28 April 2023 Rangitoto Observer

Issue

Huge apartment tower planned for Takapuna site

Renters the target market in housing game changer

A 39-storey tower and 358 ‘build to rent’ dwellings are included in a massive new development planned for central Takapuna.

The proposal – for a prime block-wide corner site next to the Toka Puia public car-parking building – includes a tiered street-front ‘podium’ up to six storeys high, along with ground-floor retail, hospitality and business space. The 140.6m-high trapezoidal tower will rise behind it.

The development would rival the nearby Sentinel apartment tower, which has only 30 storeys but peaks at 150m, so would narrowly remain the North Shore’s tallest building.

The project would be the Shore’s largest example of a build-to-rent residential development.

One of the two companies in the trans-Tasman consortium behind it already has a partnership with student-accommodation operator UniLodge, though student housing is not mentioned in an application for planning consent.

Apartments in the plan include 64 as small as 42sqm, plus balconies. In addition to studios, units with one, two and three-bedrooms are offered. Tenants would have access to extensive common areas, including dining, gym, lounge and recreation facilities, a pool, roof-top space, meeting areas and on-site management.

The consortium has lodged an application in the name of Gasometer Developments Ltd for a non-notified consent to build in the metropolitan centre zone.

Its application to Auckland Council planners lodged this month carried an attachment described as an endorsement from council property arm Eke Panuku. A spokesman for Eke Panuku confirmed after Observer inquiries last that it had entered into a conditional sales and development agreement for the council-owned land dating back to 2021.

A sale price would not be revealed until setTo page 4

Takapuna, Milford, Castor Bay, Forrest Hill and Sunnynook

Anzac Day parade in pictures... p6

Local paddleboarders ace nationals... p3

Takapuna’s oldest resident lived a full life... p8

The planned tower in Takapuna, shown in an architect’s view (right), is set to change Takapuna’s skyline. The project’s block-wide podium-style frontage (above, at Auburn and Northcroft Sts) will feature shops.

Meth clean-up revealed

The future of a boarded-up state house left unoccupied in Otaku Rd, Milford, for more than a year will be decided soon, says Housing Minister Megan Woods. North Shore MP Simon Watts asked why the house has been empty when there is a waiting list for Kainga Ora accommodation. Woods told him Kainga Ora had advised it required methamphetamine decontamination, after access to it was regained in July 2022. This was finished in late October, but a compliance certificate was needed before maintenance work to make it habitable could start. Irregular grounds maintenance had been restored to a three-week schedule, she said.

Sister paper recognised

The Observer’s sister paper, the Devonport Flagstaff, is a finalist in the Best Community Newspaper category at this year’s Voyager national media awards. Managing editor Rob Drent is also a finalist in the Best Community Journalist section of the awards, with a porfolio of work that includes an Observer story about the future of the Milford-Takapuna walkway. Winners will be announced on 27 May. The Flagstaff was founded 30 years ago, and the Observer launched in 2019.

Noodles get the nod

A flat-noodle dish at Milford restaurant Tokki has made a list of Auckland’s best dishes. Metro magazine’s Top 50 Dishes selection included the Kitchener Rd eatery’s in-house-made flat noodles with chili and pork. Chef Jason Kim opened the modern Korean restaurant last year.

Alfie wins silver

Westlake Boys High runner Alfie Steedman picked up two silver medals competing for a New Zealand team at the Australian Junior Athletics Championship, held in Brisbane during the school holidays. The Year 12 student came second in the Under 18 1500m and 3000m. The holder of national secondary schools cross-country and middle-distance intermediate titles is competing in the senior section this year.

Big estuary haul

A big community clean-up of the Wairau Estuary last Saturday removed more than a dozen rubbish bins, a fridge and other flood debris. Further clean-ups are planned.

Closure suggested as option for historic Kennedy Park tunnels

Options for the future of the deteriorating Kennedy Park military tunnels continue to be kicked around by Auckland Council, frustrating conservationists who want at least a basic maintenance programme approved.

The important heritage tunnels “must remain open at all costs”, says Kennedy Park WWII Installations Preservation Trust chair Chris Owen.

Tunnel tours the trust ran were in steady demand, he said, with interested parties taken through as recently as Easter Sunday.

Owen told the Observer council inaction over a plan for the tunnels was “par for the course”.

The trust wanted some restoration work done on rust coming through concrete structures as a minimum first step, he said.

In latest developments, a 2022 structural assessment of the tunnels showed them to be in “poor condition”, a council report to a Devonport-Takapuna Local Board workshop this month said. Three options were outlined in the assessment:

• Decommission the tunnels (costing $10,000 to $20,000).

• Some maintenance and continued monitoring ($400,000).

• Comprehensive concrete repair ($1.5 million).

Council staff told board members a budget

of only $104,000 had been approved for the current financial year, with nothing allocated to the tunnels after that, leaving the board with options that are unfunded.

A full report on the management options for the tunnels will be presented to the board in June.

Meanwhile, similar uncertainty hangs over the nearby old barracks building at 139 Beach Rd, which was purchased by Auckland Council in 2012. The building was originally designed to look like a house to disguise its true purpose and it was later rented out as a home. It has been empty for some time and has issues with weather tightness and asbestos. Board members have been asking that at least its exterior is tidied up.

Options for the building include demolition and clearing of the site, reconstruction (essentially a replica, priced at $420,000, but which would remove any heritage value attached to the barracks) or restoration (for which the cost has been put at $1.8 million).

The barracks have some budget allocated to them: $20,000 this year and “in principle” a further $200,000 in 2023/24 and $300,000 in 2024/2025, the report said.

But where this proposed budget money sits in the mire of council spending cutbacks is unclear. A fuller report on the barracks’ future will also go to the board in June.

Korean Garden progressing

Stage one of the Korean Garden being built at Barrys Pt may be finished next month. This includes a rock memorial to Korean and New Zealand veterans of the Korean War.

The North Shore Korean community began fundraising for the garden years ago, gaining permission in 2021 to build it on council land near Lake House Arts Centre.

PUBLIC MEETING

Second Harbour Crossing

Simon Watts MP for North Shore and Simeon Brown MP for Pakuranga

Monday 1 May 2023 6pm - 7pm

Bowling Club, 20 Commodore Parry Road, Castor Bay

The Devonport-Takapuna Local Board provided $144,200 towards construction of the project, designed by architect Ken Lee.

Further stages will include landscaping, a pavilion, sculpture garden and peaceful contemplative and cross-cultural gathering spaces. The Korean Garden Trust is responsible for ongoing maintenance and future costs.

Telephone: 09 445 0060

Email: sales@rangitoto-observer.co.nz news@rangitoto-observer.co.nz

Website: www.rangitoto-observer.co.nz

NZ COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARDS

Best Community Involvement: 2021, 2016, 2014, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2008, 2005

Best Special Project/Supplement: 2016, 2020

VOYAGER/CANON MEDIA AWARDS

Community Reporter of the Year: Winner 2018

Community Newspaper of the Year: Finalist 2017

MANAGING EDITOR: Rob Drent

PUBLISHER: Peter Wilson

EDITOR: Janetta Mackay

REPORTER: Lochlan Lineham

Information in the Rangitoto Observer is copyright and cannot be published or broadcast without the permission of Devonport Publishing Ltd.

NEXT ISSUE: May 12

ADVERTISING DEADLINE: May 5

WRITE TO US: Noms-de-plume or unnamed submissions will not be printed. Email news@rangitoto-observer.co.nz

Authorised by Simon Watts, Parliament Buildings, Wellington.

Locals out in front at stand-up paddleboard nationals

Local stand-up paddleboarders Ollie Hougton and Rosara Davis won national titles on their home waters this month.

Fourteen-year-old Rosara became the youngest boarder to win the national senior women’s SUP title.

Houghton, aged 23, won his fourth national men’s title, days before flying out to compete on the sport’s European tour.

Rosara, a Year 10 student at Takapuna Grammar School, said she was a little bit surprised to win. For her, the appeal of the sport was “just getting out on the water and having fun”.

She has other sporting interests: After the SUP championships she headed to kayaking nationals on Lake Karapiro, before returning to take part in the TGS cycling programme.

But paddleboarding is her main sporting focus. She hopes to attend world events later this year.

A trip to Puerto Rico in 2022 gave Rosara a taste of international competition, but if she

gets to the world championship in Thailand this year her national title means she will compete for the first time in the official black singlet.

Houghton, who works in finance, will compete in Spain, Portugal, France and Germany in the coming weeks, with expectations of being in the top 10 competitors.

The former Rosmini College student won his first national title, aged 16, in 2016, but put paddleboarding on the backburner while at university. He collected his other titles in 2019 and 2021.

Around 80 athletes from New Zealand and Australia competed over three days in the nationals. The venue was to have been Takapuna Beach, but after a blustery opening day of sprints on 14 April, with winds reaching 30 knots, the technical and long-distance events had to be moved to Lake Pupuke.

Launching from in front of the PumpHouse, finalists followed a 14-buoy course over 2.5km, ahead of a 12km distance race.

Takapuna-based paddlers did well across the age groups, underlining the strength of the sport locally.

Many competitors, including Houghton and Rosara, got their start in the sport through the Beach Series. “We’ve got a really awesome racing scene,” said Rosara.

Takapuna resident Marlene Bergh won the masters (over 50) section, before finishing second overall to Rosara, with Maddie McAsey from Northcote in third.

Other local winners of note included former yachting star Chris Dickson, who won the over-60 section.

Jonno Leonard from Devonport, won the over-50s and Bruce Curson from Devonport the under-40s. Brothers Fergus and Maxwell Dunlop from Takapuna won the U19 and U16 age groups respectively, with Fergus also coming third overall. Rosara’s younger sister, Iris, one of the youngest competitors, claimed the under-12 title.

Champs... National SUP title winners Ollie Houghton and Rosara Davis competing in Takapuna

Built-to-rent project adds options for Takapuna

From page 1 tlement by the company, the spokesperson said.

The partners behind Gasometer Developments are New Zealand property development and management company McDonnell Developments and Cedar Pacific, an Australian-based investment funds management company with a focus on developing and operating residential communities, including student accommodation. Cedar Pacific has set up a fund to invest in bespoke build-torent facilities in New Zealand, to be operated with Unilodge, which already runs facilities in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

“The principal concept underpinning the build-to-rent model is to provide an attractive community-based development which provides for long-term tenure by residents,” the consent proposal says.

Eke Panuku says build-to-rent is common overseas and an emerging model here, with owners being investors, not landlords. Professionally managed sites could offer high-quality housing choices, with hotel-style amentities.

“This development will significantly increase the number of living options in Takapuna, allowing more people to live near the town centre,” said the priority location director for northern area, Kate Cumberpatch.

The 2875sqm site, bounded by Huron, Northcroft and Auburn Sts, is currently fenced off, with a mural on the boards. It is known as the Gasometer site in a nod to the land’s use

for gas storage and distribution until the 1980s. Details of the tower proposal show:

• Construction is likely to take more than three years, from earthworks to interior finishing.

• At the peak of earthworks up to 30 trucks a day will enter and leave the site.

• On-site parking for 150 vehicles, to be accessed off Northcroft St.

• Parks for 59 bikes. Storage lockers big enough to fit a further 117 bikes are planned.

• The main pedestrian entrance to the complex, from Huron St, is to be recessed and canopied.

• Six trees planted along Auburn St will be removed for the build, with four reinstated.

The pavement on Auburn St, an arterial road, was widened last year, but plans to upgrade Huron and Northcroft St have recently been scaled back due to tight council budgets and public derision about proposed design elements.

The development is in line with council’s Unlock Takapuna plans, with the Gasometer site having been identified as one of two keystone sites under the 2017 Takapuna Framework Plan. (The wider site of more than 6000sqm includes the six-storey Toka Puia car park, opened in December 2020, and a vacant lot to the east of it being used as a temporary community garden.)

The other key site is the Anzac St public

car park, now known as Waiwharariki Anzac Square, where Eke Panuku brokered a land sale for apartments to another developer, Willis Bond, a year ago. These will be at the town square’s northern end, facing onto Anzac St. Willis Bond has options to buy further public land around the edges of the town square, which Eke Panuku is building.

It is unclear how well public-transport facilities can be accommodated into the growth coming to Takapuna, including a proposed light-rail spur in Waka Kotahi options for a second harbour crossing.

The Observer asked Eke Panuku if proceeds from the Gasometer site sale would be spent locally or go into general funds. It said its urban regeneration neighbourhoods programme was viewed as a collective. “When a site is sold, the revenue generated goes into a ‘pot’ and the money in this ‘pot’ is allocated based on offering the best value for Aucklanders.”

Council planners will now decide on the application and any conditions surrounding it.

Parts of the application fail to meet planning rules, including wind and shading effects; and balconies on the smallest allowable units are only 7sqm rather than the 8sqm set down.

But the applicants say the variations are minor and should be allowed.

Westlake triumph in traditional sport

A mixed kī-o-rahi team of students from Westlake Boys and Westlake Girls High Schools were crowned champions in the schools’ first appearance at the sport’s national tournament, which was held in Rotorua during the school holidays.

The team went undefeated through eight games. Ariana Hebden and Isaac Murray-Macgregor both made the secondary-schools tournament team, with Murray-Macgregor also named male MVP.

Kī-o-rahi is a traditional Māori sport, in

which teams take turns playing the roles of ‘kīoma’ and ‘taniwha’.

Kīoma score points by touching the pou (poles) on the outside of the pitch then running the kī (ball) through an inner zone and touching it down in the centre. Each pou touch made before the ball is placed is worth one point.

Taniwha score by throwing the kī at a tupu (drum) in the centre of the field while two defenders from the kīoma team try to block their efforts. Taniwha defend by trying to rip the kīoma players’ tags before they can score.

The Westlake team beat Turanga Wahine Turanga Tane (a combined team from Gisborne Boys and Girls High Schools) 14-7 in the tournament final.

Westlake coach Kath Beckett, the Westlake Girls head of physical education, said that as the sport was new to most of the players, she had to teach them how to play along with the tactics that would hold up at a national level.

“It’s a really different level compared to playing at school.”

The schools plan to combine again next year.

Third time unlucky for Sunnynook dairy raided in early hours

A Sunnynook dairy has been broken into for the third time in three years, with police taking over 24 hours to arrive at the scene.

Thieves smashed their way through the glass frontage of the Tonkin Dr dairy last Sunday, 23 April, at 5.30am. They fled with cigarettes after destroying the cash register and eftpos machines.

No staff were in the closed store at the

time. Owner Maggie Jiang notified police that morning, but they did not arrive to assess the scene for more than 24 hours.

Jiang told the Observer she “can’t understand” why it took so long. “The police station is just there and no one came to see me.”

Clean-up and stock-taking could not begin until Monday when police left, so as not to contaminate the scene.

“I don’t know how much I have or how much I’ve lost,” said Jiang.

The shop was expected to open later in the week. If payment systems were not sorted in time, bank transfers were likely to be needed at first.

Police did not dispute Jiang’s timeline, but said the matter, reported on the non-emergency crime line, was assigned appropriately.

Touch down.... Westlake kī-o-rahi player Isaac Murray-Macgregor scores at the national tournament in Rotorua. Right: Ariana Hebden and Murray-Macgregor both made the tournament team.

Sacrifices remembered as community gathers

The return of Takapuna’s traditional Anzac Day parade was welcomed with a good crowd who then gathered for commemorations at the war memorial, where service personnel, veterans, local politicians and schools were among those making remembrances

Floral tributes... Wreaths at the Takapuna war memorial on the Strand

Parading... Onlookers applauded as veterans marched along Lake Rd behind North Shore Brass

Next generation... Head boy Jay Dunne lays a wreath on behalf of Westlake Boys High School, one of a number of participating local schools

Veteran’s voice... Devonport RSA president Muzz Kennett (left) with RSA veterans Max Laloli and Dennis Manson (right), who gave the Anzac dedication

ENJOY THE EVERYDAY WITH FINANCIAL CERTAINTY

FINANCIAL TERMS TO PROTECT YOU

When you join a Ryman village, the last thing you want to think about are your finances. From the day you move in, you’ll know how much you’re paying and what’s guaranteed to be paid back when you move out.

Our range of Peace of Mind Guarantees gives you the certainty to just enjoy life and focus on the things you want to.

Speak with our friendly team to find out more about financial certainty today.

CALL 0800 000 290 SEARCH RYMAN CERTAINTY

Age just a number as Connie

Takapuna resident Connie Trewern was New Zealand’s second-oldest person when she died aged 109 last month. She was also likely the oldest person to have survived Covid-19.

But she was much more than remarkably long-lived, being an engaging personality who captivated those who met her.

Her full life included starting her own fashion label and proving a sharp businesswoman. A keen and knowledgeable follower of the horses, she had several races named in her honour, most recently for a 102nd-birthday outing at Alexandra Park. She was the oldest person in the country to hold a TAB account.

Family want her remembered for more than her age.

Daughter Sandy described her mother

– who lived with her for 37 years, mostly in Takapuna – as having a quirky wit and a sharp mind.

She kept visitors on their toes, including the Observer at her 107th birthday, when she put her longevity down to expecting to live forever.

Connie remained active and alert until her last weeks, which were without pain. She followed the news and enjoyed the word game Lingo and The Chase on television, along with determinedly exercising her limbs daily, to maintain mobility, using a walker and while seated.

She also had a great voice and sang daily. One of her caregivers sang at her funeral, a fitting tribute given she had helped teach the Korean woman songs to aid her vocabulary. These included cheeky old English standards.

The farewell was held at St Vincent De Paul Catholic Church in Milford, with lawyer Alex Whitten-Hannah delivering the eulogy and Monsignor David Tonks taking

defied odds

The Pope sent best wishes as well, and politicians visited her central Takapuna home.

Born on 2 October 1913 on Guernsey in the Channel Islands, Connie started a new life in Christchurch with her mother and sister when she was at primary school. Her father, whom she could not remember, had died in World War I and her mother remarried a New Zealand solider. The family ran hotels, in which Connie helped, before working as a hairdresser and milliner.

Stylish and petite (standing at just 145cm or 4ft, 9in), Connie married twice and was twice widowed.

To first husband Walter, she had daughters Sandy and Robin, who lives in Ashburton and she had five grandchildren and 11 great-granchildren. Although she did not need to work, she convinced Walter to let her become involved in his clothes-manufacturing business because she was bored and liked a challenge. The talented home clothesmaker soon proved her worth by stepping in to help draft patterns. She showed a natural businesswoman’s flair for economical use of material.

An eye for design led to the setting-up of her own label, Konnie Kase, and a shop, which offered smart daywear in the 1950s and 1960s. The designs ended up in competition with her husband’s offerings.

The couple enjoyed attending big dress-up race meetings, which was a tradition Connie continued with her second husband, Tom. He brought her north to Auckland, via a few years in Wellington. They settled on the North Shore around 50 years ago.

“I’ve had a very full life,” is how she liked to reflect on it.

Until her 90s, Connie had few health issues, but then some sight and hearing degeneration set in. But she worked around this, with eye injections so she could keep reading and hearing aids to stay up with conversation. She mastered computers and mobile phones.

A scare came last year, when Connie was in North Shore Hospital for treatment on her leg and picked up Covid, but she recovered.

A large-screen television at home allowed her to keep following racing as outings to the track became less frequent.

The judicious punter was honoured to be in attendance when races named for her were run at Ellerslie for her 91st and Cambridge

for her 95th. When this occurred again at Alexandra Park, with the Connie Trewern 102nd Birthday Mobile, she was interviewed on Trackside, her favourite channel.

The presenters found it hard to credit their quick-witted subject was a centenarian. Always beautifully groomed, she never smoked or sunbathed, but did not say no to a birthday tipple.

Parties were always celebrated with gusto. She wore a houndstooth jacket Sandy bought her in Harrods to her 100th in Devonport and held a hat party the year after.

For her 107th enjoyed with family and friends at the Spencer on Byron hotel, she cheekily urged her guests to to see if the purple parfait amour liqueur she had liked in her younger days would “strike a light”.

North Shore artist and Westlake educator

Well-known North Shore artist and teacher Dugald Page has died, aged 86.

His work lives on at Westlake Boys High School, where eight large stained-glass windows he designed have pride of place in the school auditorium. These were completed for the school’s 50-year anniversary in 2008.

Page (right) worked across the artistic spectrum, including painting, sculpture, ceramics, glass and print-making. He held exhibitions across New Zealand. In Devonport,

where he lived, a career retrospective was held at the Depot Artspace in 2014.

After growing up in Palmerston North, Page studied fine arts at the University of Canterbury. He became an art teacher and from the early 1960s formed what was a long association with Westlake Boys High School. He later taught at teacher training colleges on the North Shore and Auckland, and at Whitecliffe School of Art, before returning to Westlake Boys in the 1990s.

Rolls-Royce treatment... A chauffeur-driven outing was part of the celebration of one of Connie Trewern’s recent birthdays

FIREARMS LICENCE HOLDERS

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE ‘THE ROAR’AND GAME BIRD SEASON

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE ‘THE ROAR’AND GAME BIRD SEASON

Information

Information from Te Tari Pūreke the Firearms Safety Authority

from Te Tari Pūreke the Firearms Safety Authority

If you’re a firearms licence holder, you’ll need to know about changes to the storage and transport rules for firearms and ammunition, and changes to the seven rules of firearms safety.

If you’re a firearms licence holder, you’ll need to know about changes to the storage and transport rules for firearms and ammunition, and changes to the seven rules of firearms safety.

Regulations were updated in February 2022, and to help Kiwis make sense of those changes, Te Tari Pūreke, the new firearms regulator, published a Secure Storage and Transport Guide.

Regulations were updated in February 2022, and to help Kiwis make sense of those changes, Te Tari Pūreke, the new firearms regulator, published a Secure Storage and Transport Guide.

You can download a copy of the Secure Storage and Transport Guide from www.firearmssafetyauthority. govt.nz/firearms-safety

You can download a copy of the Secure Storage and Transport Guide from www.firearmssafetyauthority. govt.nz/firearms-safety

Storage and transport for firearms and ammunition, key points

Storage and transport for firearms and ammunition, key points

Transportation Ammunition

Transportation

If you’re driving to a hunting location, your firearm needs to be inoperable during your travel and, ideally, concealed from view. This means removing the bolt or an essential part (or if that’s not possible, applying a trigger or cable lock), or transporting the firearm in a locked carry case.

If you’re driving to a hunting location, your firearm needs to be inoperable during your travel and, ideally, concealed from view. This means removing the bolt or an essential part (or if that’s not possible, applying a trigger or cable lock), or transporting the firearm in a locked carry case.

The ammunition needs to be separately and securely stored in a locked glove box or similar storage area, if practical.

The ammunition needs to be separately and securely stored in a locked glove box or similar storage area, if practical.

And please, whatever you do, once you’ve finished using your firearm, lock it away. Never leave any firearms in your ute, shed, home or vehicle unsecured at any time.

And please, whatever you do, once you’ve finished using your firearm, lock it away. Never leave any firearms in your ute, shed, home or vehicle unsecured at any time.

The only exceptions to the firearms and ammunition transport rules are if you’re using the firearm on a farm for farm-related activities, or you’re doing legallyauthorised hunting or pest control (such as a regional council employed pest controller) and the licence holder is in the vehicle or the immediately vicinity of the vehicle with the firearms in it.

The only exceptions to the firearms and ammunition transport rules are if you’re using the firearm on a farm for farm-related activities, or you’re doing legallyauthorised hunting or pest control (such as a regional council employed pest controller) and the licence holder is in the vehicle or the immediately vicinity of the vehicle with the firearms in it.

Make sure you read or download a free copy of the storage and transport guide to keep up to date with the details of the changes: www. firearmssafetyauthority. govt.nz/firearms-safety/ storage-transportation

Make sure you read or download a free copy of the storage and transport guide to keep up to date with the details of the changes: www. firearmssafetyauthority. govt.nz/firearms-safety/ storage-transportation

Ammunition

All ammunition must now be stored in a locked container. You can now only store ammunition with firearms in a gun safe that has a separate lockable compartment with a different key than the key for the gun safe. You must keep these keys separate.

All ammunition must now be stored in a locked container. You can now only store ammunition with firearms in a gun safe that has a separate lockable compartment with a different key than the key for the gun safe. You must keep these keys separate.

If your safe doesn’t have a separate lockable compartment, you need to store ammunition in its own secure storage container with a key, combination, or padlock, or in a stout locked cupboard.

If your safe doesn’t have a separate lockable compartment, you need to store ammunition in its own secure storage container with a key, combination, or padlock, or in a stout locked cupboard.

Taking a break when you’re travelling with firearms

Taking a break when you’re travelling with firearms

For those who travel with firearms to hunt locations, your inoperable and secured firearm can be left in your vehicle unattended, for example during a break in a journey, for up to 60 minutes. But you need to lock your vehicle and stay within the immediate area or vicinity of the vehicle and meet other conditions.

For those who travel with firearms to hunt locations, your inoperable and secured firearm can be left in your vehicle unattended, for example during a break in a journey, for up to 60 minutes. But you need to lock your vehicle and stay within the immediate area or vicinity of the vehicle and meet other conditions.

Read the storage and transport guide for full details: www.firearmssafetyauthority.govt.nz/ firearms-safety/storage-transportation.

Read the storage and transport guide for full details: www.firearmssafetyauthority.govt.nz/ firearms-safety/storage-transportation.

Under no circumstances can firearms, ammunition or other arms items be left in a vehicle overnight.

Under no circumstances can firearms, ammunition or other arms items be left in a vehicle overnight.

The seven rules of firearm safety have changed.

The seven rules of firearm safety have changed.

Get ahead of the changes to firearms safety rules with the Firearms Safety Code.

Get ahead of the changes to firearms safety rules with the Firearms Safety Code.

Buy the book from www. firearmssafetyauthority.govt. nz/firearms-safety and have it shipped to your door or download a PDF copy for free.

Buy the book from www. firearmssafetyauthority.govt. nz/firearms-safety and have it shipped to your door or download a PDF copy for free.

The 7 rules of firearm safety

The 7 rules of firearm safety

Rule 1 Rule 2 Rule 3 Rule 4 Rule 5 Rule 6 Rule 7

Rule 1 Rule 2 Rule 3 Rule 4 Rule 5 Rule 6 Rule 7

Treat every firearm as loaded

Treat every firearm as loaded

Always point firearms in a safe direction

Always point firearms in a safe direction

Chamber a cartridge only when ready to fire

Chamber a cartridge only when ready to fire

Identify your target beyond all doubt

Identify your target beyond all doubt

Check your firing zone

Check your firing zone

Store and transport firearms and ammunition safely

Store and transport firearms and ammunition safely

Avoid alcohol or drugs when handling firearms

Avoid alcohol or drugs when handling firearms

Firearms licences online

Apply for a firearms licence and update your contact details online using MyFirearms: a secure, online portal available at www.firearmssafetyauthority.govt.nz

Apply for a firearms licence and update your contact details online using MyFirearms: a secure, online portal available at www.firearmssafetyauthority.govt.nz

There will be no charge to registering your firearms.

There will be no charge to registering your firearms.

Te Tari Pūreke – Firearms Safety Authority is responsible for managing firearms in New Zealand.

We want to enable the legitimate use of firearms for feeding our whanau, conservation, farming and recreation while keeping our communities safe. This involves making sure firearms licence holders are fit and proper to possess firearms and are meeting the obligations of their licence.

Te Tari Pūreke – Firearms Safety Authority is responsible for managing firearms in New Zealand. We want to enable the legitimate use of firearms for feeding our whanau, conservation, farming and recreation while keeping our communities safe. This involves making sure firearms licence holders are fit and proper to possess firearms and are meeting the obligations of their licence.

New Zealand will have a firearms registry from 24 June 2023. The Registry is one of the ways Te Tari Pūreke is strengthening how firearms are managed in New Zealand.

New Zealand will have a firearms registry from 24 June 2023. The Registry is one of the ways Te Tari Pūreke is strengthening how firearms are managed in New Zealand.

29/03/2023 18:10

Te Tari Pūreke and the firearms registry

Primary Care Nurse

We have a vacancy for an experienced, clinically excellent Registered Nurse working across both our Hauraki and Devonport clinics. We can be negotiable and flexible on working hours across the week.

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 competitive 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.

Eco-warriors in action over school holidays

Children attending Takapuna Library holiday programmes over the last fortnight did their bit for the environment with activities including a beach clean-up, making a bird feeder to take home and participating in a clothes swap

Local board allows cafe to apply for liquor licence

Takapuna Beach Cafe has been granted a lease variation by the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board that will allow it to apply for a liquor licence.

But the amended commercial-lease conditions recommended by council staff were not unanimously agreed, with two board members believing a more thorough process should have been followed.

Cafe owners Neil and James Bryant have had the unlicensed premises on council reserve land at 2a The Promenade since 2019, with the original lease dating back to 2008.

The business wants to sell alcohol to seated cafe customers inside and on its decks.

Neil Bryant told board members that “people ask for drinks on a daily basis”.

The cafe had no intention to operate as a bar, or into the evenings, he said.

The existing lease allows the cafe to trade from 6.30am to 7pm during daylight saving, with 6pm closing in winter.

The board approved the lease variation, by four votes to two, requiring that the tenant obtain and continue to hold a Class 3 on-licence and comply with its conditions. Members

George Wood and Gavin Busch voted against. Wood said the cafe’s application omitted detail such as the overnight liquor ban that applies in the reserve between 9pm to 7am during daylight saving and from 7pm to 7am in winter.

Rather than a variation to the lease, he believed its reserve-land location might have required a new consent. This had been indicated as the procedure some years ago, he said. Board staff noted the liquor licence application would go through a public notification process, allowing for community input.

Gloved up... Grandmother Kikuko, Keigo (4) and mother Aiko Nakano cleaning up Takapuna Beach as part of a Takapuna Library activity. Left: Mother and daughter Helen and Ella Kilding also took part.

Nest builders... (from left) Milford girls Liz and Uloaku Ogobonna and (above) siblings Luca (6) and Luna Begovic (10), who attend Takapuna Primary School, made bird feeders from nuts to put in their home gardens

Teen cornetist follows in parents’ footsteps

Award-winning young musician Liam Wright joins his parents, Dave and Kate, on stage with North Shore Brass next month.

Next month’s Morning Melodies concert at the Bruce Mason Centre will be a family affair for Dave and Kate Wright and their 19-year-old son Liam, who all perform with North Shore Brass.

Principal trombone player Dave and flugelhorn player Kate have been in the premier band for more than a decade, while cornetist Liam joined four years ago.

Having worked his way up from junior band ranks, Liam is a three-time – and reigning – national junior champion of champions brass musician.

The award recognises the overall top player from the Under-19 champions of each brass instrument.

Liam says it is nice to have won the recognition again. “It was definitely one of my most proud moments.”

He promises to bring a set of audience-pleasing “entertaining and jazzy” pieces to the concert on 8 May.

The long-running Morning Melodies series features different artists and groups each month.

University of Auckland student Liam said performing with his parents can be “kind of weird” at times, but that it’s also a huge advantage when it comes to learning.

The three are all soloists, which Liam says helps them critique and complement each other.

“Whenever their solo comes on you’re clenching your seat a bit because you want them to do well.”

With the three musicians all practising regularly, the Wrights’ Forrest Hill home can be noisy.

“When Mum’s watching Coronation Street or something, I have to go practise in my room,” Liam says.

Liam is studying for a BA in music performance. “I can go to uni, play music then go home and play more music.”

Among other interests, Liam spends time and money on his “very old” Mercedes and enjoys wakeboarding on Lake Tarawera, where the family has a holiday home.

But he says music consumes most of his time. Winning competitions and “the fear of

being average” motivate him to work hard and improve.

“I want to be something special and do something special with my music.”

After university, he hopes to “make a splash” in the UK, with the goal of playing cornet in a top brass band and being principal trumpet in an orchestra.

Liam said “going back to his roots” is part of his goal, as both of his parents are from England and he has cousins in Manchester he hasn’t met. • North Shore Brass perform in the Morning Melodies series at 11am, 8 May, at the Bruce Mason Centre.

Family tradition... Liam, Kate and Dave Wright are all members of North Shore Brass

Tadpole bets on proven hit by UK theatre legend

Two knights of the theatre – one a local treasure, one a London luminary – share a connection to the latest Tadpole Theatre Production at Takapuna’s PumpHouse Theatre.

Sir Roger Hall, the playwright behind a string of Kiwi comedies, is the patron of Tadpole and has long been an admirer of the work of Englishman Sir Alan Ayckbourn, whose first play, Relatively Speaking, is soon to be staged by the company.

The men, who met some years ago, have both seen their acclaimed comedies widely staged.

Relatively Speaking, a revealing story of mistaken identities, involves two couples. It debuted in 1967 and was the first of more than 40 West End hits Ayckbourn penned over five decades.

In all, he has written more than 100 plays, some of which have been adapted for the screen.

Tadpole says Relatively Speaking is enduringly funny. Ayckbourn wrote the play when a British theatre manager asked him for something amusing to entertain holidaymakers stuck at beachside towns in rainy weather.

After Auckland’s intemperate summer, the need for diversion rings as true as ever, Tadpole believes. Expect a merry-go-round of secrets, lies and unexpected consequences.

Two of Relatively Speaking’s lead roles are played by experienced hands Louise Wallace and Edwin Wright, with Michelle Blundell

Seasoned stars... Benjamin Murray and Louise Wallace take two of the lead parts in Alan Ayckbourn’s first West End success

and Benjamin Murray as the younger couple. Experienced director Janice Finn helms the production.

Tadpole has used the PumpHouse as its base for shows for over a decade, building up a loyal local audience, while drawing its cast from the wider Auckland region. Its aim has long been to bring quality productions to

the North Shore, employing professional actors in lead roles and offering opportunities to young talent in other parts or in backstage technical roles. Its last production, Campervan, sold out last year.

• Relatively Speaking , 4-14 May, at the PumpHouse. Bookings ph (09) 489-8360 or online at pumphouse.co.nz.

A Night of Beautiful Music promises its audience will be transported by Moonyoung Jang’s voice as she performs well-known songs from opera and musicals, with a splash of jazz thrown in.

The concert also features the IQTUS Men’s Choir and comes to the PumpHouse Theatre tonight, Friday, 28 April.

TAKAPUNA

248A HURSTMERE ROAD

Stunning Lake Views | Heart Of Takapuna

Superbly situated on the “Golden Mile”, this home is a level walk to both Milford and Takapuna shopping areas, beaches, cafes and restaurants. Featuring 4 bedrooms, 3 utility rooms, 3 bathrooms with direct access to the Lake, Shared Jetty and Reserve. Suitable for various home business and family situations this is the perfect lock up and leave.

premium.co.nz/80368

VIEW | SAT/SUN 2 - 2.45 PM OR BY APPT

PRICE | $4.695M

PRUDENCE FOSTER 027 486 7783

EMMERSEN FOSTER 021 261 8231 | TAKAPUNA 916 6000

TAKAPUNA

PD/7 THE PROMENADE

Affordable Tranquil Beachfront Penthouse

Enjoy morning coffees on your expansive balcony with intimate views of iconic Takapuna Beach, framed by Pohutukawa trees. Only the sounds of the sea can be heard from this private, elevated position. This apartment has use of a lift and has a one level floor plan with two bedrooms, one of which can be used as a separate lounge if desired, plus one study and two bathrooms. From the front door, a wide hallway leads into the spacious, open-concept kitchen, living, and dining area.

premium.co.nz/80415

VIEW | MEET AT GATE SAT/SUN 11 AM

PRICE | $2.995M

PRUDENCE FOSTER 027 486 7783

EMMERSEN FOSTER 021 261 8231 | TAKAPUNA 916 6000

TAKAPUNA

12/12 BURNS AVENUE

Boutique New Penthouse - Skyloft

Brand new ready to move in! Positioned on the northern corner of this boutique project. Two stories, two bedrooms, fab master bedroom suite, walk in wardrobe, opening to its own private deck. 92m internal plus outdoors. The spacious living opens to sunny deck as well, the kitchen is generous and excellent quality with laundry adjacent. 92sqm internal space plus two decks. Unique and modern design.

premium.co.nz/80397

VIEW | SAT 1 - 1.40 PM OR BY APPT

AUCTION | THURSDAY 11 MAY 2023 AT 4 PM UNLESS SOLD PRIOR

ALISON PARKER 021 983 533

GERRY PETRIE 021 92 3352 | TAKAPUNA 916 6000

BIRKENHEAD POINT

50 RAWENE ROAD

Tranquility on The Point

Come home to this recently completed spacious Linea Weatherboard, brick and schist, architecturally reenvisaged residence. Set in a perfect Birkenhead Point location, it is waiting for you. The landscaping is easy care with tiger turf lawn, potager gardens, plus swim spa, all tucked securely behind remote-controlled gates. 2 living areas, 4 double bedrooms, study (or 5th bedroom), double garaging.

premium.co.nz/10128

VIEW | SAT/SUN 11- 11.30 AM OR BY APPT

PRICE | $2.950M

TRISH LOVE 021 226 6099

PETER FITZGIBBON 027 2789 336 | THE POINTS 480 0209