house sits empty

Empty house – no cash to fix waterfront property

A multimillion-dollar council-owned waterfront property is untenanted because the city can not afford to maintain it.

Auckland Council owns three residential houses along King Edward Pde. The house at number 55 has been empty for around a year and neighbours who contacted the Flagstaff have noted its unkempt state: its grounds are a mess and the gate is broken.

A council assessement of the property last year found “a number of building issues that will need a significant investment to fix,” said the council’s Head of Property and Commercial Business, Kim O’Neil.

“Keeping in mind the Emergency Budget,

No decisions on the future of trees on Devonport mountains have yet been made by the Tupuna Maunga Authority following a landmark court decision pre-Christmas on the fate of non-native trees on Owairaka/Mt Albert. The High Court ruled that management of Auckland’s maunga under the Reserves Act has to be read in the context of the Treaty Settlement, which handed the mountains back to iwi.

As part of the handover the mountains were to be managed by the Tupuna Maunga Authority (TMA) – a joint venture between Auckland Council and iwi.

The judgement, issued late last year, effectively means the TMA can manage the mountain as it sees fit. The decision also found that Auckland Council acted lawfully when and the financial challenges created by Covid-19, we are now looking at when it’s feasible to do this.”

King Edward Pde lots 52, 55 and 56 are among a very small number of residential properties, with heritage status, owned by Auckland Council.

They are technically part of the Devonport Domain, and with their heritage value, they are managed by Auckland Council’s Community Facilities department.

At the moment, number 52 is tenanted, and the council is looking for a tenant for number 56.

The council had no plans to sell the houses,

Waterfront vacancy… the council house

Status quo on Devonport’s maunga trees – for now

O’Neil said. granting the consent, on a non-notified basis, to remove 345 exotic trees from Owairaka and replace them with natives.

“As the Maunga Authority’s evidence and the Application itself made plain, the removal of the exotic trees was a part only of what the Maunga Authority referred to as a ‘cultural, spiritual and ecological restoration of Ōwairaka,’ the decision said.

The Flagstaff asked the TMA last week: How does this affect Devonport maunga? Is there a plan for them that is now being followed, flowing on from this? Or a review of trees on the Devonport maunga? TMA chair Paul Majurey responded: “The Tūpuna Maunga Authority has not made any decisions regarding vegetation restoration at either Takarunga or Maungauika.”

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are not guaranteed to remain.

These will be considered by the authority on a “case by case basis”, the policy states.

Plaques attached to bench seats around

Geoff Chapple, a Devonport local and member of a group that has called for greater transparency from the TMA, hoped it would be open about any future plans for trees on the Devonport maunga.

“It’s time to consult… it makes for a better relationship.”

Chapple said he was not fundamentally opposed to the planting of natives on the maunga, but would be upset if all non-natives were removed.

“I wouldn’t want to see the oaks [on Takarunga] go… I’ve seen kaka feeding beneath the bark.”

Chapple remained disappointed on the progress of individual management plans, for each mountain, on which the public could

NEW ZEALAND COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION AWARDS Best Community Involvement:

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

New policy on mountain plaques

make submissions. Devonport have been a popular way to remember long-time residents and important historical figues.

A number of these plates have been affixed to seats on Maungauika and Takarunga. • To apply for a memorial public seat in Devonport outside the mountains an application needs to go to Auckland Council for review by the Devonport–Takapuna Local Board. However in practice many small plaques have been placed on seats around the area without official permission.

3 Victoria Rd: empty for 977 days

The old Devonport Borough Council building at 3 Victoria Rd became vacant on 9 July 2018. It has now been unoccupied for 977 days. Auckland Council development arm Panuku is working through the options for the building.

Ambitious TGS student flies high at IB

A top Takapuna Grammar School (TGS) scholar, Aislin Wells, is hoping to atttend her university of choice after gaining an International Baccalaureate (IB) grade that places her among the best 5 per cent of the diploma candidates worldwide.

The 17-year-old gained the highest score for IB at TGS last year, achieving 42 points out of a possible 45.

Aislin, who lives in Devonport, was surprised she did so well, but says a lot of hard work went into the result. “Last year was very uncertain; we weren’t sure our exams were going to go ahead. There were definitely some curveballs and lots of chocolate was involved.”

She has been accepted into the University of Auckland to study a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in physics and computer science. But she has also applied for scholarships and programmes at the prestigious universities of Harvard, Princeton and Duke in the United States.

TGS International Baccalaureate Faculty teacher Maria Blanco said: “It is extremely difficult to gain over 40 in the IB, and so any grade in this range is an incredible accomplishment.”

According to IB Schools Australasia, New Zealand had 13 schools offering the internationally recognised secondary education programme last year, with 360 diploma candidates. Their average points result was 33, with a pass rate of 91 per cent. Only 56 students in New Zealand, achieved scores above 40, putting Aislin in the top bracket nationally, in which four students acheived a perfect result of 45.

Aislin, a former Belmont Intermediate School student, spent three years at Carmel College before she decided to move to TGS for its IB programme, during which she became increasingly interested in physics.

Booking a future... Aislin Wells’ study success in 2020 has earned the Takapuna Grammar School graduate a world-class choice for the step up to tertiary education

“My personal hero is Marie Curie. I would love to be a physicist or professor in the future,” Aislin told the Flagstaff.

One of her favourite parts of study last year was writing a 4000-word essay about Religion and the French Revolution. For mathematics, she calculated the probability of people getting answers right on multiple-choice tests.

“It was hard work but I studied because I really wanted to achieve this,” she said.

Aislin enjoyed being part of the school’s journalism club. She was also a member of the peer support team, focused on student mental-health awareness.

Her interests include a love of reading and she is a regular at the Devonport library, but knows life isn’t all about academia. She has a part-time job at the North Shore Cricket Club and exercises regularly to keep a balanced lifestyle, while she waits to find her best university match.

An all-new familiar local

Lovingly brought back to life to serve as a welcoming bar and restaurant where locals and visitors can enjoy great food, and share their own tales over a glass with family and friends.

24 VICTORIA RD, DEVONPORT | SIGNALHILL.CO.NZ

It’s a dog’s life at Mt Cambria

Cupboard love… Robert Weber hands out food treats and gets all the attention from his four-legged friends

What started as a small group of volunteer guide-dog puppy raisers, bringing their labradors out to socialise, has grown to see up to 30 different dogs and their owners gather at Takararo/Mt Cambria Reserve every Wednesday morning.

“This group has been going for years and it’s a lovely gathering for our young dogs,” says local resident Jenni Vaile.

Vaile has been involved in giving labrador puppies a home to grow up in, before they go through formal guide dog training, for almost 10 years. With her last week was an older dog, Elle, whom she adopted after fostering the now 12-year-old through three litters.

The group used to meet on the back field at Fort Takapuna and at Woodall Park, both in Narrow Neck, before they settled on the perfect enclosed spot of Takaroro.

Devonport labrador lovers, Jill Mayo and David Noon, are also long-time volunteers. They recently had to say goodbye to their dog Peggy, who passed away. Mayo and Noon then adopted a rescue dog named Joy and they continue to join the group on Wednesdays.

Noon supplies a large bowl of water for the dogs at the gathering. “This meeting is fantastic and we love it. It’s great for the dogs and people to socialise,” he says.

“The dogs seem to know when Wednesdays come around and have lots of anticipation getting to the reserve.”