Lakefront access pushed for Greenways Plan

Better public access around Lake Pupuke is being sought by the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board as it looks to link up more green spaces across its area.

“It’s locked because we continue to allow it to be locked,” board chair Toni van Tonder said of sections of the lake foreshore, during a board workshop on the Devonport-Takapuna Greenways Plan.

Boggy ground conditions and nesting bird season were reasons the walkway east from Sylvan Park in Milford to Henderson Park was closed at times, but greater resolve along with improved tracks would allow for greater use and could do more to protect wildlife, she said.

Council staff have been asked to provide a clearer picture of why and when the lake foreshore is closed.

“This is public space adjacent to our magnificent crater lake,” van Tonder said.

The building of the Patuone Reserve boardwalk, linking areas of Takapuna, showed what could be done in a sensitive ecological area, she added.

Lake Pupuke cannot be circumnavigated, but is accessible from parks and reserves in both Milford and Takapuna, with more connecting sections and path upgrades envisaged along the foreshore. Residents have previously raised concerns about this prospect.

Auckland Council parks and places specialist John McKellar told board members a walking link from Henderson Park through to The Promenade in Takapuna was a longterm possibility through subdivision, when esplanade reserve acquisition was triggered. He also pointed to track improvements from Quarry Lake to North Shore Hospital.

McKellar said he thought residents’ fears the council might turn the route into a “cycleway motorway” were unfounded, given a flat on-road cycleway connection from Takapuna to Milford was part of transport planning.

But she added that cycling should not be precluded from the latest Greenways Plan.

She said any upgraded lake path was most likely to be used by walkers and runners.

The Greenways Plan needed to be an aspirational document that did not preclude cycling around the lake, adding: “Public input will come.”

Board member George Wood warned of a “huge amount of contestability from residents”.

McKellar’s update to the board also identified gaps in the greenways network from Sunnynook through to Campbells Bay, from Forrest Hill to Castor Bay and from Westlake to Milford.

Links to the Northern Pathway were up in the air with harbour-crossing decisions pending, he said, but further local linkages from Barrys Pt Rd and at Smales Farm were possible.

The best-known greenway in the board area is on the Devonport peninsula, running from Hauraki and Belmont through O’Neill’s

Pt Cemetery in Bayswater. Hopes of heading north from Hauraki via Francis St by a bridge across to Esmonde Rd have fizzled due to the lack of funds from Auckland Transport.

The board has since asked AT to transfer board funds set aside for this to a Milford boardwalk project.

McKellar said improved “wayfinding” signage was an easy way to let people know about existing routes. They generally connect parks and are a mix of off-road and on-road routes.

Deputy chair Terence Harpur called for some quick wins in council thinking on what it could realistically deliver with cost constraints in the next few years.

He suggested replacing grass paths with gravel rather than holding out for costlier concrete at places such as Kennedy Park.

Member Gavin Busch said a good app would encourage use of greenways.

McKellar said the council’s walks website information needed improving.

Van Tonder said providing information for locals and tourists at a time when people were searching for cost-effective activities was something worthwhile for the council to do. “Free, outdoorsy and healthy” was a winning offer, she said.

The board asked McKellar to return later in the year, once connectivity options became clearer, and for council staff to nominate some low-cost options they could proceed with.

Emergency-response groups left hanging over funds

Groups seeking funding to support their work on community-led emergency response plans will have to wait to learn what help they might get.

Auckland Emergency Management (AEM), which was widely criticised for its initial response to January’s floods, is expected to report back to local boards by the end of September on how it plans to help.

The Devonport-Takapuna Local Board, which in its last term put $30,000 towards local efforts to draw up plans, has been asked by groups involved what its future intentions are. “We can’t even buy a marker pen,” one community member told the Observer.

Board senior adviser Maureen Buchanan said more information was expected from AEM this quarter. Work would be funded regionally, not through the board.

Trish Deans, secretary of the Devonport emergency group, which has completed a plan for the peninsula from Belmont south, said AEM, which was a team of only 35 people, was unlikely to be in a position to offer much assistance to local boards any time soon. In her view, the board needed to step up to give the groups more certainty.

Deans said the original $30,000 had been spent, under the auspices of Takapuna-based Auckland North Community and Development (Ancad).

Members of an emergency planning group set-up for Hauraki-Takapuna want to hear more from council about AEM’s plans before doing more work of their own, in case AEM’s plans render their efforts out of scope. The Takapuna Residents Association also wants clarity about this.

Green fingers... At a working bee at Lake House Arts in Takapuna last week, garden coordinator Malcolm Idoine (centre) had help from other volunteers, including (from left) pottery-class tutor Susan Brown and class members Dot Woollacott, Mira Mautner and Nicki Everett, with five-year-old Finn Lee joining in. Colourful plants including allyson and rainbow beets were added to the centre’s front and back gardens to make them look “a bit loved and cared for”.

Thousands expected to soak up Winter Lights

Takapuna Winter Lights is set to return to brighten up the town centre from Thursday to Sunday next weekend, 27-30 July.

A new feature of the crowd-pulling event, which features art installations, live music and performances each evening, is the projected story of the journey of early Maori

The augmented-reality piece has overlaid imagery of warrior runners from different iwi traversing the ridgelines to scout the way to be first to the beach to claim it for

Other state-of-the-art displays masterminded by internationally acclaimed lighting designer Angus Muir, who also helped illuminate the central city for Matariki, will

Winter Lights – part of the longer Elemental AKL festival celebrating the best arts, eats and beats of Tamaki Makaurau – centres on Hurstmere Rd and Hurstmere businesses and food trucks will sell food, and warm drinks will also be on offer. cultural event is designed to be multi-sen sory and has added elements to surprise this year.

Green from 5pm to 10pm.

This is its fifth year, with the supporting Takapuna Beach Business Association (TBBA) predicting up to 45,000 people will attend.

TBBA chief executive Terence Harpur says the unique social atmosphere of the free festival is best enjoyed once darkness falls.

Move. He and Muir have collaborated on Queenstown’s big lights festival and others overseas.

Grammar School will showcase their music and dance skills on Friday and Saturday, on the hour, from 6pm to 8pm, at the 38 Hurstmere Rd entrance to Waiwharariki Anzac Square. on Takapuna Beach is a new ticketed event. Stories and Takapuna Boating Club, it takes in the history of local places, while sharing te ao Māori world view of the environment. from 6pm to 6.45pm and again from 7pm to 7.45pm. It tells the pūrākau (stories of ori gin) of the land underfoot through a headset. other events on in Takapuna over the same dates, including theatre, music and a wine tasting.

Projected and animated displays of art work from Takapuna Primary School pupils and Campbells Bay Early Learning Centre will again feature.

• See winterlights.nz for details.

WHAT’S ON @ Takapuna Library

We Read Auckland 2023: Author Talk Rising, Falling, Rising

Tuesday 8 August, 6pm-8pm, Level 1

Join authors Josie Shapiro (Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts) and Tessa Duder (The Sparrow, Alex: The Quartet) in conversation with author and Olympian Angela Walker (Ideals Are Like Stars: The Dame Yvette Williams Story). Hear their korero on coming-of-age stories, competing against others and yourself, and how lives can be broken and rebuilt stronger than before.

Tickets available via Eventbrite: https://tinyurl.com/vzk22vzp

Always wanted to learn embroidery?

The North Shore Embroiderers Guild will be hosting open sessions at Takapuna Library from 1pm to 3pm on the last Sunday of each month. This is your opportunity to meet them, see what they do in meetings and look at their current projects.

Fall prevention workshop

Tuesday 22nd August 10.30am

Falling over doesn’t have to be part of the ageing process. The good news is that many falls are preventable and having good strength and balance is the key to staying on your feet. Join our free fall prevention workshop run by Harbour Sport community strength and balance trainer Lou Bartlett to ensure that you keep your independence.