board eyes Bays suburbs... p2
director stars in Hall comedy... p22-23
Amaia developer refuses to light public path
Developers of the Amaia apartment and hotel complex are refusing to install lighting on a public path and boardwalk at the coastal Esmonde Rd site.
“They don’t think the lighting is particularly useful,” an Auckland Council officer told a dismayed Devonport-Takapuna Local
Board, which had requested lighting for the path.
The developer had told council staff it did not consider pathway lighting was necessary because a seven-storey building nearby would provide passive surveillance of the path, the board heard at its August
meeting. It also did not wish to encourage people onto the site after dark.
Board member Mel Powell said this was annoying to hear. “It’s dark at 6pm in winter, when people are coming home.” Lighting was also not just desirable for surveillance,
Still got it! Westlake machine rolls on
Familiar feeling... Westlake’s ongoing dominance of North Harbour secondary schools rugby was celebrated by supporters and player Jacob Ludlow after the final at North Harbour Stadium last Sunday, two days after the school’s footballers continued their own title streak. Stories and photos, pages 6-12.
Jones locks in new role
Rugby great Ian Jones, who lives in Milford, has been appointed general manager of the All Blacks Experience at Sky City in Auckland. He said he was looking forward to sharing his love of rugby at the Ngāi Tahu-owned visitor attraction and was also proud to work for his iwi. “I’m passionate about my whānau, culture and rugby so this is the perfect role for me.” The Northland-born locking legend played 79 tests for the All Blacks over 11 years. He started work at the interactive rugby showcase this week.“I know what it takes to become an All Black, to put on that shirt and to feel like superman. That’s what I want our manuhiri to experience.”
Lakehouse marks spring
The Lakehouse Arts centre is having a spring open day on Saturday 7 September. Art and carving demonstrations, an arts market, story time with Tim Bray Theatre Company, history and heritage talks and other festivities will be on offer from 10am to 2pm.
Student art on show
Student art from seven Devonport peninsula schools is on display at Takapuna Library until 10 September. The exhibition, themed around place, is called Te Ara ō Peretu (The Path of Peretu), referring to the peninsula coastline and Tainui ancestor Peretu, who landed on the shores of what is now Torpedo Bay. The Kāhui Ako school grouping collaborating on the exhibition comprises Takapuna Grammar, Belmont Intermediate, and Belmont, Bayswater, Vauxhall, Devonport and Stanley Bay primary schools. Art works, writing and artist books are all on display.
Local board suggests expansion into East Coast Bays suburbs
East Coast Bays coastal suburbs should be added to the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board (DTLB) area to boost its size, board members say.
Their suggestion of an expansion of the board area, which currently runs from Devonport to Castor Bay and Sunnynook, will go to an Auckland Council working party, which will recommend board boundary changes for introduction ahead of the 2028 local body elections.
Combined with the Glenfield-based Kaipatiki Local Board west of the Northern Motorway, the DTLB makes up the North Shore ward from which two Auckland councillors are elected.
Under another council proposal, Devonport-Takapuna would be merged with Kaipatiki into a new North Shore board.
Expanding the DTLB area north would help meet a council target of evening out the population of each ward to reduce variations to plus or minus 10 per cent.
The existing Albany ward is just over 10 per cent above the guide size of 170,000 residents, whereas the North Shore ward is minus 13.7 per cent, DTLB chair Toni van Tonder noted.
Albany encompasses the Hibiscus and Bays and Upper Harbour local boards.
With Albany’s population growing faster than North Shore’s, board member George Wood said it made sense to look at adjusting boundaries for 2028, rather than waiting for another review three years later.
“In another six years there could be a very substantial change and council will have to look at taking on quite a lot of residents north of our North Shore ward,” he said.
Van Tonder said the DTLB’s request that an expansion north be considered did not get into specific suggestions of what
suburbs “north along the East Coast Bays” might potentially be added to the DTLB area.
But she was keen for the working party to consider the option.
The board delegated Wood and Gavin Busch to speak at a hearing before the working party finalises representation recommendations. Councillors will vote on implementing the review in September.
The board agreed with a suggested small boundary change to put Saunders Reserve, north of Sunset Rd, wholly within the Upper Harbour Board area, rather than it being split with the DTLB.
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown wanted local board amalgamation to be completed for next year’s local body elections, but councillors instead opted for 2028. The aim is to save costs and create larger, more-empowered local boards.
DTLB is wary about the plan, which the public is yet to have a say on. It fears local voices will be watered down.
DTLB has six elected members now and Kaipatiki eight, with proposals for a five-seven split making up a 12-member board.
Some DTLB members have suggested the plan has more to do with administrative convenience in following existing ward boundaries and shared board staffing, rather than creating genuine communities of interest by looking to northern suburbs rather than west.
• While the board’s future shape is uncertain, its budgets are looking steadier for the current and next financial year, after it was forced to make big cuts in 2022-2023, in a council spending clampdown. The planned introduction of an equity-funding formula next year threatened further loss of local spend, but this has been delayed. The formula will mean proportionally less for asset-rich areas such as the North Shore, but no further cuts.
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Applications Invited: Out-of-Zone
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The Board has determined that limited places are available for out-of-zone students entering Years 0, 1, 2 & 3 ONLY in 2025. This includes siblings of current students and those in Priority 1-6 of our enrolment scheme.
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Hawaiian challenge beckons for ‘geriatric’ swimmers
Four local masters swimmers are part of a team of six competing in a swim relay in Hawaii later this week.
John Brodie (Castor Bay), Ian Gunthorp (Takapuna), Jenny Stark (Milford) and Megan Wilson (Campbells Bay), and their city-side teammates William Ridge and Neville Corbett, are believed to be the first New Zealand team to compete in the Maui Channel Swim, which is being held on 31 August.
The event, the longest open-water relay event in the world, involves a 16km crossing between the islands of Lanai and Maui.
Each team member will swim in 30-minute and later 10-minute intervals, hopping in and out of a support boat.
Brodie estimates the swim will take five hours, with the aim to win the ‘Grand Makalu’ (chieftain) division, which requires a combined team age of at least 360.
The six over-70s in the Shore-based team have a combined age of 434.
Brodie said people are either amazed or say the “bunch of ageing geriatrics” are mad for doing the swims.
The team is part of a masters swimming group which competes in the National Ocean Swim series and the Beach Series in summer, and for around 15 years has met twice a week for swims all year round, Stark said.
In shape... Swimmers (from left) John Brodie, Jenny Stark and Ian Gunthorp have been swimming five times a week ahead of events in Hawaii
Some go back even further – Gunthorp and Brodie swam and played water polo against each other in their university days.
The swimmers have ramped up their training since they committed to the Hawaii trip in April, doing five 2.5km swims a week. Brodie said he has shaved 20 seconds
off his 100m time.
They say they are motivated by the fitness benefits and challenge of swimming, along with the camaraderie.
Following the relay, the team members will compete as individuals in the Waikiki Roughwater Swim on 2 September.
Bulk of 277 local flood-buyout applications from Milford
With a month remaining for Auckland property owners badly flooded in early 2023 to apply for buyouts, 277 applications have been lodged in the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board area.
Milford is the suburb from which the most applications have been made, with 201, followed by around a dozen each from Sunnynook and Castor Bay. More are expected next month before applications close on 30 September, says Auckland Council Recovery Office spokesperson Melanie Tuala.
registering for categorisation,” Tuala said.
Of the 55 homes across the DTLB area so far assessed as Category 3 – at intolerable risk to life – 46 owners have to date opted to take the voluntary buyout. Eight offers have been settled and five more are under agreement.
“Given more buyouts will be on the cards... seriously affected homeowners will now be seriously considering their options in
Some of the 100 properties in the area assessed as Category 2C – where infrastructure work would reduce life-threatening risk – are also being offered buyouts. This includes homes in the Nile Rd area catchment, where decisions are awaited on a community infrastructure project.
Local politicians ‘left uninformed’
Devonport-Takapuna Local Board member
Mel Powell is frustrated at not being kept in the loop on council matters when she is advocating for the public.
Feedback went into the council machine but there was no notification of whether it had been received or considered, or of the outcome of any decisions, she said in her member’s report to the board’s August monthly meeting. “This makes advocating for communities and residents very difficult.”
Powell gave four examples when she had been left in the dark.
One was when, as one of two board members delegated to comment on planning applications, she had raised issues over an application to build a three-storey boarding house within the Sunnynook flood plain on Kapiti Pl.
Another request was for compliance checks for unconsented structures contributing to flooding risk in Sunnynook.
Powell said Auckland Transport had a system of logging jobs, making getting a response easier, but other arms of council did not.
Board chair Toni van Tonder said Powell’s complaint was “something we all probably agree with”. She had asked for board members to be kept better informed.
Board ‘powerless’ over lighting refusal
From page 1
but to allow for recreation, she said.
Building of the pathway – a condition of KBS Capital’s resource consent – has begun. It is envisaged as a key link connecting planned longer-term walking and cycling routes through to Francis St in Hauraki.
Five years after completion, the path’s maintenance will fall to Auckland Council.
Board member Gavin Busch was concerned about the safety implications of an unlit path. “This is a pathway that is going to be vested back to us – the liability will rest with us in five or six years,” he said.
Busch said he felt like the developer was using “weasel words” to avoid putting in the lighting. The south-facing walkway could become damp and slippery, he suggested, though staff assured the board it would have non-slip surfaces.
The lighting issue arose when council staff sought the board’s approval for seats, signage and bollards the developer is installing, which will also have to be maintained by council. The board will have to meet future costs from its allocated operating expenses.
Board chair Toni van Tonder queried why the walkway was not also considered a “hard asset” requiring sign-off like the other items, but council staff said the consent did
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Summing up, van Tonder said: “We are powerless which is annoying.”
The board unanimously decided that KBS Capital should be asked to reconsider the installation of LED strip lighting or other amenity lighting for public safety.
Discussions about the lighting last came up at a board briefing in April, after council consent for the pathway around and through the site was granted in February.
Amaia has been promoted as an urban village with strong connectivity to transport links. The first building, an apartment block, is almost finished. Work on a hotel block is due to start by the end of the year and take two years to complete.
A major upscaling of the project – with extra blocks up to 16 storeys high – was approved in September last year.
Marketing of remaining dwellings in the initial block of 104 apartments is underway. Apartments are expected to be ready for occupation from September.
Prices start from $799,000 and rise to $999,000 for two-bedroom apartments with a car park. Three-bedroom apartments cost from $1.569 million.
The marketing imagery online shows a design rendition of the first buildings, without those yet to come on the city-facing side of the site.
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Former police chief on hand during Sunnynook supermarket meat heist
Veteran local-body politician and former North Shore police boss George Wood found himself on the spot during a recent brazen supermarket theft.
The Devonport-Takapuna Local Board member (pictured) was at the entrance to Sunnynook Woolworths with family members when a man walked out with a large shopping basket full of meat, trailed by a duty manager
Wood, aged 78, quickly surmised what was happening. When bystanders started yelling, he told them not to tackle the offender, in case he was armed.
The man headed up Becroft Dr past Wairau Intermediate, where Wood thought he may have had a ride.
Police were called and made an arrest.
His family swung into action anyway, his daughter using her phone camera to capture images of the man in a fluoro jacket walking off.
“I’d say he had a couple of hundred dollars of meat,” Wood told the Observer. “We got some good photos.”
His wife and grandchildren, including a girl aged 10, were also “patrolling about”.
Wood’s grandson, 22, set off after the thief, who crossed Sunnynook Rd, but deciding against continuing the chase.
Wood said the incident, which occurred just after midday, reminded him of another when he was on the force in Palmerston North: His son had come home one night on his bicycle and told Wood some men were breaking into the local dairy.
He had bundled his three children into the family car to investigate while his wife rang the station for backup.
The upshot was two men were caught and charged with burglary.
“Once a cop’s family, always a cop’s family,” he said.
“It gets into the blood as part of the DNA.”
Wood – who has previously called for more police presence on the beat locally – said thefts were unfortunately now commonplace. “It’s happening everywhere these days.”
A man appeared in the Auckland District Court on 16 August, facing charges over the Sunnynook incident.
Park stairs saga continues
A desire to fix the storm-damaged Kennedy Park stairs in Castor Bay is yet to translate into an action plan.
Devonport-Takapuna Local Board members debated five options put forward by Auckland Council staff this month, but it will be October before further information is supplied to help finalise a way forward.
Options drawn up since the completion of geotechnical assessments range from merely repairing the smashed bottom section of the stairs to extensive cliff-face stabilisation and drainage work on the reserve above. Price estimates vary from $53,000 to $975,000.
Some board members favoured the cheapest option to stage getting the stairs open more quickly. Others raised safety concerns and fears the stairs would wash out again without work such as ‘soil nailing’ on the cliff face.
Relocating new stairs further south, as suggested by local resident and retired engineer Joe Barber, was not favoured, partly due to an estimated $1.76 million cost.
Staff suspected damage to the lower portion of the stairs may have been due as much to land slips as wave action. Slope stability, coastal inundation and heritage significance were among site complications.
Once an option is selected, it is expected design work could be done by February 2025.
Weekend of wins for rampant Westlake
Westlake Boys High School secured its second Auckland football premier league title in a row last Friday night, and grabbed more silverware when the school’s first XV won another North Harbour rugby title against old foe Rosmini College on Sunday. Westlake has won every Harbour rugby final played since 2019. Rosmini, the only side to beat Westlake in the regular rugby season, endured another disappointing final result after a strong season when its top basketball side was pipped by Mount Albert Grammar for the Auckland title on Friday night.
Friday frenzy... Westlake’s footballers celebrate after downing Mount Albert Grammar 2-0 at Albany to grab a second consecutive Auckland secondary schools title. Match details, page 11. PICTURES: CARLA NEWMAN/JERMACSZ
Boys High
Sunday success... Westlake first XV captain Blake Lidgard (left) hoists the North Harbour 1A trophy and vice-captain Travis Findlay the Woodhouse Shield as the team parade in victory at North Harbour Stadium, where their 41-27 schools final win against Rosmini College provided the curtain raiser for a North Harbour NPC victory over Waikato. Game report and team’s next challenge, page 10.
PICTURE: SIMON HARMER PHOTOGRAPHY
Raucous supporters show true colours
Westlake Boys High School and Rosmini College students poured into North Harbour Stadium and made their presence felt as the two schools’ first XVs did battle for the Harbour championship
Old rivals... Opposite page (clockwise from top): The Westlake and Rosmini teams are led onto the field ahead of the North Harbour secondary schools rugby final; topless Rosmini fans brave the winter temperatures; while some Westlake supporters looked uncannily alike and others got into festive mood for the occasion.
Above: Flanker Solomone Tuitupou leaps high to embrace teammates after a try to half-back Levi Leith.
PICTURES: SIMON HARMER PHOTOGRAPHY
Winning lineup... Westlake first XV squad comprised: Alex Vaaia, Jack Mahan, Kaiva Tulimanu, Hugo Pieterse, Harry Cornelius, Solomone Tuitupou, Arlo Leith, Travis Findlay, Levi Leith, Blake Lidgard, JD Van der Westhuizen, Jarlon Lesatele, Ashton Falloon, Thomas Rawiri, Brody Good, Jeremiah Samoa, Sarel Peens, Jacob Ludlow, Alec Oelofse, Oliver Davies, Niko Jelas, Renier Van Staden and Lee Hanru Greyvensteyn. Coaches and support staff: Rob Mildenhall, Che Muller, Luke McAlister, Shane Young, Brad Sherwood, Jamie Williamson, Ryo Ozaki and Lance Dunne.
WBHS relish Harbour title and chance to go further
Westlake Boys High School’s first XV will look to qualify for their third national topfour tournament in a row this weekend after claiming the North Harbour title last Sunday.
Westlake started strong in the match at North Harbour Stadium last Sunday, pressuring Rosmini to defend on their own line for large periods of the first half.
First-half tries from centre Jarlon Lesatele, lock Hugo Pieterse and winger Thomas Rawiri gave Westlake an eight-point lead going into the sheds.
Rosmini put up a fight in the second half, tightening the margin, but Westlake halfback Levi Leith and number eight Travis Findlay crossed the line to secure the comfortable 41-27 victory for Westlake.
Westlake coach Rob Mildenhall said it was obvious to anyone watching that the deserved man of the match was first five-eighth Blake Lidgard. His complete skill set had helped Westlake keep control of the game.
“He can kick well, run well and pass well,” Mildenhall said. “He’s a very talented young man.”
He paid tribute to a “big, physical and skilled” Rosmini side, which was competitive all season, and in June handed Westlake their first loss in 37 Harbour competition matches.
Westlake play Auckland 1A champions Kelston Boys’ High School this Saturday in the Blues area final at Westlake at midday, with the winner going to the National Top Four Competition. The team Westlake lost to Southland Boys’ 32-29 in last year’s national final.
The side has won 21 North Harbour titles since the competition began in 1985.
In the action... Westlake winger Thomas Rawiri on the burst (above right) and scoring (right); Rosmini’s Josh O’Sullivan and Westlake’s Harry Cornelius contest a lineout; Westlake was bruising on defence.
PICTURES: SIMON HARMER PHOTOGRAPHY
Two-goal
hero heads
Two first-half goals by forward Carlos Takayama took Westlake Boys High School’s first XI footballers to a second consecutive victory in the top Auckland secondary school league.
Westlake needed a victory against Mount Albert Grammar last Friday – the last day of the competition – to secure the title. They got off to an “electric” start, said coach Dave Wright, overwhelming Mt Albert due to their transitional attack and speed of their forwards.
Takayama showed quick footwork in the box to fool a defender, then he finished at the near post for his first. His second goal
Westlake
first XI to Auckand two-peat
was a header after a cross from Troy Putt. Such was Westlake’s dominance, Wright believed the lead could have been greater at the break. “We should’ve been up three or four at halftime”, he said Mount Albert came out stronger in the second half but some robust defending and composed game management from Westlake secured the 2-0 victory and their first-ever back-to-back league win.
Wright said taking successive Auckland titles was an “immense” achievement in a demanding season, with the side often playing twice a week to catch up on matches missed due to time away to compete in the
ISF Schools World Cup in China.
The team will play around 37 matches by the end of the season compared with the 30 they played last year.
The players now switch focus to the national secondary schools tournament, from 2-6 September, where they’ll aim to defend their title, followed by the Auckland Knockout Cup final on 13 September.
Westlake lost seven players from last year’s side which won all four trophies available to them, including national titles. To show consistency and win the league again topped last year’s league win, said Wright.
Double duty... Carlos Takayama rises high for the second of his title-winning goals.
Winning team... Front row (from left): Westlake first XI players Yassin Ayoub, Hamish Strong, Finn Carpenter, Troy Putt (vice captain), Jack Young (captain), Ray Ishihara, Jayden Kim, Carlos Takayama, Damion Kim and Karter MacKenzie. Back row: Georgie Carroll (physio) Nick Dale (assistant coach), players Cam Deamer, Matt Rodrigues, Charlie Taylor, Nikola Stoychev, James Lee, Conall McLean, Kai Barratt, Charlie Farac, Bill Cui and Levi Hil, with Logan Douglas (manager) and Dave Wright (head coach).
PICTURE: CARLA NEWMAN /JERMACSZ
Mascot helps keep Rosmini spirits up despite defeats
New Rosmini College mascot Tony the Eagle still created a flap last weekend, even though the school’s top basketball and rugby sides lost their big finals.
Having urged the teams to success in their respective semi-finals, Tony was a colourful presence at the basketball on Friday night and the rugby on Saturday, urging on Rosmini’s passionate supporters.
The idea of head boy Yilin Lin, Tony is a representation of the eagle on the coat of arms of Trento, Italy, in the home region of Antonio Rosmini, who founded the Rosminian order.
Yilin said he had wanted a way of inspiring school spirit, which seemed to have waned after Covid struck. His thoughts of creating a mascot were given impetus by a visiting motivational speaker who backed the idea.
Yilin took the idea to the school’s prefects, who ran a survey, narrowing down the options to an eagle, a pelican or a knight. The knight option was dropped due to potential sensitivities around a link to the Crusades.
“We didn’t really want to recreate that and be on the New Zealand Herald [website] for Rosmini creating the new Crusades,” Yilin said.
When the eagle option was chosen, the student representative on Rosmini’s board of trustees, Oliver Simpson, secured from the board the $800 needed to buy a costume.
The role of Tony is being shared among three senior students who have taken turns donning the costume to urge on supporters at recent basketball and rugby matches.
Yilin said the crowd energy stirred by the mascot had helped both the rugby first XV and the top basketball team reach their finals. He had lifted spirits since his arrival and would be used for other school activities.
“With the mascot, I think the boys have definitely shown a bit more energy and a sense of togetherness.”
Beak performance... New Rosmini College mascot Tony the Eagle, at the North Harbour rugby semi-final,when Rosmini defeated Whangarei Boys High School at home and (below) in the school gym with student board representative Oliver Simpson and head boy Yilin Lin and banners from past basketball national titles
The eagle mascot in action at the North Harbour schools rugby final
Carmel basketballers win shot at promotion
Carmel College has won the Auckland Senior A girls basketball competition, with one player’s sharp shooting from the three-point line proving crucial to a narrow victory.
Carmel downed Auckland Girls’ Grammar School 75-70 in a tense final featuring multiple lead changes.
Key Carmel player Ella Drake (pictured in action) rose to the occasion in the final, scoring 10 three-pointers in her total of 37 points.
Her clutch shots helped Carmel take a third-quarter lead they never relinquished.
In their games during the season, the closely matched sides had taken a game apiece.
The final win means Carmel will face premier-grade last place finishers Epsom Girls Grammar in a promotion-relegation match for a place in the region’s top grade in 2025.
Auckland Girls’, meanwhile, have drawn the short straw in having to play two-time national champions Westlake Girls High School, who were dropped to second last in the premier grade due to a points deduction.
The Carmel team: Hannah Bellett, Ella Drake, Leighton Esera, Lily Farman, Annie Gaylard, Tara Hodson, Ciara Joseph, Shiloh Juntilla, Millie Lloyd, Miller Lodewyks, Imogen O’Rourke, Ruby Railton, Kirra Redfern-Hardisty and Zahara Tibbotts. Chris Vaughan is coach and Maylene Tibbotts the manager.
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Schools unhappy at deduction outcome
Five schools in the Auckland Senior A girls basketball grade are understood to be unhappy about top-performing Westlake Girls falling into the top grade’s playoff zone. College Sport stripped Westlake of points for fielding an inelgible player, meaning it will have to play a promotion-relegation games against the Senior A runners-up Auckland Girls Grammar game next year.
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A Carmel College spokesperson said Senior A winners Carmel were happy to have avoided meeting Westlake, but the impact on the Senior A sides “largely outweighs the impact on Westlake”. College Sport had overlooked how the deduction impacted schools trying to get into premier grade. College School told the Observer it had not received any appeals from the schools.
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Squash gun fights on after cancer ends long
Gary Duberly, one of New Zealand’s top masters athletes, is facing his greatest challenge –battling a rare form of cancer which is attacking his heart. He spoke to Rob Drent.
Gary Duberly is the first to admit he’s never been the greatest trainer. But he always loved being on a squash court.
“I was never one to be doing heaps of court sprints… I always felt match play was the best way to train,” he said. This attitude had him playing squash most nights of the week and most weekends: interclub games, and more than 25 tournaments annually, culminating in excess of 100 competition matches in a year. He kept up this gruelling schedule for the best part of the last 20 years.
His commitment and flair carried the 59-year-old to more than 10 New Zealand age-group masters titles, two Australian masters titles and World Championships in Christchurch in 2008 (mens 40-44) and Cologne, Germany in 2010 (mens 45-49).
He was a key member of Auckland and New Zealand masters teams over the past 25 years. He recalls one golden week in 2022 when he swept through all his matches in the Australian Masters competition and the Trans Tasman test series unbeaten – close to 10 matches.
“It was a great week... I was always very proud to represent New Zealand,” he said.
To spectators, opponents, teammates – and Duberly himself – his natural athleticism and unpredictable shotmaking seemed to indicate he could carry on his masters career into his 60s, 70s and beyond.
Master of deception… Gary Duberly about to hit the type of shot which frustrated opponents across New Zealand for more than two decades
He had a squash calendar planned years in advance: this month he was supposed to be in Amsterdam for the World Squash Masters Championships.
But within a few short months last year it was all over.
Duberly was planning his usual big season. Visiting his brother in Thailand over Christmas in 2022, he’d even been going to the gym. But back in New Zealand playing his squash mates at North Shore he started “battling for breath and feeling very unfit...
I was struggling against players I would usually have no trouble with.”
His physical decline became apparent at the national teams championships in Christchurch that June. “I had some shocking matches, losing to people who I have never lost to before.
“My daughter Tyler said ‘there’s something wrong Dad. You’ve got to get checked’.”
Back in Auckland, Duberly filled in for his interclub team the following week. It is likely the last squash game he will play.
Duberly’s father had a history of heart issues, so initially cardiologists focused on that organ.
However, after months of exhaustive testing nothing seriously wrong was found structurally with his heart. But in-depth blood tests were then conducted which found Duberly was suffering from myeloma – a type of blood cancer.
While myeloma can be treated, though not cured, in a rare complication it was producing excess proteins which were attaching to his heart, a condition called amyloidosis.
The result has been “very restricted heart function – I can’t walk up stairs and often if I get up quickly I get dizzy,” Duberly said.
“I had to come to terms with the fact that I would not play squash again, which was very hard because squash was such a big part of my life.
“But I was thankful I could still see my friends and family – still play golf.”
Golf was soon taken away as well, however. “As I deteriorated I could not play golf any more, either. During a couple of rounds I almost passed out.”
It was a massive transformation for someone who could play top-level squash for a couple of hours, with a heart rate going at more than 160 beats per minute.
ALBANY HEAT PUMPS
playing career
Duberly undergoes chemotherapy every Friday and is also on daratumumab to help control the production of the excess proteins in his heart. The drug is currently unfunded by the government and costs $10,000 a dose. His dosage is up to twice a month, something Duberly has been paying for himself up until now – with a little help from his friends.
The squash community has rallied round through a Givealttle page (up to around $39,000 so far), various tournaments and fundraising events.
“I’ve been so amazed by all the support I’ve had... squash people have been so amazing since I arrived in New Zealand.”
Born in Zimbabwe, Duberly shifted first to Durban, South Africa before emigrating to New Zealand in 2000 with then wife Angie and daughters Tyler, and Jamie. (A third daughter Danielle was born here.)
He had represented Zimbabwe in the mid1980s and been a top-20 player in South Africa. “One of the first things I did [in New Zealand] was join a squash club.”
A player he met, fellow accountant John Vincent, went on to become his boss, and then business partner in Duberly Vincent and Associates, a well-known North Shore firm. Duberly’s first tournament was a masters event at Belmont Park where he was graded B2. He won all his matches hardly breaking a sweat and was quickly re-graded to B1. Within a year or so he was an A1, an elite level player, and in New Zealand’s top 10.
“I came here when I was 35 and could not believe the squash scene – it was phenomenal.”
In South Africa he could play seven or eight tournaments a year. In New Zealand he could play 26 to 30 tournaments. Duberly had found his squash heaven.
In addition to his sporting accolades, he recently became a New Zealand Squash board
member, something he aims to continue as he winds down his accountancy practice.
Good news arrived this month with Duberly’s insurance company agreeing to fund the drug used to treat the cancer affecting his heart. And, three months ago, he became a grandfather to Violet.
Without treatment, Duberly estimates he has six months to live. If the treatment succeeds, he thinks he has two to three years, hopefully more.
“But I feel lucky. I’ve lived in three countries, I’ve got three daughters and a granddaughter.
“I played a sport I loved and I did rea-
See the Expert Hear the Difference
We are thrilled to announce that Anne Toth, Doctor of Audiology, has joined the Teresa Burns Hearing team. Hearing is personal for Anne - she wears hearing aids herself. She is passionate about building long term relationships with her clients, selecting the best technology for each person with their individual needs and improving lives through better hearing.
sonably well as a non-professional squash player. I’ve made great friends and met some amazing people.
“Some people live to their 80s or 90s but won’t have been as fortunate as I have been even if I only live to my 60s.
“I remember Richard Purser (a former New Zealand badminton and squash rep) saying to me ‘play as long as you can, because you never know when you won’t be able to because of your body’ – and I have done that.”
Ever competitive and optimistic, Duberly hopes to make a return to the golf course and to be able to travel again.
Happy place… Gary Duberly with daughter Tyler and granddaughter Violet at North Shore Squash Club, where he was club champion more than 10 times
Netball centre wins grant for upgrade
Netball North Harbour (NNH) has won a $1.65 million Auckland Council grant for a building upgrade.
But work on the busy Barfoot & Thompson netball centre on Onewa Domain is not expected to begin until late next year, with design work and consents required, NNH chief executive Lynette Brady said.
The footprint of the building beside the Northern Motorway would not change but windows and walls would be replaced in a modernisation. “It may look different outside,” Brady told the Observer.
NNH is also seeking another grant from Foundation North for what is the last stage of a three-stage $5.5 million project that has also drawn on the organisation’s own reserves.
The project began with a roof replacement in 2020, then a scheduled interior refit of the two-storey building, which has offices and function rooms as well as the playing arena, cafeteria and changing facilities.
The interior refit became a bigger job after floods last year, requiring new flooring to be laid, including a new sprung wooden floor in the arena.
The interior work was completed in time for this year’s netball season.
Brady said the centre’s oldest section dated to the early 1970s. Additions were made in the 1980s and 1990s.
Meanwhile, the Harbour school netball season has wound up, with Kristin winning the premier secondary school competition last weekend, 26-25 over Westlake, with Rangitoto third, by 26-23 over Carmel.
Three other North Shore organisations benefited from the council’s regional Sport and Recreation Facilities Investment Fund, receiving lesser amounts than Netball North Harbour. They were:
• North Shore Rowing Club, $500,000, towards North Harbour Rowing Centre in Greenhithe.
• The Tennis Charitable Trust, $600,000, towards Albany Sports Park.
• Northcote and Birkenhead Tigers Rugby League and Sports Club, $500,000.
The fund dispensed the full $13.6 million it had available this year, to 18 sports organisations. In all, 55 applications were made, totalling $40.7 million, with staff whittling them down to 24 for eligibility before councillors signed off on the final 18.
Applications for next year’s fund will open in late 2024, with criteria on the council website. Local boards also make smaller community grants sports groups can seek.
Planning a new renovation or build?
Ze Build would like to extend our congratulations on the recent approval of your building consent. As a reputable local building company serving the greater Auckland areas, Ze Build are eager to offer our expertise and support in bringing your vision to life.
With decades of experience and a commitment to quality solutions, we have established ourselves as trusted partners in delivering diverse construction projects. Our recent recognition from Archipro highlights our position in the industry.
At Ze Build, we understand that embarking on a building project involves multiple decisions and considerations. From concepts to completion, our dedicated team is here to guide you through every step of the process, ensuring seamless results.
Our goal is to deliver a finished product that reflects your budget and vision. We appreciate the opportunity to introduce ourselves and would welcome the opportunity to talk more.
You can scan the QR code below to book a time with our team, alternatively give us a call on 09 884 0107 or email your enquiry to info@zebuild.co.nz.
By choosing Ze Build, we are committed to fostering lasting relationships built on trust, transparency, and respect.
From The Team at Ze Build
Take advantage of the current recession
Now is the ideal time to enter the market, with unprecedented cost savings throughout the industry. We are seeing building costs trending in the right direction for our clients. These recent decreases are due to a highly competitive market, for all trades. Now is the perfect time to start your building project and benefit from these potential savings. We would love to showcase our sales process, helping you maximize your budget and get more value for your investment.
TESTIMONIAL Ahumoana Road, Weiti Bay
We were first introduced to Zane and his Ze Build team over 18 months ago. Ze Build had built our daughter and son-in-law’s beautiful country home in Wainui. From the first meeting we were super impressed by Zane and his team. Extremely accommodating and many brilliant ideas.
The Ze Build team have attended all of our concept and design meetings and given great input right through. We are 2/3 through our build now and they are producing something so unique. Ze Builders have so much attention to detail and so clever. They take great pride in their work. We are building in the gated community of Weiti Bay, every week the properties get inspected b the body corp. This is the only property to have been awarded the “best contractor award”, this is awarded for cleanliness, politeness and complying with the Weiti Bay building regulations. In our opinion, very well deserved.
Zane and his team make this building journey easy and enjoyable.
— Chris and Vicki Pine
Only hand-sorted recycling on the Shore
Linthwaite, General Manager Resource Recovery Devonport
Resource Recovery Devonport is the only company on the North Shore that handsorts every skip bin we process at our recycling centre on Lake Rd.
We actively recover resources other waste companies throw in the landfill.
Up to 50% of waste going to landfill comes from the construction and demolition industry.
The large waste management companies on the North Shore typically tip their skip bins at transfer stations that send the waste directly to landfill.
At Resource Recovery Devonport, we are proud to say we achieve 80% to 90% recovery of construction and demolition materials for recycling.
We have beautiful yellow bins, not rusty graffitied relics blighting the streetscape and have a fast turnaround of skips at our depot.
As a not-for-profit community organisation we support local organisations such as Restoring Takuranga Hauraki, Ngataringa Organic Gardens, North
Shore Football Club, Devonport Croquet, Devonport Peninsula Trust Kids Athletics.
In 2024 we will donate more than $70,000 to local community groups.
So when locals use our services, they are supporting their own community.
We would encourage local home owners having construction work done to ask their builders to use our skips so we can recycle more locally produced waste.
Devonport Community
Recycling 2024 facts
• Wood - 350 tonnes
• Green Waste - 1300 tonnes
• Scrap metal - 200 tonnes
• E-waste - 2 tonnes
• Mixed recycling - 60 tonnes
• Polystyrene - 600 cubic metres
• Reuse shop found new life for 250 tonnes of discarded goods
• Our landscapes supplies business North Shore Landscapes sold more than 2000 cubic metres of garden products made from recycled green waste.
BINS IN A HURRY QUICK TURN OVER BINS IN A
Cheap Skip Bins
Are flexible bins the worst invention to hit the recycling industry in 30 years?
Our aim is to eradicate the use of flexible bins in our community. New Zealanders stopped using single-use plastic bags a long time ago, why use a single-use plastic skip or flexible bin??
Check out the life cycle of flexible bins: manufactured overseas in India, China, and Pakistan.
• Transported from the factory to port by truck burning diesel and releasing CO2
• Loaded on the ship using diesel.
• Shipped around the world, burning more diesel and releasing CO2
• Transported by road in NZ to a warehouse using more diesel, emitting more CO2 and adding to congestion.
• Transported again in NZ to a distributor, yep using more diesel, emitting yet more CO2
• Transported again from there to your home.
• Next it’s filled and then left out on the berm looking awful with litter blowing out of it.
• Eventually it’s transported again through the Auckland traffic –more diesel and CO2 and more congestion.
• Lastly, after all that, it’s dumped in a landfill and never used again.
RECYCLING GARDEN & GENERAL WASTE TRAILER HIRE
It’s ironic that many flexible bin providers use them to promote recycling.
In contrast, our steel bins are made in New Zealand and will be used thousands of times throughout their lifetime, and then they will be recycled and the steel goes around again.
Please, if you are thinking of using a flexible bin, think again.
If your neighbour is using one, take a moment to educate them, and give them our number 09 445 3830
Richard
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Quartet brings TV romp tunes to Shore
Bridgerton fans will have the opportunity to hear music from the racy Regency romp in Takapuna this weekend.
In what is designed as an outreach to younger audiences, the New Zealand String Quartet is performing classical arrangements of pop songs that feature in the television series at a performance at the Bruce Mason Centre on Saturday, 31 August.
Quartet general manager Aislinn Ryan said it was hoped offering the programme on a national tour would appeal to people who may never have considered a chamber music event previously, providing an entry point into the genre that felt relevant and
familiar to them.
Bridgerton, while set in the Georgian era, offers a modern take on its social mores, with a sound-track to match. Some shorter classical pieces will also feature in the show.
The quartet, which won an award as Best Classical Artist at the 2024 Aotearoa Music Awards, returned at the beginning of August from a month-long Canadian tour of summer music festivals, during which new violinist Peter Clark made his debut.
Tonight, the evening before the Bruce Mason show, the quartet is playing at Depot Artspace in Devonport, as part of a collaboration with arts venues.
Funeral director’s
It’s been years since Rachel Nash last took to the stage at the PumpHouse in Takapuna, but the experienced actor was thrilled to step into the breach to fill a leading role there.
Tadpole Productions roped in Nash for the Sir Roger Hall comedy Taking Off, directed by Simon Prast, when former television presenter Louise Wallace was a late withdrawal due to an unexpected family commitment.
Nash, Jodie Dorday, Laura Hill and Darien Takle play a quartet of Kiwi women setting off on their big OE.
The women are simultaneously terrified and exhilarated by their mid-life adventure.
Nash, who has acted since the mid-1980s, can’t recall details of her last time at the PumpHouse, but she certainly remembers being in and seeing various plays by Hall, who lives in Takapuna.
She puts his work’s enduring audience appeal down to being so relatable. “It’s in the familiarity of the characters. We love to see ourselves.”
In Taking Off, Nash plays Noeline, who nursed her terminally ill husband for years, before embarking on a trip they had intended to take together.
She joins Frankie (played by Dorday), a Lotto winner leaving her dull husband behind; farmer’s wife Ruth (Hill), whose husband is having an affair; and Jean (Takle), recently made redundant by her company after 20 years of service. “I am delighted to be back on stage with such a fine bunch of women,” she says.
Tadpole was able to swap out its posters to include her, and Nash has been rehearsing this month, ready for the play’s opening next week.
Nash trained at Theatre Corporate drama
Take a bow... New Zealand String Quartet (from left): Helene Pohl, Peter Clark, Gillian Ansell and Rolf Gjelsten
theatre career
Hall comedy
Scene change... Rachel Nash is relishing being back on the boards school as a 19-year-old and went on to work in theatre, film and television and teaching.
Among her highlights were roles at Auckland Theatre Company in Enlightenment, and the Basement in The Vagina Monologues, and on screen in The Gulf, The Almighty Johnsons and The Cult.
But as the years went by in what she says can be a “bits and bobs” job in New Zealand, she developed an alternative career as a funeral director and then as a funeral and wedding celebrant.
She started down her new path around 15 years ago, after her mother died. “At that time I thought there must be people who wanted the same way of doing things as I did.”
That meant a funeral that was “not the typical men-in-suits formal way, but still professional”. At Aroha Funerals, she says she draws on similar skills to those employed in acting. “All of the stuff you bring to being an actor, the observance, empathy and looking at things openly – I draw on all of that.”
She is grateful to her employer giving her a month’s leave to fully focus on the play, saying: “I’ve stepped out of one career and back into the other.”
Returning to the North Shore is a bonus. Her family history and childhood memories go a long way back in Devonport, where he mother grew up. Her great-great-grandmother, Dora Morrison, was an early settler, whose family gave land for Vauxhall School and their name to Morrison Ave.
Nash relishes tapping into human connections, be it through the past, theatre or funerals that comfort and empower families. For now though, she is firmly focusing on Taking Off.
• Taking Off , 5-15 September. Tickets from the PumpHouse, ph 489-8360, or pumphouse.co.nz
Starting August 15th, we’ve teamed up with two top Italian restaurants in Takapuna to bring you an unbeatable combo: For a limited time, when you purchase any meal from Al Forno Restaurant or Botticelli Restaurant & Wine Bar, you can purchase a ticket to see The Godfather 1 or 2 for just $10 Botticelli Restaurant & Wine Bar
We have a Royale deal for you it’s so good, we are calling it the Royale With Cheese
From the 22nd of August, we have teamed up with the two best burger joints in Takapuna to offer you the best burgers AND one of the best movies, Pulp Fiction*.
Facebook and Instagram @takapunabeachsidecinema www.takapunamovies.co.nz I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse...
FATHERS’
DAY 2024
All regular movies for dad are $10 Special screenings of The Lion King and Pulp Fiction. Treat dad to a couple of hours of relaxation, entertainment and fun for all the family.
The Crow (R16) 111min
I am the River, The River is Me (E) 89min
Midas Man (M) 113min
The Three MusketeersPart 1: D’Artagnan (M) 122min
Thelma (TBA) 98min 31 Aug - 1 Sep Previews
The Three MusketeersDouble Feature Part 1 & 2 (M) 1 Sep
Runt (TBA) 92min 1 Sep
Harold and the Purple Crayon (PG) 90min 1 Sep Preview COMING
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice (TBA) 110min
First Thursdays: Nick Cave 20,000
events@thevic.co.nz
*MOVIE RATED R18
TAKAPUNA | 1705/3 NORTHCROFT STREET
High and Mighty | The Sentinel
Positioned on the 17th floor of the iconic Sentinel, this spacious 88sqm (approx) two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment offers stunning northerly views of the Hauraki Gulf, Lake Pupuke, and Takapuna. The immaculate layout includes a well-appointed kitchen, dining/lounge area, and a deck for enjoying the view. Amenities feature a heated pool, spa, gym, sauna, and concierge. Includes two secure car parks and a storage locker.
premium.co.nz/80588
VIEW | SAT 2 - 2.30 PM OR BY APPOINTMENT
PRICE | $1.425M
LUCY HAMILTON 021 057 8099
ALISON PARKER 021 983 533 OFFICE 09 916 6000
TAKAPUNA | 2402/3 NORTHCROFT STREET
Gateway To Spectacular Living | The Sentinel
Immerse yourself in sublime 270-degree views of the majestic Waitemata Harbour, Gulf, and the silver city skyline - all from the comfort of your own home! With Auckland at your feet, it’s hard to find a better view of our beautiful city. Spectacular grandstand for potential Americas Cup on the beautiful City of Sails. Fully renovated, this spacious 124sqm (approx) twobedroom sanctuary boasts a super-sized walk-in wardrobe, separate powder room, laundry with built-in cabinetry, and even a wine fridge for your?
premium.co.nz/80534
VIEW | PLEASE CALL FOR AN APPOINTMENT
PRICE | BY NEGOTI ATION
ALISON PARKER 021 983 533 OFFICE 09 916 6000
TAKAPUNA | 14 BRETT AVENUE
Prime Coastal Quarter Acre
Unlock the potential of this prime property located in one of Takapuna’s most sought-after streets which is set on a 1012sqm (approx) freehold title and enjoys gorgeous sea views. The existing home is substantial offering multiple living spaces, spacious bedrooms, three-car garaging and a superb outlook. Positioned as the third property from the beach, on the northern side, this rare gem presents an unparalleled opportunity.
premium.co.nz/80530
VIEW | PLEASE CALL FOR AN APPOINTMENT PRICE | BY NEGOTIATION
ROBERT MILNE 022 011 24 94
RICHARD MILNE 021 770 611 OFFICE 09 916 6000
SNELLS BEACH | 39 LITTLE COMPTON MEWS Elite Coastal Living | Reserve to Beachfront Bliss
Experience luxury living in the exclusive “Whisper Cove” community on a freehold site. This waterfront apartment, the only one with an internal lift, offers unmatched convenience. With three spacious bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, and open-plan living, it’s designed for both relaxation and entertaining. Enjoy indoor/outdoor fireplaces, a designer kitchen, and resort-style grounds. Includes a double garage, additional parking, and easy access to the beach and nearby attractions.
premium.co.nz/90153
VIEW | SUN 10.30 - 11.00 AM OR BY APPOINTMENT PRICE | BY NEGOTIATION
LINDA SMITH 021 470 175
GAIL VAN REEMST 021 767 273 OFFICE 09 422 9280