FROM THE EDITOR

Never in the history of Ponsonby News have we ever had 10 letters to the editor. And there were more but we didn’t have room for three others. Surprisingly none were to do with Covid!

Christmas is not cancelled at Ponsonby Central... Santa has been given a green light exemption to come to town this Christmas. The famous Ponsonby Central Santa is back, and with him he brings a gift for Aucklanders. Reflecting on a difficult year particularly for retail and hospitality, with many Christmas events cancelled, bringing some light-hearted joy to Auckland residents seems all the more important. Santa might be back, but he has a few modifications to make sure the joy of Christmas is all he spreads. The mask donning, double jabbed figure is a sign of the times and while his outfit might be risqué, the importance of mask-wearing is not lost on someone who jumps down so many chimneys in one night.

With a celebration bottle in one hand and oversized ceremonial scissors in the other, he is getting ready to unwrap the gift of new eateries, restaurants, a boutique movie theatre, and office spaces, that are set to open at Ponsonby Central in early 2022.

While the city has been locked down, work on the site has continued and with their Santa partner this year, Aspec Construction, the development is on track for its grand opening. Aspec Construction has worked for years on site to create 80 underground car parks which opened in 2020 and now the three levels above, it seems fitting to create this year's Santa together as we near completion of the development.

Ponsonby Central and Aspec Construction are proud to bring us the 2021 Santa and some life back into our city.

In this issue my colleague John Elliott has covered some interesting issues: Starting with solar panel highways, enabling housing supply and other matters amendment bill, Housing crisis - Shared equity solution possible and the Seabin Project – which aims to clean up pollution in harbours.

In her Christmas feature this month Helene Ravlich spoke with some of her favourite locals about what their plans are for the holiday season, what they are eyeing up for loved ones, and what they hope to see under their trees come Christmas morning. Vicki Taylor makes a beautiful front cover.

Finally, thanks everyone for your support – we are living through challenging times – but Christmas is coming which gives us something to look forward to. (MARTIN LEACH)  PN

DOWNSIZING

Are you thinking about moving into a smaller home or retirement village but feeling daunted by the amount of work involved?

Elderly Assist is here to help. We have an experienced, ethical team ready to help you with downsizing, decluttering and packing, moving and unpacking. We can manage the whole process or any part of your move – you choose. We can clear garages and basements. Selling and gifting what we can and disposing of the rest ethically.

Call our founder, Janice Willis for a chat on 0800 839 874, she can send you a brochure.

OUR CONTRIBUTORS IT’S A TEAM EFFORT... WE COULDN’T DO IT WITHOUT OUR CONTRIBUTORS

CONNOR CRAWFORD

I am a working artist and photographer with a colourful and rhythmic perspective. I enjoy shooting the front covers of Ponsonby News.

DAVID HARTNELL - MNZM

For the last 53 years I’ve been a freelance entertainment journalist and author. I’ve lived in the Grey Lynn area for nearly three decades; I have met and interviewed some amazing people.

FINN MCLENNAN-ELLIOTT

I work as a booker, promoter and festival programmer. Active in all areas of the music community; folk music is my specialty. KEN RING

My yearly NZ Weather Almanacs began in 1999. During the tragic 2011 Christchurch earthquakes, my work created international interest. I currently live in Ponsonby.

KERRY LEE

I’ve been a freelance writer for a year now, and what I love most are the wonderful people I’ve meet along the way. #best job.

LUCY KENNEDY

I am a young local writer who loves to read! Each month you will find my reviews of new books for people who love to read as much as I do.

HONOUR MITCHELL

I have lived in the Ponsonby area all of my life. I write the column ‘Teen Picks’ which explores everything on offer in the greater Ponsonby area. PHIL PARKER

Journalist and published author, I have had a career involving both wine writing and hosting boutique wine tours in the Auckland region.

HELENE RAVLICH

A freelance writer and copywriter for almost 20 years, I have written for publications all over the world and couldn’t imagine myself in any other job. PIPPA COOM

I am Councillor for Waitemata and Gulf Ward on Auckland Council. Formerly, Chair Waitemata Local Board.

JOHN APPLETON

I have a keen interest in nutritional medicine and how it may be used to support people with chronic illnesses. ROSS THORBY

I have had a wanderlust for travel ever since I was old enough to own a passport. Since I discovered cruising, I have become unstoppable.

JOHN ELLIOTT

I am the founder of Ponsonby News and write for the magazine. My career has included politics, education and publishing. My interests include the environment, the economy and social justice. SOFIA ROGER WILLIAMS

A vegan for over a year and vegetarian for over seven years with a passion for writing. I am a local student reviewing some of Ponsonby’s best vegan eats.

Season’s Greetings

Helen White

Labour list MP based in Auckland Central For enquiries please contact my office: 09 360 5720 helen.white@parliament.govt.nz /HelenWhiteLabour

OCKHAM’S QUEST TO CREATE AUCKLAND’S MOST BELOVED APARTMENT BUILDING

One block off Ponsonby Road – right at the top of Williamson Ave – The Greenhouse is rising out of the ground. Ockham Residential’s Mark Todd talks about his “once-in-a-lifetime project”.

It starts with the glazed brick that changes colour a thousand times a day. Under morning sun, it’s gleaming emeraldgreen, like a summer walk to Karekare Falls, but as the day unfolds it shifts to forest-green, then dark olive, then almost to black — the colour of a midwinter slog through Great Barrier bush. There are glimmers of Whatipū greys, fleeting moments of Waiheke navy and indigo.

A hundred-and-fifty-thousand of these iridescent, greenglazed bricks will adorn the walls of The Greenhouse.

“Reverence for Tāmaki Makaurau infuses our work,” says Ockham captain Mark Todd. “We strive to make thoughtful, distinctively residential buildings that are as beautiful as the landscapes they sit within.

"The Greenhouse is our expression of the Aotearoa aesthetic. It is Ockham down to its last brick — all the design and architectural principles which underpin our developments are here, only more so. It is architecture reimagined as art.”

From Huntly to Palmy and beyond

The green brick that gives the building its name makes The Greenhouse iconic; immediately recognisable as something that belongs here. But getting the glaze right took almost four years. “It’s been a circuitous journey to find the perfect brick,” Todd says. “Slightly obsessive if I’m honest.”

Hundreds of brick samples have been stared at, caressed, held up to the light.

“We were eager to buy locally if we could,” Todd continues. “We talked with brickmakers in Huntly and Christchurch, a glazing specialist in Palmerston North. We tried Australia, tried the Netherlands. We unearthed some beautiful bricks, saw some glorious glazes.” But none were The Greenhouse. “Then we got these amazing samples from the UK —from the company who made the iridescent turquoise bricks for Damien Hirst’s memorable Soho HQ. They were stunning — absolutely beautiful. Very close…very nearly what we wanted.” But still not right.

Finally, Ockham arrived at the Sant’Anselmo brick factory, 20km inland from Venice. Finally, they’d found ‘The One’.

“They’re not cheap,” Todd says. “Each brick costs more than $10 — and there are 150,000 of them. But when you see how the colour changes subtly as the light shifts through the day, you’ll understand why only they could be the bricks for The Greenhouse.”

The perfectionism, he says, was necessary. “This is Auckland’s most irresistible neighbourhood and a building has to be exceptional to belong here.”

A once-in-a-lifetime project

At 10 storeys, The Greenhouse will be the tallest building on the horizon — and the views expand as you ascend. Look west; look down Williamson Ave, past Grey Lynn Park, and you see the Waitakere Ranges in entirety. You see the parapets of Ponsonby Road, the fingers of the inner Waitematā; now look north, look east, to the city’s great towers and, beyond, Devonport, Rangitoto. Auckland, Tāmaki Makaurau.

“Buildings like this matter,” Todd continues. “People are proud of landmark buildings in their cities — the collective effects they have on atmosphere, energy and identity. The Greenhouse will convey identity to its neighbourhood and city; inside it’ll become known as an excellent place to live, covetable for its amenity, location and character. It’s a building that will age gracefully.”

It’s a once-in-a-lifetime project, he says of the building that will become his home. “I’ve spent 25 years in construction, reimagining urban communities, learning what’s possible when one acts with aspiration. With The Greenhouse, every detail, every finish — every brick — has been thought, and sometimes fought, over.

“The ambition is to build one of Auckland’s most beloved buildings. The Greenhouse is the very best Ockham can imagine.”

A DINNER PARTY FOR THE AGES

Of all gentle pleasures lost to lockdown, the dinner party with friends and (friendly) foes – and sparkling, spikey conversations which enliven the mind – might be the most missed. The Greenhouse has a residents’ lounge with a 10-seat table as its centrepiece, ideal for a green light gathering of kindred spirits. Join us for the ultimate (imaginary) Ponsonby dinner party.

The Setting:

Earlier in the day, the great table had been used for meetings, unravelling large maps, and reading newspapers of record, but as evening nears, it has been set for dinner. Although the sun is only just slipping over the Waitakeres, the lounge walls, lined with American Crown Cut Walnut panelling, are exquisitely lit by an Orion Globe light. The carpet — Mist by Shaw Contract — is woven in an array of greens with twists of pale grey, like the underside of a leaf. The floor beneath is engineered European oak, like a stage arranged for a performance.

Equipped with a kitchen, the lounge opens to a balcony which allow guests to indulge in a favourite ritual of the neighbourhood — perusing Ponsonby passers-by.

The Guests:

We established strict criteria for The Greenhouse’s inaugural dinner: this was to be a gathering of imaginary friends, late legends with a connection to postcodes 1011 and 1021 (lest an overlooked invite or inadvertent snub cause a ruckus). We’re also ignoring that ludicrous Aotearoa axiom that one doesn’t discuss religion, politics or sex at the table. What else to talk about!

Down one end is a face familiar from the photo that hangs above so many mantelpieces in the neighbourhood. It’s a beatific Michael Joseph Savage, who once delivered seditious blasts up the road at the Star Newton Hotel. Down the other end, a voice booms: “We are living in an ethical twilight, with the ideals of the new in our hearts and the pattern of the old upon our minds.” It’s John A. Lee, soldier, socialist, one-armed writer; one-time Grey Lynn MP and Savage scourge.

Thankfully any glare-off has been avoided: Lee is mesmerised by Freda Stark, of nude dancing fame. However the golden dancer is more interested in Florence Keller — doctor, social reformer, feminist and vegan. The dedicated Dr Keller saw patients six days a week until she was 92; here, she has struck up an unlikely rapport with Graham Brazier, rebel with a cause, Imperator of the Gluepot. And one-time winger for the Mt Roskill Red Devils. Yes, Brazier was an out-and-out leaguie — and finds himself beside his boyhood hero, Kiwis’ legend Bill Sorensen, from that most royal of rugby league families. Hordes of neighbourhood artists could join the party: Colin McCahon and Charles Blomfield were serious cats but Tony Fomison would be more fun. Alongside Tony, Vaitulutu Purcell, whose family home at 28 Scanlan Street became a de facto community centre for scores of Pasifika families.

Vaitulutu has connected with Whāea Betty Wark, founder of Arohanui, mother to thousands of young, urban Māori.

The evening’s MC? Peter Taylor, equestrian and father of much-loved local bar Surrender Dorothy, can be counted on to bring the fabulosity. “I stomp on mediocrity with a tall pair of riding boots caked in horse sweat,” he said at the launch of his memoir ‘Don’t Postpone Joy’. “I plan to go out that way, too.” Meanwhile, capturing everything, the unmatched documentary photographer Robin Morrison.

Oh…what a night! The formal part of the evening concluded, whereupon Freda Stark hauls Messrs Lee, Brazier, Taylor and Fomison off to karaoke.

When dinner parties return to the menu, there’ll be no venue statelier than The Greenhouse. Give Ockham’s Joss Lewis a call to find out more about Auckland’s most exquisite apartment building (and, in the meantime, devise your own Top 10 dream dinner

guest list!). Contact Joss on 021 245 5155 or joss@ockham.co.nz