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PREDICT WEATHER.COM
KEN RING: WEATHER BY THE MOON - AUCKLAND WEATHER DIARY, DECEMBER 2021
December features average rain and temperatures, but with cloudier conditions.
The first week is the wettest. The second week is the driest with highest atmospheric pressures and coolest nights. There is heavy rain again in the third week, and, after a changeable Xmas Day, the last week is expected to be dry and sunny. The barometer may average about 1016mbs. Most rain will be around 7th and 20th. The 11th/12th should be the best weekend for outdoor activities.
For fishers, the highest tides are around 5th. The best fishing bite-times in the east are around dusk on 1st - 4th and 17th - 20th. Chances are also good for around noon of 9th - 12th, and 25th - 27th.
For gardeners, planting is best on 5th/6th (waxing moon ascending), and pruning is best on 20th (waning moon descending). For preserving and longer shelf-life, pick crops or flowers on neap tide days of 12th and 28th.
Always allow 24-hour error for all forecasting. (KEN RING)
For future weather for any date, and the 2021 NZ Weather Almanac, see www.predictweather.com.
Opinions expressed in Ponsonby News are not always the opinion of Alchemy Media Limited & Ponsonby News.
LEYS INSTITUTE UPDATE: GOOD AND BAD
First the bad news: the back of the Leys Institute Gymnasium was comprehensively graffitied in Level 3 lockdown in early November. Thanks to the efforts of Local Board member Adriana Christie it was removed reasonably promptly.
But it’s a worrying precedent – as the Leys Library and Gymnasium have been shut up and vacant for nearly two years now, they are possibly being seen as derelict and a target for vandalism. It is hoped that council maintenance staff are constantly checking the buildings.
The good news is that the steering group looking at the future of the Leys Institute has now been established. Members of the group include Local Board chairperson Richard Northey, Leys librarian Chloe Fryer, Helen Geary from Friends of Leys Institute, a member of the Leys family, representatives from St Mary’s Bay, Herne Bay and Freeman’s Bay residents’ associations, along with several other community representatives, mana whenua and council staff.
Also joining the group are conservation architects Robin Byron of Heritage New Zealand and Antony Matthews, who has a long history with the buildings, going back over 20 years. The group will meet with a series of five hui, starting in early December, through to early March. They will cover the history and current state of the Leys buildings, looking at the opportunities present, commencing concept designs and providing feedback on draft designs.
Friends of Leys Institute would like to be able to represent the views of its 225 members, so this is your opportunity to have your say on how you wish the buildings to be utilised and upgraded.
Please do send in your thoughts and ideas for the future of the Leys Library and Gymnasium to the email address below:
Helen Geary, Friends of Leys Institute Co-ordinator, heleng@maxnet.co.nz, 021 208 7490
LOCAL NEWS MELISSA LEE: What will Christmas look like for Auckland?
As I write this column from my office in Parliament it is almost three months to the day since I was last here in our nation’s Capital working from the chambers in our House of Representatives following the Speaker’s ruling MPs from Alert Level 3 can return with conditions.
I can tell you life here in Wellington, the city of public servants has an air of normalcy, albeit with masks. Down here it is completely different to the experiences of the people of Auckland during the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions. The Government in Wellington deciding our city’s fate have no idea what we Aucklanders are going through.
The rules we endure begin to feel farcical, we have no outdoor hospitality being allowed in Grey Lynn but fully booked restaurants bars on Courtney Place are serving those who make the decision to keep us Aucklanders locked down.
Auckland businesses have been struggling hard, particularly with the added burden of shipping delays hurting their ability to do contactless trade with clientele due to supply chain and goods availability. While we await the proper rollout of the vaccine certification system, (the My Vaccine Pass, that has just been released saw the My Covid Record website repeatedly crash) and, of course a future traffic light system not coming into place until at least the week before Christmas with heavy restrictions still remaining is ridiculous. It is cruel.
We are looking ahead to summer - one that is seeing many major festivals and community celebrations already cancelled even as far ahead as the start of March. Christmas in Auckland, let alone the rest of New Zealand, is going to be a tough one. It will be particularly bare bones for those families who are now out of work, under-employed or in significant debt because New Zealand has not gotten back in business - not just domestically, but allowing effective engagement with the rest of the world.
Indeed, for many families I am now hearing the Christmas gift their young professional aged children are seeking is a one way ticket overseas to parts of the world where life has gone back to normal. A new brain drain may be beginning because of the misery of the MIQ lottery and a general sense the opportunities to aspire and innovate are leaving our shores.
Whether it is the cancellation of community carols or the year plus postponement of major international acts coming to New Zealand, it is clear to me that the government has been doing everything possible to cancel summer for Auckland. As I think about our businesses still unable to trade effectively around and across our region from Ponsonby to Puhoi I can see so clearly that we need a Royal Commission into the Government’s lack of preparation for Delta.
It has been an absolute shambles trying to determine the future of our city and nation with ministers, the people in charge of the situation, arguing in public whether we Aucklanders are being given a state sanctioned allocated time to leave the city during the holiday period. At least we may now have a bit of clarity looking ahead to summer and can hopefully be prepared and even see loved ones across New Zealand.
I am privileged to be able to advocate for you again from the Capital. It is an honour as a List MP based in Auckland to be here again championing your storefronts, your families uncertain about your child’s education, and the many other situations Covid-19 and the Government have brought about.
Take care, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah and best wishes for a better 2022. (MELISSA LEE MP) PN
E: mplee@parliament.govt.nz
Happy Christmas!
Melissa Lee
National List MP based in Auckland
Funded by the Parliamentary Service. Authorised by Melissa Lee, Parliament Buildings, Wgtn.
