Father and daughter share lofty basketball plans... p8
Interview: community hub creator John Raeburn... p22
Iwi seeks council okay for 44-home project
A “pocket community” of 44 homes for Navy personnel is planned in Bayswater.
Under plans lodged with Auckland Council, the development on Portsmouth St, off Roberts Rd, would be built for the Defence Force by landowner Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei.
An “integrated housing proposition”– a
group of homes, from two to four bedrooms, was the aim for the cul-de-sac, the iwi said in a consent application.
The land, at 1-8 Portsmouth St, is now vacant and fenced. Previously, it had older-style stand-alone state homes.
Similar homes on nearby streets are cur-
rently leased back to the Navy.
Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, which obtained its Devonport Peninsula land-holdings in a Treaty settlement, said the Portsmouth St consent had been lodged as part of preparatory work by its commercial
To page 7
Taste of success: Local couple win food award
Vutter victory… A vegan butter created by Devonport residents Patrick Malloch and Aline Fonseca (pictured with Professor Giselle Byrnes, at right ) won the supreme prize at the New Zealand Food Awards last week. Story, page 3.
Bunker repairs ‘should be maintenance priority’
The Bunker on Takarunga should be repaired sooner rather than later, says Devonport Heritage.
The group’s chair, Margot McRae, met with Tūpuna Maunga Authority (TMA) personnel last week about issues on Takarunga including the poor state of the Bunker, as outlined in the 4 October Flagstaff.
“I impressed upon them that the longer these items are left unmaintained, the harder and more expensive it is to repair them. I’m confident they are well aware of the need to make repairs to the Bunker and they are in touch with the Folk Club on the matter."
Home to the Devonport Folk Club for more than 50 years, the Bunker is a nationally and internationally known music venue.
The TMA has a maintenance budget for the historic military features on the maunga and it seems that assessments just need to be done and the work carried out, McRae said.
“Devonport Heritage will be keeping a
Free film at the Vic
The Vic is putting on a free film to celebrate its 112th anniversary this month.
Entry will be free to a 26 October screening of 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz, featuring the legendary performance by Judy Garland.
On the Vic’s opening day on 26 October 1912, the owner John Bennell screened a free silent movie. “We thought a free film so many years later is a great way to celebrate that the oldest cinema in the country is still going strong,” said Vic Theatre Trust co-chair Margot McRae. She is also going to be filming on the day for a documentary about the theatre.
Bookings are required for the free 3pm screening. See thevic.co.nz.
Costly... repair work to the Bunker could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars
watching brief on the issue of preserving these historic military placements on both Devonport’s maunga.”
The Flagstaff story included details of consultants’ reports dating back several
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years, revealing maintenance and building defects which needed addressing urgently. If nothing was done immediately costs could balloon to more than $500,000, the reports said.
New World owner checking out
Long-time Devonport New World owner John Ashton is retiring next year.
Locals have contacted the Flagstaff about the news and Ashton confirmed he was leaving, “but not till next year, in August 2025”.
“I am letting customers know in person in-store as they are shopping,” he said.
Ashton took over the business from Blue Secker in 2000. Since then the supermarket building on Bartley Tce has undergone major renovations and refurbishment.
The New World chain operates under the Foodstuffs umbrella, but each store is run by independent owner-operators.
The Flagstaff asked Foodstuffs about any plans for the Devonport store after Ashton’s departure, but had not received a response by deadline.
Authorised by Hon Simon Watts, Parliament Buildings, Wgtn.
Bowing out… John Ashton
Albert Rd experiments lead to foodie triumph
A vegan butter that had its origins in a Devonport home kitchen won the supreme prize at the New Zealand Food Awards last week.
Vutter Avo Spreadable took the award over some food-world heavyweights – including Edmonds Baking Powder – much to the surprise of makers Aline Fonseca and Patrick Malloch.
“What just happened?” Fonseca said, still in shock, when the Flagstaff arrived for an interview on Monday.
The couple, under their company Feliz Wholefoods Ltd, were finalists in the artisan and chilled foods sections. They missed out on the artisan prize and had almost forgotten the chilled foods nomination when their name flashed up on screen as winners.
“We were celebrating the win in the chilled food section... then we won the supreme award, which blew us away,” Malloch said. “We did not expect it at all.”
Category winners had included Edmonds Baking Powder, which took out the lifetime award section.
Before developing Vutter, Fonseca and Malloch had been eating a plant-based diet for around eight years. They found they really missed butter. Fonseca, a chef, originally from Brazil, started experimenting in her Albert Rd kitchen and Vutter was born.
The couple first set up a “lab” in a food truck and later used a commercial kitchen before opening their own operation in Barry’s Point Rd.
The business is still very small-scale. Friends were co-opted to move in a chiller.
Malloch, who works full time as an architect, built the kitchen and is in charge of manufacturing.
Fonseca works full-time in the business, doing pretty much everything else, including sales, orders and marketing.
The couple have had mentoring advice
from industry experts. “But we still do everything ourselves,” Malloch said.
They have taken a ‘bootstrapping’ approach, building their business from scratch without seeking investment.
They still produce their original Vutter, but developed Vutter Avo Spreadable in 2023 to suit the New Zealand market. Both products are now made using avocado and coconut oils.
“It’s the only butter product in New Zealand made without seed oil,” says Malloch.
From small beginnings the couple are now producing more than 1000kg of the product
per month, selling it at shops and supermarkets across New Zealand, and online.
Vutter made its debut in Devonport New World supermarket last month.
While the couple hope the business is a success, their primary motivation is the pursuit of environmental goals. “Vutter has a quarter the carbon footprint of margarine and butter, and its nutritional properties are incredible,” Malloch said.
“It’s not about making people feel bad, its giving them an alternative.”
The award prize package includes access to industry consultants at Massey University.
Spread the word… Aline Fonseca and Patrick Malloch started making Vutter in their Devonport kitchen in 2020
Local cricketers win places in top Auckland teams
Three North Shore cricketers have Auckland contracts for the 2024-25 season.
Schoolgirl spin bowler Rishika Jaswal will play for the Auckland Hearts, while Jock McKenzie and Simon Keene have made the Auckland Aces squad.
Jaswall was also recently named in Cricket New Zealand’s women’s development squad.
Rishika has been in the Takapuna
Grammar School first XI since Year 9 and was joint secondary schools’ player of the national Gillette Venus Cup tournament last summer.
The leg spinner was called up to play for the Hearts – the premier women’s Auckland side – seven times last season.
She recently played for a national under-19 side in a tri-series against Australia and Sri Linka in Brisbane and the Gold
Coast.
She is thought to be in the box-seat for selection for the U19 Women’s T20 World Cup being played in Malaysia in January.
McKenzie, a promising rugby player who played a few matches for the Auckland Blues in 2023, seems to have chosen cricket as his prime sport.
Keene meanwhile is into his second season with the Auckland Aces.
North Shore club taps into overseas experience
With seven players returning from playing in Europe during the southern winter, North Shore Cricket Premiers are set to hit the ground running in the 2024-25 season, which starts tomorrow at Devonport Domain.
Shore play Auckland University in a two-day match beginning at 11am.
North Shore won the Auckland premiership in 2022-23 for the first time in 35 years.
But it struggled for the first half of last season, after key players left and weather disrupted many games. It finished in the middle of the table in the two-day, one-day and T-20 competitions.
Shore coach Chris Reid was “optimistic” that the side was stronger and better placed for a good start to 2024-25.
“With seven players returning from playing abroad, they will have form under their belt or reps under their belts... rather than going straight into the season from the winter like many other players.
“I’ve never started a season with so many players coming in from off-seasons overseas,” said Reid, who is in his seventh year as Premiers coach.
Five players had been playing in England and two in the Netherlands.
Aditya Dhadwal will captain Shore in the two-day competition, while Will Clarke will lead the side in the one-day and 20/20 matches.
Rory Bessall, one of Shore’s best bowl-
ers, will return for this weekend’s match, and Max Clarke will be back for the second round, Reid said.
He was optimistic that contracted Auckland Aces players Jock McKenzie and Simon Keene would be available for some matches at least early in the season.
The side has been further boosted by three overseas imports: Dan O’Driscoll and Alby Stevens (both from England) and Juandre Johnson (South Africa), all batsmen.
In a pre-season game, North Shore beat Suburbs New Lynn in a 20/20 match, chasing down Suburbs’ 140 in 15 overs.
Last weekend, the side was in Napier for a 20/20 tournament, winning three of their four games.
Shore beat Havelock North, Napier Old Boys Marist and Hutt District Cricket Club, but lost to Napier Tech.
Reid said Shore would continue with its philosophy of playing the best cricket possible, rather than focusing solely on winning.
If the “processes and procedures” were in place to create an excellent side, success on the scoreboard would follow, he said.
White ball captain…Will Clarke will lead Shore in the one day and T-20 competitions
Population falls in many local neighbourhoods
Newly-released census figures show many Devonport peninsula suburbs are declining in population.
Central Devonport’s population dropped by 5 per cent, from 3348 residents in 2018 to 3180 in 2023. Between 2013 and 2018, the population fell by 1.9 per cent.
Cheltenham had the biggest drop in population – 5.7 per cent – going from 2,013 residents in 2018 to 1,899 in 2023. The suburb’s population declined by 2.9 per cent between 2013 and 2018.
Stanley Point fell from 2,025 residents in 2018 to 1,977 in 2023, a 2.4 per cent drop. The decline between 2013 and 2018 was 0.7 per cent.
Bayswater had a 4.3 per cent decrease, from 2,865 residents in 2018 to 2,742 in 2023. The suburb’s population increased by 1.5 percent between 2013 and 2018.
Belmont’s population decreased from a 2018 total of 3,027 to 3,012 in 2023, a 0.5 per cent drop. Belmont had a 2.7 per cent increase in population from 2013-2018.
Narrow Neck, Hauraki and Takapuna South bucked the trend.
Narrow Neck’s population rose by 7.8 per cent between 2018 and 2023, from 4,098 residents to 4,416.
The suburb grew by 2.9 per cent between 2013 and 2018.
Hauraki grew from 4,131 residents in 2018 to 4,371 in 2023, a 5.8 per cent hike. A 4.1 per cent increase was recorded between 2013 and 2018.
Takapuna South increased its population from 2,130 in 2018 to 2,169 in 2023, a 1.8 per cent increase. The suburb’s population grew by 3.2 per cent between 2013 and 2018.
The peninsula has become more diverse over the past six years, with minority populations increasing, census data shows.
Between 2018 and 2023 the Māori population in Devonport increased by 13.8 per cent to 198, with rises also recorded in Cheltenham (up 23.5 per cent to 126), Stanley Point (21.6 per cent to 186), Narrow Neck (15.6 per cent to 312), Hauraki (15.9 per cent to 285) and Takapuna South (27 per cent to 141).
Only Bayswater and Belmont recorded lower Māori population levels than in 2018.
Pasifika populations increased to 90 in Devonport, a 20 per cent rise, with increases also recorded in Stanley Point (64.3 per cent to 69), Narrow Neck (52 per cent to 114), Belmont (9.5 per cent to 138), Hauraki (42.4 per cent to 141) and Takapuna South by (58.3 per cent to 57).
Devonport, Stanley Point, Narrow Neck, Belmont, Hauraki and Takapuna South all had increases in Asian population numbers, the largest being in Stanley Point, which had a 44.4 per cent increase to 117.
Hauraki has the largest Asian population, at 1122 with Belmont (669) and Narrow Neck (489) following.
The ethnic group taking in Middle Eastern, Latin American and African people increased by 133.3 per cent in Cheltenham, to 42, also rising in Devonport, Stanley Point, Narrow Neck, Bayswater, Belmont and Hauraki.
Hauraki has the largest population of that ethnic group, with 150.
All suburbs except for Hauraki and Narrow Neck recorded a decrease in European population, the largest drop being in Cheltenham, where it fell by 6.3 per cent.
• The Devonport-Takapuna Local Board (DTLB) area’s population grew by just 0.1 per cent, to 58,005, in the five years to 2023.
Most growth appears to have been in the northern areas of Forrest Hill, west Takapuna, Milford and Sunnynook.
Community invited to help peninsula trust set future course
A meeting to discuss results from a recent community survey by Te Hau Kapua Devonport Peninsula Trust is being held this Sunday 20 October at Holy Trinity Church hall. Findings will be presented and participants will help the trust decide its future focus. Broadly,
SET SAIL FOR FREE EXPLORE WYNYARD QUARTER
the survey found people valued peninsula life and were keen on events. Details can be read online and people are invited to RSVP at events@dpt.nz to come along at 2.30pm to share their views. Bring a plate for a shared afternoon tea.
Free ferry service
Now operating every day from 7am between the Maritime Museum and the Viaduct Events Centre.
Housing for Navy to be mix of shapes and sizes
From page 1
arm, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Whai Rawa.
The company recently gained consent to build a further 17 private homes at Rutherford St in Belmont, in what would be a further stage of its Oneoneroa development.
“In both cases, we currently have no confirmed plans to proceed with the build,” the company’s general manager of property, Neil Donnelly, told the Flagstaff. “However, having the consent in place allows us the flexibility to respond to market improvements when the time is right.”
Donnelly said the vision for the Bays -water site aligned with its previous work at Oneoneroa to deliver architecturally designed, premium-quality townhouses that integrated with the surrounding community and amenities.
“As we move into more detailed design and if we decide to progress with construction, we would be happy to share our plans with the wider community,” he said.
The application, which will be considered by council planners, shows images of mostly two-storey terraced homes.
Dwellings will range in size, from 90sqm to 158sqm. Off-street parking and bike storage is provided.
Rooflines of various heights and a range of building materials feature to provide
visual variety.
The Defence Force told the Flagstaff it leases 123 houses from Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei (Whai Rawa Property Holdings LP) in Devonport and Bayswater.
Fill your boots – Woolworths starts work on Lake Rd site
Early works are underway at the new Woolworths ‘direct-to-boot’ facility on Lake Rd. Robert Cunningham Construction has been appointed as the building partner for the project.
“We hope to open in the first half of next year,” said Woolworths New Zealand’s director of property, Matthew Grainger. It will be New Zealand’s first standalone direct-to-boot facility – allowing customers to order online and then pick up their goods from the site.
Customers will drive in and Woolworths staff will put the groceries straight into their car boot.
“We have launched our direct-to-boot service in a number of supermarkets around New Zealand, but this will be the first example of a standalone facility with no supermarket attached,” Grainger said
The service means Woolworths customers will no longer have to drive up Lake Rd to the firm’s stores at Hauraki Corner or Takapuna.
Navy homes... An artist’s impression of the new housing (above) and its Bayswater Peninsula site (below)
More b’ball glory beckons for gun Bayswater duo
Bayswater father and daughter Judd and Bailey Flavell already share the honour of wearing the black singlet, but both are looking ahead to building on their already standout basketball successes.
For Bailey, a 17-year-old Takapuna Grammar School (TGS) student who debuted for the Tall Ferns this year, the journey to cement a career at elite level is just beginning. For Judd – announced as Tall Blacks coach this month – the aim is to steer the national men’s side back towards the sort of success it enjoyed in his playing days.
Talking to the Flagstaff at the family home, their supportive relationship is clearly a lot about enjoying chill time when their schedules coincide, although there’s always been a hoop in the front yard for fitting in some skills sessions.
“I think she’s probably succeeded far beyond [what] I did at that age,” says Bailey’s proud father.
“She loves playing and she loves the opportunity and success along with it, and I’m there nudging, not pushing.”
It’s a bit like his measured approach to coaching, honed in 13 seasons as an assistant at the New Zealand Breakers in the Australian NBL and then for a Melbourne side for three years until Covid struck, before returning home.
“It was a good time to come back and get the kids in school and then Canterbury got in touch.”
In 2023 and 2024 he has split his time between home and Christchurch, leading the Canterbury Rams to consecutive national titles. That record helped secure Flavell a four-year contract as national coach.
Bailey, who will soon finish Year 13, before taking up a US college scholarship at the University of Hawaii next July, is also playing the long game.
Ultimately, the shooting guard wants to
lock in a professional career overseas and be a Tall Ferns regular. She has played for her country and North Harbour through the age groups and is currently turning out for Northern Kahu for a second season in the professional Tauihi women’s national league.
She says her Tall Ferns debut in Mexico in July was “very intense”, as is playing for titleholder Kahu.
Aside from national selection, one of Bailey’s biggest satisfactions has been her
contribution at TGS. This season, she shot a game high 68 points in the Auckland premier schools competition.
The TGS premier girls’ team placed fifth at the national secondary school finals in Christchurch this month, with Bailey named in the tournament Top Five.
She also played for the national U17 side this year and travelled to the annual Basketball without Borders camp of 60 of the best young male and female prospects from the Asia Pacific region, making that camp’s top
In the blood... Bailey and father Judd Flavell both have big new basketball goals to aim for
Eyes on the prize... Having played for her country, Bailey Flavell has her sights set on a professional career and a regular place in the Tall Ferns female selection as well.
This was the third year in a row that TGS qualified to compete at nationals and while Westlake Girls High School won the title – for the third year in a row – Bailey was happy to contribute in an underdog side rather than regret not enrolling at Westlake. “It was a better opportunity to create a strong team,” she said.
Her father agrees, rating the development of basketball at TGS highly in recent years. “For Bailey, on the personal side, the responsibility she had to carry was great, to push harder in a team that needed more.”
Showing mental toughness and developing and refining skills was the key for all aspiring top players, he said. “That’s what makes athletes.”
Flavell played 38 games for the Tall Blacks from 1999-2002, including the memorable 2002 World Cup where New Zealand placed fourth.
“I’ve been fortunate, I’ve been part of some really exciting moments in New Zealand basketball,” he says.
He would love to get the national team higher up the global pecking order so it can return to the cup in 2027, after missing the last two. The Olympics in Los Angeles loom as a goal the year after.
The sport’s global expansion makes this a challenge, but Flavell believes any team on its day could beat any other. “New Zealanders might not be necessarily be the
most talented, but we are unique and it’s really leaning into that and the process and creating that self-belief.”
The former point guard was in no rush to seek a head coach role. In his hometown Whangarei, his father, Noel, was heavily involved in coaching, so he knew it could be all-consuming.
“She loves playing and she loves the opportunity and success along with it, and I’m there nudging, not pushing.”
He prioritised stability for his young family and a long stint honing his craft with the Breakers.
“From the moment Bailey was born she was a Breaker,” he jokes of her early exposure to the game.
Bailey says her very first basketball game, filling in for her older brother Jaylan’s team at primary school, ended in tears. But she soon became hooked on the game.
Flavell avoids critiquing her performance too much, instead focusing on helping her
build skills. “I try to do it in a way that is helpful,” he says.
Having their daughter head to Hawaii will be a wrench for Flavell and Bailey’s mother Melissa. But the family visited the campus in January this year and are comforted it is the shortest flight for a New Zealander on a US scholarship.
Bailey will join two other New Zealand women basketballers at the university. “I really like the coaches, staff and team culture,” she says. Playing in the western college conference will involve travelling to the mainland week about. Ultimately she would love to play in the WNBA in the States, but there are also opportunities in Europe and Australia.
Asked about her strengths and work-ons, Judd says athletic 178cm Bailey “plays hard and plays the right way”. She is an offensive threat with a strong shooting game and a good level of balanced skills.
“She’s coming into her own on the defensive side,” and could look to add the point-guard role of advancing the ball to her repertoire, while refining her skills and understanding of the game. “But for 17 she’s pretty good”.
They hope she can repeat her Tall Ferns selection soon, but know this is not a given. She got limited game time in Mexico, but Bailey said it was enough to whet her appetite to graduate to the core team. “Hopefully in a few years.”
By Rob Drent
The closure of Glengarry in Clarence St marks the end of one of the longest-running businesses in Devonport, dating back almost 30 years. Indeed, Glengarry was a regular advertiser when I took over the Flagstaff 27 years ago.
Back then its half-page ad was on a negative which I’d deliver to the printers in Howick every second Monday along with the rest of the paper on a zip drive, so that new copy about wine specials could be inserted at the last moment.
As times have changed hugely in the news and printing industries (for around 20 years we have been dropping pdfs of our pages onto a server shared with the printer), so have things changed in the liquor industry.
In the late 1990s, Devonport village had three wine shops: Glengarry, the longstanding High Flying Grapes in Victoria Rd and, for a time, Victoria Cellars, which shared the block which houses the Victoria Superette. The Masonic Tavern also had a bottle store, as did the Esplanade before that part of the
The Flagstaff Notes
site was redeveloped with apartments.
Then the liquor licensing laws changed, allowing supermarkets to sell alcohol. The added competition made it so much harder for other outlets to make a go of it.
Liquorland opening five doors down from Glengarry no doubt made trading harder still.
I always appreciated Glengarry’s welcoming layout and friendly staff.
For those readers vaguely interested in the Flagstaff’s ‘20 years ago’ column, you can now also see what was happening in Devonport 100 years ago, by checking out the Devonport Gazette and Greater North Shore Advocate, which has been digitised and put online. Go to: preservinglocalhistory. recollectcms.com.
The paper appears to have been published from 1921 to 1948. Auckland Libraries holds an almost complete collection of 1920s editions.
The major issues in the 1920s were trams, buses and ferries, a possible harbour bridge, water – then being drawn from Lake Pupuke – and the creation of an electricity supply.
As a young journalist coming back from jobs 40 years ago, I’d be met by the chief reporter eagerly waiting at the door to the newsroom, demanding: “Surprise me!”
Four decades on, I was delighted that I
could be still be surprised. This time, not by stories coming into the office, but by two readers who dropped in literally within the space of 10 minutes with combined donations to the paper of just under $100.
Thanks to all those who are donating regularly by signing up online to help keep the paper going. If you’d like to join them, go to devonportflagstaff.co.nz and click on “become a supporter” at the top of the page. And to the two readers who dropped in – you really did make my day.
Bayswater is gradually ‘filling in’, with the new 31-home Unispot development on the market next to the Belmont Park Racquets Club and now Ngāti Whātua lodging a consent application for 44 homes in nearby Portsmouth St. Locals will have mixed views on these developments: many more cars and car trips on the peninsula, without any corresponding improvements to public transport or Lake Rd congestion.
On the plus side, the Ngāti Whātua homes on Portsmouth are planned as housing to be leased back to the Navy. Having staff live locally could actually cut down on traffic going to and from the peninsula. More families in the area is also a positive for our community – especially for school rolls.
Let’s hope Portsmouth St undergoes a name change to something more Kiwi-appropriate as part of the process.
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Echo soon to be sound of the past
After a decade in business on Devonport’s main street, store owner Laura Foote is closing her Echo fashion boutique.
“It’s been a long winter, then September 2024 has been my worst trading month in 10 years – including Covid,” she says.
Foote says retail and hospitality are struggling in the current economy. A lift in spring trading failed to arrive.
“You get these little spurts through the year, especially if there’s events at Eden Park or at [Spark Arena].” But it was not enough, with visitor numbers in the village down, locals watching their spending and retail trends changing. Because Foote believes any bounce-back will be some time off, she has decided to close towards the end of the year.
Foote has her hands full at home with three young sons: two-year-old Vaea and twins Tama and Tavita, born prematurely eight months ago. But she insists that choosing to close, even after rent relief from her landlord, was mostly a business decision. “I like to keep busy,” she jokes, juggling children and Flagstaff questions at the Devonport home she shares with husband David Aukuso, a supermarket operations manager.
After 25 years as a local, Foote – who arrived aged 10 from Australia – loves the area. She has no regrets about buying Echo from Sue Denford after four years working in the shop, which was set up in 1999. Running it was the right mix for someone with her passion for fashion.
Foote was a driving force behind the Devonport Business Association’s popular Fashion on the Wharf event and served seven years on the Devonport Business Association committee. She is sad the fashion show was put on ice last year, after being staged three times, but says it was hard to quantify returns. “It was a one-night event, but shops can benefit from it for about a month.”
Foote says much changed with the Covid pandemic. For a short time, people who had bought online when cooped up at home, eagerly got out shopping again, but then came the pent-up demand for overseas travel and the impact of more people working from
End
home.
“You don’t need a full new outfit if you’re in the office three days a week,” she notes. Cost-of-living concerns had also kicked in and she had noticed things getting quieter with talk of government spending cuts and job losses.
Overall, she reckons op shops are doing the best business in Devonport, along with a few specialty stores.
Watching her livelihood suffer was upsetting, but she didn’t want to get into debt. “It was not for lack of trying to keep the business going.” Some days the footpath was empty, even in nice weather. “We’re not seeing the big overseas tour groups,” she says, recalling days when a tourist might spend several thousand dollars at a time.
In the Januarys of old, 80 per cent of her customers were using overseas credit cards. At other times of the year, 75 per cent of the eftpos charges she processed showed up as being repeat users, some locals and others women who made trips over on the ferry.
“I’d get ladies all the way from Māngere Bridge or Titirangi; they make it an outing on the train, bus and ferry.” She believes promotion to appeal to such visitors is important.
Devonport, with its artsy and heritage charm and seaside village location, still has many attractions, she says. But it needs more young people to move in, so talk of more apartments in central back streets would be a boon.
Her message to readers: “All I’d like pushed is shop local – if you can.”
of the summer wine: Glengarry gone after 30-plus years
Liquorland has taken over the Glengarry site in Clarence St following the sudden closure of the wine store earlier this month after around 30 years in Devonport.
A sign in the closed store’s window last week said that the Auckland District Licensing Committee was allowing liquor to continue to be sold from the site by Liquorland Devonport from 2 October 2024 to 1 January 2025. A Liquorland sign appeared outside last Friday.
Liquorland already has premises at 7-11 Clarence St.
Neither Glengarry head office nor Food-
stuffs, which runs the chain of independently owned Liquorland stores, responded by deadline to Flagstaff inquiries.
But staff at the new store told customers more new signage would go up this week
and that the store would focus on premium wines and spirits, with Liquorland’s smaller Devonport outlet remaining open for now.
Glengarry’s Takapuna branch closed recently and was also taken over by Liquorland.
The Devonport closure reduces competition and choice for local customers, who also enjoyed Glengarry tasting events.
New World, the other main liquor outlet in Devonport, also operates under the Foodstuffs umbrella.
Vic Road Wine Bar sells wine on a more boutique scale.
Hands full... Laura Foote with sons (from left) Tama and his twin Tavita, aged eight months, and two-year-old Vaea.
Smash Tennis expanded range giving you more options
Smash Tennis has expanded its range for the 2024-2025 season to include all the major racquet labels and the Asics shoe brand.
The pro shop at Belmont Park Racquets club in Bayswater has added Yonex and Wilson racquets and Asics shoes to its Babolat, Head, Prince and Tecnifibre range.
Former tennis pro Mark Nielsen has been coaching at the club 18 years and he launched the pro shop 15 years ago. Mark and wife Jo have gradually “amped it up” over the last six years.
“Its become a real family business,” says Mark. The older children Emma and Lucy are both at University, but Lucy is also playing interclub at Belmont this season while home from Uni for the Summer. William really enjoys tennis, but is successfully following a yachting career. Luke and Isla are playing for the U10 and U12 interclub teams and are often at the pro-shop helping mum and dad.
Products & Advice
Mark and Jo advise people to have a look at their website first and then pop into the pro shop. “We are open seven days or never far away,” says Jo. “Give us a call anytime”.
Whether it’s restringing, choosing a racquet or a pair of shoes, expert advice is always available; there’s something for everyone.
Even seasoned players underestimate the impact strings have on their game. Around 50% of performance is the racquet, 50 % the strings. Mark recommends at least two restrings a year for interclub players, to take into account the different playing conditions in winter and summer.
“We sometimes have people come to us to buy another racquet after they have been sold something totally unsuitable for them,” says Mark.
One stop tennis shop… Jo and Mark Nielsen
We have a large selection of demo racquets to try and demo session options available. You can view our range on the Smash Tennis website.
We also run our extensive coaching programme - from adult beginners to after school junior tennis, tennis tots and school holiday programmes along with private coaching lessons or group classes to suit the more advanced player.
Many Adult beginner players start with our easi-tennis programmes and move on to more advanced classes and onto participation in the interclub programmes at Belmont
Park Racquets Club.
Says Jo: “We’ve seen this happen with a lot with our players recently so we would encourage any new player keen to learn tennis to come along and give it a go.”
While Smash Tennis has its online store “We are primarily here to look after the Peninsula,” says Mark. Jo adds: “It’s a great community and we know many of you already with our 5 kids going through the local schools.
“If you haven’t met us yet come to say hi, we look forward to helping you.”
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Historic sports mural now safely on the wall
A significant sports mural with a North Shore rugby player as its centrepiece is now on public display at the Devonport Museum.
After restoration, the James Turkington mural, dating to the 1940s or 1950s, has pride of place on the wall above the stairs to the museum’s upper level. Initially, the intention was for it to be put on display for the rugby club’s 150-year celebrations last year.
Museum president Alastair Fletcher said the professional restoration had cost several thousand dollars. The work was now safely behind perspex, with a display panel on the museum wall beneath explaining its history.
The mural shows a local Fijian player, Lani Kai, in Shore’s green and white stripes, with several other community sports figures in its corners. One of these is a golfer, understood to be the wife of former North Shore Mayor Paul Titchener. Also depicted is a boxer and the heritage racing yacht Ariki, which was built by the Logan Brothers and launched in 1904.
The Titchener family donated the large mural to the museum after it was found in a shed at the family home in Bayswater, when it was being cleared out about five years ago. It was with mayoral memorabilia, beneath cans of paint. The museum says the mural was commissioned by Ian Titchener for his house in Calliope Rd. At one time, it may have hung in municipal chambers.
The Irish-born Turkington was a prolific mural painter in the 1920s to the 1950s heyday of the art form. He also taught at the University of Auckland’s Elam School of Fine Arts and was a drawing tutor at the School of Architecture.
Devonport has several other examples of Turkington’s work. He created glass mosaics for the memorial wall inside the main gate of the Naval Base in 1958 and a Victorian street scene commissioned for an interior wall of
New addition…museum president Alastair Fletcher with the Turkington on wall
the ASB bank building. The fate of that work is up in the air, with the bank having vacated the Victoria Rd premises.
Several years ago, Auckland curator and researcher Greg Smith called for the preservation of more of Turkington’s work. He said Turkington, who died in 1979, was once a well-known name in the Auckland art and architecture scene, and it would be a shame for his legacy to be lost. “He was the mural
man of his time,” Smith told the Flagstaff. Te Papa has several examples of his work for government departments, but the fate of hundreds of his murals for commercial clients is unknown; they were probably painted over. Among known surviving works are mosaics at Parnell Pool and painted murals inside the old Mt Albert building of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and at the Māori Land Court in Rotorua.
Dr. Shu-Jin Ee, BDS (Otago)
Dr. Lillian Hsu, BDS (Otago)
Jurka Vuletic Oral Health Therapist
Kirsty Jennings Hygienist
Jo Lee Office Manager
Megan Buckley Receptionist
Christine Estacio Dental Assistant
Council to probe govt’s new rules on pensioner housing
Auckland City councillors will scrutinise a planned government funding cap on pensioner housing, which Grey Power has described as “irresponsible and negligent”.
The move came after a council committee meeting, which received reports on the issue from Grey Power and Haumaru Housing, which provides affordable rental accommodation for older people.
The committee delegated three councillors to investigate the issue and work out ways to achieve a more satisfactory arrangement.
As revealed by the Rangitoto Observer, the Government has decided to cap a subsidy for pensioner housing.
The move, which was based on occupancy at the middle of 2024, blindsided providers.
Haumaru has told council that the subsidy cap will leave it unable to maintain and upgrade its units.
The organisation estimates that if the cap remains, around 100 units in the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board area alone will have to be left empty as they fall vacant over the next five years. The area has 12 villages, with others spread across the city.
After the committee meeting, Grey Power North Shore president Trish Deans told the
Flagstaff there seemed to be a willingness to involve Grey Power. The lobby group had emphasised to council the need to maintain villages and provide certainty about their future, including overseeing the role of council property arm Eke Panuku.
Earlier, Deans told the Flagstaff she was dismayed to learn of the cap. “The government needs to accept the forecast that NZ’s population is ageing,” she said.
“Decisions are being made without reference to the research presented by many experts and associated age care organisations.
“What is the government’s plan to cope with the known overwhelming demands of our ageing population?” Deans asked.
By 2030, people should expect:
• 25 per cent of the population will be 65 years of age or older.
• 75 per cent of the population will live in the top half of New Zealand, most clustered in Auckland.
• Nine out of 10 hospital beds will be occupied by someone over 65.
And by 2048, 40 per cent of renters (660,000 people) would be seniors.
Deans said evidence-based planning was needed across all aged-care sectors. “The current Government’s withdrawal of funding for social housing is short-sighted.”
Countdown to Coastal Classic
The Coastal Classic yacht race starts next Friday, 25 October, from Devonport Wharf, with a reduced fleet heading for the Bay of Islands.
Quality racing is still promised by organisers the New Zealand Multihull Yacht Club, with 100 boats expected for the race to Russell. This is down from 147 entries last year, which organisers put down to economic headwinds and a clash with America’s Cup racing in Spain.
For spectators, the wharf and Maungauika are prime vantage points, with the race beginning at 9.30am.
“This is a big race, it’s iconic, and every single one of us are excited about the start ... which marks the unofficial opening of the summer sailing season,” said club spokesman Adrian Percival.
The Coastal Classic, which began in 1984, is a race designed for speed. Other than the start and finish, few opportunities exist to use tactics to overtake, so success often depends on getting a good start.
The race record is just over five hours, held by Beau Geste since 2019.
Percival said boat numbers were expected to bounce back as the economy recovered.
Race updates will be available online at coastalclassic.co.nz
*Terms and conditions apply. Selected styles, while stocks last.
Ronnie remembered with bike and movie fundraisers for charity
Devonport residents are hosting a film screening to raise money for motor neurone disease following the death of a friend last year.
Richard Jones and five other locals are putting on a film fundraiser at the Vic Theatre on Thursday 24 October, screening Scottish comedy Local Hero.
The film was a favourite of Scot Ronnie Harris, who died of motor neurone disease (MND) in December last year.
The Devonport resident of 15 years, who was a member of the Waitemata Golf Club and Devonport Yacht Club, was Jones’ friend, and after his death Jones wanted to do something to help charity Motor Neurone Disease New Zealand, which supported Ronnie after he fell ill.
“It’s almost his year anniversary [of his death], so the film is a good way of: A, remembering him; and B, also raising money,” said Jones.
Ronnie’s widow Jane Harris said the couple used to frequent The Vic. To be able to host a screening in his memory, showing one of their favourite films, which they always wanted to see at the theatre, was “amazing”.
More than 100 tickets have been sold, with 40 more available.
As well as the film showing, prizes will be raffled off, and Jones will be on a static bike to raise some extra donations.
“I’ll be riding for Ronnie there and then, trying to see if I can get some people just to throw a gold coin in as well.”
All the proceeds are going to MND New Zealand to support its efforts in assisting people affected by the disease.
A keen cyclist, Jones is also doing a 160km fundraising “ride for Ronnie” around Lake Taupo in November.
Five other Devonport residents who
knew Ronnie have joined the cause and are doing the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge, although Jones is the only one doing the full circuit.
Although not an avid cyclist, Harris has put her hand up to do the 16km version of the ride. She said Jones pitched the idea to her in January and she agreed to come, thinking she’d just be “keeping the beers
cold” until Jones said he had a bike for her.
The group's goal is to raise $10,000. With the film screening, they have raised $6000 so far, said Jones.
Tickets for Local Hero cost $36.75 –including a drink, ice cream or popcorn –and can be purchased on www.thevic.co.nz.
Donations for the ride can be made at mnd-new-zealand-fundraise.raisely.com.
Riding for Ronnie… Richard Jones (above) fundraising in memory of his friend
Stunning New Build: Premium Craftsmanship
Auction Thursday 7th November at 12.00pm In Rooms (Unless Sold Prior)
This newly built, freestanding home stands out for its premium craftsmanship and attention to detail. Located within walking distance of primary, secondary, and intermediate schools, as well as nearby shops and cafés, the home offers both convenience and comfort. Narrow Neck beach, ideal for swimming, sailing, and dog walks, is also close by.
Key features include:
• A designer kitchen with Bosch cooking appliances, Fisher & Paykel DishDrawer dishwasher.
• Six Mitsubishi heat pumps for year-round climate control.
• Double glazed joinery and full insulation for energy efficiency.
• Luxurious tiled bathrooms with high-end fittings and stylish lighting.
• Charging station for E.V cars in the carpeted garage.
• Level 4 paint finish throughout.
• Backed by a 10-year Certified Builders guarantee. Modern luxury and a prime location, perfect for anyone looking for quality in every detail!
Two Homes, One Title - Endless Possibilities!
Thursday 7th November at 12.00pm In Rooms (Unless Sold Prior)
Does this sound like a fantastic real estate opportunity to you? Owning two homes on one title offers a lot of flexibility, especially for investors, first-time buyers, or those looking for a combination of personal living space and rental income.
House #1: Renovated Two-Bedroom Unit
• Solid brick and tile construction ensures durability and low maintenance.
• Renovations add modern appeal and likely increase its rental potential.
• Expansive decking connects the two homes, creating a shared outdoor space or enhancing entertainment options.
House #2: New Versatile Home (Built in 2022)
• Built recently and offers energy efficiency.
• Open plan living is a popular choice for modern lifestyles, creating a spacious, light-filled area.
• Internal access garage is a convenient feature, especially during bad weather. Our owners have outgrown this home and now have their new home under contract.
Winners on the night... (from left) Moana Malupo-Courtenay, Liam
Hailey Beale and Cameron Christie.
North Shore Rugby Club players score Harbour awards
North Shore Rugby Club players took many of the major prizes at the North Harbour rugby awards last week.
Cameron Howell was named the pre-
Cameron Christie won player’s player of the year and most promising player awards; Liam Sturm was named under-19 player of the year.
AUCTION
12:00pm 30 Oct 2024 at 39 Victoria Road, Devonport (unless sold prior)
barfoot.co.nz/898449
VIEWING Sat/Sun 1:00-1:45pm, Wed 16th 6:00-6:45pm
Hailey Beale was acknowledged for 30
and toys plus room to park your boat and cars in the drive.
Sue Harrison 021 909 549 s.harrison@barfoot.co.nz
Toni Gregory 021 044 3663
t.gregory@barfoot.co.nz
Sturm.
A beatuiful 1920's character bunglow. From the moment you step through the gate, you'll sense this is something special.
barfoot.co.nz/899779
TENDER
2:00pm 29 Oct 2024 at Devonport Branch Office (unless sold prior) VIEWING Sat/Sun 11.00-11.30am
Tracey Lawrence 021 1720 681
Trish Fitzgerald 021 952 452
Family Living - Location
Step into this captivating 1910 brick and cedar villa, where historic elegance meets modern comfort.
barfoot.co.nz/898125
By Negotiation
VIEWING Call for an appointment
Trish Fitzgerald 021 952 452
Tracey Lawrence 021 1720 681
Set up the driveway in this peaceful and elevated position on the side of Mount Victoria you will find this sun filled 1990’s contemporary gem.
barfoot.co.nz/899017
TENDER 2:00pm 30 Oct 2024 at Devonport Branch Office. (unless sold prior)
VIEWING Sat/Sun 2:00-2:30pm
Tracey Lawrence 021 1720 681
Trish Fitzgerald 021 952 452
Welcome to 114 Calliope Road where the elegance of a bygone era meets the comforts of modern living. This is a home you must come and view.
barfoot.co.nz/898136
By Negotiation
VIEWING Sat/Sun 1:00-1:30pm
Trish Fitzgerald 021 952 452
Tracey Lawrence 021 1720 681
28 ST LEONARDS ROAD
10 Moana Ave, Belmont is a funky two level home, block and cedar. Offering a near-new kitchen and bathroom.
barfoot.co.nz/899726
AUCTION
12:00pm 23 Oct 2024 at Devonport Branch Office (unless sold prior) VIEWING Sat/Sun 11:00-11:30am
Trish Fitzgerald 021 952 452
Tracey Lawrence 021 1720 681
TAKAPUNA
1B NAPIER AVENUE
Brick & cedar home in an amazing location close to Takapuna Beach & shops, excellent schooling and public transport.
barfoot.co.nz/897745
$1,590,000 VIEWING Sat/Sun 12:00-12:45pm
Ron Sadler BCom, AREINZ 021 613 546 FOR SALE
Recently renovated, beautifully presented and designed, this is a sunny, large 4 bedroom, 2 living and 3 bathroom home in a terrific location.
barfoot.co.nz/897410
$2,869,000 VIEWING Sat 12:00-12:45pm
Patricia Hinchey 027 222 3367 FOR SALE
68 CALLIOPE ROAD
A beautiful example of a 1910's family home sitting on a sunny corner site of 407m² flowing onto a north/west generous deck and fully fenced garden.
barfoot.co.nz/896335
Cathy Fiebig 021 383 149 FOR SALE By Negotiation
VIEWING Sunday 11:00-11:30am
Community campaigner helped foster local hubs
Back in the 1970s, John Raeburn was a pioneer of the community house movement. Today, they still have a lot to offer individuals and society, he tells Helen Vause.
Communities are worth fighting for, reckons John Raeburn.
He should know. The 80-something-yearold Devonport resident was one of the people who drove the concept of the community houses that are now firmly established in many neighbourhoods. They sprang up back in the 1970s, when psychologist Raeburn became passionate about the potential power of the community for both the individual and wider society.
As a young psychologist with international experience, Raeburn had became interested in community psychology and the potential for people grappling with their everyday woes to help themselves, and working together with others.
Raeburn is a retired practitioner and academic psychologist with a long history in health promotion, mental health and community wellbeing. A former chair of the Mental Health Foundation, he received a QSO in the 2006 New Year Honours for services to community, and the year before that he was named Public Health Champion by the Public Health Association. That was national recognition, but his roots go deep in Devonport and across the wider North Shore.
At a time when public health budgets are taking a beating, he looks back at passions and projects that he knows made a real difference: hard-won successes in what might now look like easier times.
Back in 1958, when Raeburn was ready to leave Takapuna Grammar, he had already published children’s stories in a national magazine and had dreams of becoming an artist, a cartoonist and a writer.
He set out to study anthropology at the
Image issue... in the early days, says John Raeburn, community houses had to avoid being seen as just for people who were ‘having problems’
University of Auckland, but was soon sidetracked by the psychology papers that were a prerequisite for his studies. That was a better match for his interest in people, and Raeburn excelled through postgraduate study, completing a PhD in Canada. He was feeding his inquiring mind and revelling in a period of great social and political change, when all the
concepts of community psychology and group psychology had been floated. Some in his field were thinking that the psychologist’s skills could be better used outside one little room, and taken into a wider context to help empower people in groups and their communities.
Raeburn had returned to New Zealand and
innovations in the US, where the concept of “community mental health” was being embraced. People were working in groups in their own communities, and reportedly finding themselves happier, discovering their own resourcefulness and feeling more empowered.
Reviews were confirming that cohesive communities were “terrifically good for health”.
To Raeburn, and others who were leaning towards the thinking around community psychology, those early reports of what was happening overseas were a catalyst for change here.
Raeburn was teaching at the University of Auckland’s medical school in the 1970s, and talking more and more about community psychology, but he would soon get the opportunity to take the concept beyond the institutions.
Auckland was expanding, and the city’s fringes were already recognised as possible breeding grounds for what came to be known as “suburban neurosis”, afflicting residents struggling with their problems in lonely isolation. Out beyond Birkenhead, the adjoining suburbs of Beachhaven and Birkdale were growing fast and causing concern to some.
Raeburn and others like him with a community orientation were invited to talk to a group of school principals and social service providers about ways they might work together to avert a possible “social volcano”.
The potential for problems in these suburbs was worsened by poor access to essential social services; in some cases a visit to a government welfare agency could mean a young mother with a pre-schooler facing a day-long journey with three bus changes.
Raeburn’s working group came up with a plan that soon evolved into setting up a community house, but what the psychologists thought would be on offer there was soon abandoned after consultation. They’d thought, says Raeburn, that it should be a
sort of local “superette” offering positive life-skills programmes delivered by professionals. But early feedback told them such a social-services oriented project could be instantly seen as being just for people who were “having problems”, and that image would almost certainly scare most people away.
“As a bunch of psychologists, we soon found we were going to start off on the wrong track with the Birkdale and Beachhaven project,” he says.
“People want strong communities and they want to be empowered. We do know how to do all that but it takes effort. You have to fight for community.”
“We had to change the approach and flip the language we were using around, if we wanted people to like what they heard about their new community house and what they’d find there.”
But the intent remained the same: to find a way to draw in the community and to build the benefits he saw as possible for a working example of community psychology.
Instead of focusing on illness and social problems, the working group figured out that they should be developing a community house model offering a range of positive programmes – crafts, social and creative groups, interest and educational groups that would be likely to draw in women who would
otherwise be alone at home during the day. A crèche and a fruit and vegetable co-op should be offered. If the people came, the experience would be likely to enhance their wellbeing.
And if the place and the programmes were run by community members wherever possible, the ripple effect was likely to be positive for the wider neighbourhood.
Once these things were in place and the project was in the hands of a locally-elected committee, evaluations were made and it was possible this model of “houses” could be recreated elsewhere .
That community house project became a success story and the birthplace of many positive experiences and memories for local people of all ages and circumstances.
“We know communities love it,” says Raeburn. He is proud to report that a large proportion of the local population became involved in some way with the original Birkdale-Beachhaven community house.
Evaluations had ticked off multiple benefits from the project for both local people and their wider community.
Inevitably, Raeburn was part of the groups that established community houses soon after their first on Auckland’s North Shore. The Devonport Community House was one of the earliest of those. And following the same community psychology principles, Raeburn was closely associated with the establishment of Devonport’s community workshop, The Claystore.
These days he is retired and actively grand-parenting, while retaining an interest in his field. In the current political and social climate, it’s easy to spot that he is disenchanted.
“Yes, things are certainly a lot worse than we would have hoped for.”
But, he says, “people want strong communities and they want to be empowered. We do know how to do all that but it takes effort. You have to fight for community.”
Babcock New Zealand celebrated 30 years of running the 136-year-old Calliope Dry Dock with a display and function at the Devonport Ferry Terminal as part of the Auckland Heritage Festival.
Often described as a cornerstone of New Zealand’s maritime heritage, the dry dock was built from 1885 by more than 300 workers who hand-dug the dock and laid 1.5 million locally-made bricks.
Babcock New Zealand has operated the dry dock for three decades, providing engineering support to the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) fleet.
Speakers at the function included Bob Harvey, the former Waitakere City mayor and author of Sea Edge, a history of the Waitematā Harbour; Tony Lanigan, whose
great-grandfather Pierce Lanigan was the contractor who built the dry dock; and Peter Burridge, who was involved in the Rainbow Warrior bombing investigation from the dry dock.
Harvey said Devonport and the Waitematā were central to Auckland’s early history. Looking out to the beach alongside the ferry terminal, he said it was the site of what may have been the “first sporting contest in Aotearoa’s history”. A group of sailors known as the Colonials engaged a group of Māori known as the New Zealanders in a tug-of-war contest. The Māori won three times, he said.
Auckland’s first dry dock was on the city side of the harbour, on a site now occupied by the Tepid Baths, but it proved too small,
so the location was moved to Devonport.
Lanigan said his great-grandfather was the man, “who started digging the hole” to form the dock. There were no high-vis jackets in those days, and picks and shovels were the tools rather than cranes and diggers.
His great-grandfather was proud the project was completed with no fatalities, though there were lots of bumps and bruises. He ran the project without a clerk of works, surveyor or engineer.
However, building the dry dock was a personal disaster for Pierce Lanigan. Three years later he filed for bankruptcy, citing slow payments from the Harbour Board, the dry dock’s owner, and a swag of extra costs associated with the project that were not paid for.
Calliope Dock timeline
• 1881 Devonport site chosen
• 1888 Dock opens; first ship to use it is HMS Calliope – becomes known as the Calliope Dock
• 1909 Navy base located alongside
• 1936 Harbour board transfers dock to the navy
• 1987 Dry dock becomes a crown entity
•1994 Dry dock transferred to commercial hands, with Babcock taking over
Celebrating history… Sir Bob Harvey, a former Waitakere City mayor, acknowledges local identity Geoff Chapple and wife Miriam Beatson. Below: Chapple catches up with musician Chris Priestley at the function at The Kestrel on the wharf, with local board member George Wood in the background. Below left: Babcock’s Mark Worsford outlines the Calliope connection.
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Trades & Services
TGS Premier Girls Basketball Shooting High
Congratulations to our Girls Premier Basketball team who finished 5th at nationals during the recent school holidays. They went undefeated in pool play and then lost 80-73 in the quarter finals to St Peters Cambridge. The team regrouped and won the next two games to finish 5th in the country with a 7-1 record. Bailey Flavell was named in the All Star 5 tournament team (top 5 players in the tournament) and led the competition with a 39.3 points per game average. She scored 60 points alone in the last pool game. Well done to the team for a fantastic tournament.
PHOTO CREDIT: BASKETBALL NZ
TGS Chess National Results
TGS students had a solid performance at the annual regional competition awarding them not only a silver medal but, more importantly, a prestigious ticket to the national championships held in Wellington. They weren’t inexperienced rookie players anymore; they were a team hungry for triumph even against the best. It was their year—to establish themselves amongst the most elite chess schools in the nation. Takapuna’s captain, Daniel Wang – currently ranked number 3 among all under-18 chess players in the nation collected his gold medal as the top-scoring Board 1 with a score of 6 wins, 1 draw, and 0 losses.
Homestay families Wanted for 2025
For more information please contact Carla Hemopo in the International Department at homestay.coordinator@tgs.school.nz or by phone on 09 489 4167 ext 9226 www.takapuna.school.nz/international
Takapuna Grammar School
Takapuna Grammar School
Act now to save the Bunker
Well done to the Flagstaff for prising out information on the Bunker’s urgent need for maintenance (issue 4/10/24).
The Bunker was once the Fire Control Centre of the old Victoria Fort. As such Auckland Council’s Heritage Schedule gives it a Category A protection, and this should stir the powers that be into quick action. The maintenance will be expensive, $250,000-odd, but lack of maintenance now, the Flagstaff reports, will result in a blowout of $500,000 or more later.
Who are the powers that be? I’m told the Auckland Council (AC) is the underlying owner,that the Takarunga / Mt Victoria administrator, the Tūpuna Maunga Authority (TMA), is responsible for the Bunker’s exterior, and the leasee, the Devonport Folk Club, is responsible for the interior. I’m no lawyer, but it would seem that AC, as
owner, is therefore responsible for whatever crumbling concrete or rusting reinforcing lies between the exterior and the interior, and should be sufficiently motivated by its own Heritage schedule to initiate repair.
Yet the TMA is responsible too, in general, for upkeep on the maunga and that must include tapping its main funder, AC, for heritage care. The capital budget it seeks from AC in the 2024-25 year for its work across Auckland’s 14 maunga is around $9.5 million. No room for the Bunker’s repair there, nor in the TMA projected 10-year capital expenditure across all its maunga of $96 million. So what happens next?
The Devonport community wants its historic taonga protected and needs both the TMA and the AC to say how they relate one to another on this, and on their plan to fix it.
Geoff Chapple
Navy deserve better than keyboard attacks
I am alarmed to read that the Minister of Defence, no less, has had to intervene when tragic keyboard warriors hiding behind anonymous identities have thrown mud and innuendo at naval staff involved in the recent sinking of HMNZS Manawanui.
Given that the Navy family will be in mourning for their ship and are themselves seeking answers, this situation cannot go unanswered.
Tragically, in 2024, the fact that there are still sad, misogynist dinosaurs who think it is okay to comment on all and sundry on which they have an opinion, but no real knowledge, is nothing new. They sit in the
anonymity of their darkened lounges, banging away at keyboards on whatever seeps into their limited brains – tragic.
The minister’s report that women in the Navy are being abused in the streets is alarming at best, and entirely unacceptable in any society.
Given that the Navy live and operate in the Devonport Peninsula area, I am left pondering if this behaviour is local. If so, it must be called out immediately and not tolerated. These women and men live and work in our area and we all the richer for it. The Navy is part of Devonport, and long may it last. Jonathan Moss
AT provides unwelcome sign of the times
It seems hardly a week goes by without AT cluttering our Devonport roads with more and more intrusive, visually-polluting signage.
Despite our Devonport painted pedestrian crossings functioning as designed for generations, AT has raised them at ludicrous expense, then denoted their presence with lights, lurid coloured panels, striped poles, footpath inlays and even, most fatuous of all, a sign indicating raised pedestrian crossings for the next 500m!
Whatever happened to pedestrians stopping, looking right, looking left then right again, and only stepping onto a crossing if a vehicle had stopped?
Is there a competition in the darkest recesses of AT to see who can get the greatest number of unnecessary signs into the shortest distance?
If AT is meeting minimum signage regulations under legislation, then the legislation needs to be changed.
King Edward Pde and Queens Pde are beautiful tree-lined, harbour-side roads. The blight continues here and we learn AT is ignoring a significant majority of submissions and pressing ahead with plans to install parking meters on the parades.
This is patently unnecessary, counterproductive and likely to drive folk away from using the ferry and back onto Lake Rd.
Listen to local feedback Auckland Transport, and taihoa.
Cam Calder
Belmont singers hit the right notes
First-time winners... Belmont Intermediate School choir Top Notes, conducted by Helene Piper (foreground), at the Kids Sing event at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Parnell, where they won a bronze medal. It was the first time the choir had taken part in the prestigious national choral competition, which attracted around 3000 primary and intermediate students. The bronze award meant Top Notes scored 65-74 per cent for their performance. The choir sang Supercalifragilisticexpialidotious from Mary Poppins, and Zoe’s Room by local musician and songwriter Diane Ponzio.
Idol with the X-factor… Fletcher McGhie (right) with the coveted BIS Idol trophy once won by Ella Yelich-O’Connor, aka Lorde. Judges said Fletcher won the 2024 edition because of his “X-factor”. He added that little bit extra to his group’s performance, helping it to win silver. Other winners –group performance gold: sisters Emma and Isabella Fan; group silver: Zara McCoubrey, Milla Cloke and Fletcher McGhie; solo performance gold: Mia Gao; solo silver: Chloe Burgess; solo bronze: Isabella Fan.
Council’s U-turn clears way for removal of nuisance tree
Auckland Council has done an about-face, cutting down a large gum tree on Oxford Tce which has long concerned nearby residents.
John and Eleanor Gibb are pleased about the tree’s removal, saying branches would often fall on their property, causing holes in the roof, dents in their cars and even one broken car window.
The debris also required the couple to routinely clean their roof and gutters – “at quite an expense”, John said.
About 20m tall, the tree was cut down by council contractors on 4 October due to its significant size, its position overhanging private property, persistent deadwood in the canopy, and excessive debris falling on the road and house roof, said regional arborists and ecological manager David Stejskal.
Brought down... council contractors remove the offending gum tree
Maintenance, which included deadwood removal and canopy inspections twice a year, was carried out over the past two years, “but the tree continued to produce significant debris, necessitating frequent maintenance”, Stejskal said.
Eleanor Gibb said she had been “terrified” a falling branch would hurt someone.
“Some of them aren’t very big, but they’re very heavy and they’re falling from a long way up.”
The Gibbs have been trying to remove the tree for years, gaining resource consent to get ride of it in 2018, along with another gum tree, which was removed the same year as it appeared to be unstable.
Auckland Council initially refused to cut down the tree, deeming it safe to remain, until it continued to “drop large amounts of deadwood, and the ongoing maintenance proved costly to sustain,” said Stejskal.
“As a result, the decision was made to remove the tree for safety and practical reasons.”
Fireworks will be banned from Auckland’s maunga for Guy Fawkes. The annual prohibition will run from Saturday 2 November to Tuesday 5 November.
The ban applies to Takarunga and Maungauika in Devonport and 12 other culturally significant Auckland maunga.
The ban on Guy Fawkes fireworks on the maunga dates back six years.
Signage will advise the public that access is blocked overnight from 6pm. Security guards will patrol through until the following weekend.
The Tūpuna Maunga Authority wants the government to ban public sales of fireworks. Its chair, Paul Majurey, said: “As long as fireworks remain available to the public, we have no option but to restrict access to the maunga to prevent destructive fires and the extensive damage they cause.”
Vegans speak Fireworks ban returns
Two vegan activists, author Mark Humanity and ultra-distance athlete Josh Howell, will give advice on switching to a plant-based diet in a talk at Devonport Library on 26 October from 11am to noon.
The session will include questions and answers, recipes and tips useful to both the ‘vegie curious’ and those already living a plant-based lifestyle.
20 years ago from the Flagstaff
• A newly formed Victoria Theatre Trust is investigating buying the cinema building in Victoria Rd.
• Bayswater Ave wins the title of top street in Devonport, competed for by eight teams.
• Devonport candidates polled highly in the local body elections: Deputy Mayor Dianne Hale is re-elected to North Shore City Council along with Andrew Eaglen. They were joined by Chris Darby. Joel Cayford was elected to the Auckland Regional Council.
?open homes story
• Mike Cohen, Jan Holmes, John Duder and Roger Brittenden were elected the Devonport Community Board.
• Devonport writers Kevin Ireland and Anne Salmond are awarded top Prime Minister’s Awards for literary achievement, which come with a purse of $60,000.
• Devonport teenager Toby Alexander stars in the movie In My Father’s Den, an adaptation of the novel by Maurice Gee.
• Two Scotsmen and a Kiwi - Mark Brogan, Jason McGeorge and Graeme Sievwright – take over the D-Central pub and rename it the Patriot.
• Art by the Sea gallery is a finalist in
the Auckland top shop awards.
• Gus Lynch, who operated Hammer Hardware in Victoria Rd from 1983 to 1988 and then worked in the store for a further ten years, dies. He was also commodore of the Devonport Yacht Club for two years.
• Heritage campaigner Trish Deans is the Flagstaff interview subject.
• A three-bedroom home on Aramoana Ave is on the market for $699,000.
• Weddings at Balmain Reserve are restricted to a maximum of two a weekend, with a limit of 100 people attending.
• Devonport’s public library celebrates 50 years on Windsor Reserve.
• 10 Devonport schools make hundreds of sculptures to feature at the Sculpture on Shore exhibition at Fort Takapuna.
• Governor-General Dame Sylvia Cartwright will open the Sculpture on Shore.
• Stanley Bay’s Josh Crozier (16) wins his first two matches in the top-grade Chelsea Cup tennis competition, playing for Belmont.
• More than one third of 533 Belmont Intermediate students take their cellphones to school.
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This year’s home tour about much more than homes
For the first time, art galleries have this year been included in the 2024 Homes of Devonport itinerary map.
Tour co-ordinator Lynda Betts, of Bayleys Real Estate, said that as part of the tour, participants are also encouraged to visit local eating places for their morning tea and lunch.
“We have 16 cafes and restaurants participating... we are encouraging shop local and have six art galleries as well on the map for the first time.”
The 1 November tour, which runs from 10am to 4pm, includes 10 homes south of the Devonport golf course.
Peninsula schools, community groups and sports clubs are also benefiting directly,
receiving $45 from each of the $85 tickets they sell.
This year’s tour homes were a “lovely mix – [including] a big traditional villa, a beach bungalow, eclectic 50s house and a
beautiful apartment,” said Betts.
Retirement-village company Ryman, which is a $10,000 sponsor of the event, also has an apartment on view and its coffee shop will be open.
The beneficiaries of this year’s event are: Cure Kids, Dementia Auckland and the Devonport Rotary Charitable Trust.
Betts said people taking part in the tour should allow themselves 20 to 30 minutes per house, plus time for morning and afternoon tea, to get around the 10 homes in the six-hour time-slot.
For the last tour in 2022, the 700 tickets sold out. This year 800 tickets are available, but they are selling fast.
Book through Eventfinda.co.nz
’Tis the season to see houses – and a tui in a Christmas tree
Christmas has already arrived for students at seven peninsula primary schools, who are decorating trees for the Homes of Devonport tour. Ten local kindergartens and childcare centres are also helping out.
At Belmont Primary School, 10-year-old students Isabella Lusty, Poppy Wigram, Rosie Proffit and Sophie Zhang finished work on their Christmas tree decorations before the end of the previous school term.
The students were tasked with painting a native bird or plant on their decoration, leading Sophie to pick the tūī because its white tufts resemble Santa’s beard.
The trees will go on display on 1 November, at one of the 10 homes open for the tour, which is held every two years to raise funds for charities. Other homes will also have festive decorations.
The public will get the chance to see the youngsters’ trees at the Devonport Library from 4-30 November, with a silent auction to buy them as another fundraiser.
“We love that the whole community gets behind this event, with children from all the local kindergartens and schools decorating wooden Christmas trees,” says event manager Lynda Betts of Bayleys Real Estate.
The day is a lot of fun, she says, “whether you are looking for interior, renovation or Christmas inspiration, or simply wanting to have a special day out while having a nosey at some stunning homes with your friends.”
Homes of Devonport is organised by founder Devonport Rotary in conjunction with Bayleys, with proceeds this year going to Dementia Auckland, Cure Kids and Rotary’s own charity foundation. In 2022, more than $90,000 was raised.
As an incentive, participating schools, kindergartens and clubs which sell the $85 tickets get to keep $45 from each sale.
Christmas goodies will be on sale at each of the featured homes. These range from raffles to goody bags, Christmas cakes, decorations and homewares.
Devonport interior designer and stylist Kate Alexander is one of the homeowners opening her doors for the tour. She says she couldn’t resist the opportunity to be involved in such a worthwhile event, having enjoyed being a spectator in the past.
In addition to Belmont, the primary schools involved are: Bayswater, Hauraki, Devonport, St Leo’s, Stanley Bay and Vauxhall.
Early childhood centres participating are: Belmont-Bayswater Kindergarten, Devonport Methodist Child Care, Takarunga Devonport Play Centre, Devonport Community Creche, Rose Centre Community Pre-School, Narrow Neck Play Centre, Peninsula Kids, Belmont Learning Space, Naturally Kids and Naval Community Child Care Centre.
• Tickets are available on Eventfinda.co.nz.
Christmas cheer… Belmont Primary School students (left to right ) Sophie Zhang, Isabella Lusty, Poppy Wigram and Rosie Proffit, with the school’s Christmas tree they decorated
Pasifika soldiers long gone but not forgotten
The days of Nalo Neke – the name Niuean soldiers gave their beachside World War I camp at Fort Takapuna –were brought to life by local researcher Dave Veart at the Auckland Heritage Festival last week.
His Devonport Museum talk detailed the wartime Pasifika connection with the area, where the men can still be seen in fading photographs on fencing at Narrow Neck Beach. Their impact from 1915 onwards was considerable – they encountered both casual racism and kindness before embarking for Northern Hemisphere battlefields –with some never making it back to their home islands. Others went on to play a part in forging their countries’ post-colonial future.
A number are buried at O’Neills Pt cemetery in Bayswater, having succumbed to illness either before leaving or on return in the 1918 influenza epidemic.
Veart, an archaeologist, became interested in the soldiers’ legacy from seeing war graves on work trips to the Pacific. Military historians had documented some of the stories of service, but he was interested in unearthing more detail and the social history too.
Recruitment in the Pacific was spearheaded by Māori MPs. In this country, they had wanted Māori to enlist, to be seen to play their part as citizens. Many did, also training at Narrow Neck. But resistance from Waikato and Taranaki iwi to serving in a British Army they did not trust after the New Zealand Wars slowed the sign-up, leading Māori politician Maui Pomare to widen his scope.
A Cook Islander at Veart’s talk, which attracted around 25 people, said about 500 soldiers from the Cooks went through Narrow Neck, making this the biggest grouping. A contingent of 150 men from Niue arrived in October 2015, which Veart said decimated the atoll’s male workforce. Smaller groups came from the Gilbert & Ellice Islands (now Kiribati and Tuvalu), French Polynesia, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.
Men from some of the islands had never worn shoes before and found military-issue boots crippling. Some spoke no English. Unfamiliar food such as cheap-meat rations caused dysentery, so much so that military authorities bought more familiar fresh fish and fruit and vegetables from markets to feed the
men a separate diet from Pākehā soldiers. They adjusted to camp life by the ocean and some joined nurses in cultural activities at the old Foresters Hall at the bottom of Lake Rd. Locals put out lemonade for the men when they were sent on route marches. A newspaper report in a paper of the day, called the Observer, caused ire when it said the soldiers were drinking beer and eating crayfish in public. Devonport people spoke out, including the local policeman, with some saying locals were causing more disruption. When the Pasifika soldiers marched to the ferry to Auckland, to Europe-bound ships, Devonport residents gathered on the roadside to farewell them.
“These men were remembered in Devonport,” said Veart. Old-timers had spoken of them over the years. He hopes they won’t now be forgotten and that further research will fill in more gaps.
TRACEY COLLINS LIVE
MUSICAL ENTERTAINER
WEDNESDAY 30 OCTOBER, 2PM
Join us for an afternoon performance of musical entertainment as we present Tracey Collins live at William Sanders Village.
A master of the accordion, Tracey will perform an array of songs that you will recognise. Enjoy an eclectic range of music from classical through to dance music.
Reserve your seats now for an afternoon you won’t soon forget. Spaces are limited.
RSVP is essential
Call Scott or Dell on 445 0909
WILLIAM SANDERS VILLAGE
7 Ngataringa Road, Devonport
Filling in the gaps... researcher Dave Veart
Former council building returns to public use for now
After six years standing empty, the former borough council chambers at 3 Victoria Rd were transformed into a vibrant community space at the weekend, as the temporary home of Depot Artspace.
Nearly 100 people turned up for an exhibition opening on the ground floor of the building, taking the opportunity to explore upstairs, where a group of Devonport artists set up studio space a fortnight ago.
Depot director Amy Saunders said it was fantastic to see the downstairs space once again in use. It has been made temporarily available by owners Capital Peninsula while the Depot’s Clarence St premises undergoes a renovation after a recent flood.
Fresh paint and the removal of carpet has transformed the tired interior, reminding of its heritage, dating back to 1908 when it was first opened as a post office. Upstairs, what became the old Devonport Borough Council chambers and offices is now leased to the Depot.
Saunders said gallery staff had done a terrific job setting up an exhibition, Also My Hometown, by Taiwanese-born Aucklander Onlie Ong, in just a week. The gallery’s shop has also been relocated for the run of the exhibition, until mid-November.
Locals at the opening chatted about the history of the site, which for a while housed an information desk before Auckland Council
Opening words... Depot director Amy Saunders (top left), Rose Centre general manager Geoff Allen (top right) and artist Onlie Ong (above, with daughter Lucy) spoke at the launch of Also My Hometown
decided to sell the building.
A mihi led by Rose Centre general manager Geoff Allen welcomed attendees, including the artist’s family and Taiwanese community representatives. Ong and his daughter Lucy, responded and backgrounded his work and move to New Zealand in 1991.
Ong’s ceramics, which have been shown across Australasia, are on display. After a wrist injury in 2008, the prolific artist turned to paintings of New Zealand landscapes, which also feature.
Mexican tall ship to fly the flag, welcome visitors to city of sails
Visitors will be able to tour the Mexican Navy’s tall ship Cuauhtémoc (above) when it stops in Auckland this month.
The training ship will be berthed at Princes Wharf from 28 October to 1 November as part of its six-month voyage, travelling more than 46,000km and visiting 13 ports.
The vessel’s role is to train Mexican Navy cadets in sailing and navigation systems, to strengthen ties of friendship, and take a message of peace and goodwill to other countries.
The steel-hulled, three-masted Cuauhtémoc was launched in 1982, and is 90.5m
long, with a mast height of 48.2m.
Cuauhtémoc is named after the last Méxica (also known as Aztec) emperor and warrior, and is the instructional tall ship for fourth-year cadets at the Heroic Naval Military School. She and her 261 crew act as a diplomatic symbol of Mexico abroad.
The ship will be open to the public on 28 October: 11am to 8pm. 29 October: 10am to 5pm. 30 October: 10am to 8pm. 31 October: 10am to 8pm. The visits are free.
WHAT’S ON @ Devonport Library
Maria Teape Community Coordinator
445 9533 | maria@devonportpeninsulatrust.nz
Tēnā Koutou Katoa Looking forward to sharing all these great events with you.
TAMARIKI PROGRAMME
These sessions start again in term-time. Look out for plenty of wriggles, rhymes, craft, story and lego fun.
VEGAN TALK
Saturday October 26th 11am to 12 noon
Join Mark Humanity and Josh Howell to hear their experiences of switching to a plant based diet. Interesting information, recipes and tips.
WHERE IS THE NEWS?
Tuesday, October 29th from 7.00pm
Join Media personnel to discuss the place of news in the current environment. Featuring speakers from Radio, TV, Whakaata Māori, community and digital news. Wine and nibbles 7pm. Speakers at 7:30pm. A Devonport Library Associates event. All welcome.
OLIVIA SPOONER
Wednesday November 6th 6pm-8pm
Launches her brand new book The Songbirds of Florence. A captivating WWII story about the “Tui” women by the bestselling author of The Girl from London. An evening event kindly hosted by Hachette NZ and MoaPress.
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE NZ HEALTH SYSTEM
Sunday 17th November 11am-12 noon
The Asian Network will host a talk on the NZ public health service, role of GPs, National Screening Programme etc.. A bilingual session in Mandarin and English. All welcome. TE REO – MĀORI LANGUAGE CLASSES
We don’t have any 2025 classes booked yet but come and tell us if you are interested in enrolling in one so we can let the organisations that host these know. Kapai!
November: We are supporting Homes of Devonport fundraiser by hosting 10 fabulous Christmas trees. Ma te Wa
Ready to ride... Call Girls cast members (from left): Ayesha Heble, Ami Coster, Helen Davies and Kate Birch as rest-home residents out to ward off a dodgy developer
Call the Call Girls when you’re
The Narrow Neck couple behind a rollicking yarn about four women from a retirement village who moonlight as “call girls” promise the play will provide plenty of laughs.
Call Girls, penned by James Carrick and directed by partner Liz Cannon, had its premiere at the PumpHouse in Takapuna this week. It tells of a quartet of sassy seniors who set up a pay-per-minute phone chat service to raise funds for a battle against a corporate giant intent on taking over their home. To give the production added contemporary and local resonance for its audience, the action is set on the North Shore, where development is making inroads on neighbourhood character.
Carrick says it is a mix of universal themes and a relatable location and characters.
In his day job in interiors, Carrick is also familiar with retirement-home clients, and says: “Meeting these older people who had
their stories to the stage.” He drew on the humour and humanity he encountered to work on the play, his fifth, which he wrote over two years.
“They’ve still got a twinkle in their ageing eyes,” is how he puts it.
Call Girls was chosen from 12 plays that had “risen from the ashes” which Phoenix Theatre Company assessed for its first production back post-Covid.
Cannon – who like Carrick has a track record of acting in community theatre, including at the Rose Centre – has drawn together a cast from across Auckland.
“We put the script out to the wider Auckland theatre community and were blown away by the amount of people who wanted to audition,” she said.
“Since then, we’ve had so many offers from people wanting to be involved in some way, it’s really heartening”.
Cannon says cast members come from as far as Bethells Beach and Onehunga.
Playwright James Carrick makes several cameos as characters he has concocted
after a laugh
Birch from Bayswater, who has previously been involved in Company Theatre, Aidan Allen, also from Bayswater, who developed his talents in Takapuna Grammar School productions, and Rebecca Wright from Devonport, who plays the operator of the Beach Haven Rest Home.
The action centres on news that a dodgy developer from Shady Glades retirement living company wants to take over the place. This threatens the lifestyle of residents Ivy, Angela, Pauline and Rose, who concoct a resistance plan.
In playing one of the quartet, Birch is joined by Ayesha Heble, Ami Coster and Helen Davies. The women take on alter egos at the end of a phone line to finance the residents’ fight.
Comedic misadventures ensue and they cross paths with a suave television host, a stereotypical Irish priest, an overly enthusiastic exercise instructor and a conniving councillor.
Carrick even pops up on stage himself, to fill several cameo roles.
The play is just the second in its 20-year history that Phoenix Theatre has staged at the PumpHouse. Cannon says Phoenix is a group that is very much about putting the community back into community theatre, with a play to match. She hopes locals will share the enthusiasm, and is heartened that tickets have been selling well.
Phoenix vice-president Braydon Priest, production manager for the season, says the show will likely appeal to fans of Calendar Girls, Ladies’ Day, Dinner Ladies and the like.
• Call Girls is on at the PumpHouse theatre in Takapuna from 17-26 October, with adult tickets priced at $32 and concessions available. Book at the pumphouse.co.nz
Rebecca Wright (above) and Aiden Allen (below, with Alexandra Chrystal), are just two of the locals in the Phoenix Theatre Company cast.
Artist drawn back to Devonport and its people
Sarah-Jane Smith loves painting in Devonport – so much so that she sometimes stays over for the night when she’s on an artistic roll.
Long-term, the North Shore-raised artist would love to have a permanent home here, but for now her visits are mostly day trips of discovery. She’s painted yachts and seascapes, but lately has found herself fascinated with village life and heritage buildings.
This weekend, a dozen of her paintings will be on display at the Depot’s Whare Toi, at the Kerr St entrance to Takarunga.
Mostly acrylics, they include scenes of Victoria Rd and Cheltenham, and landmark buildings such as the Esplanade Hotel and old fire station in Calliope Rd. Mostly, Smith works from photographs she has taken, but sometimes she takes her paints up the maunga and looks out to sea. And when walking, she checks out architectural details.
In Devonport “I strike up lovely conversations with the locals,” she says. They tell her about the area’s history, building on a fascination she has held for years.
“I’m drawn to unique spots. I wanted to include the life of the area, not just the buildings.” So people feature in many of the works, to celebrate the sense of community she finds.
Her first paintings of Devonport date back 15 years, but since then she has also focused on other parts of Auckland, exhibiting in Manurewa and in Takapuna. A teacher by trade, Smith has also turned her creative hand to doing makeup. As a child she always drew, and in her teens her family lived in Hong Kong, where she took a university foundation course in art. One of her Whare Toi exhibition canvases shows a man beneath a somewhat abstract pōhutukawa, in a swirling style she puts down to Asian influences.
Smith says her lifelong art practice is always evolving. She took year-long master classes in portraiture, but is particularly pleased the Devonport works seem to be resonating. “I’ve tried to focus on what I’m drawn to.”
A New Zealander visiting from Canada bought a painting of Mānuka cafe, saying it was once her grandfather’s menswear store and she wanted her children to know where they came from. Locals have wanted scenes from close to home for their walls.
Recently, Smith has completed a few watercolour vignettes of doorways and sconces. Detail, she thinks, is likely to be her next development. “Your eye will create the rest of it.”
• Sarah-Jane Smith’s paintings are on show at Whare Toi, 2 Kerr St, October 19-20 from 10am to 4pm.
Neighbourhood watch... Sarah-Jane Smith (right) loves painting village scenes, including (above) Mānuka cafe
Works on wool
Works painted on woollen blankets that reflect colonial-era exchanges are on display at Satellite2 gallery from Saturday afternoon. They are by Brett a’Court, a now Northland-based artist who has exhibited twice before in Devonport. His Kings, Saints and Prophets exhibition spotlights the historic role of Māori prophets as peacemakers as it explores questions of identity and place in Aotearoa.
The use of woollen blankets as a medium is a connection and metaphor involving colonisation, Christianity and the prophets, some of whom mediated in land issues and tribal conflicts, and over interactions with the government. The paintings are on display until 3 November.
More voices wanted
The Devonport choir – Village Song – is in need of more members.
The choir currently has about 15 members, but needs at least 25. Before Covid, the group numbered around 40, but it has “struggled a lot to build the numbers back up since,” said organiser Helene Piper.
The choir meets at the Devonport Community House every Thursday between 6.45pm and 8.30pm. For more information: www.sites.google.com/view/village-song
NOW SHOWING
CatVideoFest (G) 73min
I am a Dark River (E) 70min
Kurosawa Season: Seven Samurai (PG)
Maurice and I (E) 98min
My Favourite Cake (M) 97min
Six Inches of Soil (E) 96min
Smile 2 (R16) 128min
A Mistake (M) 103min
The Apprentice (R16) 123min
Iris and the Men (M) 98min
Rosalie (M) 116min
COMING SOON
Kneecap (R16) 105min
LEE (M) 128min
Venom: The Last Dance (TBA)
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