20 March 2026 Rangitoto Observer

Bitter memories spark Korean statue row

Controversial plans to site a statue of a Korean “comfort woman” in a local reserve will be discussed by the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board (DTLB) next month.

Taking an interest in the divisive proposal, which reignites sensitivities from World War II, are the Japanese and Korean consulates and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT).

The idea initially flew under the radar when in May last year council staff asked the board to approve siting a donated art installation within the existing Korean Garden on Barrys Point Reserve.

The garden, tended by Korean community volunteers, already has a war memorial stone, erected with formality before invited guests in 2023.

The “Statue of Peace” request from the Korean Garden Trust was agreed to by the

Players give padel their best shot

New game in town… About 75 players tried out padel at the official opening of three courts on Takapuna’s town square last weekend. Sara Lopez and James Brown (above) were semifinalists in Pacific Padel’s opening-day tournament won by Jorge Goikoetxea and Howard Cliffe.

Korean statue: Is Shore reserve the right place?

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two board members with delegated authority to approve activities on local leased council land and was signed off by staff last June.

A staff summary of the application included an illustration of a life-sized bronze sculpture of a seated woman, next to an empty chair. Its purpose was said to be “to enhance the park’s aesthetic appeal and provide Korean cultural enrichment for visitors”.

The statue was to be placed in open green space, away from the garden’s planted area.

In August, concerns about the proposal were relayed from the Japanese Consulate to Auckland Council’s international relations team and then to the DTLB board chair.

“Further context of the sensitivity of the statue was provided,” is how council engagement officer Rhiannon Guinness described the issue to the board at a workshop this week. She said staff and board members were unaware of the statue’s nature when dealing with the initial application.

The proposal was then paused and the applicant informed.

In September, MFAT asked council for more information, after the Korean Consulate contacted the ministry. The board and council staff decided wider community views were needed. Staff also asked the applicant for more information about the statue, plaque wording and historical context.

The statue, donated by the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance, would follow others in cities starting with Seoul, South Korea, in 2011 and including Melbourne.

The statues are to remember the many thousands of women forced into sexual service by the Imperial Japanese military before and during WWII. Diplomatic tensions linger to this day between South Korea and Japan over calls for apologies and compensation.

Echoes of war... An artist’s impression of the planned statue.

Hundreds give views for and against

The statue consultation drew 672 submissions, 20 of them from organisations, with strong response from the Japanese (36 per cent) and Korean (34 per cent) communities.

• 57 per cent of individuals and 13 of 20 groups opposed the statue.

• 43 per cent and five groups were in favour.

The largest submitting group was women aged 45-54, who made up 27 per cent of responders.

The main reasons given for opposing the statue were concerns about community

Consultation took place over three weeks in January, with information provided in English, Korean and Japanese. Details of the statue plan had been sent to MFAT, both consulates and local stakeholders, including multicultural, women’s and heritage groups.

Guinness said feedback was substantial and fairly evenly split, with strong opinions for and against. “I’ve not seen a consultation so locally focussed with such high response” — twice as much as for the 2023 Local Board Plan.

The board was asked to choose whether to leave it to staff to decide the statue’s fate, or make the decision itself, after a fuller staff

tension, political interpretations of history and the statue’s relevance to New Zealand. Those in favour said the statue would promote reflection, acknowledge historical harm, strengthen education and shared values and encourage understanding.

Submissions included 10 per cent from outside Auckland. Devonport-Takapuna accounted for around 16 per cent of responses, neighbouring Kaipātiki 11 per cent and other local boards 64 per cent. Translators were engaged to help collate the feedback.

report at its April business meeting.

Deputy chair Scott MacArthur said: “I don’t think it’s a decision for staff, it’s obviously politically charged and should come to the board.” Other members agreed. Staff said hearing deputations at the meeting would be against standing orders, as consultation had been done. Granting community forum slots was advised against, as there were few available and it might raise the risk of unfairness.

Guinness told board members: “The decision is not if you support or oppose the statue, but if it’s the right place for this statue to be.”

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good cheer... Cake chums

Goodies galore, from the cakers with a Kiwi-as name

A volunteer baking group which delivers weekly sweet treats to cheer up people facing tough times celebrated its 10th birthday in Takapuna – with cake, of course.

The North Auckland chapter of Good Bitches Baking boasts nearly 200 active volunteers, who take turns filling around 50 deliveries each week, including batches of biscuits and slices shared with charities and provided for meetings of groups. Chapter manager Bronwyn Leak says it’s a satisifying “circle of kindness” to be involved with.

Local beneficiaries include North Shore Hospital’s high dependency baby unit, De Paul House, the Salvation Army, Parkinson’s NZ in Sunnynook and Respect, a Takapuna group helping teenagers dealing with grief.

Speaker Series

Age Concern also identifies seniors living without families who are presented with birthday cakes.

Most of the volunteers bake or drop off goodies at least once a month. Their anniversary, held at Smales Farm this month, was a celebratory chance to get together, and drew around 40 volunteers who otherwise connect online.

They are a diverse lot, says Leak. “We get those who are school-age volunteers and people who have got kids, who just do an extra cake when they’re baking for school lunches and then we have retired people.”

Senior students sometimes join to fulfil the requirements for service awards.

Her own connection with the group began eight years ago, through a friend who

6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Tuesday 31 March 2026

baked. “She told me about it and I thought I can do that.”

For non-confident bakers, other volunteer roles include picking up and dropping off the baking. The chapter stretches across the North Shore, right up to Puhoi. “But we try to make sure someone in Devonport isn’t delivering to Whangaparāoa.”

Volunteers use their own ingredients and petrol, but some goods are donated, and sponsors and grants help with other costs.

Leak, whose chapter leadership role sees her dubbed “the head bitch”, says the national group’s name can raise eyebrows, but it helps gets cut-through in the charity sector and sticks in people’s minds. “My personal point of view is it’s a name we own, and it’s a very Kiwi name.”

Building site death

A death at a Takapuna building site at 5 Anzac St, Takapuna, on Thursday morning, 12 March, has been referred to the Coroner by police.

Going nowhere fast

Esmonde Rd has made a list of Auckland’s 16 most congested arterial roads. Auckland Transport (AT) named the motorway connector in congestion data provided to the New Zealand Herald, defining “congested” as when average speeds were at or below 50 per cent of a road’s speed limit in peak hours. For the worst roads, speeds fell to below 30 per cent of speed limits between 8am-9am and 5pm-6pm, based on February 2025 monitoring. Population growth was said to be the main reason for congestion.

Castor Bay barbie

Castor Bay’s annual neighbourhood barbecue will be held at the Beach Reserve on Sunday 29 March from noon to 2pm. Locals can pack a picnic or enjoy a bite from the sausage sizzle while being entertained by North Shore Brass and a local duo. Pupuke Birdsong Project will be on hand with environmental advice.

Wastewater clarification

Last issue’s story about wastewater overflows caused by a mains pipe blockage in Forrest Hill showed photographs of a bypass pipe and a stream on a reserve. This was wrongly captioned to say piping ran into the stream. It runs to a manhole. Watercare did inform council’s pollution team of the overflow, an update not made to the story. We regret the oversights.

Cafe crash leaves locals reeling

“It’s a tragedy all round”, was how a shocked shop worker described last week’s Forrest Hill crash that left a local family grieving.

The accident happened outside the William Souter St shops, with staff rallying to help after a car mounted the kerb, critically injuring a woman who was having a preschool coffee at a table outside her local cafe with her teenage daughter.

She was named as Sarah Clark by her employer, Windsor Park Baptist Church. .

She died of her injuries in hospital, soon after the accident just before 9am last Wednesday 11 March. It also resulted in her daughter and the car’s elderly female driver requiring medical attention.

Since the accident, floral tributes to Clark have been left outside boarded up William Souter Espresso.

The cafe, which is closed awaiting structural repairs to its frontage, has put up a sign, acknowledging her passing and saying she would be remembered by staff and customers.

“Sarah was known for her kindness and

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the positive presence she brought to this space,” it says.

A young female shop worker who helped at the accident scene, said she had rushed out after hearing a “huge crash” and saw the car up against the cafe door.

“The Cat Doctor next door – one of the staff came running out and was kneeling down, she was really lovely,” said the worker, explaining how the vet nurse helped tend Clark until emergency services arrived.

Cafe owner Ricky said all three people involved were cafe regulars. “I wouldn’t believe it would happen, but it just did.”

He was not at the cafe he has owned for several years when the accident occurred Staff were in the kitchen and unharmed, but left shaken, he said after arriving to assess the damage.

A male worker at the Cat Doctor told the Observer the clinic had taken a dog, which was with the mother and daughter, into its care in the chaotic aftermath of the crash.

“We still have the lady’s dog with us,” he said hours afterwards. The King Charles spaniel suffered a hip displacement.

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Rezoning Auckland: New maps still months away

Zoning maps of Auckland’s next planning rethink could be several months away.

Richard Hills, chair of Auckland Council’s Policy Planning and Development Committee and one of two North Shore ward councillors, said he realised this was frustrating for residents wondering whether their areas faced more or less intensification, but planners had a lot of work to do.

A Government response was awaited and legislation was needed for council’s Plan Change 120 (PC120) to proceed, after councillors last week agreed on their general approach. This includes reducing intensification in suburbs more than 10km from the city centre, except around bigger transport hubs and town centres.

An unofficial map of the 10km radius has since been circulated by North Shore’s other ward councillor, John Gillon, showing the area up to and including Sunnynook engulfed in the inner zone, Gillon unsuccessfully sought to have the 10km approach dropped, telling the committee it was expecting the Shore to carry too much of the intensification burden. The amendment was lost 6-15, although Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson, who represents the inner-city Ōrākei ward, voted for it.

“There is no map,” Hills told the Observer later. Rather than saying all of the 10km area would be zoned Mixed Housing Urban (MHU), and that beyond would be the less dense Mixed Housing Suburban (MHS) zone, he said the work was yet to be done and would yield maps with “fuzzy” edges.

In Milford, Hills hoped further downzoning of hazard areas would be possible. Sections of Castor Bay are already zoned MHS in the initial draft of PC120, now to be revised. This should carry over, as well as Devonport’s single-house special character area and tougher restrictions on building on

Long reach... councillor John Gillon’s unofficial map of the 10km zone

flood plains.

The size of walkable catchments around town and local centres will be among things planners consider, and Hills expects local boards might call for reductions in these, to decrease the reach of Terrace Housing and Apartment Buildings (THAB) zones from town centres into residential areas. The caveat is that added capacity would have to found elsewhere.

Council wants the Government to allow more public engagement over its PC120 revision, including new submitters being able to join the process. Council already has 10,000 submissions made late last year, which will go to an independent hearing panel to prepare its own plan findings.

Among submitters are the Takapuna, Milford and Castor Bay residents’ groups, which are all closely watching the plan redraft, after rushing to meet pre-Christmas deadlines to give their views.

By early this year the Government was spooked by Auckland voter backlash over intensification and dropped the target for

Auckland’s housing capacity to 1.6 million, allowing the council to look at easing up in the suburbs. But the changes mean it is even harder to meet a government deadline to have the change enacted by mid-2027.

Gillon – who wants the whole process slowed – says existing suburbs do not have adequate infrastructure for growth, and suburban lifestyles are at risk. Growth should be accommodated in the inner city, around the City Rail Link (CRL) stations, metro zones and main transport corridors, he says. That was always the direction agreed with Housing Minister Chris Bishop, but with other Cabinet members worried about reaction to high-rise buildings in the likes of Mt Eden and Epsom, or getting it in the ear from voters lamenting in-fill housing on the North Shore and outer suburbs, an agreed position is up in the air.

So far, the council has spent $14 million and counting on PC120 and its predecessor PC78, which included the Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS), which allowed 3x3 terrace housing to be built as of right. National has scrapped the MDRS, but other permissive planning legislation remains, including doing away with the need for carparks in new builds. The impact of new legislation to replace the Resource Management Act is also unclear.

“The last five years has been chaos,” says Hills. He fears the Government will push back on Watercare’s work to identify areas where development should be put hold until there is adequate infrastructure.

Council wants to find a balance, says Hills. People want houses, and their children to have a chance to get on the property ladder. Meanwhile, the Mayor is being approached by residents saying: “We wanted to retire and sell, but we have no idea of what our property is worth.”

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Castor Bay locals not giving up fight to save Kennedy Park stairs

The Castor Bay residents’ group plans to continue campaigning to fix and reopen well-used stairs between Kennedy Park and the beach below.

Locals were dismayed to learn this month that council staff had told the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board that cliff stability concerns and costs meant promised stair repairs should be rejected.

“We strongly believe they should be reinstated,” said Hamish Anderson, president of the Castor Bay Ratepayers and Residents Association (CABBRA). “Obviously, we don’t want a dreadful accident to happen and understand the caution around it, but we were surprised by the change from an

In late 2024, the previous board opted for a targeted $330,000 reinstatement, after the lower part of the stairs was damaged in Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023. An earlier washout occurred in 2017.

The rebuild decision – with a caveat that another washout meant further repair would not be undertaken – was one of three options put up by council staff, ranging from removing the stairs for $90,000, to spending $980,000 on extensive stabilisation, accompanied by reports including geotech

“Eighteen months down the track, to get told another engineering report had been

While “the writing was maybe on the wall”, said Anderson, CABBRA had taken up an offer to again present its views supporting a rebuild to the board's April business meeting. He had also asked to see the latest engineering report.

The report, presented by council staff at a board workshop this month, found further technical investigation revealed signs of more cliff instability, demonstrating a high probability of repeat failure.

Although an initial insurance payout of $200,000 was confirmed, getting more money was uncertain. Due to the site issues, the former board’s hope for the cheaper targeted fix was not viable and the more expensive remediation was unfunded. Arborist advice said extensive cliff nailing, requiring vegetation clearing, could cause further issues.

Board members agreed the safety concerns were a priority, but asked staff to report back on other possible sites for the stairs, recognising their value to the community. Member Gavin Busch said it always seemed that council officers did not want to fix the stairs, despite the board he was on last term having chosen to proceed. “Now, suddenly, we're told it’s not do-able.”

Deans said climate change was causing increasing issues for council coastal assets.

Anderson told the Observer project delays and costs for consultants were all too

golf as board juggles spending

A reallocation of local council spending means Greville Reserve’s learn-to-ride bike course in Forrest Hill will get an expensive repaint and the carpark will be resealed at Kennedy Park in Castor Bay, where more money will also be spent on monitoring closed military tunnels.

These projects claim nearly two-thirds of $280,000 unspent in the 2025-26 works programme for the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board area. The spare cash resulted from the board abandoning an accessible path onto Takapuna Beach from the grass reserve.

After several years of looking at access options for people with mobility issues or pushing baby buggies, issues including the slope, shifting sands and consenting uncertainty made the project infeasible. The board formally cancelled the beach path work at a meeting last month, after discussing with staff what scheduled projects it might bring forward or top-up to get underway this financial year.

The allocations were:

• $65,000 for renewing the Learn to Ride painting at Greville Reserve, to add to an existing budget of $50,000. The project was at risk of being scaled back when quotes went well over the expected budget, partly

due to the need for special paint for the bike course, which is on top of a reservoir near the community bike hub. It now has a budget of $115,000, with work due soon.

• $50,000 for Kennedy Park’s World War II tunnels, adding to the $16,414 already allocated to bring the budget to $66,000. Tunnel monitoring for movement and safety had a forecast overspend of $30,00, so staff recommended the top-up to allow checks to continue until there is money to allow the tunnels to be reopened to the public.

• $70,000 for Kennedy Park carpark resealing and associated drainage work. This brings the budget for this year to $498,000, with more set aside next financial year, but works staff hope to bring that money forward to do the whole project early. Staff attributed the extra spending to the fact that initial cost estimates dated back three years.

• Devonport will also benefit from the reallocation, to the tune of $75,000 for a disc golf course to be set up at Ngataringa Park.

A further $20,000 goes to investigating options for three rundown council-owned houses on King Edward Parade.

Board member Terence Harpur unsuccessfully pushed to have $20,000 from the disc golf project put towards fixing stairs at Brett Ave, Takapuna.

For further information and to complete an online application www.tps.school.nz/enrolment/

close Monday 20 April 2026

Ballot (if required) drawn Wednesday 22 April 2026. Results emailed within 3 school days.

Grandmother’s return to yes

Grandmother’s return to yes

Marion had always been the one organising things. Coffee catch-ups with the girls, Saturday markets with her daughter, the walking group she’d kept going for years. At 72, she was the glue that held her circle together.

Then her knees started making decisions for her. And those decisions were always “no”.

No to coffee with friends. No to the Saturday market. No to the walking group she loved.

“It wasn’t dramatic,” Marion explains. “My knees just wouldn’t cooperate. I’d wake up stiff every morning. By the time I got going, half the day was gone.”

But when you say no enough times, people stop asking.

“That’s when I realised my world had gotten smaller. I was slipping out of my own life without really noticing.”

Then a friend mentioned Koru FX. She’d been using the cream herself and suggested Marion try it.

“I was sceptical,” Marion recalls. “But I picked up a bottle that afternoon.”

Within a few weeks, Marion’s mornings had shifted. Small changes that added up to something bigger. Her world started

expanding again.

First came coffee with a friend she hadn’t seen in months. Then rejoining her walking group.

“The real change was saying yes again,” Marion explains.

“My son called about a beach walk. Six months ago, I would have made an excuse. But this time I said yes.”

Her advice? “Don’t let your knees make your decisions for you. Now when someone asks me to do something, I start from yes. That’s everything.”

Athletics’ next generation in the medals

Takapuna Athletics Club members won 21 medals at the pinnacle event on the New Zealand athletics calendar when they competed for Auckland at the National Track and Field Championships this month.

The event, held at Trusts Stadium in Henderson on 5-8 March, included a sellout Saturday session as athletics enjoys a resurgence. The country’s best from the senior grades were joined by Pacific Island representatives and a few from Europe.

World-class stars were a drawcard, including teen sensation Sam Ruthe, as well as established Olympians including the club’s pole vaulter Eliza McCartney and shot putter Jacko Gill.

McCartney soared to a two-year best of 4.81m to win gold and Gill earned silver in the men’s shot put. The popular club members, who inspire youngsters who train at Onewa Domain, were joined in the medals tally by the next generation bridging the gap into senior competition, with the champs showcasing newer club names to watch.

Connor Brady’s exceptional championships delivered five under-18 grade medals: becoming national champion in both shot put and pole vault, earning silver in the 110m hurdles, and contributing to gold-medal performances in Auckland’s 4x100m and 4x400m relay races. The all-rounder will compete in decathlon at the Australian junior champs in April. After the NZ champs, he was named in the national team to go to the Oceania champs, also in Australia, in May.

Sina-Maria Su’a also stood out, claiming four gold medals in shot put and discus across the U16 and U18 categories — an incredible achievement for a 15-year-old.

It was a family affair for the Lathwoods from Milford, with Jessica securing silver in the U18 pole vault and bronze in the U20 triple jump, and older sister Samantha earn-

High-flier... Connor Brady with one of his five national athletics champs medals and in action, clearing the bar to win the pole vault. Below: Runner and fellow Takapuna club member Romey Jewell waits at the start line

ing silver in the women’s 200m.

Romey Jewell demonstrated both speed and strength to take silver in the U16 400m and bronze in the 200m.

Paige Burrows and April Peita were part of the silver-medal-winning U14 Auckland 4x100m relay team. April, who attends Westlake Girls High School, also earned a bronze in the U16 high jump.

The club’s pole vaulting success continued, with Nick Southgate claiming silver in the men’s pole vault. Para athlete Sionann Murphy earned silver in the discus.

• McCartney was last Friday named in the NZ team to go to the World Indoor champs, where clubmate Imogen Ayris, who has been competing in Europe, will join her. Gill qualified, but will sit it out to build up for the Commonwealth Games.

Bowling attack puts Takapuna in commanding position

Takapuna captain Matt Jones grabbed a five-wicket bag against East Coast Bays at Onewa Domain last Sunday, to all but guarantee the side the Hedley Howarth two-day Auckland Championship.

Takapuna dominated the first day of the final match of the season, bowling out East Coast Bays for 175 in 69.4 overs. At stumps Takapuna was 0/2 and has all day this Saturday to chase down East Coast Bays’ total for a first-innings outright win.

A first-innings win will guarantee Takapuna the title without needing to take in other results.

Jones took the key wickets of Francis Kirkland (48), Ryan Harrison (25) and Max Butler (21) just when the East Coast Bays players were showing signs of building sizeable totals.

Westlake sailors take titles

Westlake Girls High School sailors Jess Handley (pictured near right) and Bella Jenkins took the girls’ 29ers fleet title at the 2026 Auckland Secondary Schools regatta.

Due to light winds, racing off Narrow Neck Beach on 6 March was reduced to two races, with Bella and Jess finishing second in both starts, behind overall 29er winners Harry Draper and Nelsen Meacham from Kristin.

Westlake Boys won the top school at the regatta, ahead of Takapuna Grammar. Westlake’s Finloe Gaites was first in the Starling division and Lewis Snape and Thomas Sentch placed first in the RS Feva fleet.

At the 420s nationals, held earlier in Wellington, Westlake’s Nathan Soper and sailing partner were third.

His five wickets came in 19.4 overs, including five maidens for 47 runs. It took Jones to more than 50 wickets for the year, short of his record 77 last season but a good tally with several matches shortened or rained off.

Jones was backed up by Takapuna’s other spin bowler, Toby Stroobant, with three wickets in 18 overs, conceding only 22 runs.

“We managed to put the squeeze on them after lunch,” Jones said. “I was bowling into a howling southerly so I was pretty tired at the end of the day.”

He’s confident the side can bring the trophy to the North Shore. “We’re at home and have got control of the pitch so I’m not expecting surprises.”

• The second day of the match starts at Onewa Domain at 11am on 21 March.

Briefs

Rowers in good form

Ahead of the Maadi Cup regatta next week, Westlake crews have shown good form in the lead-up North Island Secondary School Championships. At Lake Karapiro this month, the boys’ school’s U18 pair won gold and its coxed four silver. Westlake Girls rowers also did well at NISS, with both the U18 and U17 coxless pairs placing third. Takapuna Grammar collected two silvers, in U15 coxed octuple sculls and U15 double sculls. The Maadi regatta is on 23-28 March at Lake Ruataniwha, near Twizel.

Basketball selections

Westlake Girls High’s Imani Rasmussen and Charlotte Moors have been selected for the U17 NZ Basketball squad. Rasmussen is also in the running for the NZ Secondary Schools Netball Team.

Shore athletes paddle to victory

North Shore athletes dominated the 2026 New Zealand Stand Up Paddleboarding national championships at Takapuna Beach early this month, taking the top titles and many of the minor placings.

Fergus Dunlop of Takapuna won the men’s open division, with Jordan Zagonel of Red Beach second and Bayswater’s Bruce Curson third.

Maddie McAsey of Chatswood took the open women’s title, with Brianna Orams of Torbay second and \Takapuna Grammar’s Rosara Davis third. Davis, a Year 13 student, won the U19 title.

The three days of racing attracted 66 entrants from New Zealand and overseas.

Dunlop made the most of his home advantage – he lives just 300400 metres from Takapuna Beach – and has now won New Zealand titles in 2020, 2022, 2025 and 2026.

A French horn player with a diploma in music, he is now completing a Bachelor of Property degree at Auckland University and hopes to continue paddleboard racing, perhaps competing more overseas.

• The Women’s Challenger Overall was won by Chloe Wright (Northland), followed by Skyler Wood (Northland) and Bronte Clarke (Northland).

The Men’s Challenger was won by Paul Wright (Northland), with Filip Mrkela (Chatswood) second and Bill Dawes (Northland) third.

Youth photo contest will bring fresh exposure to creek

Milford artist Sonja Drake will be among the judges of a photography competition aimed at getting young people’s perspective on living in the Wairau catchment.

Through My Lens invites entries from primary, intermediate and secondary students and will culminate in an exhibition of selected works at Lake House arts centre.

The competition is part of a wider community response to the devastating 2023 floods, aimed at giving rangatahi, or youth, an opportunity to tell the story of the Wairau as they see it – a place shaped by water, memory change, risk, resilience and regeneration.

and ecology to draw on creatively. Of her works on paper in watercolour, graphite, silt and plant matter, she says: “The way the pigment bleeds, pools and stains on the paper mirrors how water moves through land, sediment and concrete – it’s a way of listening to the land and letting it show slow change, accumulation and erosion over time.”

Drake and the other judges will be looking for young photographers to make their own interpretation of what they see. But her layered approach of searching beyond the surface fits with the kaupapa of the competition and the development of the Ngā Wairau blue-green project.

For Drake (above), the theme is familiar and one she has explored in several local exhibitions of her paintings, including at the Lake House last year. Her grandparents were market gardeners in the Wairau Valley and she lives near the creek in Milford, giving her a “deep map” of the area’s history

10am & 11.30am Sat 28 March I Bruce Mason Centre 12.30pm & 2pm Sun 12 April I Auckland Town Hall

The Auckland Council Ngā Wairau scheme to regenerate the catchment aims to better support people and the environment and make it more flood-resilient. It is being developed in partnership with mana whenua Te Kawerau ā Maki and Ngāti Pāoa, with community input.

The name Ngā Wairau, meaning “the abundant waters” or “a net of a hundred waters”, reflects the valley’s history as a network of wetlands, streams and mahinga kai.

The competition is open to young people who live, learn, work or play in the catchment and encourages them to look closely at what is happening around them.

Photographs might document anything from flooded streets, blocked drains or slips to everyday moments of community life such as children playing in parks, neighbours helping one another, or sunlight reflecting on the creek.

Winners will receive prizes and works will be used by council in consultation and other documents.

Entries close on 30 April, with categories for primary, intermediate and secondary school pupils, and should represent the artist’s view of one or more of these themes: Wai (water), Taiao (nature), Whenua (land) and Tāngata (people). All images must be shot in the Wairau catchment area (Wairau Valley, Glenfield, Sunnynook, Totara Vale, Forrest Hill, Milford) by people with a strong local connection.

The winning and runner-up images will be displayed at a community photo exhibition at the Lake House arts centre during the Auckland Festival of Photography, from 22 May until 11 June 2026.

• Details at Wairauphotocompetition@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Fantabulous fun at kids’ concert

The Fantabulous Animal Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia’s latest interactive little children’s concert, is winging its way to Takapuna’s Bruce Mason Theatre next Saturday, 28 March.

Music, art and storytelling combine in a zoo-full of sing- and dance-along tunes, including Incy Wincy Spider and Old MacDonald had a Farm. The classic orchestral sounds of The Swan from Carnival of the Animals will also delight.

The animal-themed music extravaganza’s centrepiece is a symphonic retelling of Kiwi children’s storybook The Fantabulous Animal Orchestra. Author Donovan Bixley (pictured above) will narrate his book live, with colourful illustrations projected on the big screen. The book introduces children to the instruments of the orchestra and environmental themes. Each creature plays its part, with sounds to match.

The latest in the orchestra’s Tunes 4 Tamariki music education series includes two one-hour concerts conducted by David Kay in Takapuna and two in the Auckland Town Hall. They will be presented by children’s entertainer Kath Bee.

The aim is a fun and affordable musical introduction, ideal for pre-schoolers, with the Philharmonia supported by council and sponsors to stage the concerts. A walkthrough of the orchestra allows tamariki to see the instruments up close and there are pre-concert activities for early arrivers.

• Tunes 4 Tamariki is suited for children six and under and is on at 10am and 11.30am on 28 March. Book at aucklandphil.nz

www.takapunamovies.co.nz

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For more info on films & events go to thevic.co.nz

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