The Hobson July 2021

july 2021

ka pai kai: cooking for matariki p roaming rakiura local news, views & informed opinions

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JULY, 2021, #80

Contents

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26

35

the editor’s letter

the suburbanist

the menu

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Lauraine Jacobs creates a feast to be shared for Matariki

the contributors

Missing the peaceful days of a quieter, less-than-smart city? Tommy Honey says you’re not alone

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26

the magpie

the neighbourhood

the plan

Residents push back on Parnell’s next big development; the Robbies’ Park ‘protectors’ dig in; the Ōrākei food garden, Matariki and more

Hamish Firth on rates rises and the spectre of congestion charges

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38 Come on in — our stylish bird has feathered a very calming nest

40 the sound

the arriviste

the councillor

His car is his ride or die, and Colin Hogg just loves it

Andrew Dickens salutes the longevity of some of his favourite artists as the eternally sylish Charlie Watts turns 80

The Ōrākei ward’s Desley Simpson shares her news

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42

the journey

the district diary

Rakiura Stewart Island is remote, beautiful and just the place for an early winter break

What’s going on in July

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22-24 the politicians Updates from the three Epsom reps: David Seymour, Camilla Belich and Paul Goldsmith

25 the investment So where is all this government cash coming from? Warren Couillault explains

33 the creative Businesswoman and artist, Deborah Kelland sets out on a new path that sees her farewelling a long connection to Parnell

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Photo: A curious kākā in a kākā bush, at Halfmoon Bay on Rakiura Stewart Is. Photo by Stephen Penny

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issue 80, july 2021 Editor & Publisher Kirsty Cameron editor@thehobson.co.nz Art Direction & Production Stephen Penny design@thehobson.co.nz Writers this Issue Kirsty Cameron, Talia Parker, Wayne Thompson, Justine Williams (The Magpie), Fiona Wilson (The Diary) Sub-editor Dawn Adams Columnists Camilla Belich, Warren Couillault, Andrew Dickens, Hamish Firth, Paul Goldsmith, Colin Hogg, Tommy Honey, Lauraine Jacobs, David Seymour, Desley Simpson

elcome to winter. We appear to have gone fully seasonal with this issue, which wasn’t the intention but it’s ended up that way, and a warming treat it is too!

From next year, the winter Māori new year festival of Matariki will be marked with a national holiday. It’s the first such day to honour anything te ao Māori, which in the 181 years since the Treaty was signed, seems overdue. And those who protest that we don’t need another day off, it’s hardly over the top: it will take us to 10 national days off, in line with the US and its 10 federal holidays a year (11 in an inauguration year), Australia has nine national holidays plus special state-by-state days off, and the French have 11 official public holidays.

In The Menu (page 35), Lauraine Jacobs celebrates Matariki with a special meal to share. As part of her recipe inspiration, she visited Ngāti Whātua’s flourishing māna kai gardens on Kepa Rd — see her update on the rapid progress of the gardens in our news pages. In a decade’s time, will the whānau getting together for Matariki be something we look forward to and plan for in the way American families come together for Thanksgiving? Time will tell on that but in any case, Lauraine’s meal may become a regular addition to your table.

Also seasonal, and also about a holiday, was my own visit to Rakiura Stewart Is (The Journey, page 29). It’s not the easiest place to get to particularly in the winter, but so worth the effort, especially when you’re photobombed by weka on Ulva Is. Enjoy everything we bring you in this issue,

Photographers Stephen Penny Cover Lauraine Jacobs’ Matariki feast — see The Menu, page 35.

Photo by Stephen Penny Correction: The June cover image was by Antony Gray, not the photographer credited.

THE HOBSON is published 11 times a year by The Hobson Limited, PO Box 37490 Parnell, Auckland 1151. www.thehobson.co.nz F: The Hobson Magazine I: @The Hobson

Kirsty Cameron editor@thehobson.co.nz 0275 326 424 Facebook: The Hobson Magazine Instagram: @TheHobson

Ideas, suggestions, advertising inquiries welcome. editor@thehobson.co.nz THE HOBSON is Remuera, Parnell and Ōrākei’s community magazine. We deliver into letterboxes in these neighbourhoods, and copies are also at local libraries, cafés, and at businesses including the Vicky Ave and White Heron dairies, and Paper Plus Parnell and Remuera. Find us on Facebook (The Hobson Magazine) and Instagram: @thehobson www.thehobson.co.nz The content of THE HOBSON is copyright. Our words, our pictures.

Don’t steal, and don’t borrow without checking with us first.

We aim for accuracy but cannot be held liable for any inaccuracies that do occur. The views of our contributors are their own and not necessarily those of THE HOBSON. We don’t favour unsolicited contributions but do welcome you getting in touch via editor@thehobson.co.nz to discuss ideas.

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the contributors

Left to right from top row: Camilla Belich (The Politicians) is a Labour list MP based in Epsom. An experienced employment lawyer, she lives in central Auckland with her young family. This is her first parliamentary term.

Author, music writer, columnist Colin Hogg (The Arriviste) was born in the deep south. He spent many years living in other parts of Tāmaki Makaurau, before relocating to Remuera from Wadestown.

Desley Simpson (The Councillor) is in her second term as the councillor for the Ōrākei ward. Previously, she served as chair of the Ōrākei Local Board. She is also an accomplished pianist and plays the Town Hall organ on occasion.

Remuera resident Warren Couillault (The Investment) is chairperson and CEO of Hobson Wealth, one of NZ’s leading private wealth advisory groups.

He is also the chair of kōura Wealth, a registered KiwiSaver scheme manager.

Urban design critic Tommy Honey (The Suburbanist) is a qualified architectturned-academic. The Remuera resident is a regular guest on RNZ National, discussing the built environment.

Contributing writer Wayne Thompson is a former The New Zealand Herald journalist, covering Auckland news.

He has been a resident of Parnell for 36 years.

The Hobson’s food editor, Lauraine Jacobs MNZM (The Menu) lives in Remuera. A former food editor for Cuisine and the Listener, she has published several best-selling cookbooks. She is a champion of NZ ingredients.

Contributing editor Justine Williams (The Magpie) is an interiors stylist, writer and fashion editor. The Remuera resident has been the editor of Simply You and Simply You Living.

Andrew Dickens (The Sound) is the breakfast host on radio station Gold, and hosts Monday afternoons on Newstalk ZB. He’s an alumnus of Vicky Ave Primary, RI and Grammar.

Hamish Firth (The Plan) lives with his wife and four daughters in Parnell, just down the road from the Mt Hobson Group, his specialist urban planning consultancy. www.mthobsonproperties. co.nz

Judi Paape (The Teacher) is a parent, grandparent and highly-experienced teacher and junior school principal. A Parnell resident, her column appears bi-monthly.

Paul Goldsmith (The Politicians) is a National list MP based in Epsom. The Remuera resident is the Opposition spokesman on education and was previously Minister for Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

David Seymour (The Politician) is the MP for Epsom and was the breakout contestant of the 2018 season of Dancing with the Stars. At the 2020 election he took his ACT party representation from one seat to 10.

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A note on the contributors: Contributors' views and words are their own opinions, and do not necessarily reflect those of the editor.

the neighbourhood

Local News VIEWS, SHAFTED? Auckland Council has granted resource consent for a retirement village in the Waipapa Valley between Parnell town centre and Auckland Domain.

However, an apartment and office building’s body corporate has an appeal in the Environment Court supported by 88 other residents and groups which voiced concern at a hearing in April about the impact of Summerset’s proposed village. In a decision announced on May 20, council planning commissioners said potential effects of the big project on Parnell were acceptable and could be managed by conditions in the consent.

The chairman of 11 Cheshire Street Body Corporate, Colin Reynolds, says its appeal is based on expert and legal advice that the decision is flawed. “The conditions don’t mitigate the effects and in our view the effects were not correctly assessed. I think it’s just bad planning, it’s bad for Parnell and we can’t let it go by. The appeal is a community thing. We have broad backing from all over Parnell.”

The appeal has similar grounds to the concerns submitted at the hearing where 11 Cheshire St was represented by lawyer Alan Webb, who called evidence from veteran property developer Reynolds, and expert witnesses Jon Styles (acoustics), Wes Edwards (traffic) and Karyn Kurzeja (planning). At the hearing, they criticised Summerset’s proposal for the site adjoining Parnell Train Station of 316 units and communal areas, housed in eight buildings of between three and eight storeys. The buildings breach the 18m height standard for the Business Mixed Use Zone by varying degrees, with a maximum height of 29m proposed. The only access to the site is from a downhill lane off Cheshire St. Webb said development ambitions should “not be at all costs” and this project would generate a range of effects well beyond what can reasonably be anticipated. Reynolds raised concerns about the over height buildings, construction traffic within Cheshire St, the noise and vibration on adjacent properties, and the prolonged effects of the staged project, which he reckoned would take longer than the planned seven years to complete. Edwards raised concern about managing the 80,000 truck movements during construction, including how to avoid queues of trucks in Cheshire and Heather streets. He said the site was difficult to access using Cheshire St and alternative access was needed, perhaps via Heather St. Styles said construction noise and vibration effects and truck noise would be significant and exceed limits.

An aerial view of the site in question. The retirement village's 2.3ha site at 23-41 Cheshire St in outlined in blue, and runs north and south of Parnell Train Station. Image source: Unitary Plan (GIS)

The consent allows single access but has a condition capping truck movements at 12 per hour and forbidding queues or double parking. The commissioners said they had no evidence to suggest that development could be achieved without consents to exceed noise and vibration.

Kurzeja said that not being able to manage the levels over the years was contrary to Auckland Unitary Plan policy that “people will be protected from unreasonable levels of noise and vibration”. The point was made by a resident, Claire Chambers, that the council had a duty under the Local Government Act to promote the wellbeing of the community. This will be tested, says local resident Emerald Gilmour.

“It’s terribly distressing for hundreds of people who live round here. We made submissions yet it has been granted with strange caveats that the applicant won’t be the hobson 11

able to do and it will likely go on for eight to 10 years.”

Most submitters were concerned about new buildings in the valley obscuring prized views of Auckland Domain, whether from their homes or Parnell Rd and all streets to the west. Resident Alan Galbraith QC noted that if the height of the development was reduced, the construction time would also be shorter. But it was not to be as simple as that. Planners argued over whether the Auckland Unitary Plan rules prevented over height buildings from popping up in the valley to spoil the historical relationship between Parnell and the Domain as was asserted by Parnell Community Committee, Parnell Heritage and a group of Gibraltar Cres residents. Resident Jenni Goulding noted that much of the residential amenity was derived from the relationship with the Domain. An example of amenity lost was given by some residents of the 13 Cheshire St apartment complex who estimated the heights would take half of their Domain outlook.

In the end, the commissioners sided with the developers, saying loss of views of the Domain from the upper floors of buildings to the east should be expected in a mixed-use city environment. The outlook of properties to the south would likely be modified by taller buildings but there was no effects of dominance, overlooking and shadowing. Although the Domain was subject to natural feature and heritage overlays, the commissioners say the unitary plan does not suggest any particular consideration of them when considering potential effects of additional height in the mixed use zone.

The decision disappointed Parnell Community Committee (PCC) chair Luke Niue. The committee emphasised that the unitary plan is an integrated document and consideration of height infringements are relevant objectives and policies. The PCC says the community described what amenity values meant to them and expected the height limit in the plan to keep the domain’s prominence.

Their voice should rank higher than considerations of intensive development.

The public good was the concern of the Gibraltar Cres residents’ group. Spokesman Dougal Blyth said beautiful views from the station and forest paths would be lost to the public and views of the Domain’s 19th century forest from the streets above the valley would shrink. The value of such views was shown by Summerset’s marketing material, referring to its buildings having views of the Domain. “But those views come at the expense of the public,” said Blyth.

The consent hearing drew 108 submissions, including 15 in support. One supporter was Kim Barrett of Haydn & Rollett Property Fund Ltd, which owns half of the Carlaw Park Student Village with Carlaw Heritage Trust. It also owns the 10-storey Carlaw Park Student Village stage three currently being built on the former service station site in Stanley St. Barrett said the proposed development was of a high quality and an appropriate addition to the neighbourhood. “It will create high quality pedestrian linkages between Parnell, the train station and the university. We fully support what is being proposed on the sites.”

Parnell Business Association’s submission both supported and opposed the application. It said the village would be positive for hospitality and retail businesses by bringing a “captive audience” of 500-plus residents. Station users would benefit from Summerset’s promise to reform the steep gradient of Waipapa Lane.

On the other hand, the association said its business members and property owners in Cheshire, Falcon and Heather streets feared years of negative consequences from trucks and noise. Construction could conflict with other new builds in a fairly localised area, for example, Stellar Projects had consent for an eight-storey building of 58 apartments at 17-21 Cheshire St. Both projects would use Waipapa Lane. Temporary loss of street parking was also of concern.

Summerset’s general manager development, Aaron Smail, says the decision recognises the need for housing specifically catering for older people in Parnell and the village would ultimately be

home to 300 to 400 of them. If working through appeals to the Environment Court should be the next part of the process, he says, “we will continue to be open and transparent”.

Smail confirms that Summerset will partly fund a rail underpass for easier walking access between the station platform or to the CBD, formalise public access to the Domain through its land, regenerate the urban landscape and provide a community garden near the village. — Wayne Thompson p

PARK 'PROTECTORS' RUG UP

Signage at the entrance to Sir Dove-Myer Robinson Park, and at the pop-up 'protect' encampment. Participants have no plans to move over the winter.

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The ‘peaceful protect’ of the proposed site for the National Erebus Memorial in Sir Dove-Myer Robinson Park, Parnell, clocked up 100 days on June 9 and the group in the live-in camp say they are resolved to stay no matter the wind, rain and cold nights until an alternative site is announced.

The @ProtectMataharehare petition urging the memorial’s promoter, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, to rethink the site achieved 13,000 signatures in early June to swell the number on the petition that was presented to Labour MP Shanan Halbert at Parliament. Protect organisers await a response from the Petitions Committee, which received the petition on June 2.

The ministry, however, says it is committed to going ahead with building the memorial on the grassy slope behind a giant pōhutukawa overlooking Waitematā Harbour. Preparatory work was to have started on March 1 but despite the site’s endorsement by the mana whenua, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, a rāhui (ban) on work was placed by elders of the wider iwi, who include Protect co-leader Dame Rangimārie Naida Glavish.

Meanwhile, the ministry says the project’s cost has soared.

Tamsin Evans, deputy chief executive delivery, says that during the period January to November 2020, the memorial’s cost increased from the original $3 million forecast to just under $4.1m. She says the cost hike will be met by the ministry and was due to a number of reasons associated with the delays in construction commencing and design refinements. The extra costs included additional project management, stakeholder management and project administration costs; construction market cost increases; price increases in concrete and stainless steel; additional professional fees for resource consent and archaeological authority application processes; incorporation of an additional design element at the memorial from local hapū; and a corresponding increase in project contingency.

The site was chosen by the ministry and obtained Auckland Council resource consent without the public being given the opportunity to have a say. Later, the Waitematā Local Board gave its consent as park landowner after a 4-3 vote.

Evans says considerable effort has been made to address concerns held by those involved in the protest at the site. “Due process has been followed from the outset, and the protection of the notable pōhutukawa and other trees, and respect for the heritage of the site, have been a priority at every step. We are also exploring wider storytelling opportunities, to share the interesting history of the area and the people connected to the whenua in an inclusive, engaging and accessible way.”

The petition is in the name of Margaret Brough, whose father Aubrey was on the Air New Zealand flight which struck Mt Erebus in Antarctica in 1979. She says her petition represents the opposition to the placement of the memorial of many Erebus victim’s families.

— Wayne Thompson p

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DOWN TO EARTH IN ŌRĀKEI Observant onlookers and passers-by will have noted that Te Pourewa gardens, the initiative of the Ngāti Whātua Trust of the local Ōrākei marae now has the native tree nursery and garden in full production on the land formerly known as ‘the pony club paddocks’. Look more closely and see the second stage now almost completed, the impressive and productive māra kai, food gardens, close to Kepa Rd at the city end. This garden has had one season in full production with more than three tonnes of kūmara and around 3000kg of both traditional and colonial vegetables distributed to the hungry and needy.

Roger Small, the curator and designer of the gardens, was formerly a director of regional parks in the Auckland area, responsible for the Auckland Botanic Gardens in Manurewa. and explained that the māra kai have been laid out in a grand circle to represent energy, with paths crisscrossing from east to west and

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The circling layout of the māra kai, top. Left, plantings of herbs, above, pūhā.

Photos by Lauraine Jacobs

north to south within the garden. The science behind the plantings has been gleaned and learned from the experience and stories handed down from the kaumātua of the area.

Local specially grown traditional crops will include five varieties of kūmara this year, prized kamokamo and pūhā, and an impressive watercress pond with fresh running water. An electronic compost machine will provide two large recycled containers with enough dark matter to raise harvests of the two edible

native mushrooms. Alongside these native plantings there will be plenty of traditional colonial vegetables and herbs. The vision, which includes a wellness garden with a centre of excellence to learn about traditional healing, and a weaving garden to provide 50 species of plants and shrubs for harakeke and dyes, is for Te Pourewa to welcome people and show Ōrākei to the world through produce, expertise and innovation.

— Lauraine Jacobs p See Lauraine’s celebatory Matariki meal in The Menu, page 35

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RISING UP FOR MATARIKI The rising of the Matariki star cluster welcomes in the Māori New Year. Also known as the Pleiades, the seven visible stars of the constellation can be seen in pre-dawn skies from late June and will be visible until July 11.

Celebrations include exciting and meaningful events, many of which are taking place locally. The host iwi, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, began with a dawn karakia at Takaparawhau/Bastion Point on June 19. The free event was followed by a breakfast, and welcomed in the New Year with blessings and unity. Keeping on the theme, local jeweller Maca Bernal led a star brooch workshop, where crafters could make their own resin reminder of the new year.

This month will see the opening of a weaving art exhibition by Jess Paraone and Riperata McMath, ‘Raranga Tira’. The exhibit at the Kura Gallery (95a Customs St West) is free, and on until July 11.

Throughout June and July, the Auckland Harbour Bridge will light up to celebrate the heritage of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei. Starting at 6pm and playing every five minutes until midnight, there will be a lightshow chronicling the migration of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei to Tāmaki Makaurau.

Language experts from Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei are also sharing their knowledge with free te reo Māori lessons at the Ōrākei Community Centre, supported by the Ōrākei Local Board. All welcome, 6pm-7pm, there are still sessions to come on Wednesday June 30 and Wednesday July 7.

And commencing on July 2 and running to July 18, the Silo Theatre presents MAURI TAU, an innovative, immersive audio-play streamed via your smartphone or device. Created by Scotty Cotter especially for Matariki, MAURI TAU is designed to be listened to while you hīkoi (walk) outdoors, but it can be an armchair voyage

too. As well as Cotter, the 50-minute work features eight other performers, including Rachel House and Te Kohe Tuhaka. For tickets and information, see silotheatre.co.nz — Talia Parker p For a full calendar of Matariki events, see matarikifestival.org.nz

GLADSTONE CROSSING HITS BUMP Auckland Transport (AT) plans to install speed bump-type pedestrian crossings in Gladstone Rd, outside Parnell District School and the Gladstone Rd shops. It says these are an effective method slowing vehicles to 30km/h or less.

Parnell school board of trustees member Hishaam Mirza says the raised type replacement for the existing zebra crossing is “great news” and will slow down traffic. He says raising two crossings on the road will go some way to easing the school community’s safety concerns about the increase in heavy trucks using the road, despite a bylaw banning them. The school asked AT to enforce the ban by installing cameras.

In a separate consultation, AT sought residents’ views from May 17 to June 3 on building a speed table zebra crossing at Gladstone Rd shops. No decision has been reached on the plan, which includes a refuge island in the middle and widening the footpath. The crossing would be outside the chemist, south of the existing one.

The 50 km/h-plus speed at which four and two-wheel vehicles pass the shops, which include the Rosie and Little Rosie cafés, pharmacy, butcher, greengrocer and White Heron Dairy, has long been a safety concern to people using the existing crossing, which is zebra lines. One business owner says half a dozen pedestrians have been knocked down in the last decade and on most days he

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hears the squeal of brakes signalling close calls. The crossing is used by school children and nearby is the Avon St housing complex which has many older residents who cross from the 755 bus stop.

Part of the project is to shift the stop on the eastern side of the road 4m north to clear a driveway serving three homes. Nostopping areas for the bus stop and crossing will mean the loss of four parking spaces between the new crossing and the Avon Lane corner, across the road from the dairy.

The upgraded crossing, says an AT letter to householders, would help drivers see people at the crossing, give pedestrians a clear view of any incoming cars, and provide a safe place to wait for a clear road at the middle of the crossing. “We understand removing parking is inconvenient, so we have minimised the removal . . .”

The changes, to be paid for out of the regional fuel tax, are a case of ‘here we go again’ for the Parnell Community Committee (PCC).

Its chair, Luke Niue, agrees that motorists’ visibility should be improved but not with shifting the crossing and the bus stop and deleting on-street parking spaces.

He recalls a plan by AT in 2015 to remove the angle parking from in front of the shops, and a proposal to install a protected on-road cycle lane on both sides of Gladstone Rd. Both safety proposals were shelved because of public opposition but Niue says the latest change is a renewed “attack on the need for car parking in close proximity to this highly popular retail precinct”. Niue says the parallel parking on the eastern side is always in demand and complements the five angle parks on the western side. Without their convenience, wouldbe customers will just drive on.

Gladstone Rd is classified as an arterial road and between the shops and the school carried on average 9511 vehicles a day both ways, according to AT figures that are dated 2013 and don’t reflect the growth of traffic on Auckland’s arterial roads since. Back then,

trucks made up 2.5 per cent of traffic on Gladstone Rd despite the sign at the port end of the road which says “Heavy goods service vehicles conditionally prohibited via Gladstone Rd.” However, school trustee Mirza says that despite the sign, large articulated trucks and other vehicles are regularly using the road at all hours and putting the lives of pedestrians and school children at risk. On one night in May, he counted seven truck and trailer rigs parked on the road and says any convoy passing the school at 7am as kids arrive for the before-school care programme is a major risk.

Niue says big trucks are breaking a bylaw by unsafe use of side roads. But Ports of Auckland is now offering overnight parking at the port to long distance haulage companies. AT confirms the truck ban but says enforcement is the responsibility of the police.

AT says the Gladstone Rd crossing works could start before the end of June 2022 and will be in contact with residents and locals before this. Its plans include extending the P5 school pickup zones, and widening the footpath on both sides. — Wayne Thompson p

CELEBRATING THE VILLAGE SQUARE The Parnell Trust revealed its new look and new name, The Village Square, at a celebratory launch party. Held in the historic Jubilee Hall, the occasion was celebrated by an enthusiastic crowd, which included local ward councillor Desley Simpson and Waitematā Local Board chair Richard Northey.

Revealing the new brand, trust board chair Kate Wiseman said the time was right for a name that would take the trust into its next 40 years. The Village Square name and branding was developed by the Richards Partners agency, and represents an inclusive place for everyone to intersect. From its beginnings in the Knox

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Church hall in 1978, the not-for-profit trust has grown to be one of Auckland’s leading providers of community programmes, after-school and holiday care for children, and also operates the Parnell Farmers’ Market and two childcare centres. In keeping with the organisation’s community focus, the launch event included samples of the tasty ‘KidsHQ’ meals served at its childcare centres, and floral decorations created by Tomoko Hirano, who tutors classes in ikebana at the Jubilee Building.

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For more, see villagesquare.org.nz 1 The new branding ; 2 Kate Wiseman; 3 Brian Richards, Brya Taylor, Robert Fisher QC; 4 Cheryl Adamson, Luke Niue; 5 Farmers' Market gifts and ikebana; 6 Kirsten Staines, Kerrin Page, Wendy Baker, Helen Cisowski; 7 Lynne Bjarnesen, Lyn Fox, Christiane Pracht; 8 Hannah Alleyne, Susan Ropati; 9 Richard Northey

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live life local

Hedgerow: Home is Where the Heart is

When, as for many retailers, Sarah Clark was forced to shutter her store, Hedgerow, due to the arrival of the pandemic, the future seemed uncertain. Just over a year later it’s a very different picture, with the much-loved Remuera gifting (and more) destination having moved into a bigger, brighter premises at 393 Remuera Rd, and business is booming. Talking to the always stylish local resident, it’s clear that the future is brighter than ever.

How long have you been a part of the Remuera village strip?

I bought Hedgerow in 2005, when it was based in a much smaller space just down the road. It had already been there 10 years when I took over. The business has evolved over time.

You now have a spacious, new store made up of a carefully curated gifting section, pieces for the home, babywear and also clothing. How would you describe Hedgerow 2.0?

Well I’m definitely not trying to become a clothing store, as we have so many beautiful boutiques around us in the village that are doing a fabulous job. I’ve incorporated a few classic New Zealand labels, like Laing and Marle, that I think work with Hedgerow as they have a sense of ‘home’ about them. We were originally about home and homewares, and labels like that fit into the idea of a gorgeous home life.

How do you select the range that you offer in store?

Pre-Covid-19, I would travel to source new collections and

pieces, but now I spend a lot of time online hunting down cool brands that I see on Instagram and the like. I’m always looking, and want a premium, quality aesthetic. I also aim for pieces that don’t come with a ridiculous price tag — I think my customers appreciate that.

The past year has been tough for all of us. Do you feel like retail is coming out the other side?

Oh absolutely, we have been so busy and the support from our customers throughout has been amazing. When we closed our doors for 50 days during lockdown last year, I would never have imagined I’d be in a store double the size within 12 months. If someone had told me that back then, I would have said they were clearly crazy! Eighty per cent of my customers are regulars, and their support and kindness has been so appreciated.

You have been in business in Remuera 16 years — have you noticed a new vibrancy of late?

Absolutely, and I think Covid has actually helped with that.

People are no longer overseas for the winter months and are instead investing in the community, and that attracts new businesses. People are also staying away from malls a lot more, and because they are genuinely great people, they are wanting to support smaller operators in their local area to ensure they can stick around.

Hedgerow’s Sarah Clark in her newly opened space at 393 Remuera Rd. Photo by Christian Espinoza, interview by Hélène Ravlich.

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the councillor

The Budget Breakdown

F

ollowing last month’s breakdown of the feedback we received from both our local boards and the wider community on what was still a “proposed” budget, I would like to spend this month’s column focusing on some of the much wanted and needed investment now secured over the next three years for projects and programmes in our ward.

Parks: Colin Maiden Park will receive nearly $3 million to upgrade sports fields, add lighting, paths and other amenities to improve its use. Secure funding will also support the development of a third sports field and lighting at Shore Road Reserve, and Thomas Bloodworth Reserve will also receive funding for an upgrade.

Transport: The north-south links to the Glen Innes to Tamaki Dr Shared Path (wanted since 2012) are finally funded and will improve road safety and reduce congestion by providing off-road access to schools and commuters and connect multiple communities across the Pourewa Valley. I am thrilled this has been included in Auckland Transport’s budget allocation for this 10-year budget as it has been in the Ōrākei Local Board’s top ‘three most wanted projects’ by the community for every 10-year plan since Auckland Council began.

The seaward side footpath on Tamaki Dr alongside the new separated cycleway on the causeway will be funded allowing this project to be fully realised (don’t ask why it wasn’t part of the road raising/separated cycleway project in the first place!).

But often, the most wanted transport improvements are smaller things — new bus shelters or shelters where none currently exist, safety improvements around pedestrian crossings and footpath improvements. Our two local boards will receive just under $6m in the next three years to deliver what you want in the transport space.

Environment and climate: Funding from the natural environment targeted rate will go towards restoring and enhancing the natural environment of the Pourewa Valley, including St Johns Bush, Kepa Bush, Selwyn Bush and Tahapa Reserve.

Tamaki Dr work will receive funding towards climate mitigation which will include the implementation of temporary flood barriers along the sea wall, as well as installation of the non-return valves on existing stormwater outlets through the sea wall to also assist with rising sea levels and flooding.

As I have expanded on previously, the reserves alongside Portland Rd will also receive funding for work to restore and enhance their wetlands this year, finishing with the road raising component – both reducing the impacts of flooding.

Community: The Meadowbank Community Centre will also receive funding to deliver a major rebuild. Again, this has been on the ‘most wanted’ list for over nine years but now it will happen.

Regional grants have been reinstated and are now available to support incredible work done by the various groups dedicated to positive community outcomes. A key example of region-wide grants for our area includes the funding of our Eastern Bays Songbird Project, which has significantly reduced pests and tangibly brought back more birdlife to our area.

As a result of more funding for both our local boards, grant funding will also be available for community groups to deliver further local valuable investment where needed.

Water: Thanks to overwhelming community support, significant investment into the beaches of Parnell to Glendowie (in the first instance focused on Hobson Bay), Newmarket and the Tāmaki Estuary, will be enabled six years earlier than planned through the increase in the water quality targeted rate (WQTR). This project is being called the Eastern Isthmus Programme.

As Watercare deliver new wastewater infrastructure projects such as the Newmarket gully tunnel, we will optimise that investment by undertaking stormwater upgrades and stormwater separation. In fact, the one-off 5 per cent rates rise also delivers 50 per cent of below the ground infrastructure for us in central Auckland.

We have a long way to go in terms of improving the quality of our water to acceptable health standards, however, the level of investment provided through the WQTR is a big step in the right direction. The rate will enable an additional $255.9m of investment.

While I appreciate not everyone was supportive of this budget, I want to reassure you that I am focused on providing you all value for money and continuing to build on our record level of savings and efficiencies ($90m is baked into the budget for savings in year one).

— Desley Simpson Desley Simpson is the Councillor for Auckland representing the Ōrākei ward

the hobson 20

the hobson + the face place

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ounded and run by Dr Catherine Stone, The Face Place (est.

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We understand you may be put off by the ‘overdone’ looks you see both in the media and real life – we are too! We pride ourselves on subtle ‘tweakments’ that make you look like a fresher version of yourself, but still very much you. People may ask what your secret is, because no one can guess.

An outlier in the industry, we operate without commission or sales targets. This means you can put your trust in us fully, with no risk of getting swept up in a cascade of over-treatment.

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We then pass this education on to you, so you can be fully informed when choosing any treatment. It can be overwhelming to wrap your head around everything that’s available today, so that’s where we come in.

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the politician

School Report: Could do Better

W

e should want our government to make policy based on solid evidence and sound logic. What, then, to make of how the Ministry of Education is going about changing which out-of-zone students are prioritised by the likes of Grammar and EGGS? By way of background, the current rules in the Education and Training Act say that, when selecting students who do not live in zone, schools must prioritise, in order: 1) students accepted into a special programme run by the school 2) siblings of current students 3) siblings of former students 4) children of former students 5) children of board employees and board members 6) all other students.

This is a significant issue for schools in our community. Of 538 third formers at Auckland Grammar this year, 88 were out of zone priorities, and 35 of those are sons of old boys. They comprise about one-in-15 Grammar boys, some of them are fifth generation.

The Ministry of Education has proposed three options: number one is the status quo, as above. Option 2 is to increase the priority of children of board employees (teachers and other staff) and board members to priority three, lower the priority of siblings of former students, and remove the children of former students as a priority group. And the third: retain current priority groups one and two, increase the priority of children of board members and employees to priority three, and hold an open ballot for all other applicants.

The common denominator in the new proposals is the removal of any rights for former students. I recently filled out the ministry’s survey on their proposals. Here’s how it went: “We do not currently have strong evidence of a problem with the current balloting categories.” I found this in the discussion document while trying to faithfully answer the first substantive question, “Do you agree with our problem definition?” There is no problem definition on the page you take the survey from. Nor is there any mention of a problem definition on the page promising ‘more information’.

You have to download the full discussion document to discover

why. When a government department tries to solve a problem that doesn’t exist, then tries to hide the fact, we have a problem of poor policy making.

Maybe the problem is that prioritising children of former pupils advantages the already well-off? The discussion document goes on to speculate that there might be a problem with equity, but no: “Our analysis to date has been constrained by the lack of data surrounding the use of balloting . . . we do not have information on the use of specific priority groups or the socioeconomic background of students enrolling under each category.”

The ministry has no evidence that there’s an equity problem with the current priorities, but they’re pretty keen to find some anecdotes to help make their case: “This means we would value information on the real-world impacts of the options presented below,” they conclude. (As an aside, the Ministry of Education almost certainly could use New Zealand’s world-class Integrated Data Infrastructure to extract the equity data, but never mind.)

There is a deeper problem though. If it was true that all schools were equal, then we wouldn’t need zones. Everyone would just pick the shortest commute. They plainly aren’t, as any real estate agent will tell you. The ministry has been caught out accidentally admitting all schools aren’t equal. That they’re graspingly trying to solve the ‘problem’ that children of former pupils might get an intergenerational advantage from accessing a good school shows they know it.

The truth is we have a terribly inequitable education system. It is one of New Zealand’s most significant long-term problems. But the problem is not who goes to which school, it is that there are not enough good schools. The ministry needs to start by confronting that problem. Meanwhile, to sabotage the intergenerational links that add so much to our school communities, with documentation and consultation that wouldn’t pass for a fourth form social studies assignment, is something well worth opposing. - David Seymour David Seymour is the MP for Epsom

David Seymour MP for Epsom

For an appointment, please contact me on 09 522 7464 or mpepsom@parliament.govt.nz

Epsom Electorate Office Level 2, 27 Gillies Avenue, Newmarket the hobson 22

Promoted by David Seymour, MP for Epsom, 27 Gillies Avenue, Newmarket

the politician

Budgeting for the Children

A

t the end of May, the government released this year’s Budget. The Budget is an important part of our plan to recover from Covid-19, so I wanted to give you a quick update on some of the key highlights. At its core, the Budget is about securing our recovery. It lays the foundations for coming out of the pandemic stronger by addressing long term challenges like housing, child wellbeing and climate change, while making sure we can continue to grow the economy.

As I am writing this from my first week back in Parliament following the birth of my son in late February, I thought it would be relevant to highlight some of the policies in the Budget for children. We know that our recovery from Covid must also prioritise the wellbeing of our people, especially our kids.

There are four key areas that will impact on child wellbeing — raising benefits, the re-establishment of the Training Incentive Allowance; the extension of the Ka Ora, Ka Ako Healthy School Lunches Programme, and better childcare assistance for working families.

As all parents and carers know, it is one of life’s great joys to raise a child. Or it should be. For many in New Zealand for too long, raising a child has also been a struggle. This was especially so following the 1991 Budget, which I remember even though I was only a child. I hope many children remember this new Budget but for the opposite reasons.

We’re raising benefits by between $32 and $55 a week, in line with a key recommendation of the Welfare Expert Advisory Group. This move will help to lift up to 33,000 children out of poverty. This is not just money in the bank, it is food on the table, warm homes, clothes and shoes, less financial stress for families and support for the local economy.

However, this initiative won’t just support Kiwi families – it will also create stimulus to bolster our economic recovery.

Evidence shows that money added to benefits gets spent in local communities, so it will provide a boost for our businesses here

in Auckland while supporting our wider recovery.

In Auckland, Budget 2021 will mean more jobs and fewer children growing up in poverty, and it will build on the work that’s already underway to improve our community.

We know that when we support parents, we also support their families. The Training Incentive Allowance was scaled down by the previous National government. This government is restoring this allowance, which will support sole parents, carers and those on the supportive living payment with the upfront, ongoing costs of study such as fees, books, childcare costs and transport.

When I was a student, I remember the inspirational sole parents and others who were so courageous in undertaking tertiary education while having caring responsibilities. These people deserve our support so they can in turn support their families.

This government is also extending the Ka Ora, Ka Ako Healthy School Lunches Programme. We are feeding around 144,000 kids in 660 schools. With food, children can learn. And that is in fact the meaning of the title of this programm: Ka Ora, Ka Ako. If a child is healthy, a child will learn.

The last initiative to support children in this Budget that I want to highlight is indexing Childcare Assistance income thresholds to increase the average wage. This benefits around 1000 families.

The Opposition described this Budget as a broken compass.

The Minister of Finance disagreed and said in fact this was a Budget with a moral compass. Looking at all the initiatives in the Budget that go to support our most important constituents, our kids, I think it is hard to disagree with him.

— Camilla Belich Camilla Belich is a Labour list MP based in Epsom

Camilla Belich Labour List MP

Get in touch: camilla.belich@parliament.govt.nz Freepost PO Box 18 888 Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160 /CamillaBelichLabour

Authorised by Camilla Belich MP, Parliament Buildings, Wellington

the hobson 23

the politician

An Education First: Turn Up

N

otwithstanding the efforts of teachers, parents and the students themselves, our education system suffers two core challenges: it continues to see a long tail of underachievement from at least 20 per cent of students who fall far behind, and overall we are falling off the pace internationally.

This narrows opportunities for young New Zealanders and we will struggle to maintain our comparatively high living standards in a competitive world that values knowledge and skills if we don’t reverse the decline.

Arguments rage about the extent to which our teaching methods and curriculum are contributing to these problems. I have no doubt they are. But surely about one thing there can be no debate: we can’t improve educational achievement if the kids are not at school.

The truancy rates in NZ are a national scandal. I went to a primary school in Hamilton recently, Whitiora School. There are around 240 kids enrolled, but in the fourth term last year only 15 per cent of them attended regularly. 15 per cent! Just think of the untapped potential of all those children spending days, sometimes weeks, at home or on the streets. Is it any wonder we have a long tail of underachievement?

Whitiora is not alone. Over the past two years, less than half the students of decile 1 and 2 schools attended regularly. Everyone agrees it’s a problem, but the excuses are legion. Other countries have complex problems — poverty, transient families, bullying, racism — but they manage to get more kids to school. Our average regular attendance was just below 60 per cent in 2017. In Britain the equivalent was 86 per cent, in Australia it was 73 per cent.

What amazes and horrifies me is the absolute lack of accountability for the problem. The minister, Chris Hipkins, quite rightly says the primary responsibility lies with parents. I asked a girl in Ruatōria why she went to school, when some of her friends didn’t. She said, “I have no choice. Mum makes me.” Sadly, too many parents aren’t so vigilant.

The reality is there are no consequences for parents if their kids aren’t at school. We average one prosecution a year. Before we turn

to other punitive options, surely we need to assert much more vigorously that for parents, it is your duty to get your kids out of bed, feed them and get them off to school. Society cannot function for long if we give up on insisting on the core responsibility of citizens to look after their family. I love the flashing sign outside Manurewa Intermediate: #NoExcuses. And we can also acknowledge that sometimes parents need help.

There’s no effective accountability for schools and their boards.

A school might have 500 kids enrolled, but if only 250 turn up regularly, there are no consequences. The school doesn’t even have to send its attendance data in. We need to identify and learn from schools doing really well, and identify and deal with schools consistently struggling.

Where are the truancy officers? You might ask. The reality is that Attendance Services, as they are now called, are woefully under-resourced. We discovered that for a while last year, there was only one officer on deck covering 80 schools in West Auckland.

It is optional for schools to refer truant students to Attendance Services; many don’t. If they did, the system would be even more overwhelmed than it is. In a Budget of the billions, the government found a mere $5 million a year extra to make modest progress.

It’s time to get our priorities straight. The education sector is awash with consultants doing endless reviews; money is poured into middle class welfare (doing away with modest NCEA fees for families that can afford them, free first year university fees for wealthy families), but we can’t get enough people out knocking on doors to make sure the kids get to school.

Currently, the government’s first priority in the National Education and Learning Priorities is ‘Ensure places of learning are safe, inclusive and free from racism, discrimination and bullying’.

Can I suggest we change that first priority to something simpler: ‘Ensuring the kids are at school.’

— Paul Goldsmith Paul Goldsmith is a National list MP based in Epsom

Paul Goldsmith

National List MP Based in Epsom 107 Great South Road, Greenlane 09 524 4930 paul.goldsmith@parliament.govt.nz paulgoldsmith.co.nz paulgoldsmithnz

Funded by the Parliamentary Service.

Authorised by Paul Goldsmith MP, Parliament Buildings, Wellington.

the hobson 24

the investment

So, Where’s this Cash Coming From?

T

here never seems to be enough money for hospitals, mental health services, wages for teachers, police and nurses (three-year wage freeze), roads, universities, infrastructure projects – the list goes on and on. In normal times governments work to budgets and those budgets, whatever they spend, are never enough.

But when the government believes it is faced with a national crisis like a pandemic, suddenly and quickly the typical caution and prudence regarding government spending incredibly disappear, almost by magic. The logic spun by the government is that the economy will later recover, and we must keep things ticking over now so we get through to that recovery phase in healthy stead.

So, the government’s “ticking-over ” spending amounts to something like an additional $100 billion over the next few years with all of the excess/stimulus ‘Covid-related’ spending being borrowed. But borrowed from whom? That’s a question I was asked the other night, and what is this ‘money printing’ we keep hearing about? I just want to know, my questioner said, from where is all this money coming and how the devil will it be paid back, and by whom?

It seems as if a bottomless pot of cash for governments actually does exist. The sensible notion that one keeps something aside for a rainy day looks to have been thrown out the window. When a national crisis hits, you can depend on the government to cover everything and more! The government is shelling out dollars like there’s no tomorrow but where is it all coming from?

Your savings is the first place. Because of the global response to the global financial crisis back in 2008, namely monetary and fiscal stimulus, the world was awash with savings and this abundance was keeping interest rates very, very low, even before Covid-19.

Governments could borrow at very low cost. And when investor confidence wobbles because of a pandemic, they look for safer investments. Safe bets don’t come better than government

debt issued by stable, friendly, developed countries such as New Zealand. This low interest rate environment and investor appetite made it much easier for the government to leverage up its balance sheet without incurring high interest costs.

And then the money printing comes along: quantitative easing (QE). The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) has just devoted over $100 billion to QE, effectively injecting newly printed (not physically of course) cash of $100 billion plus into the system. How? Finance minister Grant Robertson did not call the factory that prints money and tell it to churn out a few more billion dollars a day. What actually happens is the RBNZ creates electronic money with which it buys government bonds.

That is, the RBNZ ‘prints’ money from thin air and lends it to the government, which spends it.

So if this money printing is so wonderful, surely it could carry on for ever – it’s easy and solves all our problems of not having enough money? Just print more! Ah, no. Eventually (although I’m not sure when ‘eventually’ is) governments can’t borrow without raising interest rates and crowding out private investment.

Inflation can also result from QE and printing money. The wellregarded Brookings Institution think tank points out that “At some point, if central banks create too much money, they will produce an increase in inflation – too many dollars chasing too few goods – or they will have to raise interest rates to slow the economy to restrain inflation. We are not yet at that point, though.” Yet, I’d add.

So that’s where the money comes from. But who pays it back and when? The very simple answer is that you and me, taxpayers.

But worryingly so in this case given the vast quantum of new government borrowing is that this debt will be around for a long, long time, meaning the next generation(s) will unfortunately be called on to pick up the tab. Remember a few years ago when I termed the then-new Labour/Greens/NZ First coalition a ‘tax and spend government’?

— Warren Couillault

At a time of great sorrow, there can be moments of hope and meaning. We recently looked after a woman who had chosen to donate her body to the School of Medicine at the University of Auckland. It was a beautiful experience, from walking with her through the corridors of the medical school where a class had just got out and the students immediately hushed and were so respectful, to the staff who were very grateful for her gift and treated her with absolute dignity. Then there was a wonderful memorial service held by her family. They will have an opportunity to meet with the students at an intimate and beautiful ceremony in the future where they will be thanked again for her gift, and can share her life story.

At Aroha Funerals, our personalised approach ensures each family is treated with compassion, kindness and empathy.

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the hobson 25

the suburbanist

the plan

Hum and Dumber

Bitter Pills

A

s a student living in Parnell near The Strand I would lie awake at night haunted by a clicking sound that occurred every 25 seconds. I never heard it by day, but in the early hours of the morning, it was all I could hear. One night, a coat over my pyjamas, I stalked the sound until I found a switch box at the rail yards, the source of the monotony. After that, I slept soundly – the sound was still there but the mystery was gone.

I am not alone in hearing noises in the night. People around the world claim to have heard a weird low-pitched sound in the cities in which they live, a curious urban phenomenon referred to as the ‘hum’ (not to be confused with the term sailors use to describe the moment when a yacht vibrates signalling its own harmony). First reported in the 1970s, it has been described variously as a mechanical whirring sound to an endless riff of heavy metal music. It is not always heard in the city; residents of Mākara on the west coast of Wellington have, since the construction of wind turbines nearby, been kept awake at night by a low inescapable hum. In 2016 in Windsor in Canada, citizens were collectively annoyed by a strange noise later tracked to a nearby blast furnace at a steel plant.

The hum doesn’t always correlate so directly to an obvious origin; sometimes it is just a factor of living in a city, an accretion of noise pollution. Theories range from it being a combination of similar sounds to a resonant frequency reached through traffic and climatic conditions. Surprisingly, 4 per cent of people globally have heard some kind of atmospheric hum.

This seems to be on the rise and some have linked it to our cities becoming smarter. ‘Smart cities’ are all the rage and now some citizens are raging in response; there is a growing backlash against the high-technification of our urban environment. Some react to the ambitions of politicians who are ‘smart-washing’ our cities for their own gain while others are concerned with the intrusion on private life and the growth of — supposedly – anonymised data. This has given rise to concerns about ‘surveillance capitalism’ as innovative urban projects try to run before they can walk.

In Toronto, Sidewalk Labs (a Google offshoot) has partnered with the city on a waterfront project called Quayside which will have ‘raincoats’ for buildings, and autonomous vehicles. The initial project was for a development of close to 5 hectares, but when the master plan was produced it needed 77ha of prime waterfront real estate. A panel set up to review the proposal said it was “frustratingly abstract” and seemed to put data — not people — at the centre of the proposal. It is but a short step from abstraction to obfuscation, in the shadows of which lurks Google.

Opposition to this degree of digitising our world is not necessarily anti-technology; it is anti the way technology is implemented, protected and governed. Critics say these innovations work best when the data is in the hands of the user, not the invisible hand of the market. There is now a movement emerging that suggests we should be making low-tech ‘dumb’ cities instead of ‘smart’ ones, returning to older but simpler technologies that touch the planet lightly, and have no need for sensors or servers.

Dumb cities might not be data-rich but they may be better equipped to respond to floods, pollutions and climate change than the yet to be delivered promises of smart cities. The research into whether dumb cities will also be mute, and urban hum will subside, is for the moment silent and hum-hearers will just have to wait.

Of course, it could be all in their heads. — Tommy Honey

D

ig deeper into your pockets. The rates rise, the cost of water rises and sure as eggs we will have congestion charging in the next 10 years. Auckland Council has approved its Covid-19 recovery budget and as such a 5 per cent rate rise will impact us this year. I think all of us appreciate how the council has had to balance falling revenue (parking, the airport and events) with a cost base that does not have much flexibility.

The bitter pill to swallow is Watercare has just announced that Auckland’s water costs will double over the next 10 years as they grapple with growth and climate change. The pill is made more bitter by the simple fact that until the water shortage began all was good with the world and Watercare had everything under control.

In short, household water will increase 7.5 per cent this year and 9.5 per cent per year until 2029.

I struggle to understand how one day the world was rosy and a year and a new CEO later, we need a doubling of the cost of water to ensure we have sufficient infrastructure. A new plan will be released this month which will set out how Watercare will invest on average, $2.5 million a day, or $18 billion over the next 20 years.

Existing customers will not be paying for growth related infrastructure so the price paid by new home owners will increase as the network upgrade charge will also increase, thus increasing the cost of new housing. Just to be clear, the former CEO of Watercare, who presided over the need to not increase water supply, is on the board of the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission set up to lift infrastructure planning and delivery.

You may have forgotten, but you are also paying an 11.5 cents a litre regional fuel tax. This tax supposedly supports projects that would otherwise have not been funded. I assume these are in some part projects that improve or at least maintain our travel times across the city. Maybe these have been mothballed as traffic is getting worse by the week, and worse in weekends as we all hop in our cars for various reasons. I firmly believe the increase in congestion and the lack of projects to reduce this for cars is deliberate.

By letting congestion get to a desperate level, the payment of a congestion charge will seem like a welcome relief. That is until you realise you are now paying to drive on the roads you have paid for and the time to get across the city increases. In London this charge is now £15 pounds ($30) per day, and more if you do not have an ultra-low emission car.

The cost of living in this great city is going up and may make many on lesser incomes consider a move to an area with lower costs. With more people working remotely this may appeal, however those in many industries cannot work from home and will have to front these ongoing cost rises.

Maybe it is not the cost rises that irk us most, but the continued about-turns and the abruptness of the increases. This speaks of management and aptitude at the highest level. If they do not respond then the board — the councillors — need to. And I don’t hear them.

Recently Simon Wilson, a veteran NZ Herald reporter who often appears to sympathise with council’s approach, got so frustrated with a senior council staff member he interviewed that he said “They need to take these officials gently by the hand and find them new work, doing whatever the equivalent of counting paperclips is in the modern office. Counting road cones, perhaps.”

We seem to just take these increases in cost and sudden U-turns as if they are normal. Maybe we are too busy working to pay for the costs to have time to worry or think or respond. I don’t have the answers but surely reform is needed — Hamish Firth

the hobson + alberts

Join the Club with a Modern Workspace

A

lberts provides a cost-effective workspace solution for small to medium-sized businesses in the form of modern, A-Grade office space in central Auckland. With five CBD locations, alongside quality office finishes, furnishings and amenities, Alberts also provides its very own Members Club, a concept that has proven very popular with Alberts’ tenants.

“We aren’t your average workspace provider,” says Alberts’ Club Manager, Cornelia Weston. “Our workspaces are not shared to the point where you are elbow-to-elbow with others, but rather offer privacy and custom options with select shared amenities, such as our concierge service. We also offer culture and community, and this, combined with modern workspaces and locations, has generated a lot of interest in Alberts.

“We have some great tenants across our portfolio, and many would be quick to fill you in on the perks of Alberts. We are very excited about the extension of our Club space, as well as our new restaurant Palmer, both at our flagship property 1 Albert Street.

These spaces will build on the community vibe and essentially be a further opportunity for our Club members.”

Richard Wheatley, Director at Brand Counsel, recently moved to Alberts. Wheatley says he is excited about what is being rolled out and is most looking forward to heading to Palmer, the new restaurant and bar, on a Friday after work. “It will be nice to pop down for a coffee during the day too. Both areas will be a bonus.

I was sold on the concept of the Club space and all the meeting

rooms anyway, but it will be even more special to have the restaurant and theatre as well.”

One of the perks of being at Alberts is the concierge, who provide outstanding service welcoming guests, booking meetings, planning events and organising catering. Weston says that understanding tenant requirements allows her concierge team to cater for the tenants’ entire day. “Ultimately we look to create an inspiring and ambitious place for SMEs to engage, network and succeed and I believe that is what we have at Alberts.”

Wheatley from Brand Counsel agrees, “One of the big positives for us is the concierge team. They are all very welcoming and give a good impression to our clients. When we meet our clients the concierge has already set the tone for the meeting or presentation.

We know our clients are already having a good experience – before we even show up.”

“Our team would love the opportunity to show you around Alberts and demonstrate what we believe makes us different and how Alberts plays out across our property portfolio,” says Weston.

“We also provide a day rate, perfect for out-of-towners or for those just looking to give Alberts a try. We’re sure you’ll want to be part of the Alberts community very soon.”

Alberts Auckland – Five CBD locations | info@alberts.co.nz | 09 886 7472 | linkedin.com/company/alberts-nz | facebook.com/ wearealberts | instagram.com/wearealberts | alberts.nz

MORE THAN METRES SQUARED W H E R E O F F I C E S PA C E MEETS MEMBERS CLUB D I S C O V E R O U R F I V E C B D L O C AT I O N S

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the arriviste

Transport Cycles

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erhaps it was the sight of all those unruly cyclists breaching a police barrier to pedal over the Auckland Harbour Bridge that got me thinking. And, let me assure you, I wasn’t thinking of joining them in their fight to get bikes on the bridge. Cycling is something I got out of my system the day I left high school and there is no opening for it to ever get back in.

But I support Auckland’s biker gang in its fight for safe access to everywhere across the city, though cycling is but a small part of the future of intra-city transport. Well, that’s what I think. I also think we need to be much further ahead of ourselves about transport than just thinking bikes, electric cars and pedestrianmolesting scooters are the answer.

This next bit is hard to write. I’m a car owner. In truth, I’m a car lover. Not just any car, but my car, the worst sort of car – a big old petrol gobbler. It can go a lot faster than I’ve ever wanted and it’s tricky getting older passengers in and out of the back seat, but I like my car so much that for a while I considered being buried in it. But what with the cost of land in Auckland these days, I’ve had to rule that out. When my car’s time on the road is over, I’ll put it up on blocks in the garage where I can go and sit in it occasionally and think about the old days when the roads went on forever and there wasn’t a rising sea of lycra-clad butts bobbing in front of you.

Though, as mentioned, I have nothing against bicycles, or indeed even the dress sense of cyclists. It’s just that bikes will probably be a rather small part of the solution. And the solution — breath-taking in its simplicity — should be free public transport. I write this as someone who already enjoys free public transport, thanks to a little card someone called Winston gave me a few years back.

Just the other day, I wandered up and caught the bus at the top of my street, whizzed to town, drifted down Queen St, jumped the ferry to Waiheke, enjoyed lunch there and reversed the journey, all free. Except for the lunch, though I didn’t mind.

It was excellent.

My humble suggestion is to extend the gift of free transport to everyone, ASAP. There would be immediate savings simply in not having to charge people and all the technology and policing that’s involved in that. And, so long as the free rides are efficient and offer true alternatives, the authorities can really turn against cars, make it so difficult that no one will want to drive.

The sort of approach taken against smoking.

So there would be no need for a madly-expensive second harbour crossing. Instead the existing harbour bridge could be bike, bus, scooter and mad pedestrian-only, with cars having to queue up to cross by slow electric ferry far below.

And, as we travel a bit further down this path, we won’t really be needing all of those e-cars everyone’s talking up as the future of transport. They’re just a new version of something old-fashioned, after all. Instead we should aim to be privatecar free by 2050. We’re going to have to be very brave about it, especially those of us in love with our gas-guzzling old friends.

To make the transition easier, we should also be looking at shutting down the pathways to letting citizens even acquire a driving habit. Licences should gradually become impossibly difficult to win without exceptional circumstances or the skills of an airline pilot. And when 75-year-olds toddle along to have their licence renewed, they should be pointed to the nearest bus stop and sent home.

Cars will have no resale value by then and perhaps some of the more interesting models can be incorporated into children’s playgrounds as pointers from the silly old past till no one remembers what all the car madness was even about any more.

Meantime, I’m taking my car for a service and hitting the road to somewhere. So long as there’s parking. Did I mention there’d be no car parks in the future?

— Colin Hogg

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the hobson 28

the journey

The Quiet Earth Kirsty Cameron fulfils a long-held wish to visit Stewart Is, and finds both splendour and something missing in the silence

Early morning light at Oban, the main township on Rakiura Stewart Is. The spire of the Presbyterian church, built in 1904, can be seen on the hill. Photos by Stephen Penny.

T

here are two sorts of people. The first, when you tell them you’re going on holiday to Rakiura Stewart Is, say a very flat, “Why?” The others are instantly enthusiastic, they’ve always wanted to go, let them know what we think, now’s such a good time . . .

Yes, now is a good time to see the parts of New Zealand you’ve always wanted to, but for whatever reason haven’t got to.

But right now booking to see this island is a dream you’ll have to hold onto until spring and it reopens to visitors.

Not once but several times we were reminded over our Queen’s Birthday long weekend visit that we would be one of the last parties through various activities before the island shutters for winter. The wind blows hard, ferry crossings over the Foveaux Strait only the hardiest can stomach, etc. And surely those little planes stop too? No, apparently it takes more than buffeting winds to stop the sturdy planes of Stewart Island Flights from landing. But you get the picture. Rakiura is a spring/summer/autumn romance.

But when you do get there, it will be love. It’s such a curious place, a 1570 km2 main island and an archipelago of dots (on his first voyage, Captain Cook believed it was a peninsula

connected to the bottom of the South Is). Most of the land is national park, there’s diurnal kiwi, tītī, one of the Great Walks, and the Paterson Inlet cold waters are so rich with blue cod, that if there’s not one on your line in 10 minutes, you pull anchor and move on. It has golden sand beaches for swimming — the water’s 17°C on a hot summer’s day — one school, a district nurse l, one pub and a permanent population of 400.

Like much of Aotearoa, it was named before Europeans arrived and attached their own, often dull labels: North, South – it’s a miracle Stewart wasn’t called “Third” rather than being bestowed with the name of the first mate of the Pegasus. It already had a name of course (honestly, did no-one think to ask on first encounters, “so tell me, what do you call this place?”).

Māori called it Te Punga o Te Waka a Māui (the anchor of Māui’s waka) and more locally, Rakiura. Rakiura refers to ‘blushing skies’ and the Kāi Tahu legend of Te Rakitamau, whose cheeks burned when he turned up on the island for a wife, to find his intended was already committed, ditto her sister. The skies are beautiful and on occasion, the Southern Aurora can turn that sky to stripes of emerald and gold before the deeply blushing dawn appears.

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So, why did we go to Rakiura? We had reason to visit Dunedin (again, if the lads had asked, it was already called the melodic Ōtepoti), there was a long weekend coming and I’ve always wanted to go. It’s a very obvious choice if you’re a tramper: the Rakiura Great Walk is a 32km, threeday hike. We are not those people. We like a good walk, but without the dehydrated food part. Look at the tourism sites about Rakiura and it’s all about the outdoors: walks, bush, birdlife.

We did find walks, bush and birdlife and it was all wonderful. Unspoilt, so quiet, and outside of the Oban pub, almost empty of other visitors. We also found surely one of the best small museums in the country; houses flatpacked by a Norwegian whaling company and sent across the world; a waterside yoga studio, the country’s southernmost public gardens, and electric bikes to hire.

Over three full days, our itinerary included a half-day walk on Ulva Is, a DOC bird sanctuary of temperate rain forest. It’s almost too perfect, you’d swear the Stewart Is robins are CGI creations posing for you, the weka are everywhere and even a tokoeka showed us his richly feathered butt. We elected to take a guided tour and had booked with Beaks and Feathers on a recommendation: well worth it for guide Johnny’s local knowledge of the flora and fauna. We also hired e-bikes, cycling east and west from Oban to points including the Moturau Moana gardens and Lee Bay, where the Rakiura Track begins.

We did find time to eat a lot of blue cod. One of the other things people will say to you about a trip to Stewart Is is “the food! Amazing kai moana.” Well, yes and no. Whether it was the coming winter closing or just bad timing, the deep south delicacies we were hoping to consume weren’t available. No crays, no oysters. We ate at the pub, the South Sea Hotel, on two nights: unless you want to cook at your

the hobson 30

Opposite: the podocarp forest meets the sea; a kākā-carved totara on Ulva Is: the holes create habitat for huhu grubs, which the kākā then eat. The tree remains healthy. This page: looking to the Golden Bay jetty in the Paterson Inlet; weka and the toutouwai (Stewart Is robin, a subspecies of the NZ robin) on Ulva Is; freshly caught cod as served at the Kai Kart; tokoeka (southern brown kiwi) prints in the sand, Ulva Is.

motel (the Oban Four Square is well stocked) you’re just a wee bit limited on dining options, though in spring the Church Hill Restaurant & Oyster Bar will reopen. There’s also a café open until 3pm, with a selection of sandwiches and chunky scones for biking fuel.

And there’s the Kai Kart; a caravan offering plein air fish and chips, and burgers. The blue cod served up in paper was sensational. Fresh, such light batter. And they make their own coleslaw to go with, also delicious. The South Sea’s restaurant also offers the blue cod (fried or baked) and local mussels and Big Glory Bay salmon. There’s also pizza, steak and daily specials. Helpfully, our host at our accommodation, the Kaka Retreat, advised us to book ahead for the restaurant. Even as tourist season dies down it’s busy and the latest bookings are at 7pm, with the kitchen closing at 8pm.

The South Sea also hosts a renowned pub quiz on Sunday nights, which raises money for all manner

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Photo supplied

Above, Mr Kobayashi's kiwi. Left, from top; the South Sea Hotel in Oban; the new premises of the Rakiura Musuem and its well-curated trove of the island's Māori and European history; heritage flatpack: one of the houses shipped from Norway in the 1920s for use by the Rosshavet Whaling Company, which had a base on Rakiura.

The baltic pine house and a bunkhouse were relocated to Oban from the whaling station on Paterson Inlet. One of the earliest stone houses in the South Is, Acker's Cottage at Harrold Bay was built circa 1840. American whaler and boatbuilder Lewis Ackers and his Kāi Tahu wife, Mary Pi, lived in it with their nine children.

of local projects and services. Prince Harry’s even did it on his 2015 tour – his team was trumped by his security detail.

But over a long weekend, it’s clearly the only game in town and even with dwindling tourists, every spot was taken by 5pm for a 6pm start (didn’t matter, we ‘borrowed’ some of the pub’s glasses, bought a bottle of wine and headed back to the Kai Kart, where the picnic tables were soon convivially full of the others who couldn’t get into the pub).

The pub quiz may be overflowing with willing applicants, but a sign on the pub door begs for staff: bar, restaurant, please apply. We saw similar in Invercargill — the Black Shag café (recommended) wants a barista. They’re even throwing in a gym membership to sweeten the deal. This is another of the long economic tails of Covid, the dearth of young travellers who traditionally pick up work in bars and cafés, along with seasonal jobs in cities and towns and scenic outposts like Oban.

Also missing of course are the international guests, here not to work, but to enjoy the walks, the tours and add their voices to the buzz in the pub. On our last night at the Kaka Retreat, I return a book on local history to its place and notice a visitor’s book. There on the pages are the lost tourists of the pandemic: line after line filled in until the great pause in March 2020. For every NZ address until that date, there seems to be 10 more from away. There’s thanks and notations from Finns, French, Flemish, Canadians, Germans and denizens of just about every English county. In 2012, Mr Hideo Kobayashi (artist) of Japan pasted in a watercolour of the kiwi he saw. It makes me feel teary. I hope Mr Kobayashi is ok.

A few pages on, Åke and Stina from Sweden wrote about their wonderful time, and that they are “sad to live on the other side of the world”. What happened? Did they survive their government’s heedless mismanagement? Did they lose loved ones? I copy the names and details down, along with Mr Kobayashi’s.

Perhaps it’s magnified by the effect of being on tiny, quiet, connected Rakiura, but the world is very small right now.

We are strangers but we’ve shared both this room and a pandemic. I want to find them and find out if they’re ok, to swap stories of happier times on this tiny island at the bottom of the planet. the hobson 32

the creative

What Deborah Did Next From teaching to real estate, Deborah Kelland has always had an artistic vision.

Now, she’s on another path with her art, as she tells Hélène Ravlich

D

eborah Kelland has always brought an artist’s eye to whatever is in front of her. Until now, most will have seen that sensibility in the eponymous real estate agency she founded in 1995. Starting her business from scratch, she carefully crafted a brand that echoed her own style. In an industry then dominated by legacy agencies, Kellands stood out with its modern branding, an emphasis on premium, often architectural homes on its books, and its modern Parnell headquarters on Gladstone Rd. When we meet one sunny autumn afternoon, it is in that Fearon Hay-designed, mixed use building. For many years the office of Kellands (the company has since relocated), when the premises opened in 2000 it was a bold statement of both the business it housed and urban living: street-facing retail at ground level, office space in the middle and on the top floor, a spacious apartment with wide views to the CBD and harbour.

“We were told to check out the work of two young guys who had just gone out on their own,” says Kelland with a smile, “and I have to say that what they designed really blew us out of the water.” The youngsters were Jeff Fearon and Tim Hay, now a well-established, multiple award-winning architectural practice. The building they produced feels contemporary two decades on. Today the ground floor is Little Rosie, the café offshoot of the adjacent restaurant and the top floor remains the city residence of Kelland, who until now has divided her time between Parnell and a home on Waiheke Is. The inspiration for the Parnell property was the streets Deborah and her late wife, Sue Nelson, loved to frequent on regular trips to New York, “where we spent a lot of time wandering around Manhattan and Soho in particular. We loved spotting the odd very modern jewel in amongst all of the brownstones and high rises, and we came back here with the vision of creating our own.” The build may have won a

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Deborah Kelland in the kitchen area of her Gladstone Rd apartment. Previous page, Kelland in front of one of her photographic works, Rose 7, from the 'Light of the Soul' series. Her love of art extends to her philanthropic interests. She is involved with Waiheke’s Sculpture on the Gulf event and with Sue, created the ‘Christchurch Heart’ t-shirt fundraiser which raised $150,000 for victims of the 2011 earthquake. Photos by Stephen Penny

New Zealand Institute of Architects ‘Commercial Building of the Year’ award in 2000, “but at the same time was voted the least liked building in Parnell,” laughs Kelland. “I think now people appreciate it so much more, and acknowledge that it is clearly holding its time.”

But while a building endures, many other things change around it, and changes in Kelland’s life means she is now selling this much-loved place and moving on physically and literally. After scaling back her involvement, she retired from the agency daily business 12 years ago (it is now in the stewardship of longtime Kellands’ agents Martin Dobson, Blair Watson and Michelle Keenan). And after 35 years together, her adored Sue died in May last year.

Kelland had always enjoyed exploring artistic expression and has been building a reputation for her fine art photography. But losing Sue and enveloping grief has meant it has taken until recently for her to want to pick up a camera again. “The passion has always been there but my emotions took over after Sue’s death. This morning I picked up a camera to take photos of this space though, and it felt so good and almost therapeutic.

“The goal with my work was always to bring nature back into our lives, as when I’m shooting nature and completely in the moment, I can feel myself healing.”

Her art photography came about in what she describes as “a very roundabout way”, after she became very ill with pneumonia whilst still on a journey through the grieving process after the death of her mother 18 months previously. “I had taken up photography and one day visited the Parnell Rose Gardens with my dad and one of my sisters as a way of remembering

my mother. I had been focusing on black and white landscapes, but was compelled that day to capture the roses from the ground up and backlit so that they really came to life.”

The style has now become her signature, the images taking on an enchanting, almost painterly quality. As a child she was preoccupied with drawing and painting, and as a teenager loved to paint abstract landscapes.

She sees her work as a blurring of the lines between painting and photography, with her second series a little more abstract than the first. She is represented

by Sydney’s PIERMARQ* Gallery, which was a serendipitous meeting several years ago. The gallerists visited her home to install a work she had purchased at the Auckland Art Fair, and were struck by a lightbox Kelland had created from one of her photographs. Now, Kelland’s works are on walls around the globe.

With such a love of creating art, one wonders how Kelland came to end up in the very commercial world of real estate. Kelland’s Plan A was to go to Elam art school in Auckland after finishing school in her Waikato home town. Her parents were not so sure of that idea, and convinced her to take the ‘safer’ path of teaching. Art found a way though, and with her principal’s approval, she found ways to integrate it into the teaching of every subject for her intermediate school pupils.

Teaching was followed by an OE, after which she decided a career change was needed. The options of advertising and real estate were mooted. With a father in real estate by then and an aversion to the “bullshit” in the ad world at the time, she chose the former.

“And I wanted to see what would happen if I took my background in art and growing marketing skills into real estate to create a completely new proposition.

“Forget about commissions — real estate is about helping people make some of the most important decisions in their lives. You witness people at their worst and at their best, and you have to navigate the emotional turmoil on their behalf so they can see the clear path forward.”

She quickly found success in her new field and was emboldened to go out on her own, creating a new brand in a highly competitive field. “We pushed the boundaries by applying a creative approach, rather than acting like a factory taking orders to sell property.

We championed individuality and being a full-service agency, were rewarded for that.”

Now, the time is right to follow her vision again. The agency business is in the hands of a trusted team, the home she built with Sue on Waiheke will be her base, and creating beautiful art fills her days, along with family, friends, new puppy Toby, her local community and hopefully one day, more travel. It’s time to let someone else be the custodian of her “little modern jewel” on Gladstone Rd. To know its bricks and mortar will endure gives Deborah Kelland contentment.

the hobson 34

the menu

Marking Matariki

T

here’s a food celebration on the horizon.

Matariki (the Pleiades constellation) rose at the end of June in the north-eastern sky, signifying the commencement of the Māori New Year. The pinnacle event on the Māori calendar, Matariki is a time of traditional celebration and opportunity to plan for the year ahead. Gatherings on the marae, around the family table and special events will provide an exchange of stories, performances and most importantly, feasting together. New Zealand will recognise this event with a national holiday from next year, our first public holiday to recognise te ao Māori and its long held custom to mark Matariki.

The first day of the month-long observance is when the first crescent moon appears after the reappearance and rising of the Matariki cluster. Of the more than 1000 stars in this cluster, only seven are visible to the naked eye, with four of them signifying connections to food. The brightest of these four observed on that first day of the festival will be used to shape food customs, planting, fishing and hunting for the coming year. The four stars guiding this are Tupuārangi, signifying food from the sky; Waitī, fresh water; Tupuānuku, food grown in the earth; and Waitā, the harvest of the coast and ocean.

All Matariki feasts (in fact all Māori feasts) include kūmara. On a recent visit to the newly created māra kai (food gardens) on the Ōrākei Te Pourewa gardens at Kepa Rd, it was interesting to learn more about the plantings of their first food crop of this root vegetable. It is much loved

by Māori and one of the taonga or treasures of traditional cuisine. Widely accepted that kūmara was introduced to

New Zealand in the fourteenth century from Polynesia, it has been cultivated in the northern climate ever since and local iwi Ngāti Whātua, who run these gardens, harvested three tonnes of delicious kūmara in their first growing season. In addition, over 3000kg of other vegetable crops were harvested there and distributed last season.

The gardens (see the story on page 14) provide an opportunity to feed the needy and hungry with a range of traditional native and colonial vegetables planted according to the knowledge and science gleaned from the stories and experience of the whenua and those who first cultivated land on the Auckland isthmus. Native pūhā, kamo kamo and watercress, much loved in traditional diets, will be grown this year along with five varieties of kūmara and a sophisticated electronic-controlled composting system will produce copious quantities to nurture the two edible native mushrooms, tawaka and harore.

It’s time to mark this new custom in our homes and our suggested menu for a feast for this month involves the kūmara. The creamy kūmara gratin was inspired by Monique Fiso, the young Wellington chef who has led the way in the revival of Māori food practices with her spectacular menus at her restaurant, Hiakai, and in her book of the same name, which won overall Book of the Year in the recent Ockham NZ Book Awards. When I asked her for a recipe suggestion she told me to use cream “because everything tastes better with cream and butter”.

Perfect fare for Matariki celebrations, especially when paired with a crisp and tasty pork belly roast, all tempered by another prized Māori taonga, spicy fresh watercress salad with new season oranges. — Lauraine Jacobs q

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Kūmara Gratin with Horopito Pepper & Cheese 2 tbsp butter 100ml milk 300ml cream 1 bay leaf salt & black pepper 1.5kg red-skinned kūmara 2 pinches horopito pepper (or thyme leaves) 50g parmesan cheese Preheat the oven to 200°C. Butter a deep ovenproof dish, around 25 cm x 20cm.

Bring the milk, cream and bay leaf to the boil in a saucepan. Leave on a very gentle simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, then remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.

Finely slice the kūmara and layer this in the gratin dish in neat layers.

Cover with the hot cream and horopito and shake gently to distribute the liquid. Sprinkle the top with parmesan, cover with tinfoil and bake for 50 minutes or until the kūmara are tender when a skewer is pushed into them. (Tip: it’s a good idea to put a tray under the dish as it cooks as the cream can bubble up and spill over.)

Serves 6

Crisp Roasted Pork Belly 800g piece of pork belly with skin attached, and scored 2 tbsp fennel seeds 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper 2 cloves garlic 2 lemons, zested, one reserved for juice 8 sage leaves ½ cup white wine Score the surface of the pork belly skin with a very sharp knife or a clean Stanley knife.

Pound the fennel seeds, salt, and pepper together with a mortar and pestle or in a spice processor until finely ground. Rub this mixture well over the pork surface and the skin. Crush the garlic and sprinkle this over the pork with the grated zest of the lemons and the sage leaves. Leave, covered, so the flavours permeate the meat for at least two hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

Heat the oven to 220˚C and place the pork in a roasting pan with the scored fat sitting upwards. Cook for 15 minutes then reduce the oven temperature to 160˚C and continue cooking for another 60 minutes.

Take the pork from the oven, place on a carving dish and cover with foil. To make a sauce, deglaze the pan with the wine and the juice of one of the lemons and bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer, reducing by half. Strain this sauce, season to taste.

To serve, carve the pork into neat slices and serve with the sauce, kūmara gratin and a freshly tossed watercress and orange salad.

Serves 6

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the magpie

A Calming Palette Zhuzhing the nest? Go for natural tones for a modern look, says the bird

1, 2, 3. Change the cushions, change the room! Tatami Cushion in spice, $159.99, Como Lumbar Cushion in linen, $99.99, and Nova Cushion in spice, $119.99. achomestore.co.nz or A&C Homestore at Orakei Bay Village 4, 5, 8. Babylon Store is a haven for plant lovers seeking pots, plants or both. The delightfully named coated terracotta Fatty (29 x 26cm), $128, can be used indoors or out for either plants or cut flowers. The powdercoated spun metal Goblet Planter (14 x 15cm) in forest, $99, and the Vera Large (23 x 25cm) in nutmeg, $189, are similarly adaptable. babylonstore.co.nz or 15 Turua St, St Heliers

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6. Some serious cool: the steel Moon Light lamp in ivy from Città. $340, cittadesign.com 7. What would the Mapgie do? Put this entire collection straight into the nest. Designed and made right here by Simon James, the Arcade Modular Sofa System (as shown, $18,514) with the Isabella Lounge Chair, $3265. simonjames.co.nz 9. The deluxe Jasper Bed boasts storage underneath and whizzy compartments on the sides, with the technology to charge your phone too. Shown here in Whiteley Riverstone fabric, queen size $6983 (excluding the mattress), kingliving.co.nz or King Living, 535 Parnell Rd 10. Alex and Corban keep delivering the good stuff. The Travertine Rug in buff is loomed in India by artisans under the wing of Care & Fair, an international body which works to eliminate child labour and support workers in traditional rug-weaving areas. 200cm x 300cm, $1299, achomestore.co.nz or A&C Homestore at Orakei Bay Village

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11. This radiata pine and woven jute chair is an example of New Zealand’s early 50s experimental furniture design and it rocked this Magpie’s world. $1250, mrbigglesworthy.co.nz

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12. Rattan is having a strong interiors moment: weave some into your décor with the Curvare Headboard, $629 (queen), Capezzalle Bedside Table, $599, or Seggio Ottoman, $699. All from Bianca Lorenne, biancalorenne.co.nz

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the sound

Gathering No Moss

I

realised the other day that I have been making jokes about how old the Rolling Stones are for half my life. And that’s a long time. Which says a lot about how old I am. “Tie your grandmothers down and lock the doors! The Rolling Stones are touring again!”

Funny thing is, if we go back 30 years to when we started saying these things, the Stones were in their late 40s and early 50s. Not what I would call old these days but then again, I’ve got a few too many dogs in the fight these days.

2020-21 has seen a raft of anniversaries that shake the golden generation to the core. They knew they were getting on but, come on, Charlie Watts can’t be EIGHTY! Well, he is. Get over it. Last year, John Lennon would have been 80.

Charlie, the drummer from the Stones, quietly turned 80. I’ve tried to find news stories about his celebrations but there are none.

He was always the quieter one. So, I presume he ironed a perfect white shirt, slipped on a pitch perfect Savile Row suit, poured a 20-year-old Scotch and listened to jazz.

But let’s remind ourselves that all through his 70s Charlie continued to keep a perfect beat for the Stones. Playing two-hour gigs, being the base that Keith builds everything on. Meanwhile, the Stones were releasing their best work in decades.

Blue and Lonesome was a record that recreated the blues they played when they were kids. Traditional blues covers recorded with 21st century gear. Released in 2016, it was their first release for 11 years. Listening to it — if you were unaware it was the Stones — you could swear you were listening to kids breathing life again into old forms.

I loved it. It was raucous and infectious and not the sound you expected from 70-somethings.

In April 2020 as the world locked down, the band released a single called “Living in a Ghost Town”. A rocking reggae number, it name checked the pandemic. Receiving four and five-star reviews, I recommend hunting it down on YouTube. The video is spooky but the really spooky thing is watching a 76-year-old Mick Jagger laying down some powerful and impassioned lines with every sinew in his neck popping out.

Mick Jagger did it again this year. He released a lockdown home-recorded single called “Easy Sleazy”. Mick was singing at his place, Dave Grohl laying down the drums, bass and guitars at his.

Critics were more divided about this one because it was almost too raucous. I loved it. It was almost punk and remember, punk rose to battle the swollen egos and wallets of the rock establishment like Mick. Listen to a 77-year-old Mick snarl like Johnny Rotten 40 years ago.

It’s not just the Stones getting old and yet still rocking. Bob Dylan turned 80 recently, right after dropping his most vital record in years. Paul McCartney spent lockdown recording himself and the result, McCartney III, is a masterclass in composition with some gorgeously whacked out bits in there.

And Bruce Springsteen, 71, has never worked harder, with a new album coming out in a few months. He’s cranking them out nearly yearly along with films, concerts, theatre shows and books.

Meanwhile Pete Townshend just turned 76 and is promising a new Who album. Now, Pete’s the one we should blame for this misplaced idea that rockers’ relevance fades away as the wrinkles grow. The Who started it in 1965 with “My Generation”. “Hope I die before I get old,” they sang. Which of course they now regret.

Back then life was simpler and there was a right and a wrong.

There was a battle between young and old. Now there is more pluralism. There are five ways to look at something. The generation gap has shrunk, if not disappeared. Today’s music doesn’t shock today’s parents (though I reserve a huge dislike for dubstep). Music is no longer the dominant form of protest and objection. That gave rock ‘n’ roll of days gone by a power that will not be repeated. A new medium invented in the 50s that was the voice of the young and the young alone.

But surprise, surprise, youth never realise that they, too, get old.

And they can’t fathom that they also get better. We shouldn’t be surprised at the generation of over-achieving rocking geriatrics.

Artists, writers, architects have always been doing their best work in their twilight years. It has been a golden period, but it is ending, and I hope I’m around long enough to see what comes next.

— Andrew Dickens

Happy birthday to Charlie Watts, the most elegant man in rock 'n' roll.

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the district diary

July/Hūrae 2021

1 Parnell will be aglow this month with the Mountain of Light. The 4m high work by Angus Muir will be in Heard Park, Parnell Rd, to July 25.

Want a taste of The Project?

Register for a spot in the audience to see exclusive comedy, meet the hosts, grab a photo at the desk after the show. Email audience@tv3. co.nz, R13, free On until July 29, Remuera: A Rich History is a photographic exhibition telling the story of one of our oldest suburbs.

Daily, 1-4pm at Rawhiti Estate, 14 Rangitoto Ave. Free 2-18 Enjoy professional theatre from the comfort of your own smartphone. Put your headphones on and walk your maunga, streets, coastlines and parks immersed in Silo Theatre’s MAURI TAU. It’s a playful, reflective hīkoi, guided by Te Iwa o Matariki, the nine stars of Matariki. See silotheatre.co.nz for session times and tickets

3 Head along to the Ellerslie NZ Made Market to browse the stalls of Kiwi artists, small businesses and makers, selling handmade goods and artworks.

Ellerslie War Memorial Hall, 138 Main Highway, free entry, 10am-2pm

some of the oldest surviving trees in the country, and have been endorsed as a Garden of National Significance.

Includes stairs/hills, bookings@ govthouse.govt.nz, Savannah St, Epsom. Free but must book in advance

14 We love venues that love dogs.

Head along to Paws and Pints at Brewport, 130 Ponsonby Rd, every Wednesday from 4-9pm.

Enjoy a craft beer while your furry buddy indulges in a free, homemade dog biscuit.

The masterful work of weavers Jess Paraone and Riperata McMath, ‘Raranga Tira’ is on show at the Kura Gallery, 95a Customs St West. Free entry, to July 11

7 Parents, caregivers and family are invited to Remuera Intermediate’s annual Art Evening, a showcase of student artworks created during Art Week. Ascot Avenue, 5.308.30pm

It’s the grand opening of Baradene College’s school production, Legally Blonde The Musical. Also on 5, 6 and 7 July.

For tickets: baradene.school.nz

9 Term 2 finishes for most schools

21 With over 600 sheep and 60 cows, the farmers at Cornwall Park rely on some hardworking machines to keep things ticking over. Bring the kids along to discover what each piece of farm equipment does. Free, 10am-2pm, Huia Lodge, Cornwall Park

3-4 Silo Park is the place to be this weekend for Matariki activities, live entertainment and the opportunity to fill your puku with some delicious kai!

From 12-8pm Sat, 12-5pm Sun, Wynyard Quarter, free entry 6 Take a guided tour of the gardens at Government House.

The 9-ha grounds are home to

10 Make sure to visit Matariki Festival events happening around the city before the celebrations end tomorrow.

From the Te Ara Rama Matariki Light Trail and fireworks display at Maybury Reserve in Glen Innes, to the art and light displays at Matariki Taimoana events around the waterfront.

See heartofthecity.co.nz or matarikifestival.org.nz

the hobson 42

26 Term 3 starts for most schools 28 Kick back after school at the Remuera Library Quiz Afternoons. Either team up with your mates or play on your own with fun quizzes from current affairs and brainteasers, to finding Wally.

Free for ages 8-12, 429 Remuera Rd, 3.30-4.15pm

See the history of Remuera in beautiful images.

On now, free of charge, between 1pm and 4pm daily until July 29 Downstairs in the Atrium at Rawhiti Estate 14 Rangitoto Avenue, Remuera

Luxury On A Grand Scale Double front doors that lead to a glamorous formal entry set the tone for this exclusive city residence. With three meter ceilings and at 243sqm (approx.), the interior proportions are an entertainers dream with separate living, dining and casual spaces. Or for those more family oriented there’s generous space all round for younger and older generations to enjoy without feeling confined in any way.

A host of bespoke design touches curated by Bonham Architecture & Interiors confirm that this apartment is a big step up from the original developer spec and a suite of high end appliance upgrades further enhance this.

Three spacious double bedrooms all with exterior windows, electric blinds and large wardrobes, three beautifully appointed bathrooms, an office, separate laundry and scullery for added functionality, two secure car parks and twin storage lockers complete this superb offering. Positioned to take advantage of afternoon sun, with tree top and city lights views, you will be hard pressed to find a better example of family-home sized apartment living. Located within The International residences, onsite amenities include an excellent concierge service, heated pool, spa, gym, cinema, library and private dining room.

706/9 PRINCES STREET, AUCKLAND CENTRAL 3

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FLOOR AREA: 243 sq m (approx.)

VIEW: nzsothebysrealty.com/NZE11411 Contact agent for viewing times.

JASON GADDES M +64 21 994 921 jason.gaddes@nzsir.com

Specialising in Luxury Homes, Apartments and Projects JASON GADDES AND SCARLETT WOOD NZSOT HEBYS R EALT Y.CO M Each Office Is Independently Owned And Operated.

Browns Real Estate Limited (licensed under the REAA 2008) MREINZ.