16 June 2023 Devonport Flagstaff

June 16, 2023

THAT

Interview: Offshore sailor Jan Beydals... p22

AT could withhold $1 million in path funding

The $1 million set aside for a Francis St-Esmonde Rd cycleway and walkway is at risk of being taken away by Auckland Transport (AT).

The AT stance was a “massive disappointment”, said Devonport-Takapuna Local Board chair Toni van Tonder. “I don’t want to lose that money for our community.”

In all, $1.2 million had been allocated from the Local Board Transport Capital Fund for AT to deliver the project – the previous local board’s top priority over its three-year term.

But except for $200,000 for initial design work, the money has gone unspent.

The current board, elected last year, wants

In the pink at 100

the funding carried over so the stalled project won’t be canned.

“We can’t give you any guarantee the money will be coming back to the board,” an AT staff member told board members at a local-board workshop last week.

The money was meant to

To page 2

North Shore triumphs in rugby derby... p15

Council blocks sharing of consent-plan info... p8

Centenarian... Long-time Devonport peninsula resident June Thomas, pictured with friend Graham ‘Johnny’ Walker, recently celebrated her 100th birthday. Story, page 26.

Board left in dark over funds for top-priority project

From page 1

have been spent in the period in which it was allocated, he said.

Member George Wood likened the the board to a prospective homeowner who gave a down payment to a builder who later decided not to do the job. AT’s stance was “a big personal loss to us and all the people we represent”.

AT had asked board members to rank a long list of other local projects for the board’s next three-year allocation, which totals $1.5 million.

Van Tonder then pushed for clarification over the Francis St-Esmonde Rd funds, seeking to find out if the board still had that money.

“We’re getting cornered into choosing some of the smaller projects”, she said. “Do we have the $2.5 million or $1.5 million?”

The board had signalled months ago that it wanted the walkway money rolled over, she said.

It was not getting the chance to come up with a true priority list due to not knowing where it stood and what money it had.

AT’s elected-member relationship manager Marilyn Nicholls told the board it could ask AT for deferral. But on being pushed by deputy

chair Terence Harpur for the process to do this, AT’s representatives at the workshop did not offer clear advice.

Harpur said the board had been prudent with the walkway money, not wanting to spend the $1 million on more planning until funds to actually build it were available from AT.

Wood said the walkway had been discussed for five or six years. “It’s become apparent you guys are not going to play ball and put the money into it.”

The walkway project has been promoted by two successive boards and was seen as a way of connecting communities and extending peninsula ‘Green Way’ links.

Ultimately, it was envisaged to be part of a cycle network that would connect the peninsula, via Esmonde Rd to the Northern Pathway.

The developers of the Amaia apartment complex on Esmonde Rd initially promised to build a connection from their site to the walkway, but with uncertainty over funding for the pathway and a hearings-panel decision pending on apartment expansion plans, the green vision they promoted in marketing is also in doubt.

The board workshop wound up after only preliminary discussion of the other projects

proposed, with AT advised the board did not consider itself in a position to rank them without getting a clear answer on the walkway funds.

AT also told members budget cuts meant it was no longer in a financial position to provide local boards with full feasibility studies on their candidate projects.

Costings were indicative, but once a shortlist was drawn up by the board, full investigations would be done.

“It’s difficult when we don’t have full advice and guidance to make good decisions,” van Tonder said.

Members considered several of the projects proposed for local-board funding should have been AT’s responsibility to fund from other budgets. These included safety work on East Coast Rd and Forrest Hill Rd, both main routes.

Other projects to be looked at include a crossing on Albert Rd, Devonport; speed-calming measures on Hamana St, Narrow Neck; and more paver upgrades on Victoria Rd.

A wider-than-standard raised crossing from the car park to the café at Narrow Neck was put forward to be added to the list of possible measures.

DBA opposes AT safety plans

Auckland Transport’s Devonport Town Centre Safe Speed plans were rejected in their entirety by Devonport Business Association (DBA) members at a recent special meeting.

Thirty-eight of 190 association members attended the 1 June meeting, and voted unanimously against the plan.

A letter outlining the DBA’s opposition to the proposed work will be sent to Auckland Transport (AT), Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board and North Shore ward councillors.

However, the special-meeting resolutions are something of a rearguard action. AT is

about to start the work this month after earlier consultations.

Many businesses and residents claimed they weren’t fully informed early in the consultation process, and that the DBA was not forthright enough in its opposition and could itself have consulted members better.

A controversial part of the plan to put a median strip, wider bus stop and a raised crossing on a busy section of Victoria Rd has already been put on hold by AT.

• The DBA also resolved that alternative means of improving visibility of pedestrians using the crossings be investigated.

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Public Meeting with Chris Luxon & Simon Watts

Mon 19 June, 12pm

B:HIVE, Smales Farm

Hauraki dominates school cross-country

Around 180 primary schoolkids took to Fort Takapuna last week for the annual peninsula cross-country champs, with Hauraki School pupils winning all three boys races.

The results were: Year four girls: 1 Isla Nielsen BPS, 2 Augie Scovell VS, 3 Margaux Sumner-Brown SB. Year four boys: 1 Archie McRae HS, 2 Nixon Thompson SB, 3 Baillie Gray SB. Year five girls: 1 Bonnie Robinson DPS, 2 Jura Fletcher-MCGrevy VS, 3 Cassandra Thorne BPS. Year five boys: 1 Harry Gold HS, 2 Cooper Ede SB, 3 Wolf Schroder VS. Year six girls: 1 Milla Holland VS, 2 Clementine Powles VS, 3 Lucetta Thomas-Cheng SL. Year six boys: 1 Daniel McLiver HS, 2 Jake Tuck DPS, 3 Reef Somerville SB.

Belmont Primary School, BPS; Vauxhall School, VS; Stanley Bay School, SB; Hauraki School, HS; St. Leo’s, SL; Devonport Primary School, DPS..

Clean pair of heels … Isla Nielsen leading the Year 4 girls race

Hauraki’s golden trio… (from left) Year 4 boys winner, Archie McRae; Year 5 boys winner, Harry Gold; Year 6 boys winner, Daniel McLiver

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TGS track star enjoys cross-country success

Talented Takapuna Grammar (TGS) runner Sascha Letica won the Auckland secondary school senior cross-country championships this month, ahead of this weekend’s national championships in Palmerston North.

Primarily a middle-distance runner, 16-yearold Sascha says the competition from around the country will be tough, but she is focused on doing her best.

“If that’s 12th or 20th, that’s okay.”

She says she got a lot of confidence to challenge the top order from her Auckland win at Lloyd Elsmore Park in Pakuranga. “It was a very muddy and technical course.”

The Bayswater resident won the prized 800m and 1500m Auckland Secondary Schools trackand-field double earlier in the year.

Sascha joined Takapuna Athletics Club as a 10-year-old, her interest sparked after learning about her father Jared’s athletics background.

“My dad is my coach. It’s pretty cool. He did triathlon and duathlon and steeplechase on the track.”

His focus has been on ensuring Sascha takes a balanced approach to racing, and she took to it early on, following a “little training programme” he put together for her.

Aged 11, she competed in a junior trans-Tasman meet and won a medal at an Auckland championship, but she says she wasn’t a standout competitor. “I was always all right, but it’s only been recently that I’ve had consistency and been getting times and results.”

This year, on top of her middle-distance and cross-country wins, she won an under-18 silver medal at the New Zealand Track and Field

Championships in March and another silver in the U20 New Zealand Road Mile championships held in Rotorua in May.

Sascha says “no way” to running longer distances on the track. She likes a variety of racing, although 1500m is her likely longerterm specialism. “I’m looking to get a US college scholarship.”

The aim is to further her education at the same time as her athletics career. “I don’t know what I want to study yet, but I want to be not just an athlete but a student-athlete,” she says.

Sascha is in Year 12 and taking the International Baccalaureate programme. She enjoys writing. “It’s not all running; I try to keep a balance in what I do,” she says. “It sounds so corny, but I do love to run – that sort of feeling when you’re flying along is so fun.”

Along with running training, she fits in swimming and gym work.

Taking a rounded approach, including staying healthy, is important to the father-daughter team. “Dad is big on not over-focusing,” says Sascha, who is the eldest of five children.

One of her two sisters, Nadia, who is in Year 9, has also run for TGS and was in a team with Sascha, and fellow senior Jodie Nash, that won a national three-person 1500m Secondary School Challenge Trophy in Hamilton in February.

But Nadia is more interested in rugby, Sascha says.

Step by step, Sascha says she is determined to explore her potential, with representing New Zealand in the back of her mind.

“The goal is to put on a black singlet.”

Front-runner... TGS athlete Sascha Letica leads a group in the Auckland secondary school cross-country championships earlier this month. She won the senior girls event, finishing well clear of her closest rival.

Briefs

Cop cover from Takapuna

Devonport community constable Glenda Peri is assigned to investigations for the next few months. Her Takapuna counterpart, Constable Brent Stewart, is covering the Devonport area as well as his own patch until Peri’s return in August. Police said another North Shore community constable would help in Devonport from late June.

Ireland Celebration

A priivate celebration of writer and poet Kevin Ireland’s life is planned at the Devonport RSA on 26 June. Ireland died late last month, aged 89.

New World car park being resealed

Forewarned... Signage on Fleet St is alerting customers to the night closures of the supermarket car park while the surface is renewed

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Fulton Hogan is resurfacing the Devonport New World car park as part of the Auckland Transport (AT) road-maintenance programme.

AT said the work was not flood related. “The existing hot-mix surface of the road is reaching the end of its life and has become oxidized and unstable,” an AT spokesperson said.Such surfaces were resealed after 10 or more years, before they became unsafe.

The work area covers parts of Bartley Tce and Clarence St.

To minimise disruption to customers at New World and other businesses, Fulton Hogan is doing the work outside of normal business hours. New World is open as usual.

The resurfacing would take around a week to two weeks to complete, dependent on weather and other factors, AT said.

Former council chambers immediately up for lease

The new owners of the former Devonport Borough Council chambers at 3 Victoria Rd have moved quickly to offer it for lease.

Peninsula Capital took possession of the building in mid-May. The council-owned building has been vacant for 1804 days.

Although 3 Victoria Rd will eventually need earthquake-strengthening, the building could be offered for lease ahead of that, Peninsula’s Mark Hiddleston said.

The building was “a bit shabby and needs a tidy-up” but the firm was willing to work with any prospective tenants. “Hopefully we will get some tenant enquiries.”

Hiddleston said Peninsula Capital was moving to settle at the end of June on more than 15 commercial properties it bought from long-time Devonport landlord Vista-Linda Ltd. Harcourts will continue the managing the properties as Peninsula works up a long-term plan to “revitalise the Devonport village”.

Since Peninsula’s real-estate purchases in Devonport, it had been “building relationships and establishing contacts” with various groups, he said.

As a major landlord, it wanted to support local events – the first of which was likely to be local celebrations of Matariki.

• Auckland Council confirmed to the Flagstaff last week that the sale price for 3 Victoria Rd was $2 million.

Board wants more residents’ views on plan

Feedback from more residents is wanted by the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board on its latest draft local-board plan.

The document, which is updated every three years, sets out priorities and will test the public appetite for ideas such as greater sharing of council-owned buildings by the likes of Scouts and sports groups.

The 2020 plan attracted 297 submissions. This year, the board hopes to get 500 or more,

including a better response from youth and ethnic groups, whom it consulted in drawing up the plan.

It plans ‘Have Your Say’ events to help promote this, including a hui in Bayswater in July and another session in Takapuna in August.

Staff and board members have worked on the plan for several months, considering ideas from the public and from targeted sessions at central youth hub Shore Junction and aimed

at the large Asian population in Sunnynook.

It wants to hear more from groups that it engages with less frequently and to build relationships with these communities, as well as from regular submitters, such as residents groups.

The draft plan is due to be approved by the board this week and will then to go out for consultation. Once feedback is considered, it must be finalised and adopted by October.

Quick off the mark... New owners of the former Devonport Borough Council chambers are already seeking tenants

Council blocks sharing of consent-application info

Lists of resource-consent applications are being withheld from general circulation on the instruction of Auckland Council officials.

Devonport-Takapuna Local Board members are supplied weekly with lists of resource-consent applications for the local-board area.

Until recently, these have been sent on by some board members to local groups and the news media to alert them of any applications of wider public interest.

But council staff say the practice must stop. Board members have been told they are sent the lists “on a complementary basis” to help them carry out their duties, “and it was not intended that this information be shared”.

Any member of the public, company or entity could subscribe to reports at a cost of more than $1600 a year, the council said.

Board member George Wood, who has previously passed on the lists, considers the new ruling illogical.

“It seems crazy to me. Board members have been doing the right thing for people by

letting the community know what consents are coming through for their neighbourhoods,” Wood said.

asking council what part of the law it was falling back on to institute the ban.

All council information was public unless there was a reason to withhold it.

He suspected the monetary payments –“council having its pound of flesh” – were probably behind the council decision.

Wood said he would continue pushing to “unravel the rules” to see if the consents should be confidential.

Devonport Heritage co-chair and former board member Trish Deans is also appalled by the change. “The role of the local board is to act in an open and transparent manner.”

Deans said that when she was a board member, she had checked with council planning chiefs on whether the information could be passed on to interest groups and had been assured she could do so.

“Their only concern was that professionals, such as architects, would need to pay a fee to have access to this information.”

The ruling put board members in an awkward situation: knowing about lodged resource consents, but not being able to inform ratepayers, Wood said. He would be

She said Devonport Heritage had had access to the information for many years through local board members and, previously, community boards.

Comment: Lists of planning applications must be freely available

People have a right to know what developments are planned for their area at the earliest possible time.

Under the Building Act, local authorities have to provide resource-consent information on specific addresses, if asked. As far as I can see, providing a general list of resource-consent applications for an area is no different.

I’ve done some research among my community-newspaper colleagues around Auckland and received a variety of responses.

On Waiheke, its local board publishes all the consent applications within its monthly agenda. Presumably, word of a different approach hasn’t reached the officials involved.

Community papers in Mahurangi and Hibiscus Coast have been told that the consent applications were about to go online, but have been held up by a lack of staff and computer issues.

Auckland Council needs to reverse this decision in the interests of a proper flow of public information.

Is it fair that a pensioner living in a small flat is denied information on resource consents in their neighbourhood due to cost, while subscribers such as developers, architects, investors and landbankers get access because they can afford to pay?

The move to restrict access compromises the ability to scrutinise planning decisions, and increases the chances of poor or unfair planning decisions slipping through unnoticed.

Rob Drent, Editor

Local-board

member George Wood says a restriction on sharing resource-consent applications seems “crazy”.

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By Rob Drent

The Devonport Flagstaff and its sister paper, the Rangitoto Observer, are paid for by advertising, so far be it from me to rail against businesses promoting their products.

But there are ways and means and a time and place. A reader complained about this decal (pictured right), placed on the footpath outside the Devonport ferry terminal, which is run by Auckland Transport (AT).

The Flagstaff made a few inquires about how it came to be adhered to the paving, laid in a controversial Marine Square upgrade a decade ago (which made a cluster of nearby businesses almost go the wall).

We asked AT if it is possible for a commercial entity to advertise on a footpath.

“Yes, AT has contracts in place that allow our media partners (in this case MediaWorks) to on-sell media space on and within our managed assets (car parks, stations, billboards, buses etc).”

The advertising had to meet AT advertising policy (which can be found on its website).

“This decal has been there for some time and was subject to our internal sign-off process. It’s

booked until the end of June. However, it can be renewed at any time.”

So, in theory, ads can be put on footpaths anywhere by an AT-approved media partner. Unlikely to happen, but it could possibly expand to selected spots on Victoria Rd.

I’m not quite sure if this is what Devonport is all about.

The Devonport Library Associates literary event to launch new works by C K Stead (Say I do This: Poems 2018-2022) and Kevin Ireland (A Month At the Back of My Brain: A Third Memoir) went ahead on 30 May, despite the death of Ireland two weeks before.

The night made the national news for all the wrong reasons – historian Rory Sweetman threw a glass of pinot gris at MC Steve Braunias in a belated response to a book review written by Braunias 20 years ago.

What would Kevin would have made of

the shenanigans? Given his nature, he probably would have seen the funny side of it.

Auckland Council is apparently cashstrapped, but it is still a long way off operating under the imperatives of commercially focused business.

Take 3 Victoria Rd, for example: the former Devonport Borough Council building that has been unoccupied for 1804 days, after Council evicted all the tenants, saying it needed earthquake-strengthening and was apparently too dangerous to be occupied. (The Flagstaff recently asked for documents on this but had not received a response as this issue went to press.) Now, less than a month after the building was been sold to Peninsula Capital, it is up for lease.

Peninsula Capital has deep pockets – it later bought the Vista Linda portfolio of more than 15 commercial buildings, with the aim of redeveloping central Devonport. However, as with any investment, it is keen to make a return while future plans are being worked on.

The decision to immediately lease out 3 Victoria Rd is therefore a business no-brainer. The move makes it all the more mystfiying –and annoying for ratepayers – that Victoria Rd wasn’t rented out by Council. Pop-up stores, month-by-month tenancies, temporary art studios or installations – many options existed. Maybe it was just in the too-hard basket.

A cynic would have a field day with the new council initiatives for more adventurous children’s play options in our public reserves. Fallen trees become spontaneous new clambering structures (read, we don’t have to clean up parks after weather events)! Kids huts in street trees are now being encouraged as well.

The Flagstaff can remember when these were seen as angels of death by the council, and one popular hut in Wairoa Rd was removed to keep children safe. It looks like city hall has now seen some sense, with this new attitude to kids enjoying the outdoors.

Cut to board funding but less than forecast

More than $125,000 has been cut from the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board’s funding due to Auckland Council budget cuts.

The $126,240 reduction (an around nine per cent cut) was revealed to board members at a workshop on Tuesday.

The cut is however far less than the $810,000 it stood to lose (around 60 per cent) in earlier budget tightening plans.

Council has cut $4 million rather than $16 million from local boards.

Former UN man flies Labour flag in local seat

The Labour Party’s recently selected candidate for North Shore has moved into the electorate, keen to familiarise himself with local issues ahead of the election this year.

And George Hampton believes his international experience at the United Nations, as a senior adviser with a focus on sustainable energy helping combat climate change, also has direct relevance to the challenges residents face here.

“People have told me they are anxious when it rains now,” he said.

Climate change was one of his motivators for getting into politics, along with equity issues. “Events this year have shown us how close we are to the tipping point.”

Hampton and his wife have relocated to Bayswater, with their four-month-old daughter, and are looking to buy locally.

Raised in Christchurch, Hampton has some family pedigree on the North Shore: his grandmother lived in Devonport for 50 years, on Queen’s Pde, he said.

His mother, Jennie, lived in Takapuna in the 1970s and started a local kindergarten.

Despite spending much of the last decade overseas, Hampton sees his future in New Zealand.

The 41-year-old former diplomat and Fulbright scholar, who spent time as a teaching fellow at Colombia University and also studied at Harvard, is something

of a high-flyer to be running in a seat long viewed as safe for National. His selection was uncontested.

Hampton is also a co-owner of the Mr Whippy franchise in New Zealand.

Before being posted to Vienna, then New York, he spent time as a policy adviser to Helen Clark in the run-up to the 2008 election.

He also worked on her unsuccessful bid in 2016 to become United Nations Secretary-General.

He has other Labour Party connections, including through his aunt Luamanuvao Dame Winnie Laban, a former Minister of Pacific Island Affairs.

Politics and social issues were on the menu for dinner-table conversation growing up as one of seven siblings, he said.

His father is prominent Christchurch defence lawyer Nigel Hampton KC and his mother worked in his father’s law practice.

“Mum and Dad always showed people compassion,” he said.

Although sitting National Party MP Simon Watts holds a comfortable 3734-vote majority, Hampton points out that Labour won the party vote in the seat.

His aim, he says, is to “give people who had a good long look at Labour last time a chance to do so again”.

Hampton said he is in politics for the long haul.

“We as a country are going to face a huge number of challenges in the next 20 years. I want to be part of a party that deals with that in a positive and optimistic way.”

Events for the community – Please feel welcome to join in.

Sat June 3, 10, 17 - Community Tree Planting & Picnics with Restoring Takarunga Hauraki. 11am-1pm

Sat June 24 – Matariki Festival – Bayswater School, 3pm-7pm

Sat July 1 - Lantern Making - Devonport Community House 12pm to 5pm. Please RSVP on our Event page at www.dpt.nz

Sat July 1 – Depot Matariki Art and Workshop Exhibition 2pm-4pm

Sat July 1 - Hikoi to Takarunga, 5pm to 8pm. Please RSVP on our Event page at www.dpt.nz

Sat July 8 - Lantern Making - Navy Museum, Torpedo Bay 1pm to 5pm

Sat July 8 - Hikoi to Maungauika - Assemble at Navy Museum 5pm-8pm.

Thurs July 6 – Matariki Workshops for Tamariki with Whaea Terehia 4pm-6pm Te Whare Toi, Kerr Street, Devonport

Thurs July 13 – Matariki Workshops for Tamariki with Whaea Terehia 4pm – 6pm - Te Whare Toi, Kerr Street, Devonport

Fri July 14 – Matariki Public Holiday – New Zealand/Auckland Youth Symphonic Winds band - Devonport Ferry Terminal at 11am

Sat July 15 - Peninsula Schools Kapa Haka RopuDevonport Ferry Terminal – 11am – 1pm

Sat July 15 – Hangi, 2.30pm-4.00pm (limited numbers, two per whãnau) Please order with terehia@rth.org.nz

DEVONPORT PENINSULA JUNE / JULY 2023

Sat July 15 - Community Matariki Gathering at Windsor Reserve and Night Market at Devonport Ferry Terminal, 5pm-8pm with Market and food trucks open from 4pm.

Sat July 22 – Matariki Tamariki – Whãnau Fun Day, Devonport Community house 1pm-4pm.

Sun July 23 – Rose Centre Hãkari Matariki – Rose Centre, Belmont. Hangi (limited numbers) at 12pm.

Fri July 28 - Artist Panel Talk - artist to deliver a 1hour talk regarding their practices and the Matariki exhibition ‘Ahuru Mowai’ – 6.30pm-7.30pm

Sat July 29 – Beginners Weaving Workshop – 11am-1pm with Kiriana O’Connell at The Depot Artspace

Sat July 29 – Mãori Medicine & Rongoa Workshop –11am-1pm with Judy Henderson at The Depot Artspace

Hoping to make a dent in the National vote… George Hampton

Navy and North Shore Rugby Club join forces

Rugby players from the Navy will play under the auspices of North Shore Rugby Club in an understanding reached between the two organisations.

The Navy currently has no teams in the North Harbour competition and, with declining numbers and the pressure of ship postings, has struggled to field sides in recent years.

North Shore has for the last 20 years talked to the Navy about teaming up.

A somewhat unofficial alliance developed over the years, with Navy players often turning out for Shore teams.

This has been less controversial than when Shore was thought to “nab” promising Navy players.

The most prominent of these was All

Black great Wayne ‘Buck’ Shelford, who started his playing career with the Navy then switched to Shore.

Navy had in recent years entered a premier B side in the North Harbour competition, but this year did not have the numbers to do so.This prompted renewed negotiations with Shore.

Under the new alliance, the Royal New Zealand Navy Rugby Club will retain its name, so it can enter teams in inter-services and international armed-services competitions. However, on a week-by-week basis, players will turn out for teams based at Shore.

Shore Club captain Chris Tankard said it was a win for both organisations.

“It’s huge. It’s very hard to attract players

to the club because of the problems getting to Devonport along Lake Rd – and obviously the Navy is based here.”

From the Navy standpoint, the chance to play for a historic and high-achieving club could be a selling point when recruiting young people from the regions.

“You’ve got a young guy from the Gisborne Boys first XV who may not be able to get a job in Gisborne – he can join the Navy in Devonport and keep playing rugby with North Shore,” Tankard said.

“Imagine we have a Navy Day once a year at the club, and we get the Navy Band involved. It is very exciting. They could have a recruitment-information stand and we encourage the whole of Devonport to come along.”

Injuries leave key Shore players as spectators

One is out for five months, the other permanently.

Lochie McNair and Adam Batt, two of North Shore Rugby Club’s premiers’ starting lineup at the opening of the 2023 season, were on the sideline cheering on their teammates against Takapuna last Saturday.

Both were injured two weeks earlier, in Shore’s win over Massey: McNair (22) suffered a compound fracture to his lower right leg and Batt (28) popped a pectoral.

“I’m feeling good,” said McNair, even though the injury has put an end to his season.

A converted flanker, McNair was “just finding my feet” as a hooker playing for Shore this season. In fact, his form had been so good he had secured a trial with North Harbour in a couple of weeks.

“I’m looking forward to next year now,” said McNair, who has been told it will be five months before he can return to training again.

For Batt, who celebrated 100 games for Shore last season, the injury has spelt retirement.

He has two shoulder reconstructions booked in, with his first surgery on 27 June.

“You don’t really choose when it’s the time to hang up your boots – I’m a bit gutted, but this is it for me.”

“I’ve played 100 games for Shore and 100 games overseas – I’ve loved every minute of it and travelled the world.”

Batt was also pleased to turn out for Shore in its historic 150th season.

He would always be attached to North Shore – “my childhood club” – and was more than likely to take up a coaching or mentoring role at some stage.

Ruled out… injured North Shore players Lochie McNair (left) and Adam Batt on the sideline last weekend

Shore show guts and grit to beat Takapuna

North Shore premiers showed other championship contenders they are the side to beat in 2023 with a 25-17 win over an almost full-strength Takapuna at Onewa Domain last Saturday.

Takapuna had Moana Pacific players Fini and Lotu Inisi quickly back into the side after the finish of their Super Rugby season. Lotu came off the bench, as did New Zealand sevens player Moses Leo and 2022 New Zealand Secondary Schools lock Trystan Cook. Top centre Jordan Hyland was in the starting line-up.

But the home side was undone by a star performance from Shore first five-eighth Oscar Koller, who scored a try, set up another after a scintillating break, kicked two conversions and two penalties, and dominated every time he touched the ball.

Takapuna opened the scoring with a runaway try by Taufui Lolohea.

Koller then helped turn the game with a raking kick for touch from a penalty, with Josh Third scoring off the ensuing maul and Koller converting.

A couple of minutes later, Koller broke the line, chipped and recovered for a smart try, which he also converted, before knocking over a penalty. Suddenly, Shore was up 17-5, mostly thanks to their classy first-five.

Takapuna scored another try, and Koller kicked another penalty for a 20-10 scoreline at half-time.

The first 20 minutes of the second half were an arm wrestle between the two packs, with plenty of tough defensive hits around the edges of rucks.

Fini Inisi showed his experience by drawing defenders to make space for teammates, setting up a try, which was converted to bring the score back to 20-17. It was anyone’s game, for a few minutes at least.

An explosive break by Koller, in which he beat at least five players, took play deep into Takapuna’s 22. He fired a pinpoint pass to flanker Donald Coleman, who scored wide out, putting Shore ahead 25-17, with 20 minutes to play.

Shore was forced to defend for virtually the rest of game, which it did valiantly, despite numerous charges by the Inisi brothers and a remodelled scrum that saw Coleman filling in at hooker for the last 10 minutes.

On occasions over the last decade, Shore might have let such a game slip away from them. But the whole side showed huge grit, especially in the face of the Takapuna supporters and management cheering the home side on.

Solid work from the tight forwards was a major contributor, particularly by props Alex Woonton and replacement Trent Luka, who both made several metre-sucking charges to set up a platform for the ever-reliable Koller to clear.

Takapuna will no doubt take a few weeks to integrate its stars. But Shore showed what a well-drilled and extremely fit team can achieve. Especially with its own star: Koller.

In dominant form… Oscar Koller breaks the line on the way to setting up Shore’s second-half try

Pressure… Shore Flankers Donald Coleman (left) and Hone Haerewa close in on Takapuna fullback Tseard van der Mei

Devonport 5 Summer Street

Swimming, sun and family fun on quarter acre

One of only a handful of tightly-held such properties on Summer Street in Devonport - a grand and spacious villa set on a rare kiwi quarter acre site with a westerly setting-sun aspect at the rear of the home, and the bonus of a swimming pool, double garage and plenty of off-street parking for boats and cars. After two decades of family fun, the current owners are ready to downsize and hand over to this home's next lucky owners. Built around 1904, this gracious residence has been expanded and modernised over time to create an abundance of character-filled family-friendly living spaces.

bayleys.co.nz/1470553

bayleys.co.nz

4 3 3 2

Tender (unless sold prior)

Closing 4pm, Wed 12 Jul 2023

28 Northcroft Street, Takapuna, Auckland

View by appointment

Linda Simmons 027 459 0957

linda.simmons@bayleys.co.nz

BAYLEYS REAL ESTATE LTD, DEVONPORT, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

Devonport 36 Cheltenham Road

Gracious villa | Cheltenham Beach access

Just one back from Cheltenham Beach, with direct pathway access to the stunning white sands, this grand and gracious villa, on a 1052sqm site, celebrates quintessential heritage charm blended with the relaxed, easy elegance of seaside living. Known as Mirbeck House, it is a haven for big families and avid entertainers who love the ocean, with its well-proportioned rooms, space, sunshine, sea views and breezes. The current owners have renovated over time, paying homage to the home’s history by retaining many original features, while enhancing the classic interiors with the essentials for modern life. Tucked away from the street and savouring a sense of privacy, the property has a lush secret garden with a gate that opens to the pathway, where the sand is just footsteps away. bayleys.co.nz/1470600

4 3 3 2

Set Sale Date (unless sold prior)

4pm, Wed 12 Jul 2023

83 Victoria Road, Devonport, Auckland View Sun 12-12.45pm

Linda Simmons 027 459 0957

linda.simmons@bayleys.co.nz

bayleys.co.nz

Ngataringa Tennis Club 2023 results

Ngataringa Tennis Club senior club championships results:

Women’s Doubles Champions: Cheryl Aitken and Natalie McKay; Women’s Doubles Plate: Diane Ponzio and Geri Martin; Men’s Singles Champion: Gage Volykhine; Men’s Singles Plate: Mark Chaddock; Mixed Doubles Champions: Allister Irving and Tania Hetz; Mixed Doubles Plate: Jacquie Mockridge and Stephen Rowe; Men’s Doubles Champions: John Sheehan and Gerard Doolin; Men’s Doubles Plate: Grant Gibbs and Craig Bellingham.

Midweek Ladies Doubles competition: Finalists Toni Jardine and Janine Jones vs Jane Walden-Green and Florence Besson (to be played). Plate winners: Wendy Whitfield and Sandra McLachlan.

Three Ngataringa teams won their Senior Women’s Doubles Interclub grade:.

Tennis Northern Women’s Doubles 2: Natalie McKay, Jacquie Mockridge, Maryann Brown, Cheryl Aitken, Trudie von Huben, Bev Lytollis, Geri Martin; NSLDT B2: Jennifer Handey, Agi Lehar-Graham, Jane Walden-Green, Florence Besson, Michelle Robson, Lisa Chaddock; NSLDT C2: Sandra Conroy, Jan Wescott, Donna Gaskin, Lisa Nicholas, Sally Cousins, Anna Edgar. Reserves: Frances Downs and Sally Burge.

Top singles duo… Men’s champion Gage Volykhine (right) with beaten finalist Grant Gibbs

Right: (from left) Beaten mixeddoubles champions Tania Hetz and Allister Irving with finalists Michael Steckler and Leigh Steckler. Far right: Women’s doubles champs Natalie McKay (left) and Cheryl Aitken.

Jacqui the queen of the court at Belmont

Women’s doubles champs… Cath Hinds (left) and Jacqui Anderson. Below: Anderson with mixeddoubles partner Graeme Norman

Belmont Park Racquets Club tennis player

Jacqui Anderson won the singles, women’s doubles and mixed-doubles champs in 2023, taking her overall tally of club titles to 32.

She paired with Cath Hinds to take out their eighth women’s doubles title, and then with club president Graeme Norman to take out the mixed-doubles title.

Full results of the club championships were:

Women’s Singles Championship : Jacqui Anderson; (R/U) Vanesa Cutfield. Women’s Doubles Championship: Jacqui Anderson and Cath Hinds; (R/U) Toni McKenty and Vanesa Cutfield. Women’s Doubles Plate: Jill Stoker and Lucy McNaught; (R/U) Debs Lowther and Mayzie Mortimer. Women’s Intermediate Singles: Rosa Gonzales; (R/U) Samantha Steel. Women’s Intermediate Singles Plate: Donna Franks; (R/U) Hannah Mulligan. Women’s Intermediate Doubles: Emily Somerville-Ryan and Camilla Campbell-Cree; (R/U) Juliet Dewes and Samantha Steel. Women’s Intermediate Doubles Plate: Shiree Clifton and Moira Cameron; (R/U) Briar Williams and Tereza Bebich.

Men’s Singles Championship: Luke Bodle; (R/U) Adam MacFarlane. Men’s Singles Plate: Rob Snow; (R/U) Aaron Hewitt. Men’s Singles Consolation: Benny Welte; (R/U) Mike Bates.

Men’s Doubles Championship: Luke Bodle and Sam Brodie; (R/U) Derrick Travers and Brady James. Men’s Doubles Consolation : Benny Welte and Cory Lewis; (R/U) Andrew McDonald and Richard Jones. Men’s Doubles Plate: TBD

– Final, Clive Melling and Matt Senior v Rock Steele and Liam Coleman. Men’s Intermediate Singles: Louis Yalland; (R/U) Chris Pickering.

Men’s Intermediate Singles Plate: TBD — Final, Aaron Hewitt v Mamoru Taniya. Men’s Intermediate Singles Consolation: Will Hunt; (R/U) Jake Phillips.

Mixed Doubles Championship. Division 1: Graeme Norman and Jacqui Anderson; (R/U) William Michie and Vanesa Cutfield. Division

1 Plate: Rob Drent and Debs Lowther; (R/U) Brian Lawry and Debbie Timmins. Division 1

Consolation: Drew Smith and Louise Welte; (R/U) Matt Senior and Jill Stoker. Division 2: Sam Kater and Samantha Steel; (R/U) Dan Thomas and Nina Thomas. Division 2 Plate: Andrew Clifton and Shiree Clifton; (R/U) Kipa Rangiheueu and Merrilyn Worthington. Division 2 Consolation: Mark and Emily Somerville-Ryan; (R/U) Rock Steele and Mary Harper. Ray and Aly Adams Mixed Doubles Tournament. Division 1: Adam MacFarlane and Jill Stoker; (R/U) Gary Warner and Vanesa Cutfield. Division 2: Derrick Travers and Deb Travers; (R/U) Matt Holbrook and Kelly Atkins.

Special awards . Women’s Perseverance Award: Vanesa Cutfield. Most Determined Player: Aaron Hewitt. Most Improved Player: Fraser Brown. Midweek Ladies Award: Premier Team. Interclub results. Five teams won their grades: MS2 Grade – Adam MacFarlane (Captain), Luke Bodle, Campbell Burrows, Sam Brodie; MS5 Grade – Rob Snow (Captain), Jerry Yang, Rock Steele, Liam Coleman, Rob Drent, Paul Jacobs. MD4 Grade – Rob Snow (Captain), Ryan Lundy, Steve Owens, Fraser Brown. MXD4 Grade –Hiram Ryan (Captain), Simon Angland, Chris Morrison, Liam Coleman, Rob Drent, Des Smith, Robina Morrison, Mayzie Mortimer, Hashmita Mistry, Helen Ryan, Debs Lowther, Margo Angland. WS4 Grade – Emily Somerville-Ryan (Captain), Kelly Atkins, Leisa Rossi, Shiree Clifton, Moira Cameron, Nikki Clerke.

Midweek Ladies Interclub results. Premier winners: Cath Hinds (captain), Bronwen Gulasekharam, Jacqui Anderson, Vanesa Cutfield, Toni McKenty, Nicola Jones, Bridget Killick. R/U: runner-up; TBD: to be determined.

Men’s champ Luke Bodle (left) and runner-up Adam MacFarlane. Below: Sam Kater (left) and Samantha Steel, the division-two mixed-doubles winners

Club champions… (from left) losing men’s doubles finalists, Brady James and Derrick Travers, with champions Sam Brodie and Luke Bodle

DEVONPORT

36 TAINUI ROAD

In this high-profile position so close to Cheltenham beach is this gorgeous 1920's double bay villa on a 582m² north west site.

barfoot.co.nz/846848

FOR SALE

FOR SALE

$2,850,000

VIEWING

Saturday 12.00-12.30pm

Trish Fitzgerald 021 952 452

Tracey Lawrence 021 1720 681

DEVONPORT

31 CLARENCE STREET

After approximately 70 years in the same family. Selling 'As Is, Where Is'. Don't be the one to say "Should've, Could've, Would've." Act now.

barfoot.co.nz/848563

NEW LISTING

AUCTION

1:00pm 28 Jun 2023 at 39 Victoria Road, Devonport (unless sold prior)

VIEWING

Sat/Sun 11:00-11:30

Tracey Lawrence 021 1720 681

Trish Fitzgerald 021 952 452

DEVONPORT

159 VICTORIA ROAD

This is a fabulous, spacious family 1880's villa with a stunning heated pool, sitting in a desirable and privileged location in Devonport.

barfoot.co.nz/848903

NEW LISTING

FOR SALE

By Negotiation

VIEWING

Phone For Viewing Times

Tracey Lawrence 021 1720 681

Trish Fitzgerald 021 952 452

DEVONPORT

4/32 NGATARINGA ROAD

This brand new family home offers a modern fitout, with solid concrete and weatherboard exterior, ensuring low maintenance.

barfoot.co.nz/848626

NEW LISTING

FOR SALE

By Negotiation

VIEWING Phone For Viewing Times

Alex Kou 021 885 918

Sam Leong 022 046 0868

Devonport 09 445 2010

Major sponsor for the North Shore Cricket Club

Barfoot & Thompson Limited Licensed REAA 2008

Barfoot & Thompson Limited

Licensed REAA 2008

DEVONPORT

38 WILLIAM BOND STREET

Wow! This charming three-double bedroom character home presents a glaring opportunity for families or couples to explore its many options.

barfoot.co.nz/848702

HAURAKI

3/258 LAKE ROAD

Brand new freehold and fabulous duplex, low maintenance, a second car park for the smaller vehicle and a 5 min walk to Takapuna Grammar,

barfoot.co.nz/847989

NEW LISTING

TENDER

Closes at 4pm 21 Jun 2023 (unless sold prior)

VIEWING

Saturday/Sunday 1:00-1:45pm

Sue Harrison 021 909 549

Toni Gregory 021 044 3663

DEVONPORT

71 NGATARINGA ROAD

Arts and Crafts coastal charmer overlooking Ngataringa Bay with views of Auckland City sited on over ¼ acre with your very own boat-shed.

barfoot.co.nz/845408

FOR SALE

FOR SALE

By Negotiation

VIEWING Sat 2:00-2:45pm or By Appointment

Sue Evans 021 448 977

Youyou Yu 021 868 273

NEW LISTING

FOR SALE

$1,590,000

VIEWING Viewing by Appointment

Lance Richardson 021 796 660

Suzy Wang 022 199 7808

BAYSWATER

3/54 BAYSWATER AVENUE

Introducing our exclusive limited-time offer that will make your dream home a reality. Act now and take advantage of our unbeatable incentives.

barfoot.co.nz/848524

NEW LISTING

3 2

FOR SALE

$1,125,000

VIEWING Phone For Viewing Times

Suzy Wang 022 199 7808

Lance Richardson 021 796 660

Devonport 09 445 2010

Major sponsor for the North Shore Cricket Club

See you in 2025: intrepid yachtie sets sail again

Jan Beydals is off on another blue-water adventure, having recently been honoured in recognition of his many previous voyages. He talked to Helen Vause as he prepared to cast off.

Over King’s Birthday weekend, Jan Beydals could be found on his boat at Bayswater Marina, taking care of last-minute preparations for a long sea voyage.

As his grey head bobbed up and down in the cockpit, friends and other sailors hove into sight for a hug, to shake his hand and to wish the respected blue-water sailor bon

voyage.

By last Wednesday morning, he was off, motoring out of the marina and heading for Vanuatu. He also has the Philippines in his sights and a two-year journey in mind.

It wasn’t the first time Beydeals had set sail for a long trip to faraway places, but he was pleased by the recognition of his mates

at the Devonport Yacht Club, where he was recently awarded the club’s Fred Norris Memorial Blue Water Trophy.

Norris was a New Zealand pioneer of offshore sailing. Some of the earlier recipients of the trophy named for him include Dame Naomi James and Sir Peter Blake.

Talking to the Flagstaff before his depar-

Bon voyage... Jan Beydals on his yacht Tumua at Bayswater Marina before leaving on his latest expedition, to Vanuatu and the Philippines

ture, Beydals says he was humbled to be in the company of all the distinguished recipients “who have done much more amazing things than me”.

The trophy was awarded to him this year to honour his many blue-water voyages, and also to mark the fact that so often he was sailing solo and, in earlier years, without the technology that now helps in many aspects of offshore sailing.

There’s probably not much Beydals doesn’t know about the things that can happen at sea.

The 72-year-old Dutchman started learning about boats and the ocean with his parents, sailing from the Netherlands on many adventures.

His parents had met sailing and it played a large part in family life. As Beydals grew up and then made his way through medical school, his father entrusted him and his friends to begin making their own big voyages.

He laughs to remember some of those trips, the risks, the excitement of them, as the young sailors diced with difficulties and barrelled through the night in high seas.

Risk was calculated with the confidence of keen young sailors who thought that they could make it – and they did.

He recalls a hair-raising tale of sailing over a treacherous bar at night to take a very tricky route through a string of small islands north of the Netherlands, with shifting sandbanks everywhere, waiting to cause a disastrous grounding at any wrong turn. Among sailors, the place was known as ‘the riddle of the sands’.

“We could see a tiny light way ahead. We just followed that. Later, we found out that the crew of a fishing boat that followed us had thought we must have known what we were doing and that we were showing the way.”

Then there was a night in the fog sailing somewhere off the French coast. “We didn’t know quite where we were, but I suddenly realised we were much too close to the coastline when I could actually smell the land.”

On those voyages, which may seem foolhardy in hindsight, Beydals honed the knowledge and skills that gave him the confidence to tackle even bigger journeys, solo.

In those days of no GPS, fine navigation skills were his strength. He relied on dead reckoning, knowing how to get the best out of a sextant, charts and calculations.

By the time he’d finished medical school his father let him take off alone in the family’s 31-foot steel boat for Curaçao, in the Caribbean, where he’d work and study.

On this trip, he made a bad judgement call that had nothing to do with his sailing skills.

To help a little with costs, he’d picked up a couple of crew and when they left his boat a month later, all of Beydals’ money went with them.

But Curaçao treated him so well, he decided he wasn’t going home. Instead he wanted to explore the South Pacific and to reach New Zealand. His job in health and tax-free

earnings had set him up nicely to do just that.

In 1983, he set off sailing single-handed through the Caribbean and on to the South Pacific. It took him four years to reach New Zealand. Those days of freedom on the sea, the places he visited and the people he met, have kept him hooked on offshore cruising decades on.

For a while, work and career got in the way of long sea voyages. Beydals, now retired, worked as a psychiatrist in Auckland for

my own. I know I can rely on myself. I don’t have to worry about anyone else, if they are okay. And it means I do get out and mix with local people.

“I’m perfectly happy on my own. The days go by fast and there’s always plenty to do on a boat. But of course there are challenging times. You do have to be tough and you do have to have plenty of perseverance.”

Beydals lived in the Auckland CBD for many years and drove over for the Friday night cheer at the Devonport Yacht Club, where he’s now a regular figure.

In 2014, he and his Philippines-born partner Jeff decided to move here, and together they built a house.

It was Jeff who sparked the plan to head to the Philippines, saying that to spend time in the tropical warmth would be “good for my bones”. He will join Beydals there later. His career demands he stay in Auckland for now, at least.

A sailing friend has left for Vanuatu at the same time as Beydals, on a similar vessel.

“We say we won’t race, but of course we do,” he grins.

three decades.

In 2006, he bought Tumua, a Pacific 38 – a class popular in the 1970s – in Whangerei’s Smith’s Boatyard. Tumua is the trusted blue-water vessel he sails on today.

In 2011, he sailed around New Zealand. In 2017, he sailed off again with a fleet of island cruisers, but he lost his mast, fortunately not far off New Zealand and motored home.

Three months later, he started out again to cruise around the Pacific from Vanuatu to the Solomon Islands, the Philippines, Japan, Hawaii and the Marquesas.

Two years later, he again sailed solo out of New Zealand waters, bound for Tonga and Samoa.

Along with the pleasures of his journeys, Beydals’ multiple Pacific trips have given him an insight into how the ocean is changing, and not for the better – no one could fail to notice the fall in sightings of marine life.

In 2020, he sailed around the North Island. His next big voyage, in 2022, was a departure from his previous forays into the warm Pacific Islands. Beydals sailed solo the 800 kilometres to the Chatham Islands.

He laughs to recall that trip, one that he’s unlikely to make again. It wasn’t that it was rough and cold much of the way – he was prepared for that. And the seabirds were a wonderful sight. But he found the Chathams themselves too barren and bleak. “To me the pub was the best thing about the place.” Anchored in a bay some distance from Chatham Island’s hotel, Beydals would hitchhike in every day and hope someone from the bar would drop him back at night.

“And there wasn’t a lot of traffic,” he chuckles.

All the solo trips aside, Beydals points out that he’s far from a loner. “I love social contact and I’ve got many great memories of sailing with other people. But on some of my voyages it seems to work best if I am on

This time, he has a little more modern gadgetry on Tumua. He’ll be in constant connection via an electronic tracking programme that shows his position and boat speed. And to travel through the dangerous pirate-infested waters of Indonesia, he will have a friend on board for a few weeks.

He says we’ll see him again down at the yacht club in two years. “We love living here.”

Do you know Patricia?

My Name is Winston Hills and I live in Perth, Western Australia.

I’m desperately searching for a lovely lady whose first name is Patricia and who is a lifelong friend of my brother, Frederick Maurice Hills. (Deceased)

I don’t actually know Patricia’s surname. I only know that she lives somewhere, possibly on a hill, in Takapuna or Devonport.

I don’t know her actual age either, but would respectfully say that she would be somewhere around eighty (80) years of age.

I ask that if anyone knows a lady with the first name Patricia who lives in the North Shore area, would they be so kind as to ask that person if she knows of Frederick Maurice Hills. (Pictured below.)

If you are able to find her, I would very much like her to make contact with me by my email, winstonhills2@bigpond.com or she can text me on +61 418 906 697 and I will give her a call.

I attach this photo of my brother Frederick holding our grandson that I hope is of assistance.

Thank you everyone in advance.

“I’m perfectly happy on my own. The days go by fast and there’s always plenty to do on a boat. But of course there are challenging times.”

Millions already spent on policy that could change

Cash-strapped Auckland Council has spent millions implementing government directives on greater intensification – which are now threatened by National’s rethink on the issue.

Labour and National joined forces in a bipartisan accord to pass a National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD) in 2022, which directed city councils to allow the building of three three-storey town houses on single sites in many suburbs.

Auckland Council was required by central government to implement changes to its planning rules to allow for the greater intensification.

At the end of last month, the external costs

for implementing the NPS-UD sat at $3.9 million, according to figures released to the Devonport Flagstaff under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act.

The bill includes legal, planning and other professional services, as well communications and engagement activities to inform Aucklanders about Proposed Plan Change 78 – Intensification, said Auckland Council general manager for plans and places, John Duguid.

However, the true amount of cost is likely to be millions more.

“Internal/staff costs for implementing the NPS-UD have been met within existing

budgets,” council said in reply to the Flagstaff.

The entire plan-change process has been complicated by the flood and cyclone damage across Auckland earlier this year.

The government has allowed a year’s deferral of the intensification plan changes while the damage and flood-prone implications to planning are accessed.

The intensification process has been muddied further by National saying it would be open to “sensible changes” to the housing accord after the election.

Many of its constituents in blue-chip suburbs were far from keen on town-house developments next door.

Heritage group wants Auckland exempted from intensification law

The government’s intensification plans appear to be gradually unravelling, according to Devonport Heritage.

In the first of three recent developments related to the issue, the government agreed to delay the implementation of intensification in Auckland for at least a year, due to flooding issues in the city.

Then the National Opposition withdrew its support for the Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS) legislation, which allows three houses of three storeys on all sites without resource consent.

Now two members have resigned from the Independent Hearings Panel appointed by Auckland Council to process Plan Change 78.

“It feels like the whole process is collapsing

to some extent, especially with regards to Auckland which already has enough zoning for 30 years of housing development in the Unitary Plan,” said Margot McRae, chairperson of Devonport Heritage.

The group has campaigned against the intensification legislation, which it says will create poor housing throughout the city and could destroy its heritage areas.

“We have worked hard on submissions to retain Devonport’s character area overlay, and we believe, like so many others, that the MDRS will not solve Auckland’s housing shortage,” McRae said. “After the flooding the MDRS was shown to be unworkable for Auckland. It’s ludicrous to cram more houses everywhere, which come with more concrete and roof runoff

and reduces trees and soakage areas.

“Do we really want to build houses that will cause misery for people when they flood?”

The legislation had always been wrong and it should be kicked out of Auckland altogether, she said. “Now is the time for very serious and robust investigations into where housing can safely be built with the necessary infrastructure. It is not the time to throw houses up everywhere in the city with no planning at all. If the city wants to provide more intensive housing, it needs more planning not less.”

McRae believes the legislation is out of tune with climate change and public opinion.

The only rational response to Auckland’s flooding risk is to remove the city from the MDRS, she said.

Council wants delay on push for Victoria Rd heritage status

Auckland Council is trying to block Devonport Heritage from presenting a Historic Heritage Area (HHA) proposal for Victoria Rd.

The heritage society included a proposal on an HHA for the main shopping area in its submission on changes to planning rules, but the council is trying to prevent it being presented.

“Essentially, the council is saying staff do not have enough time or resources to assess our proposal and it should be considered perhaps next year,” said

Devonport Heritage chair Margot McRae.

The society commissioned heritage and planning specialists to work on the proposal last year, and liaised closely with council heritage staff.

“The heritage staff fully back our HHA proposal, have praised our work and say Victoria Rd utterly deserves to be an HHA. But they say they still need to spend many hours checking and visiting Devonport,” she said.

The society believes now is the best chance for having the HHA approved and

is frustrated at the delay.

“We have essentially done their work for them. Staff advised us throughout and we closely followed their template, but council bureaucracy is threatening to delay it.”

The HHA for the Victoria Rd commercial area would raise its status to that of Karangahape Rd, Mt Eden Village and other officially recognised heritage areas.

“It is so obvious that Victoria Rd is equal to these places,” McRae said.

The full HHA proposal can be read at devonportheritage.net.

And Sid, what do you think about the Auckland Airport shares?

Devonport-Takapuna Local Board chair Toni van Tonder had a right-hand man offering key advice at a recent meeting.

Her son Sid (7), who was off school for a day, was alongside her at a board workshop last month.

Sid spent the morning quietly with his books and busy drawing, as the meeting proceeded.

Board meetings these days are often a mix of in-room and online appearances by staff and board members, with deputy chair Terence Harpur dialling in recently when he was at home with a sick baby.

NEW LISTING

Devonport 30 Mays Street

Central Devonport – views and lifestyle

Superbly located with breath-taking views from Whangaparaoa to the city, this contemporary family home must be seen. Now is your opportunity to enjoy as it is, renovate or demolish to build your dream home. The generous living rooms flow to wrap-around decks on both levels for easy access to the outdoors. You will love the cook’s kitchen which flows to the dining room, decks, gardens and a gazebo for sheltered private entertaining. A garage and carport provide storage, security and protection for your vehicles and there is an extra parking/turning space. You will love the privacy, sun, views, and lifestyle on offer in Devonport where you can walk to all amenities, and the ferry to the city is a 12-minute ride away. Excellent schools are close by. Don’t delay – view now.

bayleys.co.nz/1470617

3 3 2 1

Auction (unless sold prior)

1.30pm, Thu 29 Jun 2023

28 Northcroft Street, Takapuna, Auckland

View Sat/Sun 12.15-1pm

Lynda Betts 021 278 3024

lynda.betts@bayleys.co.nz

BAYLEYS REAL ESTATE LTD, DEVONPORT, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

bayleys.co.nz

Gas, gravel and horse racing – a centenarian

Long-time Devonport peninsula resident June Thomas, who recently turned 100, fondly remembers a Devonport much different to the one we know today.

Thomas and her three siblings moved to a gasworks house in Abbotsford Tce in 1926, when she was three years old. Her father was an engineer at the works, which closed in the early 1960s.

The houses in the street were gas-lit, and Thomas didn’t live in a house with hot water until she was 17.

Her father suffered burns in a fire at the works, and Thomas was always wary of the potential dangers of gas.

Doing their Devonport School homework at night, Thomas and her siblings would huddle around candles because her father didn’t want the gas on.

“The gas company house with no lights at night. Even though he worked at the gasworks, he was still frightened of gas.”

Generally, though, her memories are of a more carefree time, with roads less car-dominated.

Thomas and her sister would often bike to Albany, on gravel roads, including Lake Rd, to collect fallen apples from orchards.

She found plenty of ways to stay busy as a child – hiding under Devonport Wharf to watch the water froth as the boats came in, playing cricket in the street with other children from the neighbourhood and roller-skating down Lake Rd (after it had been concreted).

She used to walk from Devonport around the rocks and mangroves to Bayswater, where she would pay a penny to swim in the Bayswater Boating Club pool.

When the Waitemata Golf Course was a racecourse for horses and motorbikes, Thomas and her mates would sneak under the fence to find mushrooms and cash dropped by racegoers.

Thomas recalls the Victoria Theatre hosting a concert for children in which the Mickey and Minnie Mouse characters got married.

“Up on the stage the lights went on and it was just as if they were acting in the film. I always remembered it.”

She was part of an Akarana marching team and remembers visiting shops on Victoria Rd to get the silver buttons for her uniform coat.

When World War II started, Thomas’s father got a job as an engineer in the military and the family moved to a Navy house in Takapuna.

“We had electric lights and hot water – that was marvellous.”

Thomas had by then started work as a tailor in the city, making men’s suits, then officers’ uniforms in wartime.

She used to catch the bus from Takapuna to Devonport, then take the ferry to town.

Coming home, she often had to steer clear of American soldiers looking for company.

“We couldn’t go down Queen St because they’d say, ‘come to the pictures with me’ –

Happy couple... June and George Thomas on their wedding day on 16 September 1944

Birthday girl... June Thomas celebrated her 100th with a party at the Eversleigh Hospital in Belmont

looks back

you couldn’t get past them. When I knocked off work, I used to duck down High St and run all the way down to the ferry to get away from them.”

Thomas can remember fearing a Japanese invasion.

“We had blackout on the windows for the war. I used to pull them open and I always envisioned Japanese coming up the road from the beach.”

June Blake married Navy man George Thomas in 1944, when she was 21, and has since lived on the Devonport peninsula.

She had two children, Cherie and Jackqueline. Thomas moved into Eversleigh Hospital in 2018 and has recently been joined there by Jackqueline.

She can still be found taking daily walks around Hauraki and making regular visits to the hairdressers. She enjoys bingo nights at Eversleigh.

She has always exercised regularly and eaten well, but doesn’t believe there’s any secret to living to 100: “It just comes on you and all of a sudden it’s there.”

Stepping out... June Thomas (second from the left, middle row) and her Akarana marching teammates in 1939. Below: the gasworks and nearby houses on Abbotsford Tce, Devonport.

Tackle traffic woes with roundabouts and one-way streets

It might be time to consider having yellow no-parking lines on one side of every street in Devonport, Belmont and Takapuna.

Most of these roads were designed for quarter-acre sections with one-storey single houses on them, not the current proliferation of three-storey, multi-unit apartments and townhouses, etc.

Roads like Northboro Rd in Belmont are becoming an increasing nightmare to try and drive along. Traffic is increasingly banking up and nearly impossible to get through. Also, more vehicles are using these back roads as an alternative shortcut to an already very congested Lake Road.

At 3pm on most weekdays, traffic on Lake Rd is already banked up from the Belmont traffic lights to the golf course.

In addition, more and more boats, trailers and caravans are being permanently parked on the sides of these roads adding to the congestion.

In a major emergency, with the effects of

Letters to the Editor

We welcome letters on local issues that are not overly long. Noms-de-plume or unnamed submissions will not be printed.

climate change inevitable, it may be impossible for fire engines, ambulances and other emergency vehicles to get through.

There should be an immediate moratorium on all new building construction in Devonport, Belmont and Takapuna, and no new resource consents approved until a practical and financially viable solution to these traffic management problems is found, which will not be easy.

Auckland Council and its staff and mega-paid consultants, led by the eccentric Mayor Wayne Brown and the rest of our ineffective councillors, appears to be unable or not interested in trying to assess the cumulative effects of this high-density housing on traffic management.

This will be exacerbated when the 500 or so apartments and townhouses at Bayswater Marina come on stream.

By that time, the developer Simon Herbert will probably have disappeared over the horizon with a mega-multimillion-dollar profit, leaving the rest of us residents/mugs to try and

sort out the mess.

Time is of the essence.

1. Make aĺl the subsidiary feeder roads to Lake Rd a one-way system.

2. Design a traffic-light roading system like at Whangaparaoa Rd, where Lake Rd would have two lanes going from Devonport to Takapuna and one lane from Takapuna to Devonport in the morning peak hours, and the reverse in the afternoon peak hours.

3. To improve traffic flow, build roundabouts at the Lake Rd-Esmonde Rd, Lake Rd-Jutland Rd and Lake Road-Williamson Ave/Bayswater Ave intersections.

4. Get rid of the cycle lanes and redesign the footpaths between Devonport and Takapuna so half the footpath is for pedestrians and the other half for cyclists and scooters.

Having 50 years’ personal experience of the evolving current chaotic system, anything is worth a go instead of sitting on our hands for another 50 years just talking.

Bruce Tubb

Harmony Hall lease decision coming soon

A decision on the lease of Harmony Hall – the Wynyard St home of the Devonport Senior Citizens Association – is expected in the next couple of months.

The hall lease expired in July 2021, since when the association has been on a monthby-month lease.

The group’s new lease application has been assessed and a site visit undertaken last month, Auckland Council confirmed.

Council officers will be workshopping the new lease with the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board in July. A report will be presented to the board for a formal decision, council said.

North Shore out of Chatham Cup

North Shore United’s Chatham Cup football season ended on 3 June, with a 2-1 away loss to South Auckland Rangers.

Bodyline by Guy Body

Cloud looms over costly heritage assets

The high cost of maintaining heritage assets is weighing heavily on the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board.

It wants Auckland Council to more directly shoulder the burden for the likes of the Claystore in Devonport, the PumpHouse Theatre in Takapuna and Kennedy Park’s World War II-era military installations in Castor Bay.

As an area with a high number of heritage structures, the pressure about how to pay to maintain them has come to the fore due to council budget cuts and dealing with competing community needs.

“We’re in the unenviable position of having to make hard decisions as there’s not enough money to renew all our assets,” board chair Toni van Tonder said.

A public petition to save the heritage-listed Kennedy Park installations was launched this month after locals and military-history advocates were shocked to learn Auckland Council staff had presented options to the board, including closing military tunnels and demolishing a dilapidated barracks.

Van Tonder told the Flagstaff the board had a duty to manage its money to also provide for other well-used community assets in its area.

It had to look to the future as well, which in the case of fast-growing Takapuna includes its desire to provide a community hub.

At a board workshop last week on the final draft of the local board’s next threeyear plan, members identified managing the area’s heritage assets as a challenge.

Van Tonder said that was why she hoped the council’s governing body would recognise its case with a separate citywide heritage fund to help all boards that had assets of wider significance.

No decision had been made about Kennedy Park, she said, with board members asking staff for a lot more information.

But if the board spent the $1.5 million staff estimated tunnel repairs would cost, $1.8m to fully restore the barracks and also proceeded with a $1.2m spend it backed just two months ago to upgrade the Claystore, this “pretty much takes up Devonport-Takapuna’s whole annual budget for renewals – maybe a bit more”.

The Claystore community workshop at 25 Lake Rd is on a future works programme –yet to be adopted – for earthquake-strengthening and the addition of a mezzanine floor

to provide extra leasable space.

The Castor Bay Ratepayers and Residents Association and the Kennedy Park WWII Installations Trust say neglect of regular maintenance of the facilities over many years has compounded ageing issues there. Better promotion could also attract more visitors, as at Maungauika and Takarunga in Devonport, where the fortifications fall under the management of the Tūpuna Maunga Authority.

Trust chair Chris Owen says the Kennedy Park tunnels are not in as bad a shape as the fenced-off barracks building at 139 Beach Rd. This is believed to be the nation’s last remaining example of its type of military architecture of deception, with the structure having been designed to resemble a house.

As a bottom line, Owen – who runs monthly tours of the tunnels – wants the barracks exterior made watertight and for no action to be taken that would preclude preservation in the future if more money can be found.

Hamish Anderson, who chairs the ratepayers group, said the old barracks might become a useful emergency hub in an area without one.

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ACCOMMODATION

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Home wanted to rent. 2-3 bedroom, comfortable and clean, for local lady keen gardener. Please contact Alice, 021 989 002.

SERVICES OFFERED

Complete home maintenance by perfectionist boat builder/builders. Including rotten windows, doors, weather boards. Exterior/ interior. We also do shingles and shake replacement. Call Duane 027 488 5478.

FixIT Handyman - excellent work, practical budget, most jobs welcome, interior/exterior free quote. Josh 0212618322

SERVICES OFFERED

Need someone to feed your cat and other pets at your home while you’re away? I love animals and would love to help you! I am 12 years old and live in Devonport. I charge $5 per visit. Each visit I feed your pet and can play with them for about 10-15 minutes each visit if they are comfortable with me. I also send you pics of them so you don’t miss them too much! I always visit with one of my parents. Devonport only please! Text/call: 021-270-7677.

Painting and decorating. General property maintenance - reasonable rates. Ph Bernard 445 8816 or 021 0255 5456.

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CASH PAID FOR CARS * VANS * UTES * 4x4S x FORKLIFTS *TRUCKS & MOTO HOMES 0800 20 30 60 24/7.

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

Nigel Bioletti General & Fundraising Manager

Phone 027 445 6211

nigelbioletti@devonportpeninsulatrust.nz

Mihi mahana ki a koutou HŌTOKE/WINTER TAMARIKI PLAY

Every Tuesday 9:30 am to 11:30 am at Bayswater School Hall - started June 6th with 32 parents and children attending - marvellous, and continues until October.

MATARIKI

Go to the www.dpt.nz to view the activities and events scheduled for the Peninsula.

These activities and events are being funded by a number of organisations: largely, Auckland Council through the Devonport Takapuna Local Board; The Navy Museum of New Zealand; Devonport Business Association, and the Devonport Peninsula Trust, and involve many organisations on the peninsula. Our thanks also to Pub Charity, which has provided generous support for the Windsor Reserve event. Acknowledgements and sincere thanks to all parties.

COMMUNITY GATHERING WINDSOR RESERVE

JULY 15TH, FROM 5PM

This event was deliberately planned to enable older generation and less mobile folk to be part of Matariki. There will be a night market from 4pm - on the Wharves.

We hope that you can join in this celebration of Matariki, starting with a karakia, welcome, then a programme of waiata, including by the Community Kapa Haka group, dance, lantern parade, stories - we want the community to be If you or your children would like to present, please email abby@dpt.nz

MID-WINTER DIP

Can we make it to 350 people taking the plunge?? Sunday June 25th at 11:30 at Windsor Reserve beach (register there from 11:00 am, or register any time on www.dpt.nz)

Hot soup afterwards, generously provided by the team at ‘The Officers’ Mess’, or a sausage sizzle - support our Scouts. Get the family together, make a splash!

Sponsors - Our ‘thanks to Alex, at EasyPC www.easypc.co.nz

shorejobs

shore

For more information visit: westlakegirls.school.nz/open-night

20 years ago from the Flagstaff files

• North Shore United holds a crunch meeting over proposals to scrap the national league, which would send the club into relative obscurity.

• North Shore Rugby Club’s premier side wins its first play-off game to notch five wins on the trot, with Luke Dodderell, Craig Newby, Ben Meyer, Justin Pohipi and Phil Weedon putting in top performances.

• A Save the Cinema fancy-dress ball is to be held at the Devonport Community House.

• Police are searching for a middle-aged man who exposed himself to a 12-yearold on Cambria Rd.

• A Devonport Connections exhibition is held at the Flagstaff gallery featuring artists Cynthia Taylor, Joan Taylor, Mary Taylor, Julia Henderson, Anna Palmer, Ted Sherwin and Garry Currin. Works by Helen Pollock, Justine Pollock and Garry Nash are also on show.

• Schools have been given advice on educating students about stranger

danger after a man offered a six-year-old Belmont Primary student a lift.

• Devonport peninsula schools clean up in the North Shore interschool chess competition. Two Belmont teams take the top two positions in the Intermediate section, while the Vauxhall Kasparovs and the Hauraki Bishops were placed first and second respectively in the Primary competition.

• Sawyer Real Estate becomes Chris Rogers Real Estate.

• The idea of a midwinter heritage festival in Devonport fails to gain traction.

• Resource consent has been granted for stage three of a Takarunga tunnel restoration.

• A refurbished villa on Patuone Ave is on the market for $635,000.

• Vauxhall School’s Travelwise programme wins a Ministry for the Environment Award.

• Devonport photographer Amos Chapple wins Young Photographer of the Year at

the national Qantas Media Awards. His portfolio includes a shot of champion windsurfer Tom Ashley, which was published in the Devonport Flagstaff.

• Emergency meetings are held to decide the future of the ailing Moreton Bay Fig tree located outside Devonport Library.

• A clam shell, a whale or a beached-ship design were the concepts for a Bayswater ferry terminal put to the Devonport Community Board by architecture firm Archmedia.

• Mother and son Rafael and Andrea Hammond will hold a joint exhibition at the Depot.

• Eels are found in Stanley Point drains – indicating good stream health.

• The Devonport midwinter swim has been running for five years, organised by student Aja Lethaby.

• Father and son halfbacks Ross and Sam Chapman face off in the annual Takapuna Grammar Old Boys vs First XV match over Queen’s Birthday weekend.

THE NAVY COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER

NAVY PERSONNEL PART OF HISTORY AT CORONATION

In front of the eyes of the world, seven Royal New Zealand Navy personnel marched among a New Zealand Defence Force contingent through central London as part of the historic Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III on Saturday May 6.

The 20-strong New Zealand contingent marched alongside members of the UK Armed Forces and personnel from across the Commonwealth in the return processions from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace. More than 7000 personnel from 40 nations were involved in the spectacle.

NZDF Contingent Commander Major Mike Beale said it was a pleasure to have led the young and diverse group from Navy, Army and Air Force.

“The professionalism demonstrated by our hosts in preparing for a parade of such a scale has been of the highest level, mixed with good humour. The professionalism of the Commonwealth

troops from 40 countries, all with slight variations in their drill, has enabled us to achieve a standard befitting of being at the head of the procession.”

Able Weapon Technician James Strachan said he was incredibly grateful

to have his own chance to interact with royalty.

“It was a privilege to take part in an event of this magnitude and importance. It is something that I will remember for life.”

Devonport Naval Base security reminder – for the safety of the community please take care and remain outside the 60-metre perimeter of the Naval Base at all times. This includes when swimming, diving, kayaking, fishing and sailing.

Congratulations? Thanks? Problems? Complaints?

DEVONPORT NAVAL BASE TEL 445 5002

Takapuna Grammar

SCHOOL NEWS

2023 Ka - hui Ako COL - Hui Whakarauora

The Takapuna-Devonport Ka - hui Ako held its annual conference on Friday 2 June. It was the fifth conference this local community of learners has held since its establishment in 2016. The event was called Hui Whakarauora and its theme was ‘Refresh’, referring to the curriculum refresh that is happening from primary through to highschool education in New Zealand.

Over 300 delegates attended the conference at Takapuna Grammar School where teachers and invited guests held workshops and presentations. Andrew Baker (Te Arawa, Ta - wharetoa, Irish and Scottish descent), Takapuna Grammar’s Board Chair and cultural strategist of Tika Learning was the guest speaker. He entertained the audience with stories from his own schooldays, when his learning journey was steered by significant, transformational teachers.

Scan this QR code to watch the welcoming video created by Year 12 students Reuben Brunton and Cruz O’Connor-Hood.

FROM THE SPORTS DESK...

Sascha Letica competed in the College Sport Auckland Cross Country Championships in the Senior Girls race, the penultimate event of the day. Sascha repeated her recent victory at the NW Cross Country Zone Day with a solid performance, winning by over 15 seconds on a very challenging and technical course that had everything –

JUNE 16, 2023

Pou Blessing

On Wednesday 31 May, the school held a whakawatea (blessing) for our new pou. The newly installed Whanau House Art Installations were designed by renowned Contemporary Ma - ori and Ta - moko artist Ben Thomason (Tainui Waka).

The purpose of these displays, which are located around the Student Services courtyard, is to further enhance biculturalism, engage our students and promote school culture and House pride. The lights are on display 24 hours a day and can be altered to suit occasions such as Waitangi Day and Matariki. We welcome you to come and view the pou after school hours. Once the sun has set, they take on an amazing glow, brightening up this once dimly lit area. We look forward to featuring them in our upcoming Matariki celebration of light and stars.

TGS Cabaret - A Celebration of Student Talent

from very wet, muddy and slippery underfoot conditions, to multiple twisty turns and steep hill-climb sections, and even a steeple jump to negotiate in the mix!

Congratulations also to Teo Besier for coming first in the Junior Boys Indoor Boulder Series event and Barney Gould coming third in the Senior Boys.

Take a Virtual Tour of our School

We are excited to announce the launch of our new virtual-tour tool, which allows parents to explore our school campus from the comfort of their own homes. With this innovative tool, parents can navigate through the various classrooms, facilities and grounds of our school using their computer or mobile device. This tool will provide an immersive and interactive experience for parents to get a first-hand look at the school campus and all it has to offer. We hope that this tool will help parents get a better understanding of our school and its resources. We encourage all parents to take advantage of this exciting new feature and experience our school like never before. Simply scan the QR code with your mobile phone camera.

The 2023 Takapuna Grammar Cabaret was a fantastic showcase of our students’ talents –the varied lineup included dancers, singers, instrumentalists and rock bands. The annual event, which is organised by the studentled Performing Arts Council, is a wonderful opportunity for students from all year levels to gain performance experience and to show off what they’ve been working on. It’s also a brilliant way to share the talent and culture of our Performing Arts department with the parents, students and members of the community who come along to watch. We can’t wait to do it all again next year!

New play ideas could be as easy as falling off a log

Jacquelyn Collins is a woman on a mission – to make children’s play more adventurous and less managed.

The Auckland Council play-advocacy adviser is asking local boards across the city to support a new approach, and says Devonport already boasts good examples.

These include swings on street trees, tree houses and opportunities for children to climb and jump in public spaces.

Encouraging children to play freely is a good thing, she says.

It also keeps them engaged in play longer, whereas older children soon outgrow most standard council playgrounds.

Introducing traditional Māori play elements into public parks is another idea she supports to engage people in having fun and being active.

Collins says leaving the likes of a fallen tree to climb on in a council reserve is another example of the sort of lower-cost option she has been trialling, albeit with the tree trimmed for safety’s sake. This was being piloted elsewhere on the North Shore, she told the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board at a workshop last month.

Collins would like the design of public spaces to be done in a way that children can enjoy.

The area outside Devonport library, provided a fine example of how this could be done, she said, with a sculpture of Benjamin, the late library cat, being something that would draw children’s attention and the seating nearby robust enough to be climbed and walked on.

Another example was in Sunnynook, where a community project had painted

Branching out... Some of the driftwood piled up recently in Windsor Reserve would seem to fit the bill for the kinds of low-cost options advocated by council play advisor Jacquelyn Collins

hopscotch squares on a footpath, using te reo to denote numbers.

Other more ambitious ideas she wants to encourage include ‘play streets’ where, with the approval of authorities, streets are temporarily closed and games and activities, set up to encourage community get-togethers.

The concept was successfully trialled in 2021, with guidelines from Waka Kotahi, and Auckland Transport is looking into further pilots.

Board members praised Collins for her enthusiasm and expressed interest in some of the ideas.

But they questioned whether play streets might be costly because of transport-management requirements.

Board member Mel Powell also encouraged Collins to look at how various non-Western cultures liked to play to see if this was another opportunity to add diverse appeal.

It was agreed that Collins would come back to the board later in the year to talk about more opportunities in its area.

The board wanted a clear understanding of who would do any work it authorised in local parks.

Domain eyed for Maori style of play

The Devonport Domain playground opposite Torpedo Bay is a likely candidate for more Ma-ori play elements.

Devonport-Takapuna Local Board chair Toni van Tonder says the site is important to iwi, having once been the location of a papaka-inga, and they will be consulted in efforts to restart a stalled project to renew old play equipment.

The location would be a great opportunity to host equipment with a kaupapa, she said.

“The nice thing about traditional Maori play is it’s about ways to challenge – to balance, leap and climb to get strength and skill.”

Because the site requires archaeological supervision, a ‘no dig’ approach will likely be adopted there, she says. This is similar to what occurs on local maunga, which are under Tu-puna Maunga Authority (TMA)management. “They use screw piles, rather than digging in posts, so they can be screwed out again.”

Devonport Domain the likely site of new play style

Van Tonder, who is on the TMA board, wants to improve local-board relationships with local iwi. Board staff have previously indicated a poor relationship has been a reason for lack of progress in getting work at the

domain, and some other sensitive sites, underway.

The condition of the popular playground, especially the foundations of its climbing equipment, has been raised at the board several times in the last few years.

Young basketballers learn the drills at TGS camp

The Takapuna Grammar (TGS) girls premier basketball team recently hosted a skills camp for primary and intermediate school girls to raise money for a potential nationals campaign.

Following their promotion to the premier Auckland division this season, the TGS team has its sights set on the National Secondary Schools tournament in Palmerston North in September.

Though it will have to first qualify, it made an early start to fundraising for the trip, with the all-girls camp on 2 June.

Twelve primary-school girls attended a morning session at the TGS gym, and 24 intermediate girls attended in the afternoon.

Premier player Manaia Watson told the Flagstaff that there were plenty of keen female basketballers at Belmont Intermediate School (BIS) and local primary schools.

She said the girls who attended would take confidence from learning skills alongside other young female players from the area.

Above (clockwise from top): Victoria Wright, Anika Savon, Aurelia Heinrich, Frankie Morrison, Zara Kozenof and Ivy Cooper enjoy a rest between drills. And at right (top from left) Leah Rahmfeld, Selena Huang, Ulani Heather Krishnan and Ruby Lawton were among the BIS girls at the camp, which included dribbling relays, shooting drills and one-on-one games.

TGS dancers drink in sweet success

Maria Teape Community Coordinator

WHAT’S ON @ Devonport Library

Tēnā koutou katoa

Thank you all for the wonderful response we have had to our children’s and adult’s events throughout the past month. We have had some very special days and evenings with stories, poems and songs filling this, our community living room, with amazing people and warm community connections.

June will now be a quieter month for library events as we all prepare for a hugely busy July to come. On Tuesday 27 June at 7pm, we look forward to the Devonport Library Associates next evening event. A date for your diary as the speaker/author will be announced soon and we expect a great response.

In July, we are very excited to be contributing to the Mataraki celebrations and commemorations in Devonport. It will coincide with the library’s school-holiday programme, which is also Matariki themed, so expect a variety of activities for tamariki, story readings and much much more!

Please follow our Facebook page, the Devonport Peninsula Trust’s website and look for the flurry of posters around the library. The school-holiday programme will also feature the Beanstack online reading and activity challenge for children to encourage our tamariki to keep up their reading habits over the holidays. This opens on the first day of the school holidays in July.

The regular preschool children’s events will continue till the school holidays begin.

Storytime 10am Mondays, Rhymetime 10am Thursdays, Wriggle and Rhyme 10am Fridays and the ever-popular Lego Club for school-aged tamariki at 3:30pm on Thursdays. You can spot some of their amazing creations on display. And don’t forget to tell your elderly or frail family and neighbours that there is a Community House van that will pick them up from their home and bring them to and from the library on Thursday afternoons. We will serve them a cuppa at the fireside on the comfy sofas and help them with any library needs. Just call 09 445 3068 to book and it will only cost $2:00. See you soon. Ma

Takapuna Grammar School’s Cactus dance company enjoyed major successes at the National Dance Challenge held over King’s Birthday weekend. The student-led team came first in the Jazz category and second in the Contemporary category.

The competition is for schools and independent troupes, competing in different dance genres. The schools this year were mostly from Auckland, but dancers from across the country competed in the Troupe and Solo categories.

Cactus co-leader Hayley Macduff told the Flagstaff she felt “pretty amazing” about the team’s efforts. “I’m super-happy with how we did, really proud of my team.”

The year 13 student said that the team had beaten schools it had finished behind in previous competitions.

Hayley and the other two leaders choose the songs Cactus dance to, come up with the

choreography, refine it and then teach it to the team.

Hayley said being student-led allows the team to be more open with collaboration and helps create a no-judgment environment, as everyone is on an equal level. “It keeps a very relaxed vibe and makes the team closer I think.”

Cactus rehearses twice a week and has recently been taking advantage of the secondary-school teacher strikes by practising on the days when classes were cancelled.

Hayley said it can be a challenge to practise both jazz and contemporary dance genres, as they have different “vibes” and manners of presentation, but the relaxed environment helps the dancers work together and cope.

The team now shifts its focus to the Dance NZ Made Auckland regionals in August, when a top-two finish will qualify them for nationals.

BALL SEASON IS UPON US

63 Victoria Rd, Devonport 09 445 8350 devonportflowers.co.nz

Enrolment for Out of Zone Students for 2019

ENROLMENTS FOR TERM 3 2023

Enrolment for Out of Zone Students for 2019

Devonport Primary School invites applications for out of zone enrolments in Years 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 for 2019

Applications close: 17th Oct

Ballot Date (if required) - 24th Oct

Devonport Primary operates an enrolment scheme, details are available from the school office. Applications for out-of-zone places, across all ages, are invited for admission from 17 July to 22 September 2023, with a deadline of 16 July. If required, a ballot will be held, and parents notified on 17 July. Multiple out-of-zone enrolment ballots may be held throughout 2023.

Devonport Primary School invites applications for out of zone enrolments in Years 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 for 2019

Please contact the school for application forms, or an opportunity to visit 445 0183

Applications close: 17th Oct

office@devonport school nz www devonportschool nz

Ballot Date (if required) - 24th Oct

If planning to enrol later in 2023 please contact the school as soon as possible to assist our planning.

Please contact the school for application forms, or an opportunity to visit.

Beautiful floral corsages, buttonholes and hairpieces available for pre-order now.

Celebrating their win... Cactus dance team (left to right). Front row: Heidi Cairncross and Hayley Macduff. Middle row: Abigail Goosen, Samantha Lathwood, Audrey Roberts, Jasmine Pausch, Naomi Lamb, Ava Cairns and Nia Mcdonald. Back row: Jaimiee Nimmo, Sophie Bridge, Sahra Leybourne, Brodie Crowther, Reese Thomas, Jessica Lathwood and Lila Muramoto.

Rose Centre launches new ‘art space’

The Rose Centre in Belmont is moving into the fine-arts world, creating a new space for local artists to display their works.

It opened the art space last week with the aim of becoming known as a multi-purpose community space. It already operates as a community centre, theatre and preschool facility.

Operations manager Geoff Allen told the Flagstaff the art space was “adding another string to our bow”.

The space would “support what local artists are already doing”, he said.

The centre didn’t want to compete with the Depot Artspace or Lake House Arts, but intends to complement them.

He said artists have autonomy on how they want to present their works, if they want to sell them and any other aspects they want to incorporate in their display.

The space will be free to hire. Displays will be up for two to four weeks.

The first artist featured is Belmont resident Lily Kaukau, who is exhibiting a series of digital prints created over the last three years.

She uses a contemporary Māori art style to depict themes such as finding your identity in a modern world and identity within mixed cultures.

Kaukau was first introduced to the opportunity of displaying her art at the Rose Centre’s Aroha Festival in April, where she had a stall showcasing her works for sale.

After being approached to be the first artist to feature at the space, Kaukau gladly accepted and is looking forward to seeing how the space is used in the future.

“I think it’s awesome. It’ll be cool to see who’s next.”

Kaukau works at the Depot Artspace during the day, and in her free time sells her designs and art through an online shop.

For more information or to book the exhibition space, contact hello@rosecentre.co.nz.

Lily Kaukau at the Aroha Festival in April, selling her digital art prints, which can also be found on her online shop

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