7 April 2023 Devonport Flagstaff

Melbourne Cup trip beckons after $500K win

A delighted Devonport couple have already booked their tickets to November’s Melbourne Cup, after the meteoric rise of a racehorse they own shares in.

Colin and Lynley Edwards’ New Zealand-bred gelding, Goldman, has become a cup favourite after a career of just seven races – the latest, in Melbourne, winning

$500,000 and a guaranteed start in the ‘race that stops a nation’.

Colin told the Flagstaff he “couldn’t even speak” after Goldman’s 25 March victory against top opposition at Flemington, just a month after his Australian debut.

The thrilling win was his third in three starts across the Tasman. Goldman previous-

ly won two of his four starts in New Zealand, catching the eye of Australian interests who bought him in November, putting him in the hands of legendary trainer Gai Waterhouse. That Waterhouse connection helped convince the Edwards to take a stake in the horse, having stumbled on a social-media advertisement offering shares.

To page 2

First women’s premier rugby side kicks off at Shore... p5

High-level meeting to sort out ferry woes... p2

Interview: rugby coach Phil Connolly... p22-23

Worth the trip... Colin and Lynley Edwards celebrating Goldman’s victory in the $500,000 Roy Higgins Quality race over 2600 metres at Flemington on 25 March. Their sights now turn to the Melbourne Cup.

Entry to Melbourne Cup fulfils long-held dream

From page 1

Real-estate sales manager Colin has long dreamed of owning a Melbourne Cup starter.

Living in Essex before immigrating to New Zealand in 2000, he shared a passion for the sport with his father.

“Even growing up in England we knew about the Melbourne Cup. It’s the race that stops the nation, everyone gets a day off work – that sort of thing.”

Colin and his father talked about buying a horse together but could never justify the expense.

When his father passed away in 2015, leaving Colin some money, he decided it was time to give the dream a go.

“People always told me buying a racehorse isn’t the best business decision because it’s rare to make any money on them. But they also say you’ll have a lot of fun.”

The Edwards didn’t enjoy instant success. The first horse they bought into didn’t live up to expectations on the track, and the second never raced due to respiratory and other health issues.

They were almost ready to give up when

Goldman came to their attention and they became convinced he was worth a shot.

The horse’s initial trials in Australia produced only average results, so expectations were not high going into the stayer’s first race.

“There was nothing that suggested he would be a superstar,” Colin said.

But he won his first race by five lengths and a second by six lengths.

That led Waterhouse to put him up against top opposition at Flemington last month, when he blitzed the field, leading throughout and bringing Colin’s Melbourne Cup dreams close to reality.

16% of February ferry trips cancelled

Easing immigration criteria for potential Fullers ferry crew is on the agenda at a top-level meeting between Auckland Transport and the government post-Easter in an attempt to sort out the troubled Devonport service.

Staff shortages have been cited as a leading cause of late and cancelled ferries, particularly rife in 2023. This has frustrated public transport users to such an extent that some are resorting to jumping back in their cars.

In February, on the Devonport/Auckland run of 1900 scheduled trips, 1610 were completed on time, according to Auckland Transport figures. Of the rest, 290 were deemed unreliable (did not arrive within 15 minutes of the scheduled time); and a whopping 251 – 16 per cent of scheduled trips – were cancelled with no alternative transport.

Metro Services Darek Koper told the Flagstaff the meeting with government ministers of transport and immigration would seek changes to immigration criteria to allow qualified workers to move to New Zealand on a “pathway to residing here.”

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Auckland Transport’s Group Manager

Other ideas being pursued included increased crew-training options and the possibility of higher pay for ferry workers in Auckland, similar to incentives offered to bus drivers to attract them to working in New Zealand’s most expensive city, Koper said. Management of the ferry service was taken over by Auckland Transport last July with 98 per cent of ferry services on time set as a minimum benchmark for Fullers. The company faces financial penalties if this target is not met. Ferry operation figures for March will be collated and made public by mid-April.

Hauraki tops local burglary index

Hauraki had the most burglaries on the Devonport Peninsula last year, according to new figures.

Security company Auckland CCTV pulled Auckland police data from 2022 and analysed more than 23,000 burglaries.

Hauraki ranked 201st on the list of Auckland suburbs, with 46 burglaries; Mt Victoria/ Devonport was 271st with 33; Narrow Neck 307th with 26; Seacliffe/Belmont 339th with 21, Bayswater 341st with 20; and Stanley Bay 361th with 12 burglaries. Data was gathered for 408 areas across Auckland.

Elsewhere in the Devonport-Takapuna

Local Board area, Takapuna ranked 102nd, with 75 burglaries; Milford was 166th with 57; Sunnynook 197th with 48; Forrest Hill 230th with 41 and Castor Bay 346th with 17.

Glenfield had the most burglaries on the Shore, ranking 27th on the list with 126. Albany was next at 33rd with 116; North Harbour East was 51st with 102; Wairau-Westlake 62nd with 94; Greenhithe 82nd with 83; Browns Bay at 89th with 81; and Beach Haven 90th on the list with 80 burglaries.

Auckland Central, Takanini South and Mt Wellington were the three suburbs topping the citywide list.

Cup contender… Goldman winning at Flemington on 25 March

Eddie does the Bissness at tennis nationals

Devonport tennis player Eddie Biss has won a national Secondary Schools Championship with his Westlake Boys High School team.

Eddie, Nehal Naidoo, Jacob Warren, Andre Duggan and Matthew Lang beat Christ’s College 4-2 in the boys final in Christchurch last week.

Year 12 student Eddie, who has played for Ngataringa Tennis Club since he was eight years old, said the nationals were definitely a step up from the Auckland competition Westlake won on 15 March.

“There was a lot more quality in the depth,” he said. “There weren’t just one or two star players you had to look out for – the teams were good everywhere.”

Eddie and Nehal’s partnership proved to be vital – the pair won a tie-breaker 10-6 to take out the the deciding match.

The pair also play doubles for Milford Tennis Club and have an upcoming semi-final in the Chelsea Cup senior competition.

The nerves started to kick in for Eddie when the final match went to the deciding tie-breaker, but the 16-year-old said his on-court chemistry with Nehal helped them push through.

“We went down a set but managed to come back, which was huge.”

Eddie told the Flagstaff it’s “definitely the plan” to win back-to-back national titles. “We’ve only got one player leaving, so we’ll be just as strong, if not stronger.”

The S3-grade interclub player is now shifting his focus to the national Junior Teams event in Hamilton later this month, when he and Nehal will represent North Harbour.

Top team... Westlake tennis players (from left) Andre Duggan, Jacob Warren, Eddie Biss and Nehal Naidoo, with their Auckland champs trophy

Power pairing... Eddie (left) and Nehal in doubles action

Bayswater cycle lanes stall

Cycle lanes for Bayswater Ave have been put on ice by Auckland Transport, citing council funding cuts, which also raises doubts over the connected $52 million Lake Rd project.

The Flagstaff has seen a memo from Auckland Transport (AT) that says with timing for Lake Rd’s controversial upgrade yet to be confirmed, there was “a risk the benefits of the cycleway cannot be fully realised as part of the cycle network for the Devonport peninsula.”

Auckland Council budget cuts impacting Vibrant Streets – the programme the cycleway is being built under – were also cited for the deferral.

Vibrant Streets and the Lake Rd budget stood to get an injection of funding from Waka Kotahi, which is also reprioritising its spending in the wake of recent weather events.

On deadline, the Flagstaff was unable to get answers on the government transport agency’s ongoing commitment to Lake Rd and if AT was pushing back its Lake Rd timelines. Detailed design work is underway.

Complicating matters further is Waka Kotahi’s planned mid-year announcement of the preferred option for a second harbour crossing, with the most expensive option involving Lake Rd. Light rail to Takapuna also figures in harbour-crossing deliberations, adding to uncertainty about how future transport projects will connect.

Devonport-Takapuna Local Board member George Wood said the cycle-lane deferral was good news for businesses that stood to lose parking along from the Belmont corner.

“It would wreck those businesses and the end of Bayswater Ave.”

The entire south side of Bayswater Ave was pegged to become a bi-directional cycle lane, with parking remaining only on the northern side.

Wood initiated a board call last month for AT to provide an update on why public consultation over the cycleway seemed to have stalled.

AT’s Vibrant Streets team said the project had received significant board support and input from stakeholder groups.

“Auckland Transport stands behind this project and the important benefits it will bring to the community by increasing safety for cyclists, pedestrians, and other vulnerable road users, improving community access to more active transportation modes, and for its role in making Auckland’s transportation network more environmentally friendly, accessible, multimodal, and liveable for all who live and work here,” its memo said.

The work would not be wasted, the memo claimed, with feedback to be used “when we’re ready to move forward once again.”

Concrete path around historic tree sparks alarm

Council workers digging across Windsor Reserve to install a concrete path across the rootline of Devonport’s historic Moreton Bay Fig sparked alarm early this week.

Devonport-Takapuna local board member Gavin Busch was alerted about the new path on Monday night and went to investigate prior to a Devonport Business Association meeting at the RSA.

Trish Deans of Devonport Heritage had received calls from the public and said she would be contacting Auckland Council’s heritage team, questioning the concrete construction over tree roots.

Although ‘Old Albert’ was an historic, protected tree, Devonport Heritage had not been informed about the project in advance, she said.

Work on the project is part of renewing paths around the reserve and would take three weeks, according to a contractors information sheet.

Valued couple awarded life membership of RSA

Devonport couple Howard and Joy Mace have been made life members of the local RSA for their hard work and advocacy in more than a decade of active membership.

“Over that relatively short period, they have made an enormous contribution to the organisation,” said Mike Wardlaw, who nominated them for the honour. “Both are passionate about the RSA and continue to spend a significant amount of their own time serving and advocating on behalf of the organisation in a variety of ways.”

Howard served as Devonport RSA secretary in 2015-16 as well as being on its executive up to 2018, when he became president for three years. During that time, he initiated and oversaw a refurbishment of facilities at the Victoria Rd clubrooms, and improved its organisation and strategic direction, leading to the appointment of a part-time manager. This had helped the RSA to develop in keeping with the times.

Wardlaw said Howard was widely recognised in the community, where he was a strong advocate of the RSA, through his involvement in Rotary, golf and the Devonport Business Association. He had represented Devonport RSA on numerous occasions, including at Navy events, to the RSA’s national council and at Auckland District level.

“But what makes Howard and Joy unique is the unrecognised work that they both do behind the scenes,” Wardlaw said. “Joy, in particular has ruled the kitchen for many years, organising catering of all descriptions as well as always undertaking the hard yards, arriving early, preparing lavish spreads and then selflessly cleaning up on completion, often with her only helper being Howard.”

She also volunteered to help members in a range of activities and, like Howard, was a great RSA advocate through her community connections.

From staffing the bar, to mowing strips of lawn on Windsor Reserve, the couple willingly pitched in as needed to help with a myriad of tasks. They were the RSA’s “Tiger Team”, said Wardlaw, being available at short notice, hardworking, dependable and strongly committed to the RSA. They exemplified and practised the values and traditions of the Devonport RSA, he said.

The organisation’s annual meeting supported their life membership. Muzz Kennett was re-elected as president.

Valued contributors... Joy and Howard Mace have been recognised for their service to the Devonport RSA

Shore’s first premier female rugby team in 150 years

North Shore’s first premier women’s team scored a thumping 69-17 win over Papakura at home last Saturday.

The side ran in 11 tries with Blues Aupiki player Holly Williams scoring four and also kicking five conversions. Natu Suailua scored three tries. The team next plays on April 22.

The team has strong local links with Shania Todd at halfback and her dad Robert an assisant coach and her mum Siobhan the side’s match-day manager. Phil Connollly is the head coach, Dan Featherston assisant coach and Callum McNair and Daniella Martin managers.

Shore takes on rugby rival in celebration showpiece

North Shore Rugby Club kicks off its 150-year celebrations this weekend with a massive Good Friday derby at home against arch-rivals Takapuna.

Along with the premier side, the club’s reserves, under-85kg team and under-21s will all go head-to-head with traditional foes Takapuna at North Shore’s Vauxhall Rd ground.

Takapuna beat North Shore 29-19 in the North Harbour premier-grade final last year.

But Shore, which beat East Coast Bays 37-7 last weekend, has put together a strong squad for 2023 – partly due to excitement at marking the club’s founding 150 years ago.

Former North Harbour player Leigh Thompson is among those bolstering the Shore squad.

Number eight/blindside flanker Thompson, who has been playing professionally in Spain, recently returned home with his fiancé.

“He’s sitting on 98 premier games, so he’s pretty keen to get to 100 for the club,” said Shore premiers forwards coach Chris Davies.

Veterans Alex Woonton and Adam Batt, who have both played more than 100 games for the club, are also back, as are most of 2022’s pack, including James Fiebig, Trent Luka, Donald Coleman and Rex Pollock.

The side was runner-up in the pre-season

Blues Cup, an eight-team invitation competition for the top club teams in Counties, North Harbour and Auckland.

Shore lost to Patumahoe 20-19 in the final, after beating Ponsonby and Pakuranga in the earlier rounds.

Long-time premiers player Edgar Tu’inukuafe has returned to Shore after playing in Counties, as has former TGS first XV captain Lochie McNair, a loosie-turned-hooker who has been playing in Canterbury.

One of the more interesting recruits is Ollie Marsters, a tight-head prop from England, and the son of former prominent Shore player Johnny Marsters, a former New Zealand under-19 captain, who later went to South Africa to play, before settling in England.

Imports from Northcote premiers include loose forwards Hone Haerewa and Morgan Reedy. North Harbour Player of the Year Sione Teu is injured but is hoping to make a return to play during the season.

The depth in the side is perhaps best illustrated by the number of hookers in the squad: Tom Hardy and Dan Sinclair are vying with McNair for a starting spot, along with a new French import.

Coleman, who has previously tried his hand at hooker, is a flanker in 2023.

One of the few missing from last year’s

team is coach Davies’ son, Sam (20), who made great strides with North Shore in 2022, gaining caps for North Harbour.

He is playing professional rugby in New York under the guidance of former North Harbour prop Ben Afeaki. Sam is likely to return to Shore at the semi-final stage of the club season.

In the backs, James Little, a quality midfielder, is due back at Shore by late April or early May, after a three-year stint in England.

Oscar Koller, who made great strides in 2022, has been confirmed as the starting first-five.

Former All Black Frano Botica, who is working with the backs, said a number of other combinations would become clearer after the opening four or so club matches.

The 150th-celebration game against Takapuna this Friday was therefore “a bit difficult”, Botica said.

“We would love to win that game for our 150th against our long-term rival. But you don’t win a championship in the second game of the season. So, if we don’t (win) it’s not the end of the world.”

• Pages 34-37 C’mon Shore!, highlightssome of the greats of North Shore rugby from the club’s recently published history, written by Max Webb and Jim Eagles.

A year of firsts and celebration… North Shore’s inaugural women’s premier team (above). Shore premiers captain Alex Woonton (below right)leads out the side in its 150-year colours against “ East Coast Bays at Vauxhall Reserve last Saturday.

Photos: Paul Cornish

Matt and Trev’s Fishy Tails for March.

We love anchovies on our pizzas. Snapper, Kahawai and Kingfish love eating them too. We buy ours from the supermarket. These fish herd them all up, then smash through them, mouths open, filling up their bellies. The birdies love them too. They dive-bomb them from above, the poor ‘ol anchovy doesn’t stand a chance! This is where we can help. It’s simple, find the birds, find the schools, flick a small grey coloured lure out and “whammo” you’ll be into fish. Kingfish and Kahawai on the surface and the snapper will be below waiting for the scraps to fall down. The schools are so thick they look like rocks under the surface and they are literally everywhere. From just off Narrow Neck and out towards the islands you cannot miss them right now. Become a bird spotter and you will find the fish.

With the slight drop in temperature we are getting excited for some workup fishing out wide. Over the next few weeks we will see the gannet colonies starting to do their thing out in 40-45m. North of Waiheke, East of Flat Rock and further out by Coromandel will all start to fire up. In these depths our favourite has to be the Ocean Angler pink/lumo fish finger. As we progress into Autumn this area will only get better.

As always, we would love to hear any fishy tails from any of you locals. Come on in and tell us about “the one that got away”……if you do come in ask Matt about what he lost overboard from his boat this last weekend...

Colourful character… A 10.2 kg mahi mahi, caught aboard Oir Caladh. First place for heaviest mahi mahi in the Fitzroy Onebase tournament, hosted by the Clevedon Game Fishing Club. Caught due south of the Poor Knights. Skipper – Sam Tuck. Angler –Tige Seaburg.

A cracker of a snapper… pulled up from the depths around Rakino Island, by local legend Dave Martin

Aroha to the fore at Rose Centre festival

It was a case of fifth time lucky for The Rose Centre as its Aroha Festival took place last Sunday after four previous failed attempts to host the event.

The festival has been in the works since last November, but was postponed due to scheduling conflicts, Covid complications, and, most recently, Cyclone Gabrielle.

Rose Centre operations manager Geoff Allen said he couldn’t believe the festival

Clowning around… Above, from left Tilda (6) and Riley (9) Prebble being taught circus games by their father, Mark, and instructor Tobias Miller Going for a spin… Mates, Nate Matairangi (10) and Carter Lauder (11)

Local Musician Āpera performing his original music (right)

was acutally going ahead after all of the failed attempts to host it.

“It took us about three hours to set up. And after, I was looking at it thinking this isn’t real this isn’t happening.”

The day featured market stalls from local schools, a magician, dance performances and a live set from local musician Āpera.

Non-profit organisation, Circability gave classes on social circus games.

Rates topping out??

It seems global inflation and interest rates are topping out in many countries and the same must be getting close in New Zealand. People are certainly cutting back on spending as higher rates bite, and the pain has hardly begun for many borrowers who are refixing this year at 6.50%.  Most expect one, or maybe two, more Official Cash Rate hikes to 5%+ this week. Then the Reserve Bank is likely to sit back and wait and see what happens to inflation and hope that they have not gone too hard and driven the impending recession even deeper. If this is the case, one would have to assume mortgage rates are near their peak... so long as that inflation number comes back into line!

Once inflation and interest rates top out, and along with increased immigration and a possible change to the investment-property tax deduction for interest expense, confidence is likely to improve in the property market after the long-overdue correction.

Worries about safety project prompt review

Roadworks planned for the Devonport town centre may in part be reconsidered due to concerns that the safety project is ‘over-engineered’ in its provision of raised pedestrian crossings.

Auckland Transport (AT) staff told Devonport-Takapuna Local Board members last week that it would consider calls to hold off on the final section of work on Victoria Rd in the centre of the village.

The Devonport safe speeds project has a total budget of $3.3 million, which includes consutation design and construction.

Since the Flagstaff published the timeline for the staged Safe Speeds project (24 March issue), community concern has grown over the disruption it will cause through winter.

“The middle part is the real contentious part,” Devonport Business Association (DBA) chair Dianne Hale told the Flagstaff.

Board members questioned AT about this section of the work, especially the need for a raised crossing outside The Patriot.

Member Gavin Busch said enough was being done, with a 30km/h speed zone already in place through the town centre and other traffic-calming measures planned for the northern end of the main street and side roads off it.

The effectiveness of these measures should

be reviewed before digging up and closing the middle of Victoria Rd, he said.

Deputy chair Terence Harpur agreed, saying he was also concerned that a raised crossing in the hospitality zone would cause noise and vibrations to those dining and drinking outdoors. “I’m worrying that we are over-engineering this.”

AT project manager Sunny Ha said the tricky middle zone of the project – which will likely see buses diverted off Victoria Rd down Fleet St, along Bartley Tce in front of the supermarket and up Clarence St for a short time – had deliberately been scheduled last.

AT agreed to consider looking again at what was being done in the middle section of Victoria Rd.

But Ha pointed out that any delay that pushed part of the project into another financial year could jeopardise its half-funding by government transport agency Waka Kotahi.

Board chair Toni van Tonder complimented AT on its collaborative approach. She acknowledged the fears held by some in the business community, but said the project was “investment in the Devonport town centre”.

What was primarily a safety project, had the side benefit: tidying up footpaths and drainage.

The DBA and van Tonder previously convinced AT to reduce the length of time it initially proposed to spend on the work, after learning this could be up to 10 months.

A deal was struck to do more concrete preparation off-site and work six days a week from May, to pull the project back to four or five months, done in sections. Feedback from community consultation last year led to AT abandoning plans to do away with the right-turn lane from Victoria Rd into Calliope Rd.

Hale said with public attention on Calliope Rd, it seemed people had until now overlooked some of the plans lower down in the town centre.

Van Tonder said that despite AT setting up a steering group in mid-2021, with representatives of the DBA, Devonport Peninsula Trust, Bike Auckland and the previous local board, and running community consultation drop-in sessions, it was disappointing the project was still news to so many people.

This raised questions about the flow of information out of the steering group. “That hasn’t happened in some cases.”

She encouraged AT to keep liaising with the DBA, saying: “It’s taken a long time to get here, but we’re not quite there yet.”

Hospo owner sounds alarm Plans for a winter of disruption

Alastair Davidson fears Devonport faces a taste of the trauma that businesses in Hurstmere Rd, Takapuna, have experienced during recent roading-improvement projects.

With hospitality businesses in both town centres, the owner of Signal Hill bar and restaurant, and the Takapuna Bar, says the economic impact of projects needs more questioning.

“Is the outcome going to outweigh the activity, and the answer is no,” he said of Auckland Transport (AT) plans for a raised crossing in the middle of Victoria Rd.

“None of the shops on main street will benefit.”

Takapuna businesses had endured extended roadworks on Hurstmere Rd, but were still suffering from a lack of parking along the main strip, which deterred customers, he said.

Devonport would face similar issues in the months ahead. A foretaste had been given recently when a line of trucks doing paving repairs occupied spaces.

“People will cease to come to Devonport unless they have to,” Davidson said.

He predicted locals would bypass a disrupted Victoria Rd to just head to the supermarket.

Davidson agreed winter was the best time for any roadworks to be undertaken, but worried wet weather may extend timeframes at the same time as the economy seemed to be headed into a recession. He also questioned why raised crossings are needed in the middle of a slow-speed zone.

“You’re just doing it for no reason,” he said. A better idea would be to repair uneven footpaths, which were also a safety factor.

The effectiveness of the 30km/h speed limit should also be reviewed by AT after six months to see if crossing humps were even needed.

Davidson said public confidence in AT locally had been dented by its unpopular chip-sealing programme on suburban streets and by the speed hump installed on Bayswater Ave, around which water pooled during heavy rain, flowing onto driveways.

Block by block... Auckland Transport’s schedule of closures on and near Victoria Rd during the installation of safety features, including raised crossings. The work involves: (from top red box down) a crossing upgrade; a raised crossing; two raised crossings; crossing upgrade; crossing upgrade, bus-stop upgrade plus new crossing; new raised crossing; and three crossing upgrades.

Business-closure fears due to works

Businesses fear they will close if winter roadworks planned for Devonport’s Victoria Rd go ahead.

More than 50 people attended a Devonport Business Association (DBA) meeting at the Devonport RSA on Monday. Most wanted the project stopped.

Owners of the Patriot Bar, Mylam and Liz Sloan, said works would overrun the fourmonth time frame. AT had already made the area safer by lowering speeds to 30 kmh.

Concerned businesses… at the Devonport RSA on Monday night

“This should not happen it is stupid... it [the works] will destroy this township,” Mylam Sloan said. Liz Sloan added it was highly likely some businesses would not be able to trade through the disruption.

Opposition to the project has spread wider than the business community. Resident Guy Bellerby tabled a 350-signature petition, collected in 72 hours, opposing the works..

The DBA board was heavily criticised by its own members for failing to better informing them of the implications of the works programme.

Monday night’s information update should have been held 18 months ago so the “army” of DBA members could have better supported a

united opposition, said member Trevor Lawson. He questioned the “concrete” construction of the safety measures. LED lighting was used overseas and would better protect pedestrians as it alerted motorists to people walking on the crossing, he said.

DBA chair Dianne Hale said members were kept abreast of the project by emails, and encouraged to attend an AT information workshop at the library and make their own submissions. Some businesses owners were concerned raised crossings could cause flooding into shops in the event of extreme weather.

Devonport-Takapuna Local Board members Gavin Busch and George Wood said they would take DBA members’ concerns back to further talks with Auckland Transport.

AT gets coldish shoulder

Four teams from Auckland Transport (AT) fanned across the Devonport town centre last week to talk to 85 shopkeepers.

Going door-to-door, they sought to spread the word about construction management for pending roadworks – and received a muted response.

AT project manager Sunny Ha said the reaction was mostly neutral, or no comment was offered. Fourteen of those approached supported the work while 10 opposed it.

Four people spoke of nearly being run over on Victoria Rd crossing, said AT’s northern head of community engagement,

Bad timing for disruption for Devonport business

Are the Devonport town centre improvements a nice-to-have rather than a must-have in these budget-restricted times?

Devonport businesses, still paying back debts from Covid lockdowns and lost trading days, can ill afford to lose money through the disruption wrought by the construction phase on Victoria Rd.

Just ask the businesses along Queens Pde what happened when the Marine Square upgrade project occurred several years ago. Some were forced to close, others downsized. All were drastically affected economically. Compensation from Auckland Council/Auckland Transport was nominal. Only the Peter Raos Gallery survived.

It has been revealed the safe-speeds improvements budget is $3.3 million: 51 per cent is through Waka Kotahi (the government), with 49 per cent coming through Auckland Transport/Council funds.

These funding agreements can lead to poor, misguided or ill-timed decision-making, with cash-strapped Auckland Council keen to grab any money from the government it can.

Paul Thompson. One woman said this had occurred to her twice on the same day.

Thompson said the project was about improving safety for all in Devonport, including its workers and visitors.

Devonport had been chosen for the Safe Speeds programme because it ranked high on three factors: the level of on-road pedestrian activity in the town centre; the number of crashes causing injury that needed medical attention (44 from 2016 to 2020); and the number of those crashes that involved vulnerable road users, including the elderly and children.

Dearest harbour crossing option: subway via Belmont

Five options for an additional harbour crossing were announced by the government on 30 March, one proposing a light-rail tunnel through Belmont.

The tunnel would run from Wynyard St in the CBD to Smales Farm station, via stops in Takapuna and Belmont.

An additional road tunnel creating a new section of State Highway 1 from Auckland’s central motorway junction to Akoranga Dr to is also proposed as part of the option.

Lanes on the existing Harbour Bridge would be reallocated for buses, cycling and walking once the tunnel is open for freight and traffic.

The option is the most expensive of the five, with an estimated cost of up to $25 billion. It is predicted to take the longest to build and have the highest carbon emissions during construction.

Other options on the table include building a second bridge parallel to the existing Harbour Bridge and having light-rail lines to Takapuna run over it; or building a light-rail tunnel from Wynyard St to Takapuna via Birkenhead, Northcote and Akoranga station.

The preferred option for a crossing will be chosen in June 2023, after feedback is collected and assessed.

A similar funding arrangement occurred in the days of North Shore City Council when its transport officers snapped up 50 per cent funding from Waka Kotahi for bike lanes on Lake Rd. Waka Kotahi was offering up half funding for bike lanes on arterial roads.

A lot of people didn’t want the lanes on Lake Rd, particularly some members of the then Devonport Community Board, including Roger Brittenden, who was concerned about cyclist safety – especially going through the Belmont shops intersection.

Making town centres safer is to be commended, but AT projects tend to be run overtime and be over engineered.

Rob Drent Editor

Cricketers celebrate long-awaited title

Enjoying their success... North Shore Cricket Club won the Auckland two-day competition for the first time in 35 years, with a game to spare, but held off opening the champagne (above) until the Hedley Howarth trophy arrived after the side’s final match against Parnell at the North Shore Cricket ground on 25 March. It lost that last the game, but the result did nothing to dampen the celebrations.

Hands on the silverware... North Shore captain Will Clarke with the Hedley Howarth trophy awarded to the winners of the Auckland premier two-day competition

Shady seat salutes Shore stalwart Sinclair’s sterling service

A park bench complete with plaque will be installed in a shady spot overlooking the Devonport Domain pitch in memory of North Shore cricketing great Barry Sinclair.

The cricket club (with family support) asked for the seat, saying it would recognise his “enormous contribution.”

Sinclair, who died last year, aged 85, played 21 test matches for New Zealand between 1962 and 1968, three of them as captain. He scored three test centuries. He was considered a worldclass batsman of the day and a top fielder. Sinclair had a long representative career, playing first for Wellington and

then Northern Districts. After moving to Auckland in the early 1970s, he became a North Shore Cricket Club stalwart, first as a player, then as a manager, administrator, selector, coach and volunteer. He was the club’s past patron and also the inaugural patron of the New Zealand Cricket Players Association.

Devonport Health Centre —

Goodbye and Thank You Kartini

With a bittersweet feeling, the Devonport Health Centre team announces our fantastic Practice Manager, Kartini, is leaving our practice for her next adventure in the skies.

We want to take this moment to express our sincere gratitude for everything Kartini has done for us.

Since the onset of the COVID pandemic, Kartini has been an instrumental part of our operations — her dedication, hard work, and unwavering commitment to our staff and patients have been nothing short of remarkable — and we will sorely miss her.

With Kartini’s next chapter starting soon, Devonport Health Centre is looking for an enthusiastic, experienced manager to join the team.

You can find more information about the role on our Seek listing (seek. co.nz/job/66470498). However, you will fit in well with our team if you are known for your upbeat personality, leadership abilities, passion for equity and love of everything Devonport. We’re a community practice here to serve locals like us.

You can also contact Jackie Copp to learn more about the opportunity or arrange a confidential chat. Her phone number is 021 142 5672, and her email is jackie.copp@omnihealth.co.nz.

Double delight for TGS cricketers

Bound for nationals... the Takapuna Grammar School Girls First XI. Back row: Johanna Melhuish (manager), Izzy Fox, Olivia Priddy, Summer Lear, Maia Scott, Pippa Priddy, Orla Langdon, Issy Smith, Isabella Watson, Dorothea Waldron, Johan Kirstein (coach), Kent Hallman (manager). Front row: Raiha Jeory Reynolds, Audrey Melhuish, Scout Hallman (captain), Jasmine Perry, Rishika Jaswal.

The Takapuna Grammar School (TGS)

Girls First XI cricket team will compete in the national secondary schools tournament later this year, after winning the Auckland qualifying tournament – less than a week after also winning the Auckland T20 championship.

Captained by Scout Hallman, the team defeated Epsom Girls Grammar School (EGGS) last Thursday to qualify as the Auckland representatives at nationals.

Batting first, TGS scored 100/5, with Izzy Fox top-scoring on 33. In reply, EGGS was bowled out for 85 in the 20th over.

Wickets were shared around, with the best bowling figures recorded by Jasmine Perry, who took three wickets for 10 runs off 3.2 overs.

The week before, TGS also beat EGGS in the Auckland T20 final, enjoying the privilege of playing on the Eden Park outer oval.

The TGS Boys First XI also made their T20 final, putting up a good fight against Kings College, but having to settle for silver at Melville Park.

This was the first time teams from the same school made the Auckland finals in the same year, after both sides had standout seasons.

The girls won all but one game on the road to the finals, losing only to EGGS in round play.

EGGS is the current New Zealand champion, having won the Gillette Venus Cup in 2022, and has long been a powerhouse of female cricket. It has a single-sex roll larger than that of co-ed TGS.

TGS girls bowled and fielded well to dismiss key batters for EGGS in the T20 final, restricting them to 79 runs. Rishika Jaswell claimed three wickets and Jasmine Perry two.

In reply, TGS timed their chase to perfection,

passing the target in the 20th over.

Openers Izzy Fox and Rishika scored 13 runs apiece seeing off the opening bowling attack before the lower order finished the job. Year 11 player, Orla Langdon, top-scored with 16 not out.

Orla’s older brother, Conor, plays in the TGS Boys First XI, which was in its first T20 final, having made the semi-finals in the last couple of years.

This season, the boys team, captained by Christian Scott, beat traditionally powerful cricket schools including St Peter’s, Mount Albert Grammar, and St Kentigern, before going down by only nine runs to Kings in the final.

The girls’ national tournament, which is in the T20 format, is likely to be at Lincoln in Canterbury in December. TGS also contested the nationals in 2020.

Williams does her dad – and Wales – proud

Bayswater’s Kate Williams is the latest player to claim a spot on the honours board at North Shore Rugby Club after making her international debut off the bench for Wales.

The 22-year-old loose forward looked lively in her 25 minutes on the field. Proud father Gareth Williams was in the stands at Cardiff Arms Park to watch the Royal New Zealand Navy sub-lieutenant turn out for the country of her birth. “This is the second-happiest day of my life; the first was when she was born,’’ he told reporters at the game.

It was a double celebration for the Williams family, with Wales thumping Ireland 31-5 in

the opening round of the women’s Six Nations competition, played over the last weekend of March.

Williams, who was born in Swansea, has taken a year’s leave from her post as a warfare officer to pursue her rugby dreams. She told the Flagstaff last year this included playing professionally overseas.

The former Takapuna Grammar School student and its 2017 Sportswoman of the Year, played five seasons for North Harbour, including two as captain, and she made the Blues women’s side. She has played for North Shore since she was a young child, often in boys teams

early in her career.

In mid-2022, Williams was invited to train with the Welsh team for a short spell, after it learned of her eligibility.

When Wales was in New Zealand last year for the Rugby World Cup she was called in as injury cover. But she did not get on the field for the quarter-final loss to the Black Ferns.

Relocating to Wales, where Williams has relatives, put her in the frame for the call-up to the national side.

Last weekend she was named on the bench for Wales against Scotland, coming on in the 64th minute in Wales’ 34-22 win.

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Auction (unless sold prior)

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Late GP’s plea leads to quilt delivery – ‘with love’

A group of keen quilters has crafted 20 quilts for Harbour Hospice North Shore in a project suggested by popular Devonport GP Heidi MacRae when she was under end-of-life care.

The quilts were presented at hospice’s Takapuna facility last week by MacRae’s mother, Christine Miller, and four other members of the sewing group she belongs to.

Each quilt took many hours to complete and all were “made with love”, said Miller, who was making her first visit back to the hospice since her daughter’s death in November last year.

The MedPlus Hauraki GP – who campaigned for New Zealanders to be provided with better access to cancer treatment and for Harbour Hospice –had learned from nurses that quilt donations had dropped away during major redevelopment at the North Shore site.

“And Heidi just said to me, ‘Mum make it happen’,” Miller recalled.

Miller took the idea to a fellow member of Sew’n’Sews, a group of quilting enthusiasts that meets monthly at a community centre in Paremoremo.

The word went out on email and other members responded, bringing in partly completed quilts and working on them or combining their handiwork. “And there will be more to come,” Miller says.

The quilts will be given to patients in the hospice’s inpatient unit and to others being cared for at home by its multidisciplinary North Shore community team.

On the back edge of each quilt, Miller has carefully penned the words, “Made with love by the Sew’n’Sews for Harbour Hospice”.

Miller said MacRae’s family had appreciated being able to visit Heidi at any time.

The mother of three children, aged 23, 20 and 15, was also welcome to have her dog Perrita with her at hospice.

MacRae was housed in the inpatient unit, which was completed before the rest of a $20 million upgrade that has added more facilities for patients, whanau and staff.

Hospice said it was very grateful for the quilts, which were blessed by its volunteer

service manager, Vicki Parker, when they were handed over.

“The nurses really enjoy getting to know their patients and choosing a quilt for them that best matches their personality,” Parker said.

“They are treasured by those who receive them and become very important to the family after their loved one has died.”

Common thread... Sew’n’Sews (from left) Diana Bennett, Lynne Johnson, Christine Miller and Christine Brockes. Group members Gail Kean and Rowan Stephens were absent.

By Rob Drent

A multi-billion-dollar light-rail tunnel from the State Highway One motorway through Takapuna, down the Devonport peninsula to Ngataringa Rd and then under the sea to the city, is a somewhat surprise option put up for a second harbour crossing. It includes a road tunnel on another route as well.

I’m not usually one to agree with New Zealand Herald commentator Simon Wilson. But he describes this plan as the “fantasy option”.

He’s on the mark this time. It’s ridiculously expensive and would take Shore rail commuters on an unnecessary hop through Devonport.

The idea takes me back 20 years, when second harbour crossings were being put forward (No, no real progress since then in our rapidly growing, increasingly congested city).

Around 20 options were put up then, including one for a bridge from the city to Stanley Point. How this became a possibility, I’ll never know.

Likewise, the tunnel down the Devonport peninsula, one of five options on the table now, should never have seen the light of day.

Surely after all the debate, transport studies

and cost investigations over the years, the government could have narrowed down the choices to three?

It is promising though, that government seems to have signed up to the need for light rail on the Shore as part of any second harbour crossing.

The issue will be a real test of the new Chris Hipkins-led regime, and whether he gets sign-off across the line this year could be a key touchpoint for Auckland voters in the 2023 general election. If National forms a government, the second harbour crossing is bound to be revisited with a heavier emphasis on a road-based solution.

Given the changes pending for Shore transport, I’d suggest the planned $50 million-plus upgrade of Lake Rd should be put on hold until the final second harbour-crossing option is decided. Four out of the five options on the table have light rail leaving from Takapuna for the city. The current Lake Rd upgrade doesn’t “fix” the carriageway to the expectation of the public or really give much hope of traffic reduction. Changes in transport delivery that join up with a light-rail system would do so.

Maybe my push for modern trams on Lake Rd, linking up with light rail, isn’t so loony after all.

The excitement around North Shore Rugby Club’s 150th celebrations has built over recent weeks. The well-attended launch of the C’mon Shore! history of the club was indicative of the club’s place in the community. Its golf day and

centenary ball have sold out.

For the general public, there’s still a chance to see a top Devonport (and New Zealand) sporting institution in full flight. Its four top sides are in action at Vauxhall Rd on Good Friday – the under 21s, under 85kg, premier reserves and premiers all playing against arch-rivals Takapuna. It should be a great atmosphere and a crowd around of 2000 is possible.

I can report the clubrooms are looking spick and span, with a new kitchen. For anyone wanting to learn a bit more about the club, its honours board and donated jerseys offer a fascinating jaunt into its past. And its boutique museum of club history and memorabilia is first class.

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown is once again off the mark in threatening council legal action against homeowners who don’t clean out stormwater drains that run across their properties. How about the hundreds of council drains that haven’t been cleared out across the city, and then contributed to recent flooding? Look back at the example of the North Shore Rugby Club, which itself cleaned out drains on the council-owned Vauxhall Rd sports grounds. Prior to Cyclone Gabrielle, 2500 litres of sludge was cleaned out.

Brown’s black-and-white view of the world is often simplistic.

What about residents who have council stormwater manholes on their properties or water flows that come from council culverts upstream?

Time to have another rethink, Wayne.

Takapuna 5/21 Clifton Road

Coastal Chic on Clifton

This fabulous top floor apartment is just approximately 280 metres from Takapuna Beach and epitomises luxury coastal living in an enviable location. As you are consistently drawn to the amazing views, where your everyday living, whether watching cruise liners and yachts sail by whilst entertaining friends and family on the deck, or watching the kayaks and paddle boarders pass by, you have an ever changing vista every day.

The view is simply divine and has to be seen to be believed. This apartment is on the market for the first time in over 20 years, but with recent renovations and updates, all you have to do is move in and enjoy and with 2 lock up garages plus one allocated parking in the common parking area, this rare find will not last long.

If you want a comfortable lifestyle with a beautiful backdrop you must view this apartment. Live the life of your dreams.

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Thursday 20th April at 1:00 pm

In Rooms, 128 Hurstmere Road, Takapuna (Unless Sold Prior)

View Saturday/Sunday 1.00pm to 1.30pm or by appointment harcourts.co.nz/TK39994

Grant Speedy

M 027 4511 800

grant.speedy@harcourts.co.nz

Spending on buildings trimmed under budget restraints

Local community buildings needing upgrades are being ranked in order of priority as council budget cuts bite.

This seems likely to delay improvements to public toilets at the Belmont and Hauraki shops.

The Claystore community workshop in Devonport also may be affected, despite being a heritage building.

Auckland Council staff briefed a Devonport-Takapuna Local Board in a recent workshop on how they had assessed 24 community facilities already identified for work in the next few years. They sought feedback on whether board members agreed with their rankings of low, medium or high priority.

Further workshops are planned to give more information on specific buildings.

Deputy board chair Terence Harpur said without cost and usage breakdowns, setting priorities was difficult.

Spending on playgrounds, sports grounds and lighting is also being looked at, but council staff said the current focus on buildings was “because we’ve got a lot of them”.

In the Devonport peninsula area, only Stanley Bay Park’s storage shed-pavilion was listed as high priority in the 2022-25 draft works programme. Design work is underway, with costings and sign-off then needed to proceed with a project to improve its layout and open

priority than the busier sports field at Bayswater Park, where often-requested work on toilets and changing facilities had been given medium priority.

used by the Devonport Scout Group has been assessed as low priority after earlier urgent work was completed.

The Claystore on Lake Rd has also been given a low ranking, due to the complexity and cost of dealing with it, Jones said.

Board chair Toni van Tonder said the Claystore had potential for much greater usage. Wood said he would like effort put into it. “If left, it will get worse.”

For proposed longer-term projects – with spending to fall in the 2023-2026 work programme – toilets at Balmain Reserve and the Belmont and Hauraki shops were all ranked medium priority. Wood said the facilities at the shops had had previous spruce-ups, so could be delayed. “I know people want to see these things done, but we’ve got other issues.”

The council’s area manager for parks and community facilities, Sarah Jones, said the pavilion was the sole toilet option for Stanley Bay Park, with tennis facilities only open for limited hours. The Bayswater toilet block was also open just when the sports field was in use, although an investigation would determine if it could be reconfigured to be open all the time. In the meantime, there was also an existing public toilet at the western end of the park, by the playground.

Work on the Stanley Bay Park Scout Hall

Van Tonder wondered if Narrow Neck Beach toilets were not deserving of being on the list. Jones said that lighting had been improved and they were structurally in good condition.

An old red barn off the Lake Rd entrance to Dacre Park, near the Devonport Recycling Centre, was given a low priority for roofing work, although an assessment last year found its roof, spouting and structure to be in poor condition.

Council property arm Panuku manages properties in this area. Jones said, for some buildings, demolition might be an option.

“We do need to look more particularly at assets we hold,” van Tonder agreed.

Rare opportunity for those dreaming to get a foothold in this popular spot. Plenty of scope here to renovate, develop or build to reap huge rewards and create an enviable lifestyle. A home in desperate need of the full works sitting on a Freehold site of approximately 382m². One level living, timber flooring, private, sunny and well appointed. Ample off-street parking. Short stroll to beautiful Narrow Neck Beach.

Sue Evans

021 448 977

s.evans@barfoot.co.nz

Barfoot & Thompson Limited

Spending on playgrounds, sports grounds and lighting is also being looked at, but council staff said the current focus on buildings was “because we’ve got a lot of them”.

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Licensed REAA 2008

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.

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4:00pm 13 April, Devonport Office, 39 Victoria Road (unless sold prior)

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Sue Evans 021 448 977

Youyou Yu 021 868 273

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Tracey Lawrence 021 1720 681

Trish Fitzgerald 021 952 452

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sponsor for the North Shore Cricket Club

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Coach Connolly delights in new challenge

North Shore’s inaugural premier women’s rugby team had its first competition match last weekend. Head coach Phil Connolly spoke to Helen Vause about his hopes for the side and his path to the role.

Phil Connolly remembers throwing his boots into a rubbish bin after his last game of rugby in Harare, Zimbabwe. After numerous injuries and bedevilled by bad headaches, the young Kiwi decided he was done with playing his beloved game, and it wasn’t worth the risk to his health. He was 28.

But he was far from finished with rugby itself and Connolly went on to build businesses and a career around the game, driving computers on his desk rather than running around the field; harnessing technology to collate all aspects of rugby data to inform those within it, from coaches and management, to players.

Years later, the field still beckons. When the Flagstaff caught up with him at home in Bayswater, Connolly was excited about his role as head coach for the first premier women’s team out of North Shore Rugby Football Club in its 150-year history.

He coached for many years after his playing days, but it is the training material and coaching resources curated on his website The Rugby Site that he hopes will provide the best platform for his new team.

It seems to be working so far. The women won their first game last weekend against Papakura 69-17.

Connolly grew up one of six boys (with one sister) at Waikanae, on the Kapiti Coast outside Wellington, in a rugby-mad family. “From the time I was five, almost for as long as I can remember, I was keen on the game. Dad had a season ticket to Athletic Park in Wellington. That was our life. That’s what we did. It was rugby, rugby, rugby; playing it, talking about it and watching great games.”

His father owned a wine shop and some of the Wellington greats of the early 70s – Grant Batty, Joe Karam, Bernie Fraser, John Dougan and Graham Williams – were regular customers. As was the secretary of the Wellington Rugby Union, so Connolly senior could secure a couple of plum seats near the commentary box where young Phil was able to watch the wine enthusiasts live on the pitch.

A flanker or number eight, he played two seasons for the Kapiti College first XV, age-group rep rugby for Horowhenua and made the Manawatu under-19 team when he went off to Massey University to study economics and accounting in Palmerston North.

Injuries seemed to follow him and they were not always rugby-related. While he was flatting with former politician Steven Joyce in their student digs, Connolly recalls the time he ran through a glass door, adding a new ailment to an already long list.

On graduating in 1984, instead of settling down to a career path, Connolly took off

to, a dishwashing job on the Gold Coast.

“My motto was ‘have boots will travel’. I wanted to get out and see the world.”

In those days, prior to professional rugby, the arrangement was accommodation and a job. He saw an ad in the publication Rugby News for players in Perth. He signed up for the Wanneroo Club. “We had around 12 Kiwis turn up.”

The club won the championship and Connolly made the state side, playing eight matches, including a win over Canada. He was leading try-scorer that season with eight. But again, there were the kicks in the head and the concussions that followed, then the migraines.

A move to Pontypridd in Wales fell through, so he played a season in Darwin, making the Northern Territory (NT) side.

Injuries began to hamper his rugby career. He hurt a shoulder playing for NT; returning to New Zealand he hoped to play in a Horowhenua Ranfurly Shield Challenge but was injured again. Then a potential player/coaching job at Syracuse University in the United States was derailed by injury as well.

“I ended up in South Africa and didn’t make the senior side in Stellenbosch, so hitchhiked to Zimbabwe.

“It was my final stint. I’d had too maneconcussions and was having migraines. My team won the national knockout competition and afterwards I literally threw my boots in a bin.”

These days though, the severity, frequency and risk of head injuries is much worse, maintains Connolly.

“It’s a disaster waiting to happen. The dementia and brain-injury wards are going to be overloaded as a result of the current game.

“It concerns me that the impacts we’re seeing in some community games are way beyond where the players are at.”

“It’s a complicated issue. It’s not for me to say, don’t take that risk. But I am saying there needs to be more awareness and understanding by everyone.

“However, contact sport is contact sport and we love to play it. We are who we are,” says Connolly, who continues to live with the ongoing headaches resulting from injuries incurred during his playing days.

Professionalism has in some ways made the risk of injury worse. Rugby and rugby league players, particularly those coming from lower socio-economic families, are prepared to take the risk of serious injury for financial security, Connolly says.

Making history... Phil Connolly, Shore premier women’s first coach

When Connolly came home to New Zealand after working in accounting and technology in London, he took up coaching. But he also put his professional skills to work on what he saw as the potential of technology for sports use, in particular for big sporting organisations.

In the early 2000s, he worked on contract for New Zealand Rugby developing a cloud-based system to track player data from club level through to international.

“It allowed for cradle-to-grave management of participants in a sport.” Among the resulting benefits to administrators was that with precise player numbers, coaching resources could be more accurately allocated..

“With the technology we had then we were the first to integrate a whole sporting organisation. By using the system, NZ Rugby would have been the first to be able to collect and integrate the data to identify all their members correctly with relevant information about their games.

“They could see what registrations were looking like from year to year, and much, much more.”

The business took Connolly all over the world to diverse sporting organisations – such as the Australian Cricketers Association and the Gaelic Athletic Association in Ireland – offering a complete picture of their codes on their computer screens.

It was an exciting and innovative time – a massive change in the way of operating for many sporting organisations.

“There’s one thing that is always true,” he says. “You can’t get good performance without good management. And when performance goes, look at the management for answers.”

Since 2015, Connolly has been CEO of The Rugby Site, an online platform for rugby coach-education resources. Elite coaches and players worldwide are among the site’s subscribers. The client list includes All Black coaches such as Graham

Henry and Wayne Smith. All Blacks Richie McCaw, Dan Carter and others are there, as well as national coaches, British and Irish Lions coaches, Springboks, and leading female coaches and players. Many of these individuals contribute segments as well.

Subscribers have access to extensive video content relating to all parts of the game, relevant at many levels from school rugby up. Coaches can also sign up to leadership programmes.

standing of the emotional side of developing better kids and better people through being part of this game.”

As the sporting world moves on from the first Covid years, he notes a changing landscape for many clubs and codes, with an almost universal drop-off in numbers coming back to play since the lockdown days. In the UK, he says as many as 25 per cent of the rugby-playing kids have not returned, leaving many historic clubs scrambling with uncertain participation. Connolly maintains it could be the same picture with club contact sports in New Zealand this winter and expects to see falls in player numbers

“There are lots of reasons for this. Over this time, the way many families have been living has changed and their focus has changed.”

Connolly’s appointment as North Shore women’s coach came through a casual approach from his mate Callum McNair when they were training at North Shore Rugby Club’s gym.

Connolly believes one of the site’s most important functions is its videos on how to tackle – “A tackle culture – how to tackle properly – putting your head on the right side, the importance of bending.”

It could have a major impact on improving safety in the modern game.

“It’s one of the most important things we will be teaching our Shore (women’s) team – how to tackle.

“As a coach you have got a duty of care and responsibility for the welfare of your players.”

Connolly is proud to claim The Rugby Site has created more content for women in rugby around the world than any other.

Coaching styles and approaches have changed and continue to evolve, he says.

“It’s not just about the technical side of the game any more. Coaches also need the soft skills. Now it’s about a better under-

“Callum said they were putting a women’s team together and had the management side sorted out, but needed a coach.”

Connolly was happy to oblige as long as the women were treated as a full senior club team and had their own changing rooms.

Connolly shares his home with wife Julie and his adult twin daughters Bridget and Ciara. Raising his family hasn’t been all about rugby. Bridget is a top golfer and newly qualified coach heading overseas. Ciara plays tennis, and skis and surfs.

Maybe bringing up girls has added to his awareness that coaching the new North Shore women’s team calls for a modified approach to working with men.

“They have a different philosophy about the game and about how they are playing and about each other. I’m very aware of that.”

It’s sure to be a memorable first season for the team and for Connolly.

“As a coach you have got a duty of care and responsibility for the welfare of your players.”

Upgraded Stanley Bay crossing priced at $175K

A $175,000 raised pedestrian crossing is planned outside Stanley Bay School.

Of the 14 submissions to Auckland Transport (AT) about the crossing, three opposed the changes, eight were in favour and three were neutral.

Submissions against included concerns about the need for a raised crossing – traffic volumes are low and the times when foot traffic is high are during school drop-off and pick-up, when the existing crossing is patrolled.

Stanley Bay resident Nathan Male, who obtained a financial breakdown from AT, couldn’t believe the cost of changes to the existing crossing.

Raising the crossing is “unwarranted and unnecessary”, Male said.

He suggested the raised crossing should instead be installed at the intersection of Russell St and Calliope Rd, where traffic flows at higher speeds.

“There needs to be a department of common sense established to review what is sensible and what is not.”

The proposed upgrade also provides for

two new catchpits at the side of the crossing at a cost of $39,000, which forms part of the $175,000 bill.

Traffic-management costs of $58,000 makes up a third of the project’s budget.

Asked about the outlay, an AT spokesperson cited the safety benefits and said “we find the costs for this work to be reasonable and worthwhile to the community”.

The raised crossing was prioritised as part of AT’s ‘Safe Speeds’ programme to support a lowering of the speed limit in the area to 30km/h.

The crossing would increase safety for schoolchildren by “improving pedestrian visibility to motorists and giving them a safe crossing point where they have priority”, the spokesperson said.

The Stanley Bay School Board said it “supports any measure to keep our children, staff and families safe”.

The crossing is currently at the detailed design stage, and on track to be approved for funding in the 2023/24 budget and to be constructed between August 2023 and February 2024.

An Auckland Transport image showing the new raised crossing planned for Russell St, outside Stanley Bay School

TGS yachting identity excelled on and off the water

Ralph Roberts, the president of Takapuna Boating Club and a New Zealand yachting luminary, is being remembered for his lifetime contribution to the sport he loved.

Roberts died on 19 March, aged 87.

Of gentlemanly bearing, the Takapuna businessman was a mentor to many, from Sir Peter Blake and Sir Russell Coutts to more recent local up-and-comers.

Club Commodore James Jordan counted himself as one to have greatly benefited from Roberts’ “invaluable” friendship and guidance over the years.

Until recent ill health, Roberts was a longtime regular at the clubrooms on The Strand on Friday nights and Sunday afternoons.

“His love of sailing and sport never faded,” Jordan said.

Awarded an MBE for services to yachting and sport in 1993, Roberts was also a Justice of the Peace.

A past chair of the Takapuna Business Association, he owned Roberts Electrical on Hurstmere Rd for many years. Roberts was also a founder of Business North Harbour.

Current business association chief executive Terence Harpur said his was “a sterling example of giving back”.

Takapuna born and bred, Roberts attended Takapuna Grammar School and started sailing at the club’s original home in Bayswater. He won his first national title in 1954 at age 19, in the Z class.

By the late 1960s, the club was sailing off Takapuna Beach. Roberts spearheaded fundraising for its current headquarters, opened on The Strand in 2002.

But with memories of the days when the old Bayswater building was a community hub, he took a keen interest in plans over recent years to clear the way legislatively to restore it for both sailing and commercial use.

Among his career highlights were:

• Multiple national championships in the Finn, Flying Dutchman and Soling classes.

• Sailing in the Finn class in the 1960 Rome Olympics, finishing sixth.

• Being selected as a reserve sailor for the 1964 Japan Olympics.

• Sailing in the Flying Dutchman class with Geoff Smale in the 1968 Olympics, finishing eighth.

• Appointment as manager of the New Zealand Olympic yachting team for the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, when the team won two golds and a bronze.

• Serving on the Olympic sailing jury at the 1988 Olympics in Pusan, South Korea.

• Being New Zealand Chef de Mission for the

1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

Roberts was also president of the New Zealand Yachting Federation from 1986-89 and served a second term on the board of the sport’s governing body, Yachting New Zealand, from 2006-2012. He was made a life member in 2010.He received the Olympic Order of New Zealand in 2011.

Former North Shore Mayor George Wood recalled that Roberts’ reputation and connections secured the hosting of international events off Takapuna Beach, attracting topflight visitors.

Ralph Hamilton Roberts leaves behind second wife Penny and a blended family of six children and eight grandchildren.

New Stanley Bay principal has Shore experience

Stanley Bay School has appointed experienced North Shore educator Emma Tolmie as its principal.

Tolmie, who is finishing up as deputy principal and special-education needs coordinator at Richmond Road School in Grey Lynn, has previously held roles at Murray Bay Intermediate and Mairangi Bay School.

She will join Stanley Bay at the start of Term Two, later this month.

Stanley Bay School deputy principal Scott Boniface has been holding the fort as acting principal in Term One, following the resignation of Lucy Naylor late last year to become principal at the larger Milford School.

School board member Eddie Christian said the board had consulted parents and staff about what people wanted to see in their next leader.

“We heard that people wanted an individual who values education and success, is a great communicator, could continue taking the school in a positive direction, is respectful, transparent, collaborative, empathetic and able to make the hard decisions. The board is confident Emma will deliver on all these attributes.”

Tolmie’s track record includes speaking at conferences in New Zealand and overseas on implementing personalised learning in flexible spaces.

She has four children. Her husband served as a police detective for almost two decades.

Tolmie has a masters degree in educational leadership and management, along with a teaching diploma and bachelor of arts degree.

A great contributor to the Shore… Ralph Roberts in 2020, when he was pictured in the Rangitoto Observer for a feature on the Takapuna Boating Club’s centenary celebrations

New face... Emma Tolmie has been appointed principal of Stanley Bay School

Best hot-cross buns

Eversleigh Rd bakery Daily Bread has bagged the title for making the nation’s best hot-cross buns, for a second year running.

Baking New Zealand judges said a “perfect” sourdough starter was used in the recipe, which was tweaked with a little extra butter in the mix. The buns are again topped by a shiny orangejuice glaze, developed last year, and contain candied orange peel left over from juicing.

Around 7000 buns a day are produced by the bakery in the lead-up to Easter. The ‘lievito madre’ style starter is similar to that used in making the Italian Christmas bread panettone.

Red-stickers drop

The number of red-stickered properties on the Devonport peninsula from the January floods has fallen to two – both at Stanley Pt, according to Auckland Council figures.

As of last Friday, Stanley Pt also had 10 yellow and 24 white-stickered sites. Devonport had eight yellow and seven white; Narrow Neck six white; Belmont three yellow and one white; Bayswater three yellow and eight white; and Hauraki five yellow and 20 whitestickered properties.

Auckland Council said it had no further reports of slips at Stanley Pt or Bayswater in recent weeks.

Lease agreement make way for combined use

A lease for the area of Devonport Domain’s Vauxhall sports fields once occupied by the bowls club has been approved for combined use by the North Shore Rugby and Cricket Clubs.

The Devonport-Takapuna Local Board signed off on the arrangement last month, delivering on its promise to overturn a contested arrangement the previous divided board had made. This had split the site lease – and public opinion – by allowing Devonport Museum extended access to a 75sqm shed for storage purposes.

The decision, in September 2021, came after the sports clubs’ had applied to redevelop the whole site and were expecting this to be approved. They maintained that without full access to the site, their plans would be compromised.

The matter became a local-body election issue. Following Heart of the Shore’s defeat, the new board chair Toni van Tonder said the arrangement with the museum would be overturned. In October 2022, the museum gave notice it would terminate its occupancy.

The expanded site lease for the sports clubs runs until October 2031, with two further 10year rights of renewal to 2051. It includes the right to demolish the shed, known as Building B, which assessment by council staff last No-

Beach clean-up and racing at Opti champs

Around 200 young yachties will converge on Narrow Neck Beach this weekend for the Optimist nationals hosted by Wakatere Boating Club.

As part of the event a beach clean up will be held on 8 April, from 8.30am.

vember showed required spending of $20,500 to bring it up to full water-tightness.

Cricket club chair Hayden Smith said it was great to have the lease approved by the board. “Once that is signed we’re able to move into actual demolition.” He hoped this could begin in the next few months.

The next phase would be for the clubs to finalise design and plan the construction of the women’s clubrooms interior and have this signed off by council.

“It dragged on so long, that momentum was lost,” Smith said. Instead of the clubrooms being renovated for use as initially hoped for this 2023 rugby season, the aim was now to try to have it ready next summer.

Phase three of the project, to develop new training facilities that the community could access, was yet to be fully scoped out. But ideas previously mentioned, including cricket nets and basketball hoop .

Ralph Roberts 1935–2023 At Kua hinga te to - tara i Te Waonui a Tane

On Sunday 19 March the school lost one of its most famous alumni Ralph Roberts, who passed away peacefully at the age of 87.

Ralph was one of New Zealand’s most celebrated sailing figures, competing in the 1960, 1964, and 1968 Olympic games. Upon retirement from sailing, he was the 1984 Olympic games sailing manager and Chef de Mission for the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games.

Ralph was a wonderful man who was a loyal and passionate supporter of our school. Along with his family, he helped shape the school as it is today. In 1951, his mother Zella fought to keep our playing fields when the Government wanted to fill these with housing. The achievements of Ralph and his family were honoured in

2009 with the naming of our Student Services building the Ralph Roberts Student Services Centre.

Ralph was a regular visitor to the school, always with a smile, and often sharing memorabilia from his time either in the sailing world or while at school. Most recently, at our 2022 Sports and Co-Curricular awards, Ralph presented our sailors with a starting watch after their performance in winning the NZ 420 teams national championship and the Interdominion championship sailing regatta. A treasured moment for all.

Our thoughts are with Ralph’s wife Penny and his family and friends. Moe mai ra Ralph.

Successful Art-Design students from Takapuna Grammar

Four Takapuna Grammar Art students who took Design last year had their exam folios selected to go on The NZQA Top Art Show, a national Art tour. They were Joel Potter, Zlata Denisenko, Evan Herwandi and Gaby Dellabarca.

Top Art is an annual touring exhibition featuring approx 100 top secondary school art folios.

Summer Sports Tournament Week

TGS had many teams competing in the college summer Tournament Week in Volleyball (Palmerston North & Auckland), Rowing (Maadi Cup, Karapiro), Girls Cricket (Auckland), Water Polo (Auckland), Ultimate Frisbee (Taupõ) and Basketball 3x3 (Auckland).

Some results of note are silver medals for our Girls Ultimate Frisbee team and Senior Girls Basketball team in their tournaments, which were national champs. The Girls Cricket team won the Auckland national qualifying tournament with the final, against Epsom Girls Grammar, being played at Eden Park. The team will represent Auckland at the national tournament in Term 4.

The exhibition is a selection of those that gained Excellence in NCEA the year prior. It provides an opportunity for secondary students and teachers to view the high standard of art produced in schools and gain an understanding of what is required to achieve Excellence. It is also an opportunity for members of the public to see the quality art being created in schools.

The exhibition visits many cities throughout New Zealand and also has a Facebook page: https:// www.facebook.com/NZQATopArt

Joel Potter in Wellington, at the opening of the Top Art Show. His Design folio is to the upper left of him.

Illustration by Gaby Dellabarca

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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 11 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.

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Assistant Tennis Coach

Tennis Plus is seeking an experienced, professional, and personable Assistant Tennis Coach to work alongside the coaching team at Ngataringa Tennis Club, Stanley Bay, Devonport, Auckland. You will coach Tots, Minis, Juniors and Adult programmes individually and in small groups including some offsite programmes (e.g. at schools and local event days) and be actively involved in our Club’s Tournaments & events.

Ngataringa Tennis Club is a mid-sized club (200 minis and juniors and 150 adults), with a true club feeling and is an active part of the Devonport community.

Located in Stanley Bay Park, which overlooks Auckland city, the club has a very social and friendly vibe.   This is a contracted role so open to NZ citizens and residents (work visa holders cannot be considered).

Experienced and qualified applicants please email Lucien at admin@tennisplus.co.nz with your C.V. and references.

Primary Care Nurse

We have a vacancy for an experienced, clinically excellent RN required for a full time position, working sole charge at our Devonport satellite clinic. We are looking for someone with an ability to work with GPs in acute situations, who has a high standard of clinical performance and compassionate caring values. You need to be tech savvy and accurate with documentation. Reliability, initiative and dependability a must.

In return you will be encouraged to work at the top of your scope, be part of a supportive fun team and a practice that embraces innovation and positive change.

If you choose to join us, we will offer you remuneration to fit your excellent skills and experience.

To apply, please send your CV and cover letter to our Nurse Lead, Emma Faircloth at nurselead@medplus.co.nz or phone for a confidential discussion.

Holly has managed all of our online publicity and promotions for the past two years, but finished up this week, to move with her family to Mangawhai. Thank you Holly, and best wishes for the future to you and your family.

SANDY SUNDAYS

We had a fantastic afternoon at Narrow Neck Beach on Sunday, with lots of wonderful installations created in the sand, a free sausage sizzle, music. Lots of Bayswater people, a family from Mount Albert, one from Torbay – marvellous. Our thanks also to Aloi, who volunteered at both Sandys, doing a great job on the barbecue

KIDS ATHLETICS

Finished for the season. We only had four sessions, with two being cancelled due to the weather, but the 80 to 90 children who turned up each week had a great time. Thanks to our young people who ran the stations, to Ian Cunliffe of Harcourts Real Estate, who volunteers at the event each year, to Devonport Rotary for their sponsorship, and to the DPT team who pull it all together.

TAMARIKI SUMMER PLAY

This finished on 30 March.

TRUST AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

Devonport Senior Forum – The next meeting is with M.P. Shanan Halbert at 1 pm, Thursday 13 April at Devonport Library. Looking at the recent Emergency Response, and other issues. All Seniors are welcome. Community Meeting – 35 people attended our meeting to discuss the Auckland Council budget proposal with local community leaders. Attendees unanimously resolved: That we oppose the Mayor’s budget proposal in its current form. The proposed budget fails to meet council’s statutory obligations in providing for community needs and requirements. (ref: Local Government Act 2002, s 9, cl 10(1)) . This has been sent to our councillors.

‘Waste Minimisation’ – or ‘Reduce – Re-use –Recycle’ – Is this an area that interests you? Please email me if you are interested in joining with others who have expressed interest already.

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All Blacks to the fore at Shore

In the lead-up to North Shore Rugby Club’s anniversary celebrations over Easter weekend, the Flagstaff publishes some passages and photos from C’mon Shore! 150 years of North Shore Rugby Football Club, written by the late Jim Eagles and Max Webb

Midfield backs, Scotty Pierce (top) , who played for the New Zealand sevens team and in five All Black trials in the 1990s, and Perry Parlane (above), an Auckland star in the 70s, often feature in lists of the best players never to make the All Blacks

From green and whites to men in black… Since Don McKay became Shore’s first All Black in 1961, six other players have made the national side (clockwise from top left): Wayne Shelford, Brad Johnstone (toasted by his dad Ron and friends), Paul McGahan (left) and Frano Botica, Craig Newby and Gary Cunningham

And a couple who might have been

1987: Shore’s first

championship winners since1899 (from left, back

Bryan Stanton, Wayne Shelford, Ed Timings, Kevin Rowe, Craig Morris, Lyn Chandler, Nev Meek (assistant manager); (third row) Nick Smith (club captain), Dave Murray, Kevin Eagar, Mark Conway, Jim Reardon, Doug Hopkins, Campbell Stuart, Martin Wynyard (manager); (second row) Peter Burgess, John Atkins, Dave Tozer, Stu Atkinson, Graham Lowe, Kevin Meek, Richard Gaby; (front row) Brad Johnstone (coach), Tim McMahon, Murray Oates, Scott Pierce (vice-captain), Russell Jones (captain), Stephen Bird, Frano Botica, Bradley Walker, Brian Donnelly (assistant coach); (in front) Brooke Belcher and Kit Smith (ball boys); inset: Gigi Sanders (physio)

Captains of industry... Shore club captains, characters and life members Chris Tankard (left) and Simon Gundry (right) with 2014 championship-winning skipper James Hinchco after the final against Massey

North Harbour champs,

senior

row)

The Eagles always had an eye for a Shore thing

Ralph and Molly Eagles are the only husband-and-wife pairing to be made life members of North Shore Rugby Club.

Ralph spent 50 years working at the club as a coach, junior boys chairman and committee member, including five terms as president.

Molly, known as the “Duchess of Devonport”, helped out with the junior boys and fundraising, and was an integral part of the club’s ladies committee.

The couple continued their association with North Shore into their 80s, attending junior boys games and handing out ‘best’ and ‘fairest’ awards.

Ralph died in 1997, after which Molly

Club backbone for many years... Ralph and Molly Eagles (above). Above left: Molly starts the season, supervised by son Pip

continued going along to matches as North Shore’s perhaps most passionate supporter, barracking from behind the goalposts where she sat in Ralph’s memorial seat.

Her home in Kawerau Ave was decked out with Shore rugby memorabilia and,

until her death in 2008, she would drive her mobility scooter out onto the centre of the club’s Vauxhall Rd grounds and kick off the ball to start the season.

She is now also remembered on the Eagles memorial seat.

Jersey girl: Alice took pride in her work

It’s hard to imagine a more dedicated North Shore Rugby Club supporter than Alice Shaw, who not only turned out every Saturday with sister-in-law Elsie Shaw and best mate Dossie Coleman to support the club sides, but also washed the senior team’s jerseys for around 30 years.

Her husband Fred and his older brother Syd played for Shore in the junior grades. After a broken foot ended Fred’s playing days, the couple became keen followers.

Family members described Shaw as a rugby fanatic. It seems she started washing the senior teams jerseys in the late 40s; at first it was by hand, then by machine.

Every Saturday evening, a club member would deliver a basket of 17 usually muddy jerseys to Shaw, who then washed, dried and folded them by midweek. The jerseys needed to arrive early for soaking. She apparently wore out a bathtub washing them, and later a wringer washing machine. Both of which were replaced by the club.

Sometimes the routine could be hectic, especially if jerseys were needed back for a Monday game. On one occasion, she was up until midnight Saturday washing them and rain outside meant they had to be dried in front of the fire. One fell off the mantelpiece and a sleeve got burned. She unpicked its numbers and sewed them onto a new jersey, making sure the green stripes matched up. Shaw became an expert on the mud generated by Auckland fields, describing Stafford Park (in Northcote) as generating “evil-smelling stuff”.

She was grateful to one captain of the seniors – most likely a back – who played with his sleeves rolled up, which saved her some work.

Some weekends Shaw would go through a packet of washing powder, two sachets of enzyme powder and a bottle of bleach.

She died in 1980, aged 86, but her story is remembered in Shore’s club museum.

Saturday night laundry… Alice Shaw washed Shore jerseys for 30 years

Shore prominent in North Harbour formation

North Shore was to the fore in the formation of the North Harbour Rugby Union, which fielded its first provincial team in 1985. North Harbour firsts recorded by Shore representatives include:

• First president Jim Stuart

• First coach Peter Thorburn

• First assistant coach Peter Lamont

• First baggage manager Spy Kelly

And in the first North Harbour team:

• Number 8 and captain Buck Shelford

• Hooker Clinton Jones

• Five-eighth Frano Botica

• Midfield back Scott Pierce

• Three-quarter Gary Cunningham

C’Mon Shore! 150 years of the North Shore Rugby Club, a 386-page hardcover book packed with stories and photographs, can be bought for $90 at the club office, 9am-2pm weekdays (except Wednesdays).

Most appearances for Shore… prop Paul Vegar (above), who played 262 games. The record for the most points belongs to Warren Burton (right) who scored more than 1000.

The fabulous Barker boys.... (From left) Ryan, Ben and Sam had the rare distinction of three brothers turning out as the loose-forward trio for Shore in a premiers match against Kumeu in 2006

We were delighted to participate in the Auckland Arts Festival last month, celebrating the arts and culture of Tāmaki Makaurau and capping off the festival with Light Night - a wonderful evening of music, art and community here in Devonport.

Oyster & Moon Takeover!

This month we are excited to host Oyster Workshop in our galleries to celebrate the launch of their digital platform Oyster & Moon. This exhibition brings together a collective of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa creatives as they reflect on how their lived experience has shaped them and their creative practice.

The Street Front Gallery has been transformed into a unique retail space complemented by stunning artworks showcased in the Central Gallery.

Oyster & Moon is open until 26 April, so come along and browse this fantastic collection of artworks, jewellery, garments and more! We look forward to seeing you in the galleries.

More Info: depot.org.nz/event/oyster-and-moon

Mā te wā, Amy Saunders General Manager, DEPOT amy.saunders@depot.org.nz

Depot broadens its artistic

Exhibitors Lissy and Rudi Cole

Pushing art’s boundaries at the Depot

base with multi-disciplinary oyster exhibition

The Depot Artspace’s ambitions to broaden its offering are captured in its latest exhibition featuring a Ma - ori and Pasifika collective, which is itself exploring the boundaries between art, fashion and culturally based entrepreneurship.

Oyster Workshop’s colourful show, Oyster & Moon, brings the work and wares of 15 artists and designers to Devonport. It coincides with the launch of the creative consultancy’s online platform, but is also an opportunity for a sculptural encounter.

The main gallery features four specially commissioned spherical artworks, along with other installations, including woven pieces. In the smaller Street Front gallery, wearable woven pieces and jewellery are for sale, including raukura (feather) earrings created with repurposed inner tubes from bicycle tyres.

Gallery manager and curator Nina Dyer, who has brought a fresh focus to the exhibition space – moving away from walls for hire, to the rigour of presenting selected works, including an exhibition that ended last week of photography from rising Tamaki Makaurau talent – is stretching boundaries with the latest show. “That they were keen to come to Devonport is exciting,” she told the Flagstaff.

And in turn, Devonport gets to see something different from a multi-talented group.

One of the artists, Tui Emma Gillies, has family connections to Bayswater and once taught at Westlake Girls High School. She was involved in a group show, Matrilineal, held at the Depot last year and often works with her mother, a champion of Tonga tapa.

Both Depot director Amy Saunders and Dyer are keen to build relevance and broader community connections into

what it does, while also cementing the Depot, which includes recording studios and arts-training programmes, as a unique destination.

Gillies has completed one of the four commissioned sculptures, all inspired by the pearl and the moon. Tracey Gardner (who goes by the working name Miss Maia), Anastasia Rickard (Natura Aura) and emerging artist Shawnee Tekii produced the other main sculptures.

Among other featured creatives are Lissy Cole Designs, which contributes its neon crochet fused with traditional Ma - ori whakairo design to the exhibition; Jeanine Clarkin, a Waiheke-based pioneer of Ma - ori fashion in Aotearoa; and O Te Motu Creations, for whom Haley Lowe crafts contemporary talismans.

Other artists from across the motu and the Pacific add their perspectives and taonga. The show’s name and inspiration is said to be a metaphor for the resilience of the pearl, in creating beauty from adversity and the moon, which connects the people of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa to the rhythm of the planet.

Oyster & Moon runs until 26 April at the Depot Artspace, Clarence St, Devonport. Find out more about the collective at www.oysterworkshop.co.nz

Company Theatre’s production of Jerusalem was the big winner at the annual Northern Area Performance and Theatre Awards.

The caustic comedy, which was staged at the Rose Centre, Belmont, last November, won six awards, including best show, best director, and best male in a lead role, which went to Narrow Neck actor James Carrick.

Carrick said: “It was a great night, spoilt only by some bloke who wobbled on to the stage clutching a large whiskey to collect his award. That was me!”

The show, about society’s outliers, was directed by Kristof Haines and featured a 14-strong ensemble cast. Carrick played a squatter. He later went on to stage his own solo show.

Company Theatre’s next show, The History Boys, written by British playwright Alan Bennett, will be staged in May.

Photos by Hōhua Kurene An O TE MOTU creation

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