27 September 2024, Rangitoto Observer by Devonport Flagstaff

Thumbs-down for expanded local board... p4

The trouble with overly anxious parents... p8

Westlake headmaster bids farewell... p9

Bleak future for in-demand pensioner housing

Around 100 fewer public pensioner housing units could be available from Devonport to Sunnynook in five years, thanks to an under-the-radar government funding cut. Units would be left sitting empty, because there would not be enough money to maintain them.

The Observer has learned of alarm about a subsidy cap “very negatively” impacting Auckland Council’s community housing provider Haumaru Housing, which homes 230 residents locally and many more across Auckland.

Its affordable units in the Devonport-Taka-

puna Local Board (DTLB) area are spread across 12 villages and are in high demand among seniors, with this only growing after last year’s floods. The floods reduced the availability of private rental property, particularly in Milford – where Haumaru units To page 5

Beyond the aisles – supermarket workers’ marathon effort

Extra hours... Woolworths Sunnynook store manager Alex Dunnage (left) and store workers Donna Dunne, Mary Stevens and assistant manager Susana Brewster are among a group of 30 supermarket staff who have signed up to give it a go in the community-focused Sunnynook September Marathon. Story, page 11.

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Residents called on to save public park at Spencer on Byron

The Takapuna Residents Association (TRA) is urging members to make sure a public pocket park at the Spencer on Byron hotel is not permanently lost to car-parking.

“We’re very keen to see the public space be retained,” TRA chair Steven Salt told the Observer.

He wants locals to make their views known to Auckland Council, with planners set to decide on an application by the building’s body corporate to overturn an original consent condition to provide a landscaped area “as an amenity space useful to the local community”, for the life of the building.

This was at the western end of the site’s frontage on Byron Ave.

Like the TRA, the paper has been tracking the fate of the park, following up on local concerns – first about its condition, then its loss – that date back a number of years. The area was fenced off about five years ago and used for storage and parking by construction workers doing maintenance on the building’s cladding.

With more intensification coming to Takapuna, the TRA says it is more important than ever that green areas set aside for the public are retained.

In its latest newsletter, the TRA said the body corporate’s bid to replace a “little oasis” with car parks, some edge planting and a couple of roadside seats “makes a mockery of the original intent”.

The application to instead allow 26 extra car parks had not been publicly notified, “but we know that the planner will be interested in the public’s comment”, Salt said.

“We’re trying to be proactive, so the council is aware of the public’s views.”

This month, council told the Observer the application was on hold awaiting information from the applicant. “No decisions have been made on notification,” a spokesperson said.

Salt told the paper it was unfortunate the space was never publicly vested. He was unsure why the former North Shore City Council, which granted the original consent with the park proviso in 1998, had not done this.

“If it had been [done] we wouldn’t be in this position,” he said.

Send your views to: Ian.dobson@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Albany Heat Pumps

Police swoop after gun sighting

Police responded in numbers, including deploying the Eagle helicopter, after a report of a person with a firearm on The Strand above Takapuna Beach last week.

“A group of young people were located nearby playing with a BB gun,” said Inspector CJ Miles, acting area prevention manager for Waitemata East.

The callout was on Wednesday 18 September, after 5.40pm, near Regatta bar and restaurant.

Inspector Miles said police took firearms reports seriously and staff had responded accordingly. “The group’s actions are disappointing,” he said.

A 14-year-old has been referred to Youth Aid over the matter.

“Police continue to strongly advise people to reconsider their actions, particularly if they think carrying imitation firearms in public spaces is appropriate behaviour,” Miles said.

Authorised by Hon Simon Watts, Parliament Buildings, Wgtn.

From primary school to Harbour honours

Milford Primary School’s Year 4 team (above) – winners of their age group in the hotly contested Netball North Harbour competition this season – need look no further for inspiration than former pupil Marie Hansen (left). Not only was Hansen named Harbour’s club premier player of the year, the shooter also helped the Harbour representative team place fifth at the recent New Zealand open national championships.

The excited schoolgirls attended the primary school prizegiving at the Barfoot & Thompson Netball Centre at Onewa Domain this month with coach Katie Delmont (pictured above with, from left): Natalie Robertson, Lucy Weaver, Olivia Penney, Jasmine Ruzic Vannozzi, Harper Delmont, Sarah Choi, Paige Lamont, Zoe Hay, Evie Paul, Elise Jenkins and Alice Savostyanova.

The young netballers were undefeated in

the five-month season, and showed good skills development. They played in the A grade against 23 other North Shore schools, turning out weekly in all weather.

The season was capped by beating Belmont Primary School 29-7 in their final.

Hansen, who plays for Tonga – the country of her parents’ birth – was profiled in the Observer last year before she played at the Netball World Cup. She credits her primary school days in Milford with igniting her passion for the game, which developed further at Westlake Girls High School

The shooter now plays for the Collegiate club, which beat Shore Rovers to win the Harbour Premier 1 club title.

In schools competition, Westlake won the Year 9 grade. It was second to Kristin in the premier secondary final. Its top team plays in the Auckland competition.

Thumbs-down for expansion of Devonport-Takapuna Board Paint pollution remains a mystery

No source could be found for paint seen flowing from a council drain onto Takapuna Beach at the end of Park Ave.

Auckland Council’s compliance team leader, Paul Northover, said the 10 September incident – reported by alarmed beachgoers – was treated as a priority, but the team had been unable to establish where the pollutant originated. An earlier complaint would have helped with this, he added.

The pollutant was considered to have a low risk of ongoing harm, he said, because it would be naturally absorbed into the sand.

Residents said this was good luck, in that the paint had pooled at the top of the beach, rather than being met with high tides and washing into the ocean.

Discharging pollutants into water is a breach of the Resource Management Act and can result in enforcement action and large fines. Northover said anyone with information about this incident, or witnesses to other discharges, could contact council’s pollution hotline on (09) 377-3107.

People could dispose of unwanted household paint by dropping it at Dulux or Resene stores for recycling, he said.

Devonport-Takapuna looks likely to remain an under-sized local board area after its bid to grow by taking in coastal suburbs to the north was rebuffed.

The board’s case for expansion was put to the Joint Governance Working Party (JGWP) of Auckland Council this month.

Presenting board members George Wood and Gavin Busch said they were disappointed that the idea was not accepted, although it was a near-run thing with a 5-5 vote, decided in favour of the status quo by the casting vote of the working-party chair, councillor Julie Fairley.

Council’s Governing Body will have the final say, with North Shore ward councillors Chris Darby and Richard Hills, who were not on the working party, among those to vote this week.

They will do so knowing that both the local boards in the ward – Devonport-Takapuna (DTLB) and Kaipātiki – want boundary changes.

“We thought that we put together a very good case that should have seen changes to the size of the DTLB,” Wood told the Observer. “We are now the smallest in population and near the smallest in our ground area for the metropolitan local boards.”

With shifts ahead in the way local boards are funded, with more of a weighting to population and deprivation coming, this leaves the board facing getting less money, compared with other areas, to maintain its public assets. Those assets include parks, community facilities and a number of heritage assets that need costly maintenance.

Representation is also an issue, with Kaipātiki, like the DTLB, wanting a slice of areas to its north to help rebalance the faster population growth of suburbs there, in order to help maintain what is a legislated desirable

ratio of elected members.

Albany ward, which comprises Hibiscus and Bays and Upper Harbour local boards, had a population of 166,851 in 2018, compared with North Shore’s 146,244. But 2023 Census estimates indicate Albany has since grown by more than 14 per cent, compared with just over 2.5 per cent for North Shore.

Expansion would help maintain a population variable of no more than 10 per cent between wards for next year’s local body elections. The JGWP acknowledged that not making a change would mean non-compliance with the 10 per cent rule, but said it considered that breaching this for the North Shore ward was necessary in order to maintain communities of interest.

But a key part of the DTLB presentation was to establish that the expansion it wanted was into communities with which it already had much in common. This included Campbell’s Bay, where the primary school zone draws from neighbouring DTLB suburbs.

By adding Mairangi Bay (which is part of North Shore electorate) and parts of Murrays Bay and Unsworth Heights to the North Shore ward, it and the Albany ward would both then have around 170,000 residents.

The North Shore ward breakdown in 2018 had 88,269 people in Kaipātiki and 57,975 in the DTLB, with detailed figures due next month.

Representation, which is reviewed six-yearly, also has implications for the 2028 local body elections, when it is expected that super-sized boards may be in place. The plan is to merge DTLB and Kaipātiki, although the matter will go to public consultation.

For DTLB, growing its territory before then may potentially increase the number of board members it could elect, up from six. Larger Kaipatiki now has eight members.

Funding cap threatens pensioner housing

From page 1

in Alma Rd were damaged – and in other badly flooded suburbs, including Sunnynook and Forrest Hill.

Council sources say Haumaru has warned this month that village occupancy will dwindle under a new government cap on the numbers eligible for income-related rents subsidy (IRRS) paid to it as an accommodation provider.

“Given the average age of the current tenants in these 12 [DTLB area] villages, being 79 years old, most likely 100 units will be empty in five years,” it advised. It would be unable to maintain the modest but sought-after accommodation as it fell vacant.

The government has capped subsidised Haumaru occupancy across Auckland at 950 tenants (64 per cent of total current occupancy), meaning capacity cannot be increased if more units become available for eligible tenants. Haumaru already houses 1400 seniors.

Council is a 49 per cent shareholder in Haumaru and owns village land and buildings. The Selwyn Foundation holds 51 per cent and assists with operations. Tenants are sourced from emergency housing or social housing registers.

Haumaru has told council it will not be able to take on additional tenants without the subsidy because it will not be able to afford to refurbish and maintain units. The subsidy is intended to bridge the gap between market rents and an income-related cap applied to what community housing tenants pay in rent.

A council briefing document states: “The central government funding change came without notice and after decision-making on the council’s Long-term Plan 2024-34.” Government had advised the change in funding criteria was to prioritise moving people out of emergency accommodation, it said.

Local elected representatives are alarmed about the future impact on vulnerable tenants if the policy is not reversed.

Behind the scenes, Mayor Wayne Brown, Haumaru Housing and Selwyn Foundation have written to relevant ministers to ask for the funding to be reinstated.

Haumaru chief executive Gillian Schweizer confirmed: “We are in discussion with the government to find a way forward.”

The issue will be discussed at a council committee meeting in October.

• Haumaru villages in the DTLB’s northern area include four in Milford: Alma Court with 19 units; Dallington Court, 24 units; Gordon Court, 21 units; and Stratford Court, 30 units, with all four fully occupied.

Takapuna has two villages: Peggy Phillips, 44 units, 97 per cent occupied; and Pupuke Court, 12 units, full. And in Sunnynook: Cockayne Court, 22 units, 95 per cent occupied.

Devonport Peninsula villages comprise three in Belmont at Belmont Court, 27 units, 96 per cent occupied; Kings Court, 12 units, 83 per cent; and Preston Court, 33 units, 94 per cent. Three in Devonport: Cambria Court, 12 units; Fraser Court, 12 units; and Gordon Court, 21 units, all full.

The individual villages house varying numbers of tenants receiving the IRRS subsidy. Some villages contain “legacy” units, where tenants bought lifetime occupancy rights.

Haumaru chief executive Gillian Schweizer, visiting Alma Court in Milford after floods in January 2023 resulted in some residents being evacuated. A damaged block of units has since been restored and is fully reoccupied.

uncovered spreadsheets held by the panel which proved his case: that evidence was not fully considered by the panel. “There should be cost consequences from the failure of the panel to disclose the inconsistent deliberative spreadsheets at the time of giving subsequent reasons,” the claim said.

because the blocks are within the walkable catchment of the edge of a metropolitan centre zone.

An Independent Hearings Panel will hear submissions on PC78 and make recommendations, on which the council will then make a decision.

Sunnynook playground promises more fun

Sunnynook’s Belle Verde Reserve is getting

Equipment will be upgraded and made more suitable for a wider age group, after the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board approved its design last week. A climbing wall, hopping logs and two swings are among items to be installed from December.

A budget of just over $100,000 has been

Project manager Kylie Hewitt told the board there was a significant risk the project would cost more than its estimated $91,292, as the suppliers’ quotes were received in vember last year and could have since

The current playground equipment was in poor condition and needed to be renewed, council staff reported. Doing this would create a more vibrant and enjoyable community space, built to contemporary standards.

The public was consulted on two options for the playground in March and April. Out of 20 people voting, 11 chose the option that is now going ahead.

Board chair Toni van Tonder asked staff to investigate installing tables, seating and shade sails as part of the renewal, as those elements have been suggested in feedback for other playgrounds.

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Pasifika people power a winner for Rosmini artist

Rosmini College student Patrick Lemeki with the boldly expressive painting that made him a national winner, chosen from secondary school art on display at Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington this month.

The Year 11 student said when he went to see the show with his dad and nana, he was overwhelmed by the talent on display and worried his work might not be up to scratch. But his acrylic painting, Power to the People, was judged best in the Kaupapa Pasifika category of the annual New Zealand Qualifications Authority Ringa Toi exhibition, which showcases artwork at NZQA excellence level.

Patrick said it was “heartwarming” that the painting –deeply rooted in his heritage and reflecting growing up as a

young Tongan male on the North Shore – was acknowledged and its message of empowerment understood. The intent, he said, was “to tell the story of the struggles my people went through to get my generation where we are today”.

He envisaged it as a mural, visually connecting culture and identity and forging links between people and place.

Patrick says he will keep up his art through school, but is also considering studying engineering.

He says he likes letting his creative side take over. “I find it therapeutic ‘cause it’s a nice change of pace from the busy world.” It is also a great medium to convey ideas that “the mouth can’t fully explain”, including social justice.

Students’ works are on show at Te Papa until 27 September.

Parenting style adds to anxiety ‘epidemic’

Overprotective mothers and fathers are doing their children no favours, a visiting psychologist told a Westlake Girls High School symposium. She talked to Janetta Mackay.

Overprotective parenting is adding to the pressures many young people experience, an education symposium at Westlake Girls High School has been told. This was adding to an “epidemic of anxiety” among teenagers, said guest speaker Dr Judith Locke.

The Australian clinical psychologist and former teacher said it was vital that schools and parents helped prepare young people to navigate their way through modern life’s challenges. Students needed support to learn that dealing with difficulties and setting goals was part of growing their resilience as they entered young adulthood. As was managing feelings – and social media use.

Locke, who spoke to the Observer before addressing educators from girls’ schools from across New Zealand and Australia this month, said the issues girls faced today, while very real, were in many cases amplified by a fixation on feelings. Teachers and parents needed to acknowledge emotions, but also steer students towards managing these.

“Listen, empathise and normalise,” was a good general rule of thumb, said Locke. Whether it was exams, auditions or sport selections, students needed to learn that achievement required effort and outcomes were not always what they might wish for.

“The things that kids are always proud of come from challenge and genuine mastery,” she said.

Her common-sense approach at the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools symposium chimed with Westlake principal Jane Stanley, who later told the Observer that Locke’s address was a highlight of the event – “particularly her insights into students’ daily pressures and how overprotective parenting could limit children’s ability to cope with challenges”.

Westlake focused on fostering strength and adaptability, said Stanley, working to teach its students strategies to manage anxiety and stress.

“Life includes disappointments, deadlines, failures, high expectations and other stresses. Cosseting kids to pretend otherwise doesn’t help anyone,” she said. “We are committed to helping our students flourish – despite adversity.”

Stanley said hosting the symposium and belonging to the coalition helped the school stay at the forefront of best practice and research in girls’ education.

The coalition has 41 members in New Zealand, from both state and private schools.

Locke told the Observer her own career move away from teaching came after noticing how parenting was changing, becoming more hands-on. She embarked on a PhD, focusing on modern parenting, and has since gone on to practice psychology, write books, including Bonsai Child, and comment on the issues from her base in Brisbane. She regularly runs sessions for parents and schools on student wellbeing. She advises parents to learn to step back, to steer rather than interfere.

But the trend she is seeing is for helicopter parenting to extend from primary school hovering to parents helping with their children’s work at secondary level, and some taking up the cudgels with schools and even employers.

Acknowledging young people’s feelings was important, she said, but these needed to be put in context. “School isn’t Disneyland with uniforms.”

Parents who “stage-managed” the school experience by letting children skip school camp, exams or sports day were doing them no favours. “It’s like [the parents] going to fitness class and not doing the sit-ups.”

Students needed to experience all elements of school, she said. Parents should put more trust in teachers’ expertise to ready those at senior level to enter the university or the workplace. “It’s meant

‘School isn’t Disneyland with uniforms.’

– Dr Judith Locke

Over-compensating... sometimes it’s guilt that makes parents over-indulge their children, says Australian clinical psychologist Dr Judith Locke

to be a difficult year and hard work. If they‘ve not faced a year of challenge, then they will not be prepared.”

For those students who faced terrible situations, tailored support was required, she emphasised. But when faced with the skyrocketing of generalised anxiety disorder among young people in developed countries, parental responses needed reappraising. Anxiety showed up more in girls than boys, partly because women had more social permission to discuss their feelings. Their parental relationships were often more overprotective.

Girls also faced particular appearance-related pressures that were magnified by social media, and now AI. “They’re not now comparing themselves to models, but models that don’t even look that way.”

Parenting was harder than ever and there was pressure, sometimes self-imposed, to be a perfect parent.

“We’re seeing parental good intentions but bad outcomes,” said Locke. This was sometimes due to time-poor parents overcompensating. “Guilt makes parents do stupid things, to over-indulge.”

Research showed learned helplessness in young people was linked to a higher incidence of depression and anxiety, Locke said.

Parents could help their children’s anxiety by dialling down the drama of the more everyday concerns they expressed. Parents could use their own examples of dealing with issues such as personality conflicts in their work. This would help support teens to develop their own capabilities and make clear such issues were not unusual.

“We never have perfect controllable experiences.”

Encouraging exercise and routine were other healthy steps. Managing time on social media was important, and unfettered access at too young an age posed problems. Women of daughters needed to be aware of the messages their own behaviour sent, including their own phone use and attitudes to appearance enhancements.

Role-modelling and relationship-building, rather than “performative parenting”, were the best way forward, said Locke.

Headmaster Ferguson bids farewell to Westlake Boys

Westlake Boys High School headmaster David Ferguson is leaving the school at the end of the year to spearhead a growing teacher-training initiative he instigated.

In Westlake’s top job since 2010, Ferguson will now become chief executive of the Teachers’ Institute, which was set up in conjunction with other Auckland principals to provide in-school training for new teachers.

The news – which he shared with the school community before heading to Australia last week to host a series of old boys’ reunions – was greeted with accolades for his contribution from public figures, parents and other educators.

Board chair Andrew Nicoll said: “David Ferguson has led Westlake Boys for nearly 15 years. Over that time he has seen the school’s roll increase significantly, while at the same time overseeing continual improvement in academic, cultural and sporting results that now consistently puts Westlake Boys amongst the very highest achieving secondary schools in Aotearoa New Zealand.”

Ferguson said he had loved his total of 21 years at the school and would miss it greatly. “The boys, the staff, the board and the Westlake community have been wonderful.

“I’m really looking forward to this new challenge, which is about ensuring that every school is able to fill teaching positions

with well-prepared teachers, and ultimately offering every New Zealand young person outstanding educational opportunities.

“Being able to serve our boys and community has been an absolute honour and the highlight of my career. Our school is in good heart and is well-placed to continue to be one of the best schools in New Zealand.”

The English-born champion of boys’ schools being the best place to educate boys will now turn his focus to increasing the supply of teachers for all schools, through a one-year postgraduate training programme.

Four years ago, Ferguson came up with the Teachers’ Institute idea; now, more than 40 Auckland schools are on board with

training teachers in schools, rather than their going to university-operated training colleges full-time.

By the end of this year, 200 teachers will have been through a pilot programme, including 20 at Westlake Boys and some at its sister school, Westlake Girls High.

The plan is to expand the programme in 2025, with the institute having won New Zealand Qualifications Authority accreditation as a stand-alone private training establishment.

The institute is run by a charitable trust, with a board including other leading educators, which has appointed Ferguson as the first CEO. “We are delighted that he has chosen to lead this new initiative,” said trust chair Heather McRae, who is also principal of Diocesan School for Girls.

The institute’s focus is to address teacher-supply issues, especially in science, technology, maths, English, and te reo Māori. It provides a pathway for graduates and mature students to train towards a postgraduate degree while based in a “home” school for a year.

“Our aim is to complement existing pathways into teaching by offering an alternative which puts the school community at the centre of the training, and bringing a more diverse range of people into the profession,” Ferguson said.

David Ferguson... keen to bring a wider range of people into teaching

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From page 1

Supermarket staff going the distance

Thirty Woolworths supermarket workers are getting out of the aisles and into the park, as they prepare for the Sunnynook September Marathon.

The event challenges contestants to run or walk the marathon distance of 42km over the course of the month, either via loops around Sunnynook Park, or anywhere that suits.

The Woolworths Sunnynook staff have been doing laps of the park on their breaks, and before and after work, to get their kilometres up, said store manager Alex Dunnage.

He said the store had a good relationship with the Sunnynook Community Centre, from where the marathon is run, with Woolworths donating toys to the centre and the centre allowing the store to use its rooms, tables and chairs for functions.

The marathon was a good way to get more involved with the centre and support its work.

Dunnage said the marathon also helped to lift morale across the store.

“It’s just a good way for the team to get out for a bit, de-stress, take in a bit of fresh air.”

There was a slight competitive atmosphere in the store, he said, with staff comparing their distances each day.

Manager Susana Brewster first pitched the idea of participating in a daily team huddle and it caught on, growing from 10 to 30 participants. Now, supermarket staff account for half of the 60 people taking part in this year’s marathon.

Brewster also organised T-shirts that the staff can wear while they are walking or running.

Dunnage said some staff had been joining in after seeing their co-workers doing laps in the park across the road from the supermarket.

The store will provide sausages for the

Park and run... Sunnynook Woolworths workers (top row) Matthew Knight, James Turner, Sakesh Parshad and (bottom row) Tirta Sulaiman and Bagio Shaju are among 30 supermarket staff taking part in the Sunnynook September Marathon end-of-marathon celebration on 5 October at the community centre.

The event was started in 2021 by the Sunnynook Community Association. It proved especially popular in its first year, attracting 120 people in the midst of a Covid lockdown.

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Birdsong is hosting a Twilight Nature Tour in Sunnynook Reserve on 30 September, allowing participants to add 2km to their total while identifying the flora and fauna of the reserve and the features of the park that support flood resilience.

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Kindy kids off to a healthy start

Kai time... Milford Kindergarten children Ralph Sa’u, aged 3, and Emily Law, 4, ready to tuck into their hangi lunch, held during Maori Language Week last week in celebration of the Pierce Rd centre receiving a health award

Grow it, cook it, eat it... Milford Kindergarten pupils have a taste for healthy food

Eating well and staying active are a winning formula for Milford Kindergarten, earning it another New Zealand Heart Foundation award.

The Pā-Harakeke award is given out by the Heart Foundation to kindergartens where healthy eating and physical activity are flourishing. Milford Kindergarten has now had its award renewed six times, every two years.

Foundation representatives visited the kindergarten to present the award last Friday 20 September, and were treated to a hāngī alongside the teachers and children.

Head teacher Amanda Bowen said the kindergarten “really encourages” parents to pack healthy lunchboxes for their children and has a water-only policy for drinks.

The kindergarten has a large garden which the teachers and students use to grow fruits and vegetables, and a coop of quail, which provide them with eggs.

At least twice a week, students assist with preparing and cooking the food grown in the garden, helping them learn what foods are healthy and how different foods can be nutritious for different parts of the body, said Bowen.

“Marcus today had a yoghurt; he said ‘I’ve got yoghurt, it’s good for my bones’.”

She said the kindergarten was fortunate to have a large outdoor area where the kids can kick a ball around and get plenty of exercise. It plans to revamp the playground, to provide more height and scale to challenge the physically capable children, she said.

Lunchtime treats... (clockwise from above left): Indigo Rogers (3) and Maryam Janna, (4); Evan Alite (left, 5) and Marcus Tulikihakau; Eddie Szczepanski (4) shows off his lunchbox; Frank Sweas (3) with a toy; and Romano Kang (3) pauses to pose during the celebration

Hearty appetites... Heart Foundation nutrition adviser Lesley Carter, who works with the kindergarten, with healthy heart mascot Hearty, speaking to the children before the award was presented

Westlake Girls basketballers show their class

Westlake Girls High School premier basketballers showed they’re better than school-level players as the team continued its dominance at Winter Tournament Week.

Guard Amy Pateman, who returned from injury, and fellow star Kodee Williams-Sefo showed their skills as Westlake won the upper North Island national qualifying tournament.

Amy has committed to play basketball for Division One US college the University of San Francisco. And Kodee was selected to take part in the recent Basketball Without Borders Asia Camp, a talent camp run by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).

Westlake dominated their early competition, beating One Tree Hill College 121-29, Carmel College 112-22, St Kentigern College 104-44 and Northcote College 127-55.

After getting past Takapuna Grammar 85-77 in the semi-final, Westlake faced off against Auckland champions Manurewa, beating them 59-48 to win the upper North Island qualifying tournament.

Director of sport April Ieremia said the performances showed the side was “still a force to be reckoned with” despite their points deduction costing them the title in the Auckland premier competition.

The team will now focus on the sec-

Flying high... Skateboarder Billie Morrison gets some air

ondary school nationals in October, where they’ll be aiming for their third straight title.

The school had a string of other positive results at Winter Tournament Week, a series of national and regional sporting competitions held early this month, including Year 9 twins Astyn and Kaylan Nasmith finishing first and second in the Auckland under-14 mountainbiking championships. Talia

Hosking placed third and Stella Beale was fourth in the under-17 category.

Astyn, Kaylan and Stella are going on to compete at the national championships in Christchurch next month.

The premier netball team is also heading to nationals, in Christchurch next month, for the first time in four years after finishing fifth at the upper North Island qualifying tournament.

Ieremia, a former Silver Ferns shooter, returned to coaching the team this year, and said Westlake had a tough draw. The team beat Hamilton Girls’ High School 35-22 to secure the fifth spot and national qualification.

Skateboarder Billie Morrison came third in the over-15 girls category at the New Zealand Secondary School Skateboarding Championships.

The equestrian team were standouts too, as Samantha Syme won the showjumping (80-90cm) category and was fourth overall for Year 11-13 riders. Kaleisha Iremonger placed third overall for level-two dressage and fourth in 70-80cm showjumping.

The first XI football side finished as the fifth-best team in the country at the national secondary school competition, while the lacrosse premier team finished eighth and hockey first XI sixth at their respective national tournaments.

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Tournament promises future wins for Westlake Boys

The future of sport looks promising at Westlake Boys High School, as its teams gained valuable experience and top-six finishes at Winter Tournament Week.

The week, in early September, is a series of national and regional tournaments for a range of sports. The latest event followed a standout sporting year in 2023, which director of sport Andrew Lydiard said was possibly the school’s best-ever in terms of claiming premier titles at regional and national level.

This year, Westlake’s football first XI, second XI and junior premier sides all came third at their respective national tournaments.

The first XI bounced back from losing its national semi-final to Sacred Heart to beat the college in the separate Auckland Knockout Cup final a week later, adding a second trophy to the cabinet after winning the Auckland Premier League in August.

In hockey, the first XI placed fourth in the country and the second XI won the national second XI tournament, the Galletly Cup, for the third consecutive time.

The premier basketball team qualified for the National Secondary School Championships in October after placing fifth in its zone qualifying tournament. The junior premier side finished second in its zone and the junior A team recorded a win.

Briefs

Winger makes cut for schools side

Westlake Boys High School rugby player

JD Van Der Westhuizen (above) has been selected for the New Zealand Schools side. The winger impressed for the first XV this season as they won their 21st North Harbour title, before losing the Blues region final to Kelston. The national schools team will play matches against Samoa U18, Australia U18 and NZ Maori U18 in early October.

Three in a row... Daniel Katzin (front) and Campbell Anderson helped the Westlake Second XI win the Galletly Cup for the third consecutive year

The school’s badminton team, made up of a Year 9, a Year 10 and two Year 12 players, came fourth in New Zealand in what Lydiard called an “outstanding achievement”, with its top player out injured.

He said the cyclical nature of school sport meant it was important to have players ready to step up, and next year many of those who had gained tournament experience would be ready to add that knowledge to premier sides.

Experience contributes to the consistency of the school’s premier sides, but Lydiard said the “cornerstone” was the coaching systems which built fundamental skills from a young age.

Depending on rugby league player numbers, next year the school will potentially look at moving its team into the premier grade.

This year, a young side won the national tier two competition to round off a successful season, in which they won the Auckland Senior A title – beating James Cook High School in both finals.

Senior rugby isn’t part of Tournament Week, but the pipeline looks assured, with the under-15A rugby side having come fourth in the national U15 competition held in Tauranga.

In individual sport, Year 13 wrestler Josh Marshall won the 80kg New Zealand Wrestling title, keeping up a remarkable record of never having lost a match representing his school. Lydiard said Josh was a great example of someone who can achieve remarkable things out of the traditional team sport structure. “He’s very good at what he does.”

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Swan lake no fun when you’re swimming solo

Every year in the 12 years that we have lived by Lake Pupuke, this swan couple (pictured) have brought their beautiful offspring to visit us.

In the past two years, each of their babies has died – probably taken by eels, water rats or pūkeko.

As if that’s not sad enough, the male swan recently disappeared and now the female, who visits daily, is alone. It is heartbreaking.

Last night we saw a wonderful story on TV1 news of a white swan who was provided with a mate via a community link-up and we were wondering if anyone knows of a solitary male swan who might be introduced to our lonely girl? Anne and Bob Tindall

• If readers have helpful suggestions or contacts for finding the solo swan a mate, please email them in and we will pass them on. Email: news@rangitoto-observer.co.nz with “swan” in the subject line.

Widow’s weeds... This solo black swan, pictured on Lake Pupuke, is missing her life mate and her cygnets

Crimson pōhutukawa rusting away as government cuts funding

As daily dog walkers along Takapuna beach, with its fringe of pōhutukawa, we can’t help thinking how deeply saddened we would be if these trees, with their glorious annual display of crimson blossoms, were no more.

Can you imagine the North Island without pōhutukawa? Rangitoto Island stripped back to hot black rock? This is the question the editor of NZ Geographic, Catherine Woulfe, posed in a recent editorial.

She is not scaremongering. Pōhutukawa on Rangitoto, the largest pōhutukawa forest in the world, are infected with myrtle rust. This was first reported in 2023. They are at risk of being decimated by the disease in the foreseeable future!

This invasive, airborne fungal disease blew into New Zealand and spread rapidly. It affects plants in the myrtle family, including significant natives: pōhutukawa, rātā, mānuka and kānuka.

Severe myrtle rust infestations can kill affected plants and have long-term impacts on regeneration of young plants and seedlings. There are a great many more pōhutukawa

Write to the

on the North Shore’s beaches, parks and private properties that we could also lose. One, about 80 years old, grows in our suburban front garden and attracts many tūī. We treasure it.

But there is hope! Catherine Woulfe tells us that “teams of scientists and kaitiaki have been working with urgency to understand myrtle rust – and combat it. They’ve come

up with promising weapons, too: fungi and insects with a taste for myrtle rust; seed-banking and resistance-testing programmes; antifungal spraying; and a hightech new spray from Aussie that (in the lab, at least) not only protects plants, but also cleans up rust in plants already struggling.”

But all of this innovation is about to hit the wall. As she says, “funding for the optimistically named umbrella programme ‘Beyond Myrtle Rust’ ended this month. Likewise, the Jobs for Nature teams that spent years monitoring the rust and developing ways to fight it are about to be left in the financial wilderness.”

The unwillingness of our government to renew the funding to fight myrtle rust is beyond belief. Surely everything possible should be done to save our pōhutukawa and other iconic plants affected by this fungus and to preserve them for future generations.

To avoid this environmental catastrophe we, the public, need to speak out and persuade the government to reverse their decision.

Lyn Potter

We welcome letters. Please limit to 300 words on local topics. Noms de plume or unnamed letters will not be printed. Email news@rangitoto-observer.co.nz or write to Letters, PO Box 32 275, Devonport.

Share your ideas for a Takapuna community hub

The North Shore community are being asked to share their ideas on the facilities and services they want to see incorporated in a new community hub right in the heart of Takapuna.

The Takapuna Community Hub consultation is open until Monday 7 October 2024 and is part of a project by the DevonportTakapuna Local Board to renovate the Takapuna Library into a combined library and community hub to meet the needs of the North Shore’s growing and changing population.

The board is considering options to either renovate the existing two-level building, or to renovate the existing levels while adding an additional third smaller level. Both options will provide parking. In this consultation the board is asking:

• What you and your whānau would like to do at the community hub?

• What types of spaces and

facilities you would like to see at the hub?

Feedback from this consultation will help to develop a proposed design for the new community hub. Once initial designs are complete, a second consultation will be held for the community to give feedback on the designs.

Local Board Chair Toni van Tonder is keen for all residents in Takapuna and nearby areas to think about the kinds of things they would like to see in the new space.

“Our vision is to create a space where everyone in our community feels welcome and safe. A place where events could

How to have your say

be held, public meetings can take place, where people can create, study, read or simply enjoy the company of others.

“Te Manawa in Westgate has sound recording studios and quiet puzzling corners, while in Takanini they have bookable sewing machines and a slide that goes from the top level to the bottom in the children’s area. Why do they have these things? Because their communities asked for them. So, what does Takapuna want?

“We’re designing this hub for you, and with you. So, we need all of your great ideas, aspirations and dreams for this space. So have your say this month and together we’ll build something amazing for the residents of today and tomorrow.”

To have your say online, go to akhaveyoursay.co.nz then “Takapuna Community Hub” to fill out the online feedback form. You can also complete a paper copy of the form at the Takapuna Library or come to our drop in session at the Takapuna Market on Sunday 22 September, 9.30am-12.30pm.

North Shore Brass shines in band contest

Young soloists Matt Donaldson (left) and Liam Wright with trophies won by North Shore Brass, when its premier band was again named Auckland champion.

The Takapuna-based band has held the title since 2017, retaining it last month at the Auckland Bands Association Contest under director of music Harmen Vanhoorne. The Youth Brass Band, led by Mark Close, came fourth in its section.

In July, the top band placed third at nationals. Donaldson, a trombonist, and Wright, the principal cornet player, have come through the ranks to play in the top band. Both are former Westlake Boys High School students now studying music at university, and are previous national Junior Champion of Champions title-holders.

Wright also conducts the North Shore Brass Community Band, a less-competitive line-up now seeking new members.

Check out Kennedy Park’s history at heritage festival

Tours of Kennedy Park and the Rahopara Pā site at Castor Bay feature in the upcoming Auckland Heritage Festival.

On Wednesday 9 October, festival-goers can take a walk at the coastal site to learn more about its historic tunnels and gun emplacements and the ancient headland pā.

A council community ranger and members of the Kennedy Park World War II Installations Trust will conduct the tours

from 10am to 12pm, and share stories. Book a place at https://calendly.com/mylocalpark, or 027-270-8297, or mylocalpark@ aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Tours are limited to 30 people; meet in the main carpark at Kennedy Park off Beach Rd. Donations to preservation work welcome.

The festival, now in its 20th year, is this year subtitled Moana Oceania – the

great connector, and runs citywide from 28 September to 13 October, exploring links between Pacific nations and Tāmaki Makaurau.

The festival has more than 130 free or low-cost events, including tours of Devonport’s coastal fortifications and open days at the 1935 steam tug William C. Daldy. • The full festival programme can be seen on the Our Auckland website.

Couple’s PumpHouse production a play on

A world where words are limited but loaded is the dystopian future that plays out in Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, a play having its first Auckland outing at the PumpHouse in Takapuna next month.

With shades of both Orwell and modern-day politics, the two-person play is also an exploration of how a couple navigate a proscribed existence, in which they are allowed to speak just 140 words a day.

“It’s an odd love story between Bernadette and Oliver, and some law changes going on in a pseudo-England,” says Mark Wilson, co-founder of Chocolate & Carnage Theatre, the local company putting on Lemons, which picked up awards when it launched in the UK 10 years ago.

“It resembles a lot of things that are happening today around free speech – what can and can’t be said.”

The male character is an activist and his partner a lawyer, so the stage is set for them to creatively explore – in very few words –how to deal with what is morally and what is legally right, and how they move forward as a couple living in a challenging regime.

“Sometimes they just waste the words away on purpose,” says company co-founder Meg Andrews. And at times they use abbreviations, which Wilson says is “to be able to express a full and emotive experience”.

On and off stage... Mark Wilson and Meg Andrews are a creative couple

Established North Shore-based actors Matthew Diesch and Jocelyn Christian are enthusiastic about the challenge. Diesch is a familiar face to PumpHouse audiences already and Christian has worked more on screen, including a part in the most recent Avatar film.

“She’s picked this because it’s meaningful to her,” says Andrews.

It was Diesch who first suggested Chocolate & Carnage stage the Sam Steiner play. It fitted into Andrews’ and Wilson’s vision

of making new and progressive work. “I was gripped the entire way through the first reading,” he says.

This is the second theatre production the real-life couple have put on under their company’s banner.

The two, who both have day jobs at the PumpHouse, got together a few years back doing Summer Shakespeare as Lady Macbeth and Macbeth.

Their debut Chocolate & Carnage show in 2022 was .com, a modern Matariki play that ran two years in a row.

“We carried on because we enjoyed it,” says Andrews.

“This is the first time that Mark and I are just producing,” says Andrews, who handles their company’s marketing as she does for the PumpHouse, with Wilson being its venue manager, while watching the money side for their side hustle. Director Rory Janssen and lighting whizz Julia Rutherford round out their small team.

Ultimately, the couple would love their company to grow to become a full-time endeavour, allowing them to tour shows, including to smaller centres. Both hail from provincial cities originally, but have found a happy home living in laid-back Devonport.

They enjoy being immersed in the theatre world in Takapuna, although they say this

NOW SHOWING

Harold and the Purple Crayon (PG) 90min

Megalopolis (R13) 139min

Transformers One (PG) 104min

The Wild Robot (PG) 102min

Ice Maiden (E) 101min

The Substance (R16) 142min

The Three Musketeers - Part 2: Milady (M) 115min

COMING SOON

A Mistake (M) 103min Previews 2 & 6 Oct

Joker: Folie A Deux (TBA) 140min 3 Oct

Runt (PG) 92min 3 Oct

First Thursdays Artist Film: Kusama: Infinity (M) 80min

limited words

show would also be something that younger audiences who might head to the Basement Theatre in the city would enjoy.

“We want more inclusion in our audiences and more representation in who we’re putting on stage,” says Wilson.

He describes Lemons as almost like a prequel to Orwell’s 1984. “The thing that is really special about the text is it has a way of meeting in the middle of views, especially politically, thoroughly and tactfully.”

And if you’re wondering about the significance of the play’s title, using the word “Lemons”, let’s say that too is tactful – and a euphemism.

The play will be staged in the venue’s smaller, upstairs studio space, known as the Coal Bunker. This sits around 45 people, suiting the experimental studio-style approach the pair are taking in developing the company’s reputation.

One of their aims is to make theatre as accessible as possible. In aid of this, they are having a Pay As You Like evening, when audience members can choose what to pay, from $10 upwards.

• Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons is on 3-12 October at the PumpHouse Coal Bunker. Adult tickets $32, concessions available. Book at the PumpHouse box office and nz.patronbase.com

Arts Briefs

Poetry for all

Would-be poets and readers wanting insight into the craft can tap into the knowledge of former Poetry Society Competition winner Stu Bagby at the next Creative Talks event at the PumpHouse theatre in Takapuna. Bagby will give a reading and a "nonacademic" talk on Monday 7 October at 7pm at the venue's Coal Bunker Studio. The ex-gravedigger turned tutor, reviewer and published poet will discuss his and others’ works, to show that poetry need not be elitist.

One for the kids

Joy Cowley's enduring story Mrs WishyWashy is the latest Tim Bray Theatre Company's production designed to keep the little ones entertained. It is on at the PumpHouse until 12 October. Sensory-relaxed and hearing-assisted sessions are included.

Photography and health

Coming to the Lake House arts centre next month is Protecting the Planet and Our Brains: A Photographic Exploration . From 12 October, it explores connections between health and a healthy environment.

@takapunabeachsidecinema www.takapunamovies.co.nz

Acerbic drama... Matthew Diesch and Jocelyn Christian star in Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, a play about getting by on just 140 words a day

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