first time. In this rehearsal scene from Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure she plays opposite John Charlton.

printing and binding Skilled North Shore specialists are also involved in associated activities.

Among them is bookbinder Graham Judd, who returns to the library to set up his historic letterpress machine for a printing demonstration. Historian Dave Veart is also taking part.

Miscellany will also feature an exhibitionwithin-an-exhibition, with a subset of books from internationally renowned Aotearoa book artist Elizabeth Steiner to go on display for three days.

Dates and details of specific activities will be available on the Takapuna Library Facebook page, when scheduling is finalised.

• Miscellany runs until 29 February at the Angela Morton Room, first floor of Takapuna Library, the Strand.

Still showing lots of family movies for the school holidays

All children’s tickets are $10 and a small popcorn and drink combo also $10 Great Family Value on the North Shore!

Lake House Hakari Lake House Arts Centre is hosting a Waitangi Day Hakari, from noon to 8pm, beginning with hangi lunch.

The free event includes an arts market, along with live music, kapa haka and waiata, including special performanes by manuhiri.

A Waitangi history will be screened. And those with coin can check out food stalls.

www.takapunamovies.co.nz

The Rangitoto Observer Page 24

February 2, 2024

Est.1984

TAKAPUNA | 1/29 BRACKEN AVENUE VERSE | Exquisite Luxury Townhouse Unveiled

TAKAPUNA | 28 EWEN STREET Prime Beachfront | This is the ONE

Discover modern elegance at its finest in this brand new terrace townhouse, part of the stunning VERSE development. With 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a double garage, and a lift to all floors (196sqm approx), this smartly designed freehold property offers a seamless blend of sophistication and convenience. Features central air conditioning, video intercom entry and EV charging provision. Ideally situated just a short walk from Hurstmere Road and Takapuna Beach.

Set on a 845sqm (approx) beach front position sits this striking north facing residence designed by Sumich Architects which boasts a substantial floor area. The atrium-style entrance flows to the kitchen, living, and dining areas, with easy access to the beach. Four bedrooms on the upper level include a master suite with stunning views. The property offers a substantial basement garage, recent renovations, and is a rare find in a prime location.

VIEW | SAT/SUN 1 - 1.45 PM premium.co.nz/80503

SET DATE SALE | 21 FEB 2024 AT 4 PM UNLESS SOLD PRIOR

ALISON PARKER 021 983 533 HARRY RICHARDS 021 0814 4513 GERRY PETRIE 021 923 352 OFFICE 916 6000

VIEW | BY APPOINTMENT premium.co.nz/80472 PRICE | BY NEGOTIATION

ROBERT MILNE 022 011 2494 RICHARD MILNE 021 770 611 OFFICE 916 6000

WARKWORTH | 73 VALERIE CLOSE Luxury Lifestyle - Zoned Future Urban

TAKAPUNA | 403/16 HURON STREET Alfresco Sanctuary | One Level Dream

Welcome to Borgo di Chianti, a Tuscan equestrian sanctuary at the gateway to the Matakana Wine Trail, bordered by the Mahurangi River with its waterfalls and swimming holes, this unique farmlet is a testament to authentic craftsmanship and commitment to sustainable living, offering a harmonious blend of tranquility, luxury, and natural beauty. Borgo di Chianti is a haven for those seeking a healthy, natural lifestyle amidst the breathtaking beauty of the Mahurangi region.

Introducing 403 Maison sub penthouse, where unparalleled design meets coastal vibes. Step into this unique, one level north west facing haven featuring two spacious bedrooms, two bathrooms and a convenient study nook. Experience the brilliance of separated guest quarters and a tastefully designed, high quality new kitchen. Enjoy the spacious floor plan and massive 75m terrace, gas fireplace, a heat pump, underfloor heating in bathrooms, separate laundry and ample storage.

VIEW | BY APPOINTMENT premium.co.nz/ 90134 PRICE | BY NEGOTIATION

ROB MATULICH 021 634 059 LINDA SMITH 021 470 175 OFFICE 422 9280

VIEW | SUN 2 - 2.40 PM premium.co.nz/80483 PRICE | BY NEGOTIATION

ALISON PARKER 021 983 533 OFFICE 916 6000

premium.co.nz | Fine Homes | Fine Apartments | Fine Lifestyles PREMIUM REAL ESTATE LTD LICENSED REAA 2008 | 916 6000