31 March 2023 Rangitoto Observer

Lack of answers adds to flood anguish

Frustration and despair is deepening as local homeowners and businesses wait for answers from Auckland Council on how it will deal with issues raised by unprecedented flooding more than two months ago.

Key questions include the future viability of the worst-hit properties inundated in the Wairau

catchment on 27 January, and what infrastructure upgrades might be needed to protect homes in parts of Sunnynook, Forrest Hill, Milford and Castor Bay.

This week, the council’s interim recovery manager, Phil Wilson, was to be shown around the worst hit areas by Devonport-Takapuna

Local Board members. They are keen to ensure that the widespread impact locally is not lost in the wake of higher-profile damage elsewhere from Cyclone Gabrielle, which struck two weeks later.

“The biggest question is what happens next, To page 5

Library-artist a master tagger

Milford, Castor Bay, Forrest Hill and

Inventive art... Takapuna Librian Jiehua Ma with a clever recreation of The Girl with the Pearl Earring painting that she made entirely from bread-bag tags. Story, page 2

Takapuna identity Ralph Roberts obituary... p8

Council arborists ‘stall on fallen tree removal’... p2

Westlake Boys High nets tennis trophies... p11

National promotes Watts

North Shore MP Simon Watts has been promoted to the National Party’s shadow cabinet. Already National’s spokesman on local government, in which role he has campaigned vigorously against the government’s Three Waters plans, Watts has picked up responsibility for climate change following former leader Todd Muller’s decision to quit Parliament.

Bidding for corner shops

Offers were due on a high-profile Stanley Ave shops site just after the Rangitoto Observer went to press.Located at 5862 East Coast Rd, Milford, the corner site has three tenants – Stanley’s Cafe, a dairy and a sushi shop – on 564sqm of freehold land zoned for a neighbourhood business centre. This allows for buildings up to three storeys high with residential use on the top floors The property had attracted good interest said agent Matt Prentice for Colliers. Other shops at the top of the block are separately titled.

Bun bonanza

Eversleigh Rd bakery Daily Bread has bagged the title for making the nation’s best hot-cross buns for a second year running. Baking New Zealand judges said a “perfect” sourdough starter was used in the recipe. The buns are topped by a shiny orange juice glaze and contain candied orange peel left over from juicing. Around 7000 buns a day are produced by the bakery in the lead-up to Easter.

Local board stands alone

The Devonport-Takapuna Local Board was the only one of 21 local boards to support the withdrawal of Auckland Council from Local Government New Zealand to save membership fees. On Mayor Wayne Brown’s casting vote, Auckland pulled out of the national group to save around $400,000. North Shore’s Chris Darby and Richard Hills were among councillors who opposed the move. The board said the city was big enough to provide its own policy advice and elected member development.

Ride aims to raise $400k

Two Takapuna businessmen have cycled the length of the country for the second time to raise money for mental health and prostate cancer causes. Bruce Cotterill and Paul Muir completed the trip from Cape Reinga to Bluff on 23 March, raising $245,000 by the next day. Last year the pair raised $200,000. With fundraising ongoing and four more cyclists having been in tow this year, they hope to net $400,000 this time.

Residents want fallen pohutukawa with

myrtle rust removed

A large fallen pohutukawa tree at The Sands apartments in Takapuna has myrtle rust, say residents fighting to have it removed from their lawn and garden. The body corporate is pursuing a resource consent to allow the removal.

Resident and former body corporate chair Graeme Marwick says Auckland Council arborists have stalled efforts to have it cleared. “It’s just crazy, a ridiculous situation,” he said.

The pohutukawa, although on private land, is classified by the council as a notable tree and is considered part of the Sacred Grove / Te Uru Tapu stand of specimens which are mostly on council reserve land at the northern end of Takapuna Beach.

Marwick said it fell in August. Since then, a report commissioned by residents confirmed the presence of the fungal disease, which threatens native trees. “It does have myrtle rust in it and the arborist is still stonewalling. Given it’s an airborne disease, you would think they would want it removed,” Marwick said.

He believed that arborists were hanging onto the idea it might regenerate.

At least one tree in the main part of the grove was showing signs of leaf damage, he said.

Apartment owners had put it to council staff – in tongue-in-cheek fashion – that perhaps the council should pay to rent the private land the tree was occupying. The response was that

the tree was not the council’s – yet residents were not able to do anything with it.

Devonport-Takapuna Local Board member George Wood has put in a request to the council to take all necessary steps to deal with the tree and the threat of contagion it poses.

“I think it’s a nonsense that the council, when there’s myrtle rust known to be in the tree, is making people apply for a consent,” he said.

“It’s a very frustrating process,” agreed current body corporate chair Tashca Rosan.

A report from arborists had been delayed before Christmas and then again since. She said in an inspection early this year, after rainfall, some green shoots had been spotted, but these had now withered. “The tree wasn’t preserved and now it is on our lawn.”

Rosan said she believed the grove’s trees deserved to be preserved, but they needed to be properly managed. “We might be doing them a bit of a favour by giving them a haircut.”

Auckland Council said Sacred Grove trees were inspected on March 1. Several had low levels of myrtle rust, one had a medium level and six had no sign of the disease.

Regarding the tree which had fallen at the Sands Apartments, this was privately zoned and “therefore council has no influence over its removal.” A resource consent would be needed to take it out, but none had been lodged so far, council said.

Famous portrait kneaded into new style

A Takapuna librarian has used 4500 breadbag tags to recreate the famous Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer. Jiehua Ma came up with the idea several years ago while working at another library. When she realised how many tags went to landfill she decided to ask for donations of them to repurpose for children’s activities.

One man brought in a pile amassed over 15 years that he was wondeirng what to do with.

Ma decided to make her own large-scale piece, based on the painting she admires. The installation will be at the library for several weeks..

The piece was put together in A4-sized sections, with Ma completing 64 of these.

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Geared up to get workers moving

New weekly wellness sessions have started in the heart of Takapuna, with the goal of bringing people together over exercise in their lunch hours.

The first free session organised by the Takapuna North Community Trust was held in the public space off Hurstmere Rd last Tuesday.

Trust manager Natasha Geo said the idea was to provide a service to help connect people after periods of working at home. It would help them connect, be active and see what Takapuna had to offer.

“You can come down from work, do a 20-30 minute taster class and then on your way back discover a new place for lunch.”

Staff from Allfit gym are running the light workouts, which people of all fitness levels can participate in.

The first session was a pilot run, with Geo hoping numbers will build to around 20 participants as word gets out. Once established, other locations may be considered.

The Takapuna sessions will run each Tuesday until 18 April, starting at noon. No bookings are required.

Still smiling... After a lunchtime workout session in the recently completed section of Waiwharariki Anzac Square off Hurstmere Rd are (from left) Takapuna North Community Trust events co-ordinator Grace Samuelson and manager Natasha Geo with fitness staff Fern Jelleyman, Sarah Warmington and Viren Arora

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Residents want more urgency on flood issues

From page 1

and what happens to the houses that have been yellow- and red- stickered,” board chair Toni van Tonder told the Observer.

Across the board’s northern area, this amounted to 227 homes, with a further 118 having been white stickered.

With some homes abandoned, van Tonder said this raised questions of the wellbeing of neighbourhoods. The issue of buying back homes identified as at-risk needed to be addressed by the council, the government or both. Insurability also had to be addressed.

The board wants timelines for reviews the council has launched, including into emergency management and wastewater and stormwater capabilities.

“Where’s the accountability?” a Milford resident whose medium-sized business lost a million dollars worth of stock in the Wairau Valley asked the Observer. “I just see broken people and it really worries me.”

She did not wish to be identified for fear of getting offside with Watercare.

A Forrest Hill resident she knew whose home and business were flooded ended up having to repeatedly chase his insurance company for a partial payout so he could meet staff wages .

Businesses were going under as owners lost cashflow, she said. Others were working out of portacabins and using portaloos, while waiting for builders.

She said fundamental problems had not been addressed in what was the North Shore’s main industrial area, employing thousands of people.

“The pumps failed and we were left with a wall of sewage basically.”

The pumping station, which dated to the 1960s and had been patched up with spare parts, was meant to have been upgraded in 2019.

Toxic overflow... Wastewater gushed from this manhole by Inga Rd during recent floods. Another larger stormwater lid in nearby Brian Byrnes Reserve burst off

“Two people died for God’s sake and no one is doing anything.”

Homeowners were stressed due to not knowing if flooding would recur, the board was told last week by Milford residents concerned about issues in the area around Brian Byrnes Reserve, opposite the Milford Marina.

Bruce Ward said that part of Milford “dodged a bullet” because it was low tide in the estuary when floodwaters reached their height.

Homes were flooded, although not in the numbers inundated further up Wairau Creek around Nile and Alma Rds and off Shakespeare Rd. But manholes blew off and water was contaminated, he said, leading to e-coli cases among residents. “It’s bad enough having stormwater flowing through homes, but completely unacceptable to have raw sewage.”

Dredging the stream in the reserve – which has apparently been resisted for environmental reasons – would not have stopped it flooding, but it may have improved the water flow, he said. “Isn’t the welfare of dozens of residents more important than two or three eels?”

North Shore MP Simon Watts is calling for

council-controlled organisation Watercare and council department Healthy Waters to upgrade the yellow-stickered pump station on Wairau Rd and stormwater in the area, dredge Milford Marina and attend to scheduled maintenance of creeks and streams.

Watts and local board members George Wood asnd Gavin Busch met with a group of business owners last week, including one brought to tears in explaining how people felt left to fend for themselves.

The business owners told Watts infrastructure issues identified in flooding in March 2022 had not been rectified.

Forrest Hill resident Max Whitehead told a Have Your Say session on the council’s draft budget last week that its financial shortfall should concentrate minds on core responsibilities. The former Act Party candidate said it was time to cut discretionary spending and provide reliable underground infrastructure.

“Please ensure our homes are safe and dry because right now thousands of your constituents live in fear whenever it rains.”

The council should not push on with intensification in areas with a long history of flooding, he said.

To board members, he said: “Are you, as our elected representatives, going to sit back and watch your constituents rebuild in the same locations, knowing they are likely to be flooded out of their homes again?”

Van Tonder said feedback from residents groups and individuals was clear that the council needed to get the basics right.

The board wanted thorough work done on what the ‘big fix’ for the Wairau catchment would be and to have it funded.

“The function of the stormwater is not okay, especially if we’re getting more of these [weather] events,” van Tonder said.

Meeting fails to address questions about AEM’s role

People seeking answers on the North Shore’s readiness to face natural disasters were instead put into groups and given paper and pens to come up with ideas of their own.

Three people walked out early during what had been billed as a flood debrief session in Takapuna this month. Others of the around 25 people there expressed frustration at the direction the meeting was taking, after Melanie Hutton, head of community and business resilience for Auckland Emergency Management (AEM) at Auckland Council said: “This is a workshop for positivity and gratefulness for what was achieved.” She

asked attendees to briefly introduce themselves and say what they were grateful for.

“I’m grateful for our local community because there was zero response from AEM, said one resident from Castor Bay. Another said she wanted to know what the council was going to do to sort out drainage issues.

Several people were eager to relay their flood experiences, but talk was soon diverted to brainstorming in small groups. Some useful ideas resulted, along with plenty of cross-table talk about community frustration with poor public communications by AEM in the early stages of the Anniversary

Weeekend flooding in January and in outlining emergency management roles.

Community support group Auckland North Community and Development (Ancad), which the local board has tasked with helping suburbs develop their own emergency plans, called the meeting, but its chair Fiona Brennan, told the Observer AEM was responsible for structuring the main session.

Hutton told the paper she was surprised by the reaction at the meeting, but referred any other questions to council channels.

Meanwhile, Ancad is making progress in getting a Takapuna and Hauraki plan drafted.

Keep up coverage of flood toll – aftermath a real struggle

I wanted to say a huge thank you and well done for keeping the flooding in the spotlight in your publication.

I’ve just been reading the article about Caleb Alex and his experience (Observer, 17 March) and, as a fellow “Milford flood victim” my heart goes out to him.

We are now on our fourth house since the floods. That in itself is a real struggle – to find anywhere to live. While the flood itself was

devastating, dealing with the aftermath of the clean-up, the housing issue, the council and the insurance is a daily battle I just wasn’t prepared for. You really have to struggle and battle to get yourself heard and get any progress.

So please keep on reporting on these issues as it’s really important to keep this issue in the public eye.

Elizabeth Jefferies

for Fijian children

Two Takapuna Rotary Club members accompanied a life-saving medical mission to Fiji for which the local service group was the main sponsor.

Geoff and Bev Pownall returned home this month from the Hearts4Kids Trust trip. The trust, which draws on the expertise and volunteered time of New Zealand health personnel, makes annual trips to Fiji. On the latest mission, 13 open-heart surgeries were done, one of which allowed a child to walk unassisted for the first time.

“It was so neat seeing the kids before and after surgery and how precious life is,” said Geoff Pownall, the local club’s secretary.

He said his day-to-day tasks consisted of doing “anything that came up” including supporting worried Fijian mothers and getting anything the medical team needed.

“It was rewarding just being a part of it.”

Takapuna Rotary was the mission’s main sponsor this year. In this role, Pownall said it helped get funding for the trust from different arms of Rotary as well as donating money from its own accounts.

Hearts4Kids is still fundraising to cover the full $90,000 cost of the trip and welcomes donations, with details on its website.

Forrest Hill in running to host community bike hub

Forrest Hill is in competition with Devonport to host the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board area’s first Community Bike Hub.

Greville Reserve has been identified as a potential site, after board members asked Auckland Transport (AT) to scope out options in the northern area of the board area, where need may be greater.

Dacre Park on Lake Rd was initially identified by AT as a preferred site in the city-wide project. But after the feedback, locations in Takapuna, Sunnynook and Forrest Hill have also been considered, along with more visible sites in Devonport.

At an update, members said it would be good to have hubs at each end of the board’s territory, but were told by an AT representative

this was not possible at this stage. Funding allowed for nine new hubs to open across Auckland by the end of the year.

Members agreed that Greville Reserve was a good accessible site, with parking and a flat area on top of the reservoir for biking. But they called for more detail before deciding on their final preference.

If a decision is made soon, the board area’s hub could be open by mid-year.

Bike Hubs will be free and community-run and operated out of shipping containers for 15 to 25 hours a week. Locally staffed, they aim to encourage cycling and offer basic bike repairs, and advice, education and training, donated bike resales, and events.

Heari ng and Memory

Heari ng and Memory

Heari ng and Memory

Heari ng and Memory

Heari ng and Memory

Heari ng and Memory

Did you know hearing is good for your brain? Recent studies show people with mild hearing loss are twice as likely to develop dementia, and people with severe hearing loss are five times more likely1. If you or someone you love has trouble hearing, book in for a hearing check. If you have a hearing loss - get hearing aids! If you have hearing aidswear them!

Did you know hearing is good for your brain? Recent studies show people with mild hearing loss are twice as likely to develop dementia, and people with severe hearing loss are five times more likely1. If you or someone you love has trouble hearing, book in for a hearing check. If you have a hearing loss - get hearing aids! If you have hearing aidswear them!

Did you know hearing is good for your brain? Recent studies show people with mild hearing loss are twice as likely to develop dementia, and people with severe hearing loss are five times more likely1. If you or someone you love has trouble hearing, book in for a hearing check. If you have a hearing loss - get hearing aids! If you have hearing aidswear them!

Did you know hearing is good for your brain? Recent studies show people with mild hearing loss are twice as likely to develop dementia, and people with severe hearing loss are five times more likely1. If you or someone you love has trouble hearing, book in for a hearing check. If you have a hearing loss - get hearing aids! If you have hearing aidswear them!

Did you know hearing is good for your brain? Recent studies show people with mild hearing loss are twice as likely to develop dementia, and people with severe hearing loss are five times more likely1. If you or someone you love has trouble hearing, book in for a hearing check. If you have a hearing loss - get hearing aids! If you have hearing aidswear them!

Did you know hearing is good for your brain? Recent studies show people with mild hearing loss are twice as likely to develop dementia, and people with severe hearing loss are five times more likely1. If you or someone you love has trouble hearing, book in for a hearing check. If you have a hearing loss - get hearing aids! If you have hearing aidswear them!

1. Strutt, et al (2019). Hearing Loss & Dementia Incidence in Australia Findings from the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study

1. Strutt, et al (2019). Hearing Loss & Dementia Incidence in Australia Findings from the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study

1. Strutt, et al (2019). Hearing Loss & Dementia Incidence in Australia Findings from the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study

1. Strutt, et al (2019). Hearing Loss & Dementia Incidence in Australia Findings from the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study

1. Strutt, et al (2019). Hearing Loss & Dementia Incidence in Australia Findings from the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study

1. Strutt, et al (2019). Hearing Loss & Dementia Incidence in Australia Findings from the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study

Life-saving mission... Bev and Geoff Pownall (left, rear) with the volunteer health team which Rotary support took to help Fijians

Rotarians make a world of difference

Yachting identity excelled both on and off the water

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

Roberts died on 19 March, aged 87.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Among his career highlights were:

• Multiple national championships in the

Finn, Flying Dutchman and Soling classes.

• Sailing in the Finn class in the 1960 Rome Olympics, finishing 6th.

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

• Sailing in the Flying Dutchman class with Geoff Smale in the 1968 Olympics, finishing 8th.

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

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

• Being New Zealand Chef de Mission for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Roberts was also president of the New

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

He received the Olympic Order of New Zealand in 2011.

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

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

A service to farewell him was held at St Marys-in-Holy Trinity in Parnell last Friday.

Former North Shore City councillors remembered

Bruce Lilly

Former North Shore City councillor Bruce Lilly took a keen interest in improving beach water quality decades before it became a topic du jour. His efforts to improve wastewater management and the public-transport network were emphasised when his recent death was acknowledged by the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board.

Board member George Wood said Lilly had put his heart and soul into everything he did.

The men made a self-funded study trip to Sydney when Wood was North Shore Mayor and after Lilly had graduated from the East Coast Bays Community Board to be elected to the North Shore City Council, on which he served from 1995 to 2001.

Efforts to convince fellow councillors to support building the Akoranga Bus Station were successful, but residents’ opposition to building another station by Stafford Park stymied the extension of the Northern Busway network to service Northcote Point.

Canterbury-born-and-bred Lilly died on 1 March, aged 85, in an Albany retirement home, having outlived his wife, Margaret. He is survived by children Ruth, Sue, Ross, Andrew and Julie.

Councillors carefully scrutinised the well-written words of North Shore Times editor Ivan Dunn before he moved from reporting to join them around the council table, recalls former North Shore Mayor George Wood.

Dunn died last month, after struggling with dementia. He led the suburban newspaper in its three-issues-a-week heyday. After stepping down in 2004, he was elected to the North Shore City Council for one term.

“He certainly contributed a lot to the North Shore,” said Wood, now a member of the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board, which acknowledged Dunn’s passing at its March monthly meeting. One of Dunn’s interests on council was in how civil defence should be managed, Wood noted.

Born in Hamilton, Dunn began his long reporting career in Tokoroa before joining the Waikato Times and then spending time working overseas. When he and wife Dawn (who predeceased him) returned to New Zealand, the couple made Sunnynook their home, raising four children: Jason, Simon, Gina and Tony.

Ivan Dunn

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

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Community groups face money pressure

With council budget cuts looming, the focus has fallen on services provided by community groups.

The Devonport-Takapuna Local Board is assessing its funding priorities for grants rounds, while waiting to find out how much money it will get to distribute. Janetta Mackay reports. Extra costs are on the cards for sports and community groups that own properties and currently enjoy council rates relief.

Six groups, including Takapuna Bowling Club, Milford Cruising Club and North Shore Squash Club, are among those in the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board area that have regularly received rates grants from the board..

Other beneficiaries have included North Shore Rugby Club and the Michael King Writers Centre in Devonport, and the Stanley Bowling and Petanque Club in Stanley Bay,

Faced with yet-to-be-finalised but large funding cuts of its own, the local board was asked by Auckland Council officers at a workshop this momth if it wanted to discontinue rates grants or roll them over for a year.

The grants amounted to $95,000 over the past two financial years, with $64,518 having been set aside for the 2023-24 year. Council officers suggested a sum of $26,986 remaining from the 2022/23 budget could be diverted to pressured general-grants budgets

The leftover amount is due to Takapuna Bowling Club and the Stanley Bay club being the only groups thus far applying to take advantage of their grants this year, being awarded $9481 and $25,863 respectively.

Groups that lease their sites from Auckland

Council for peppercorn rents do not have to pay rates. A desire for fairness led to the introduction of rates grants for property-owning groups.

Board chair Toni van Tonder said the legacy arrangement paid around 85 per cent of groups’ rates bills, but she noted change had been signalled in the past.

Member Gavin Busch said more detail was needed about the financial position of the groups. “Some clubs and organisations might be sitting on substantial sums,” he said.

Member George Wood noted that the Milford Cruising Club’s rates covered a slipyard it could make money from and that North Shore Rugby Club was paying rates on a building used as a gym.

Van Tonder said another workshop with staff should be held to help guide members.

“There’s a piece missing here, which is our budget,” she said.

Indications are the board’s discretionary spend will be cut by 60 per cent to around $500,000 as part of Auckland Council’s $295 million citywide budget cuts, drastically reducing the amount it can allocate

Public consultation on the budget has just closed. After feedback is collated, the board will have a further chance for input to the council, before the draft budget is finalised.

Tougher grants regime suggested

Stricter grants eligibility criteria are needed, says the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board, as it deals with reduced funds to allocate to the community.

This would bring more scrutiny around how often groups get grants and what they can apply for.

Board members advocated this course to Auckland Council grants advisers when asked for feedback to proposals on how to deal with budget cuts.

They also suggested condensing the number and type of grants rounds held each year, which would save on staff and board time.

Council staff recommended sticking with an $8000 cap on individual grants for the 2023-24 year, which is already down from the $10,000 which applied previously, and to limiting grants to any one group to two a year

Board member George Wood suggested dropping the cap to $5000, which member Peter Allen supported.

Allen predicted “a lot more applications from community groups” given how tight funds were everywhere.

Wood said it was still important that the board continued to fund a range of groups. This also gave those groups credibility when they applied to other funding sources.

Officers suggested building-maintenance grants could be an area to tighten up on, but

board members said the likes of heat pumps and security cameras were a one-off cost that made groups more sustainable.

Member Terence Harpur said giving a community group $5000 for the upkeep of its facility could often be money well spent, with volunteers able to do painting, for instance, at a much reduced rate. This should be encouraged.

The Sunnynook community has offered to help with the creation of a pump track in a bid to get that hoped-for project under way. A similar approach at Woodall Park in Devonport was cited as an example of a facility delivered for much less of a burden on ratepayers than if council contracted out all the work.

Harpur also called for more consideration to be given to funding activities in well-placed locations, especially where this might encourage participants to spend money in town centres.

Van Tonder said the board needed to become a little more critical in considering how well applicants met the board’s priorities.

A previous grant for speech therapy for a small group of people was an example of the board not delivering as well as it could. It also needed to be stricter on groups that kept coming back for more funding.

The board suggested reducing the general grant amount that could be applied for, to a minimum of $500 from $1000, as a way to help lower expectations.

Board dished out $227k in last year

Latest figures show around threequarters of grant applications are approved by the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board, although not always for the full amount requested.

In 2020-21, 161 applications were made to the board for local grants, along with a much smaller number of multi-board and quick-response grants. That figure dropped to 120 applications in the 2021-22 year, mainly due to Covid interruptions and carryovers, especially in the arts and events sectors.

In 2021-22, $554,413 was requested and $227,831 allocated. The previous year, $1.046 million was sought and $235,177 granted.

The biggest beneficiaries last year were community groups ($92,072 granted of $210,631 sought in 53 applications), followed by sports and recreation ($47,002 from $149,298 sought from 27) and arts and culture ($45,029; $88,399; 22). Trailing behind was spending on events ($21,228; $66,085; 12), historic heritage ($12,000; $20,000; 2) and the environment ($10,500; $20,000; 4).

Arts and environment groups have had more regular access to other region-wide council funding, though this is now being reduced in wider council cuts.

Top 10 grants

The largest Devonport-Takapuna Local Board grants for 2021-22 went to:

Rotary Club of Devonport Charitable Trust, $9240, towards the Woodall Park pump track project.

North Shore Budget Service, $7200, to extend support into the community. The Lake House Trust, $6000, Arts Wood Sculpture Symposium. South Island Light Orchestra Ltd, $6000, for Takapuna Winter Lights. The Lake House Trust, $6000, east and west side restoration.

Victoria Theatre Trust , Devonport, $6000, foyer restoration.

Auckland King Tides Initiative, $5000, for beach monitoring.

Glass Ceiling Arts Collective, $5000, for inclusive youth theatre at the Rose Centre, Belmont.

Ngataringa Tennis Club , $5000, renovation of changing, toilet and showering facilities.

North Shore Budget Service, $5000, building financial resilience.

Westlake Boys breaks tennis drought

Westlake Boys High School is celebrating two recent tennis titles, including its first Auckland secondary schools championship in more than a decade.

The school’s top team of Eddie Biss, James Burrows, Andre Duggan, Matt Lang, Nehal Naidoo, Jacob Warren and Ethan Zhang took out the premier Auckland championship, contested in a league format of weekly matches, as well as the Champ of Champs tournament, a two-day competition where players play a series of pool and knockout matches.

Westlake beat Rangitoto College 5-1 in a North Shore derby to secure the championship.

Team member student Eddie Biss said it felt great to be able to bring the title to Westlake.

“We’ve had real strong teams in the past that have gotten to a couple of finals but hadn’t got over that final line, so it felt good to be able to do that.”

Eddie and teammate Nehal Naidoo also won the doubles title at the Champ of Champs tournament, beating a Macleans College pair in the final.

The 16-year-old Year 12 student told the Observer winning the doubles was a highlight.

“Winning the doubles was really cool. Playing with my mate, so it felt really satisfying to get the win.”

Eddie also did well in the Champ of Champs singles, losing in the semi-finals to good friend Chan Min, who plays for Rangitoto College.

Eddie said he’s now shifting his focus to the secondary school nationals, where he and his teammates aim to bring Westlake its first national title.

In the long term, he hopes to win a tennis scholarship in the US.

Gill’s dream of 22m comes true

Shot-putter Jacko Gill threw a personal best to again beat rival Tom Walsh – for a second time in as many weeks.

Having taken the national title from Walsh, the Takapuna Athletics Club thrower followed up with a throw of 22.12m at the Sir Graeme Douglas International meeting in West Auckland on 16 March.

This added nearly 22cm to his previous best, set in winning silver behind Walsh at the Commonwealth Games last year.

Walsh’s best throw of the night was 21.79m, well below his personal best of 22.90m, set in 2019.

Gill credits Nerida and Walter Gill, his parents and coaches, for much of his recent success, saying he is happy in his training and has improved his technique.

“I’m stoked, I can’t believe it. I’m very happy.

“I have wanted to throw 22 metres since I was 16. It was always the dream.”

Top team... Premier tennis players Andre Duggan, Jacob Warren, Eddie Biss and Nehal Naidoo with their Auckland trophy

Top form... Jacko Gill about to launch the shot in recent competition

PHOTO: ALISHA LOVRICH

Power pairing... Biss and Naidoo in doubles action

Council food-scrap collections coming soon

Auckland Council will deliver its new food-scrap bins to householders over the coming months.

Devonport-Takapuna Local Board area residents can expect to receive their new rukenga kai/food scrap collection bins between May and June this year, along with a kitchen caddy, compostable bin liners and an information booklet for each household.

The bin contents will be collected weekly, on the same schedule as refuse collections.

An Auckland Council spokesperson said the food-scrap collection service will reduce the amount of scraps going to landfill.

They will instead be taken to a new Ecogas plant in Reporoa, between Rotorua

Full set... A council bin for compost (left), will soon join those for rubbish and recyling

and Taupo, to be converted into biogas and fertiliser.

The plant uses anaerobic digestion technology, in which bacteria consume the

scraps and produce the valuable by-products.

The biogas will be used to generate electricity that will power the facility and can also contribute to the national grid. Biomethane will also be fed into the national gas grid.

‘Digestate’ liquid fertiliser will be used on local farmland.

Food scraps that can’t easily be composted, such as fish bones, shellfish shells, meat scraps and dairy products, can all be collected and processed, a council spokesperson said.

Based on international participation rates, council predicts half of all food scraps will be diverted from landfill.

Spotlight shone on wheelchair-unfriendly reserve

The difficulties faced by wheelchair users at Milford Beach Reserve have prompted calls for Auckland Council to better cater for their needs.

Accessibility and inclusion advocate Kimberly Graham, acting on behalf of a Milford mother and daughter, brought the case for improvements to the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board’s last meeting.

Seeing photographs and video of obstacles to getting into and over the reserve prompted board members to ask council staff what could easily be fixed.

The lack of a pathway connecting the reserve playground and toilets was a flaw as was a large wooden seating block centred on a path.

“Seating is plonked in the middle of potential access to swings and slides,” said Graham

It was also poor planning that the wide concrete path that ran alongside the Wairau Creek from the pedestrian overbridge towards the beach ended abruptly on grass, rather than connecting to the sealed area and parks along the beachfront, she said. The grass was often

too muddy for wheelchairs to navigate.

Graham had also spoken to the Creative Abilities group, whose members and caregivers were filmed trying to navigate access to the reserve.

Among issues identified was a drain that snagged wheelchair users trying to get from mobility parking on Craig Rd, between the Milford Cruising Club and the playground.

Raised rubber parking buffers along there were also badly placed, allowing cars to pull too far forward, encroaching into safe access ways along the side of the reserve. A similar problem was seen with parking buffers along the road’s beachfront section, where cars could nudge over grass picnic areas in a way that did not leave enough room for wheelchair passage.

Asked about the toilet block relatively recently completed, Graham said it was a standard accessibility design and so “not too bad”, but doors were quite heavy which was a design consideration to bear in mind.

A mobility park in front would be desirable and it would be great to have a fully acces-

sible changing table with hoist such as at the Takapuna Beach toilets.

Other mobility parking on the beach side of the road, at the strip’s southern end, would be better to the north, she said rather than by unusable steps. “The beach isn’t accessible,” Graham added.

“If we can get certain things right it makes for a much easier and enjoyable day.”

Board deputy chair Terence Harpur said it would be good to look for some quick fixes. These would benefit those using pushchairs and prams as well, he said.

The presentation will be referred to the council’s parks and facilities team and to Auckland Transport (AT) for future consideration in planning.

Board chair Toni van Tonder said it would also ask for feedback from AT.

Member George Wood asked: “Is there some way of getting things done that doesn’t take forever?”

AT should be asked to move the rubber parking buffers and consider putting a metal plate across the drain, he said.

Milford / Takapuna Tides

Company’s inclusivity a drawcard for local actor

North Shore actor Kat Glass has turned a disadvantage into a communication tool that will come in handy during children’s theatre performances in Takapuna over the school holidays.

“I’m hard of hearing and use hearing aids on stage,” says Glass (who prefers the pronoun they).

Dealing with hearing difficulties means focusing extra hard on what was going on, including through lip reading, and remaining “very present and engaged”. But this also gives a different point of view and an ability to connect with others in the same boat.

“I’m on a journey to see it as a super-power,” Glass says.

Performing in Tim Bray Theatre’s The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch, which opens a touring season this weekend at the PumpHouse Theatre, Glass and the ensemble cast have a busy time ahead. This includes doing special audio-described and sensory shows, suitable for children with special needs.

Glass can talk to the deaf and hard-of-hearing children in a way they relate to while also using skills built up in a decade of acting for stage and screen.

But doing theatre with compromised hearing is challenging. It’s a fast-paced environment, with music and cues to contend with.

“I particularly like working with Tim Bray Theatre, because accessibility is part of its kaupapa,” Glass says.

not to hire you.” Over time, they have become more confident.

“And being part of the LBGTQ+ community, we’ve had more of a focus in the arts community.”

Glass lives in Devonport where they love the sense of community and access to beaches. They came to acting from a dance and movement background, going on to study theatre at the University of Auckland.

The lively Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch production taps into that earlier skill base. The show uses a lot of puppetry to convey some characters. “I came into theatre from dance, and puppetry is a lovely blend of both.”

Glass plays a seagull and the lighthouse inspector.

Watch out me hearties... In an earlier show for Tim Bray Theatre, Kat Glass took the lead in The Man Whose Mother Was a Pirate

shows. On top of that, they have toured their own production, Alone, for three years. It is an award-winning sci-fi drama Glass was invited to perform at the Sydney Fringe Festival and festivals in New Zealand.

They hope to get funding to take it to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August. Work as a producer for Maumahara, a short film in te reo produced as part of a series, is another achievement that was premiered at the Maoriland Film Festival.

Speaking to the Observer in a break in rehearsals for The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch – a play based on children’s books by Ronda and David Armitage – Glass says a fast-turnaround three weeks of rehearsals were made easier by the familiarity many of the cast had with each

Beak performance... Kat Glass rehearses with a seagull puppet during rehearsals at the Takapuna Football Club for a Tim Bray Theatre production of The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch

by Ronda & David Armitage

Adapted by Tim Bray, with song by Christine White

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