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.

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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.