The World’s Greatest Vineyards @dhallandnash

“Richly spicy and savoury, it’s complex on the nose showing dried cherry, smoky bacon, tapenade and toasted almond nuances. The palate offers soothing mouthfeel and silky texture, well framed by fine grainy tannins, leading to a lengthy engaging finish.”

-Sam Kim’s Wine Orbit

WAYNE BROWN: MAYOR OF AUCKLAND

Well that was a terrible last month. First we got the biggest downpour in Auckland’s history on a Friday when the debate was about AT getting folk to the Elton John concert.

No warning from Met Service, who predicted 20mm of rain, and instead it was more than seven times what was expected and inflicted massive damage widely across our city, mostly affecting rich people who probably had unwisely got their house too close to cliffs, and more worryingly, poorer people, whose houses have been built in flood plains and too close to streams that haven’t been all that well maintained.

The city just couldn’t cope with the water as seen by brand new busways flooding. Many lessons have been learned and some serious rethinking of the rush to intensify our suburbs is required. All this at a time when many CBD office buildings are unoccupied and would suit conversion to apartments to lift the city centre population bringing more people there and livening up shops and streets without the need for more infrastructure which is already there.

Then just as we are settling, BANG, here comes Cyclone Gabrielle for which we had more warning; but who thought the damage would be at Muriwai and not in the city? Nor was it expected to destroy so much of Hawkes Bay’s fruit industry.

It seems that climate change is here so we need to actually prepare our city for it. Vain attempts to fend it off with hopeful cycling projects are probably a bit late now.

The dreadful debate over how to fill in the budget hole bequeathed to me by years of soft decisions might now focus on stormwater management rather than nice-to-haves and over-management of the masses of local board elected officials and some of the questionable spending that they thought was essential.

Fortunately most of the Ponsonby readership areas fared quite well in both storms although there are ugly scars along the cliffs above Westhaven.

Plan Change 78, in response to the central government overturning our district plan, needs a much harder look. Council had a go at limiting the effects of the rule to intensify everywhere, but really the message is for central government to butt out of local planning.

Life is returning to normal for those unaffected, but I would encourage these lucky people to donate to the Auckland Emergency Response fund as help will be needed for a long time for those affected.

And lastly, next month council’s budget goes out for consultation, so I ask you to provide measured responses, not just listing things you don’t want touched, but including things you can do without in order to balance the budget, which by law council is required to do.

Meanwhile kia kaha and go well fellow citizens.

(WAYNE BROWN)  PN