Stanley Point cliff erosion tackled with stone wall... p3
Factions fall short: full election coverage... p14-15
Interviews: New council and local-board reps... p16-19
Multi-property sale will include key village sites
A multimillion-dollar property portfolio of Devonport Village buildings is about to be put on the market.
The seven buildings are owned by the Lakewood Trading Company, WJ Scott Holdings, and Hub Holidings. The first two companies were set up decades ago by former National MP and Stanley Point resident Jack Scott.
The companies are together the second largest property owners in Devonport after Peninsula Capital, which bought more than a dozen properties from Vista Linda in 2023.
Tenants have been sent letters advising of the sale.
The buildings include:
• 9 and 11 Clarence St (Asahi, Liquorland, Village Chiropractic and the defunct Bike
and Beyond shop)
• 15 Clarence St (Hammer Hardware)
• 8 Victoria Rd (Yaza Gelato, Vondel and Devonport Dental)
• 26 Victoria Rd (Paradox Books and Portofino)
• 20 Wynyard St (Chiasso)
• 22 Wynyard St (Firefly)
Springtopia! A day with the fairies
To page 2
Winging it… Skye Ross with daughters Albie (left) and Tully Banbrook at Vauxhall School’s Springtopia festival last Sunday. More pictures, pages 10-11.
Major property portfolio being sold
From page 1
Samuel Bassett and Kathryn Roberts, are listed with the Companies Office as directors for all three companies and were contacted by email but did not respond before deadline. A lawyer acting for the companies, Mark Andrews, said he would be talking to directors when they returned from overseas next week.
Going on the market... (clockwise from top) the buildings housing Hammer Hardware; Devonport Dental Care, Yaza and Vondel; Firefly; and Liquorland, in the former Glengarry premises
Man in hospital after police callout
A man is in hospital after a police callout to a disorder incident at the Belmont shops on Monday morning.
The man was seen lying on the footpath outside the Skymart dairy in Bayswater Ave, being held down by a police officer. He was suffering violent convulsions shortly afterwards, with an amublance then arriving.
Police say they responded to reports of disorder at a Bayswater Ave store just after 11am.
Upon arrival, they spoke to a man “who appeared to be suffering a medical event”.
He was transported to hospital in a moderate condition and enquiries were ongoing, Police said.
More tourists are expected in Devonport this summer with a change in ferry ticketing options allowing easier tour bookings.
Tourists this summer can now book a combined ferry and Devonport Tour under one ticket.
Devonport Tours owner Paul Mullane said this system used to operate before the introduction of the Hop card for public transport, after which tour tickets had to be booked separately.
The new joint ticket has to be booked through tour operators. But Mullane said the ease of the one-ticket option would mean more visitors coming to Devonport.
Two of the first big cruise ships of the season, the Celebrity Edge (with capacity for 2918 passengers) and Celebrity Solstice (2852) arrived in Auckland last Friday and Saturday respectively.
TV correspondent talks about book
Broadcaster and local resident Pete Cronshaw will interview fellow television journalist Lisette Reymer about her book No I Don’t Get Danger Money, at an event at Devonport Library next week.
The book, subtitled Confessions of an Accidental War Correspondent, reveals how Reymer found herself reporting on wars in Ukraine and Palestine, and covering major events including the death of the Queen and the Trump presidency.
The “in conversation” session put on by Devonport Library Associates is on Tuesday 28 October from 7pm, with speakers from 7.30pm.
Entry is by cash koha, with books available for sale on the night.
Devonport Publishing Ltd First Floor, 9 Wynyard St
Best Community Involvement: 2021, 2016, 2014, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2008, 2005
Best Sports Reporter: 2024, 2016
Best Lifestyle/Feature Writer: 2024, 2023
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Community Reporter of the Year: Winner 2018
Community Newspaper of the Year: Finalist 2017
MANAGING EDITOR: Rob Drent
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Work begins on stone wall after Stanley Point erosion
A state-of-the-art stone wall is being built around the coastline of the Spencer property at Stanley Point to curb cliffside erosion caused by the severe rainfall in January and February 2023.
The property stretches several hundred metres along the coast west from Secret Cove on the northern side of the point.
A barge has arrived with materials and machinery for the construction of the wall by Auckland Stonemasons. Construction is expected to take until January – around 60 days.
The work has been scheduled to be finished ahead of the hottest months, when Secret Cove is heavily used, and also to avoid the bird breeding season.
The cost of the works has not been divulged. Further consents for other coastal work around Stanley Point are expected to come through over the next few months.
Cliff support... Machinery and materials have been barged to the foot of the cliff at Stanley Point for construction of a major stone wall
Top achievers announced at Takapuna Grammar School awards
Excellence awards in sports, service and the arts at Takapuna Grammar were announced last week. Some of the top award winners were: Standout Performance in a Song, Showcase or Musical, Milla Rodrigues-Birch; Junior Excellence in the Arts, Joao Diaz Martin; Excellence in the Arts, Audrey Melhuish; Sportsman of the Year, Will Mason; Sportswoman of the Year, Carrie Guo; Junior Sportsman of the Year, Neve Upston; Team of the Year, Premier Boys Volleyball. Full profiles, page 31
Sportsman of the year Will Mason (left) and Excellence in Arts award recipient Audrey Melhuish
Paint jobs and paving part of maunga’s makeover
Coloured courts and an arty bus stop are included in a new recreation area being created on Takarunga from next month.
The Tūpuna Maunga Authority project will transform the dilapidated existing courts into a recreation space featuring a dual basketball and tennis layout, informal play features for children, seating, accessible park furniture and a toilet block.
New native planting and gardens are also part of the plan.
The removal of diagonal car parks from just below the maunga vehicle barrier arm will allow a widened loop road and a dedicated tourist-bus parking bay, with new landing and boxed steps connecting to the summit access road.
These works build on the recently completed work on the summit, where a car park was removed and new pathways and accessible seating were created.
“Cultural narratives” are central to the design of the recreation space, with mana whenua artist and research scholarship recipient Arapeta Hākura embedding stories of migration, unity and connection throughout the courts and bus facilities. These are expressed in decorative paving, patterned court surfaces, a games wall and furniture inlays.
Tūpuna Maunga Authority chair Paul Majurey says the project reflects the vision of the authority’s integrated management plan.
The works will continue over summer. Road closures and restricted access will be required at times, with traffic management and signage. Access for emergency services will be maintained throughout.
Pavement palette… Artist’s images of how the revamped Takarunga tennis courts (top) and road nearby will look after work starting next month is completed
Many good turns will help share the love this Christmas
Keen Devonport woodturner Julie Gannaway is on a mission to encourage other skilled craftspeople to make children’s toys for Christmas.
She is reaching out locally and nationally with the aim of giving thousands of toys to hospitals and care groups, ranging from rattles to toy trucks and fidget games. “There’s so many retired guys with nothing to do that could make them,” she says. “They’ve all got lots of time and lots of wood.”
Project Pinocchio is the name of the toy-making initiative Gannaway is coordinating. It has grown out of long-standing donations made by clubs including the North Shore Woodturners Guild, which she has belonged to for around 20 years. Around a third of the guild’s 130 members already make toys that go to Starship children’s hospital, the Salvation Army and a group that provides backpacks of personal items for children being placed with carers. This year it’s “a nationwide venture”, she says.
Gannaway is reaching out to all 38 similar clubs, through the parent National Association of Woodworkers, calling on every member to fashion two toys each. “We know many children will go without this year, but with just a few pieces of wood and some craftsmanship we can create something they will cherish,” she says.
The Devonport resident of 40 years standing – who with retired accountant husband Mike, raised a family here – hopes some non-club-members might join the toy drive. She can point them to toy patterns and advice and places to drop off completed items..
Gannaway is well underway on her own contributions made in a backyard shed at home. “I’m onto my third lathe,” she says of a passion that began several decades ago, sparked by a favourite wooden bowl.
When she spotted night school community classes working with wood at Takapuna Grammar School, she and a friend signed up. Then came sessions with a former woodwork teacher she met through the Claystore community workshop. The appeal was immediate. “It’s clean mess, it’s not greasy and
it’s away from the kitchen and the house and the motherhood duties that go with getting bogged down with teenagers.”
Now a grandmother, Gannaway still loves making bowls and other useful items like rolling pins, but over the years she has turned her hand to sculpture, which she has exhibited, and to an ever-growing array of toys, some of which she has given to local kindergartens. Among the toys are cupcakes and hamburgers in layers that children can piece together, and wooden plates and biscuits, ideal for setting up afternoon tea play.
“You give a kid a basket of items, plastic and wood, they’ll go for the wood every time – it’s warm.”
Each Christmas, Gannaway donates a few dozen rattles out of flowering cherry, which does not easily splinter. But she has also made fishing rods, sets of blocks and ball and cup toys, including a more complicated version of the throw game known as a kendama, which teenagers also enjoy.
North Shore guild members, who meet in Glenfield, have given 2000 spinning tops
to Starship over the years. “They just find if kids have a spinning toy they relax a little bit,” she says. At special toy-making days, using wood donated by Bunnings, they have turned out 200 trucks, planes and helicopters.
Gannaway does not sell her work, preferring the toy drives and gifting to friends and family, which allows her to make what she wants. “I turned a hobby into a job before, it ruins the hobby,” she says of an earlier sewing venture.
Making salt and pepper grinders could keep her busy, but she finds wood turning more relaxing. “It’s much more organic – you don’t have to be so exact with measurements.”
Her favourite wood is a tropical hardwood. Native timbers also appeal, with much recycled from older homes. Recently she obtained some heart rimu from a Bayswater woman who was replacing her kitchen.
“It’s the ultimate in recycling,” she says. • To get involved with Project Pinocchio, email julie@gannaway.nz. Toys can be dropped at Devonport Timber, Lake Rd.
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Wood stock... Julie Gannaway with some of the toys and other items she produces on the lathe in her backyard shed
Records tumble in sprint and shot put at
Close finish… Fletcher Jessop (right) finishes ahead of Miller Jewell in the Year 7 boys’ 200m final. Below: Isaac Cain (left) edges out Charlie Bennett in the Year 8 boys’ 200m final, after Charlie earlier broke the school record for the 100m with a time of 11.87 secs.
Results from the Belmont Intermediate School athletics day, held on Friday 17 October: 100m – Year 7 boys: 1, Fletcher Jessop (13.44 secs); 2, Hunter Bruce; 3, Miller Jewell. Year 8 boys: 1, Charlie Bennett (11.87, new school record); 2, Finn Lazzari; 3, Dylan Burke. Year 7 girls: 1, Mackenzie Burrows (13.12); 2, Ellie Williams; 3, Georgia Roberts. Year 8 girls: 1, Nina Bell (13.30); 2, Arna Tripodi; 3, Olivia Bruce. 200m – Year 7 boys: 1, Fletcher Jessop (27.88); 2, Miller Jewell; 3, Harry Cockayne. Year 8 boys: 1, Isaac Cain (26.94); 2, Charlie Bennett; 3, Kash Baskerville. Year 7 girls: 1, Mackenzie Burrows (28.74); 2, Ellie Williams; 3, Georgia Roberts. Year 8 girls: 1, Arna Tripodi (28.94); 2, Zoe Smith; 3, Nina Bell. 400m –Year 7 boys: 1, Leo Simons (1.07.54); 2, Miller Jewel; 3, Frank Cockayne. Year 8 boys: 1, Kash Baskerville (1.04.72); 2, Phoenix McQuoid; 3, Erik Havranek. Year 7 girls: 1, Harriet Phillips (1.14.37); 2, Bonnie Robinson; 3, Chloe Southwell; Year 8 girls: 1, Arna Tripodi (1.09); 2, Clementine Powles; 3, Sophie Wesney. 800m – Year 7 boys: 1, Harry Cockayne (2.39); 2, Tom Congdon; 3, Frank Cockayne. Year 8 boys: 1, Erik Havranek (2.36); 2, Renzo Fontana; 3, Aqeel Hamza. Year 7 girls: 1, Bonnie Robinson (2.53.59); 2, Jura Fletcher-McGrevy; 3, Cass Thorne. Year 8 girls: 1, Juliette McCaw (2.49.65); 2, Clementine Powles; 3, Milla Holland. High jump – Year 7 boys: 1, Shay Legarth (1.35m); Year 8 boys: 1, Finn Lazzari (1.50m); 2= Jake Tuck, Erik Havranek, Campbell Downie. Year 7 girls: Harriet Phillips (1.25m); 2= Sophie Sickling, Isabelle Crawford, Ellie Williams. Year 8 girls: 1, Zoe Smith (1.28m); 2, Florence Raymond; 3, Nella Jones. Long Jump – Year 7 boys: 1, Harry Cockayne (4m); 2, Leo Simons, 3, Shay Legarth. Year 8 boys: 1, Finn Lazzari (4.51m); 2, Kash Baskerville; 3, Erik Havranek. Year 7 girls: Ellie Williams (3.95m); 2, Bonnie Robinson; 3, Sophia Edmonds. Year 8 girls: 1, Nina Bell (4.05m); 2, Olivia Bruce; 3, Ruby Stewart. Discus – Year 7 boys: 1, Yijun Kim (21.10); 2, Leon Zhu; 3, Metua-Tatare Kainuku. Year 8 boys: Phoenix McQuoid (24.40m); 2, Ralph Lane; 3, Zac Ainsworth. Year 7 girls: 1, Chloe O’Neill (18.20m); 2, Vida McNatty; 3, Lynda Amosa. Year 8 girls: 1, Arna Tripodi (20.90m); 2, Nina Bell; 3, Zara McCoubrey. Shot Put – Year 7 boys: Ma’a Toeava (10.41m); 2, Metua Kainuku; 3, Frank Cockayne. Year 8 boys: 1, Finn Lazzari (9.68m); 2, Anthony Luu, 3; Presley Ah Ken-Fruean. Year 7 girls: 1, Vida McNatty (9.90m, new school record); 2, Ida McAlpine; 3, Lynda Amosa. Year 8 girls: 1, Zara McCoubrey (9.15m); 2, Alice Du; 3, Nina Bell.
Belmont Intermediate School athletics sports
All power… Vida McNatty won the Year 7 girls’ shot put with a school-record throw of 9.9 metres
Nana’s secret to making long lasting memories
Nana’s secret to making long-lasting memories
For three long years, Christine watched other grandparents chase their grandchildren around the playground while she remained anchored to the same weathered park bench.
“I’d become an expert at making excuses,” the 64-year-old admits, her voice catching. “When my granddaughter would tug at my hand saying ‘Come on, Nana!’ I’d have to tell her Nana needed to rest. Her little face would fall, and she’d run off alone.”
The gradual changes in her knees had stolen Christine’s world, piece by piece. etres away, seemed impossible to reach.
Her knees had stolen her confidence. The playground, 400 metres away, seemed impossible to reach.
“I was becoming invisible in my granddaughter’s life,” she explains. “Missing everything that mattered.”
But two months ago, Christine discovered Koru FX, a New Zealand relief cream, at her pharmacy. Despite years of disappointments, she tried it.
She applied it morning and night. Gradually, her movements became more confident, more fluid.
The breakthrough came during her
granddaughter’s visit.
“She asked about the park. Instead of saying no, I heard myself say yes.”
At the playground, Christine didn’t just watch - she played. Pushing swings. Attempting chase. Not quite winning though.
“My granddaughter gasped ‘Nana, you’re playing!’ I stood there tearing up,” Christine recalls. “Three years of watching, and finally I felt present.”
“I’m making memories and that’s what’s key.”
Glow for
Peninsula primary schools join
Behind the masks... (clockwise from above) Devonport Primary teacher and Kāhui Ako leader Andrew Robinson with Belle-Edite Richardson, Bree Steyn and Alice Gordon; Thedra Fisher, TGS student Jai Elphick-Moon and Louis Johnston; students drawn from various peninsula schools preparing to enact a Māori myth. Right: The fluorescent masks under ultraviolet light.
in mask project for Sculpture OnShore
Sixty primary school children from across the Devonport peninsula are counting down to going underground to see their artistic efforts in the spotlight at Sculpture OnShore next month.
Masks they have made, lit up by ultraviolet lighting, will be on display at the exhibition held every two years at Ōperetu Fort Takapuna. The former military site’s underground fort and tunnels will be open to the public, providing an atmospheric setting for the display of the colourful painted artworks.
The creators were Year 4-6 students drawn from the Kāhui Ako group of peninsula schools, who got together for a twoday collaboration last term, with guidance from Takapuna Grammar School Year 9 students. Pupils from Bayswater
School, Belmont and Devonport Primary Schools and Stanley Bay School congregrated with others from Vauxhall School at the Vauxhall School hall to make their masks then wear them to enact scenes from the Māori myths they were based on. Pūrākau (stories) of Māui helped inspire the project, which was overseen by TGS art and design teacher Linda Sew Hoy and Vauxhall’s art and drama co-ordinator Mary Lawrence. Recycled cardboard was shaped into masks, with fluorescent materials adding an other-worldly dimension.
The schools’ exhibition is called Ngā Mata Pūrākau, The Faces of Legends.
• Sculpture OnShore runs from 8-23 November at Ōperetu Fort Takapuna.
Daniel McKerrow, Kia Mau Te Rongo, 2023
Spring has sprung! Crowd flocks to festival
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‘Big
Around 800 people attended Vauxhall School’s Springtopia fair last Sunday – twice as many as turned up in 2024. The school was packed with attractions including unicorn rides, vertical bungy, a fairy trail and face-painting.
Beehive hair-do... Vauxhall School teacher Nicky Poor (left) catches up with former teacher Grace Chapman, who is now at Bayswater
Flower power... Vauxhall School’s Hester Veart
Flying high… the $15 bungy was one of the most popular rides
making the most of the spring weather were
Two of the organisers Jacqui Hooper and Frances Smith
Vauxhall principal Gary Lawrence and Gemma Dickinson, Devonport Community House manager
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(from left) Lucy Nguin, Aviv Alexander and Elise Barker
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Local Body Elections
Devonport peninsula well represented on split Hills tops poll, joined on council by Gillon
Veteran local-body politician and top-polling candidate George Wood was quick to put up his hand for the role of Devonport-Takapuna Local Board chair after this month’s elections, despite his Communities & Residents (C&R) ticket failing to win control of the board.
C&R and rival ticket A Fresh Approach (AFA) both stood full slates of candidates for the board but each won only two seats. Their members have been joined on the new board by two non-aligned candidates.
Attempts are being made to reach a pragmatic arrangement over chair and deputy chair roles, with some board members telling the Flagstaff they know the public’s appetite for in-fighting is low. How the independents might fit into any power split remains uncertain.
Seventy-nine-year-old former North Shore mayor Wood made it clear when the provisional votes were announced on 13 October that he was in the running for the chair’s role for what he says will be his last term in office.
Most of the new board members have been in contact with each other beyond their first board induction meeting held last week. The turnout in the board area was very low: just 34.9 per cent of registered voters had their say, compared with 43.4 per cent in 2022.
City-wide, the figure was 29.3 per cent, well down on the national average of 39.42 per cent.
After special votes were counted last week, just 761 votes separated the top six local board candidates.
Wood and his fellow C&R incumbent Gavin Busch topped the DTLB poll, but two of the ticket’s other candidates, Mike Single and Neil Zent, fell just short, in seventh and eighth place respectively.
Richard Hills was re-elected to Auckland Council in the North Shore ward, winning 21,325 votes – more than any other councillor across the city.
Hills is joined on council by John Gillon, who was backed by 17,166 voters, giving him a decisive win over fellow Kaipātiki Local Board member Danielle Grant.
Grant was re-elected to the board and will take the chair’s role previously held by Gillon. She said she was keen to work with the DTLB on shared issues.
Mayor Wayne Brown, who had a resounding win himself, was quick to reappoint Hills to chair the council planning committee.
Left-leaning Hills told the Flagstaff he was thankful for the support of North Shore residents. It was a shock to be
The AFA pair, incumbent deputy chair Terence Harpur and newcomer Scott Macarthur, placed fifth and sixth. Last term, the group’s four members gave it control of the board, but former chair Toni van Tonder resigned in February, moving to Australia, while neither Mel Powell (who replaced van Tonder as chair) or Peter Allen sought to continue.
Returning to the board after defeat in 2022 is independent Trish Deans, who polled in third place, having maintained a profile through heritage and seniors advocacy. In fourth is newcomer Garth Ellingham, the youngest of the six elected at age 38.
The board’s geographical composition is a swing away from the even split of last term.
Four of those elected hail from the Devonport peninsula. Busch, Deans and
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the city’s top-polling councillor.
Asked about any mayoral ambitions, following suggestions from observers that he might seek the top job next time, he said “it’s great people are asking” but that his focus was the upcoming term.
“I’d need to discuss that with my family first, before I would consider embarking on such an important role in our city,” he said.
Ellingham are all from Devonport and Macarthur from Belmont. Harpur works in Takapuna, but lives out of area, making Forrest Hill’s Wood the sole northern representative. Powell (Sunnynook) and Allen (Milford) were both from the north.
Local board members will be sworn in at a ceremony on 4 November, by which time the key chair and deputy chair roles are expected to have been decided, ahead of board business resuming next month.
Deans, who was on a bitterly divided board in 2019-2022, said: “There needs to be a consensus and we need to agree on one team and be consistent.” She was not keen on teams taking turns in the chair’s seat as occurred in her previous term.
But it is understood a sharing of the chair or deputy positions has been at least raised between C&R and AFA.
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Local Body Elections
local board
Deans said she hoped independents would get a look in for key positions, noting that voters had chosen two of them.
Harpur said he had spoken to all the board members since the election, but nothing had been arranged by this week.
“We’re open to all options – it’s about what’s best for the community and what is agreeable to all board members.”
For now it was about getting to “know each other” and discussing policy priorities, he said. “Everyone is pretty well aligned.”
People could have differences of opinion, which was healthy, but with the campaign over it was time to put petty politics to one side and focus on professional governance. “We are now a team of six, because that’s what the community voted for.”
Woods was giving little away about any possible arrangements. “I’ve still got people to talk to,” he told the Flagstaff. But he said he was “chuffed” at the mix of experience and skills voters had delivered in the elected members.
Woods’ running mate, Busch, headed off for a short trip overseas the evening after polls closed on 11 October, but was due to be back for deliberations this week. Before he left to visit his daughter – who is on a student exchange in Switzerland – he told the Flagstaff he hoped the board would not split into factions over issues. “I hope we can be positive and representative.”
He put the disappointing turnout partly down to economic malaise and negative views of government generally. “You’re talking thousands and thousands of people who haven’t voted.”
One of the local campaign’s few flashpoints was AFA’s dropping of controversial pro-Israel candidate Karin Horen during the campaign. Harpur said he didn’t think it helped voting turnout or A Fresh Approach.
“We should have been focusing on our local area issues like roading, parks, playgrounds and community support.”
Horin collected 3144, votes, putting her in 14th of 20 places, behind two unelected AFA candidates and ahead of another, having continued to campaign as an independent after being dropped by the ticket. She remained listed on ballot papers and in results as standing for AFA.
• Meet your new councillor and local board members, pages 16-19.
OCR drops and may go lower
Banks have lowered their short term (6mths to 3yrs) fixed rates to 4.49% in response to the OCR being cut another 50bp to 2.50% - and it’s possible they could go a bit lower if the RBNZ cuts another 25bp next month and they could also reduce their interest margins — for example the 2yr wholesale swap rate is 2.47% and the 2yr fixed rate is 4.49% a margin of 202bp — traditionally this margin has been more like 175bp so there is potential for a bit lower rates... then don’t get too greedy because if/when things pick up next year as expected the rates will not stay that low forever!
Speak to us for any funding requirements we can invariably help and remember we do not charge any fees for originating main bank deals as the banks pay us a commission and now @60% of deals are from brokers... but we do charge a fee for non bank deals as those lenders do not pay us a commission.
Terence Harpur
Local Body Elections
Newbie keen to bring planning know-how to board table
New Devonport-Takapuna Local Board member Scott Macarthur’s election campaign, which asked residents how they would like to see local issues tackled, seemed a point of difference with other candidates.
His career as a town planner, giving him a strong understanding of council processes, may also have struck a chord with voters.
“When I’m sitting there getting advice, I can question,” he said.
By picking hot-button topics like congestion on Northboro Rd and intensification, Macarthur (pictured) tapped into shared frustration, though he doesn’t claim to have all the answers.
“I didn’t say I’ll fix Lake Rd, but just came up with ideas,” he said, suggesting his video clips made a difference.
“I felt quietly confident, but you never know,” he said after results put him in the sixth of six places on the board, having started the race as one of the lower-profile of 20 candidates, lacking the long-established local links of some.
Macarthur, a Belmont resident of five years, stood as a member of A Fresh Approach (AFA) ticket, sharing collective promotion and group hoardings. But he must have stood out – being the only AFA member to join the ticket’s incumbent member Terence Harpur for the new term.
The 44-year-old said he decided to stand
because he thought he could make a contribution.
Town planners seldom stand for elected positions – they face a conflict if they work for council. But after 15 years at Auckland Council, including Auckland Transport, Macarthur left to set up his own company, Urban Planning Consultants. He has worked also as a planning hearings commissioner. He hopes to use this background to good effect, noting council staff could become risk-adverse.
Drawing on his knowledge of how the Resource Management Act worked would
be an advantage in trying to get things done and being able to hit the ground running.
Two things the keen e-biker told the Flagstaff were high on his list to achieve were improving the peninsula Green Path from Devonport to Hauraki and lobbying for the long-sought pedestrian and cycle link from Francis St to Esmonde Rd, along with sorting out the “Ryman footpath to nowhere” – an inexplicable break in the footpath from the retirement village to the nearby bus stop on Ngataringa Rd. “They want to pay for it.”
During the campaign he also spoke of balancing intensification with better urban design and green space rules and the management of on-street parking to meet residents concerns.
He wants all bus stops to have shelters and would like water slides installed at the Takapuna Pool and Leisure Centre.
Macarthur has had a circuitous path to the North Shore. He was born in Wellington and grew up in Pakuranga, going on to study at the University of Auckland. Hos first house was in New Lynn, but the lure of being close to the sea and the appeal of the modern Oneoneroa housing development first brought him and his partner across town.
Favourite spots include taking the Green Path from Belmont, with its beautiful views to the Harbour Bridge. “I don’t think we’ll be moving anywhere soon.”
Local Body Elections
Gillon laughs off scepticism over ‘Fix Lake Rd’ promises
John Gillon is familiar with an often stopstart drive on his regular visits to see his parents, who live in Devonport. “I’m sick of Lake Rd,” he says.
Knowing that thousands of other people feel the same, he has made securing funding for more work to ease congestion on the route one of his priorities as a newly elected North Shore ward representative on Auckland Council.
He laughs when the Flagstaff suggests his “Let’s Fix Lake Rd” billboards may prove famous last words. Gillon (pictured) is used to playing the long game in local body politics. He has been the Kaipātiki Local Board chair for eight years and was first elected to a community board in Glenfield in 2007.
Now stepping up to the council, he pledges that in regional decision-making he will remain a strong local advocate.
He supports trying “quick fix” smaller works for Lake Rd, which are in the pipeline, but knows options for any more extensive upgrade depend on keeping the project on the regional list of long-term transport plans and advancing it up the pecking order.
Politics was something Gillon (47) grew up with. His father, Grant Gillon, was an Alliance MP, then a North Shore City councillor, before serving on the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board.
At university, John studied politics and sociology before working for a time as a tecnhnical writer. “We’ve always talked about politics around the table,” he says of Grant and mother Kirsty. Sister Paula is very much part of the conversation too. She has just been re-elected to the Kaipātiki board, which takes in Northcote, Glenfield and adjacent suburbs to the west. “Both my parents are really happy and really proud, they’re ecstatic,” says Gillon. His retired father has just finished a law degree.
Gillon says the low voter turnout was a worry, underlining why local government needed to be part of teaching civics in schools.
His own education included attending Takapuna Normal Intermediate School, then Takapuna Grammar School from the fourth form (Year 10), after the family returned from a spell on a farm up north.
His own family is based in Beach Haven. He has two daughters, aged 12 and three. The younger is blind. Alongside local board work, he has been on the Auckland Kindergarten Association board
Delivering community facilities, including the Kauri Glen walkway, was a high point of his time on the Kaipātiki board, which also pushed back on asset sales and council moves to reduce rubbish bins in public areas.
Council is also looking at reducing residential rubbish bin collections from weekly to fortnightly, something Gillon opposes.
But Gillon says his top priority on council will be seeing flood remediation measures
through for the Wairau catchment, including locking in better funding for stormwater infrastructure and safeguarding at-risk homes in Milford. On this, he will align with the other North Shore councillor, Richard Hills, who was re-elected for a fourth term.
Gillon and Hills had a drink together, with Kaipātiki board members, on election night, but won’t necessarily agree on everything.
Quite how floodwater detention at AF Thomas Park in Takapuna will dovetail with golf and other recreation remains to be thrashed out.
Hills, as planning committee chair, is tasked with steering through Plan Change 120, which provides for both concentrated housing intensification and flood-area downzoning. It has been advanced to avoid the government’s blanket provisions for growth.
Gillon believes council should have pushed back harder on the extent of intensification required and the need for infrastructure to accompany it.
After the election, Mayor Wayne Brown was quoted in a New Zealand Herald story about new councillors, saying Gillon seemed “a bit negative”. His working relationships with re-elected Albany ward councillor John Watson and defeated Wayne Walker – whom Brown has dubbed the Albanians – presumably played into this.
Gillon has also spoken out about the impact of council’s planned “fairer funding” of boards, noting that the Devonport-Takapuna board faces being hard hit by this from next year.
“I’ll work on a case-by-case basis with Richard and anyone else I need to work with, for the North Shore,” he told the Flagstaff. He wants the area’s boards to look closely at PC120 and make submissions from next month. “I’ll take on board what people have said and push that,” he says.
Home is the sailor, tacking into local politics
After a decade on the international yachting circuit, Devonport sailor Garth Ellingham returned home to the coastal suburb he loves. Now he’s on the local board. He spoke to Rob Drent.
Garth Ellingham was perhaps the bolter in the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board election. Young(ish) at 38, he had no local body experience and his campaign consisted largely of a website he made himself. But as an independent candidate he came in fourth of six successful contenders, even surpassing high-profile Takapuna Beach Business Association CEO and deputy chair of last term, Terence Harpur.
Ellingham gives a succinct summary: “I put myself out to the community I have a love for and have had support back, so I will see what I can do.”
While not exactly high-profile, Ellingham was well-known: he went to local schools and was a prominent yachtsman.
He grew up in a yachting family. Garth’s grandparents Dean and Shona, who lived on Seacliffe Ave, were commonly out on the water. Holidays were always away at sea. “I was on the boat when I was six months old,” he says.
Remembering his induction into yachting, Ellingham laughs. “I didn’t really have a choice... but being on the water has been a happy place my entire life.”
Ellingham recalls an early memory, at maybe five or six years old, of passing the Wakatere Boating Club and saying “I’m going to sail there one day.” And so it transpired. The Ellingham family – Garth, sister Kate and parents John and Pauline, settled in North Ave, a couple of hundred metres from Narrow Neck Beach.
Garth played rugby for North Shore juniors from age five to 12, but yachting became his priority. John and Pauline became involved in the yacht club and Garth and Kate began competing with great success.
Garth regularly placed in the top five or ten nationally in Optimist and P Class racing, and in 2004, aged 17, he won the national Starling champs – a junior racing career highlight. Kate was the first girl in the P Class champs in the same year, and sixth overall.
Local product... Garth Ellingham on the beach at Devonport. He says moving back to live close to the water at Narrow Neck during Covid made him happy.
The siblings were trailblazers at Wakatere, leading a resurgence of juniors which has seen the likes of Paul Snow-Hansen, Chris Steele and Logan Dunning Beck win national titles and go on to represent New Zealand.
The culture continues, with four Wakatere sailors this month named in the New Zealand junior world champs team.
“I’m forever grateful to our parents for the opportunities they gave us. My mother came from a lower socioeconomic background and always wanted us to have the chance to do the best we could,” Ellingham says.
Ellingham went to Vauxhall Primary, Belmont Intermediate and Takapuna Gram-
mar. Leaving school, he was at something of a sailing crossroads – sailing fulltime in an attempt to make the Olympic team or combining an education with yachting New Zealand’s youth training programme?
Ellingham decided on a civil engineering degree, studying at Auckland University during the week and sailing training at the weekends. During his studies he became interested in the environmental aspects of engineering, including stormwater and wastewater. As part of his course he designed a stormwater system for Hobsonville. His engineering background might come in handy when dealing with complex flood
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issues in Milford, for example, he says
After finishing his degree, he decided to commit fully to yachting – “my passion”.
He joined the world match-racing circuit, with the long-term aim of becoming an America’s Cup sailor. “I was attracted to the team environment.”
For the next 10 years he led the life of a professional yachtsman: glamour mixed with grind. Living out of a suitcase, often couch surfing and trying to eke out slim budgets to travel the world for events, mixed with “a side hustle” of crewing on boats for the uber-rich.
“It was very interesting. Some of the clients were entrepreneurs who had made their own money while others had multi-generational wealth. It was fascinating to see how they operated as a family to keep their kids grounded.
“It was all pretty surreal for a kid from Devonport – sailing multimillion-dollar boats and drinking champagne in St Tropez.”
Ellingham linked up with fellow yachtie Phil Robertson and formed Waka Racing, winning a clutch of events and twice finishing third in the World match-racing champs.
He sailed for the Chinese team in the America’s Cup pre-regatta in San Francisco in 2013 and also “B” boats used for training races in the America’s Cup in Auckland.
The B boats could provide a pathway to the team proper, but the advent of catamarans in the class spelt the end of the B boats and scuppered Ellingham’s America’s Cup trajectory.
By his early 30s he had been living overseas for around 7 years. A series of events led to a return home. “I wasn’t happy with the way my sailing was going.” And in quick succession he tore his ACL in a touch rugby game and a long-term relationship with his Irish girlfriend ended. He couldn’t sail so he returned home to rehab his knee.
He’d bought a unit across the road from Wakatere Boating Club and moved in during Covid. “It made me fall in love with the area again – being close to the water made me happy.” He could see the wind on the sea and when it kicked in he was off kitesurfing or foiling on the gulf.
A kite foil to Rangitoto Lighthouse is “where I meditate”, he says.
The arrival of Covid meant he couldn’t travel the world for yachting, forcing him to rethink career options and look at what was really important to him.
“It was hard to go from being an athlete...to transition out of that. Sailing had been my whole life.
“But I wanted to spend more time in New Zealand.”
He founded Lucke – a sustainable workwear company that began making re-usable masks during Covid
then moved on to other lines. The operation has three employees and has opened an office in Australia.
With the company finding its feet, Ellingham began working part-time in reception for old friends Terry and Siobhan Holmes of Chiropractic Alchemy in Milford.
Chatting to customers was a great way to get “an idea about people’s priorities for the area and they got to know me as well”.
While well known around Devonport, Ellingham cites this connection as vital
“People are very concerned about climate change and I feel a moral obligation to talk about it where I can...”
in growing his profile in Milford and the northern parts of the board area.
“I don’t think I did very well in the community events [leading up to the election] – I’m better one-on-one with people.”
Some saw Ellingham’s election as a surprise but he was optimistic as he had heard anecdotally of a strong younger-generation vote: “‘Friends of a friend’ had spoken to a friend, so I knew I had support.”
His first week as a local board member was “full on”: a meeting of new members last Tuesday with council officers among them. “I was surprised how quickly things got moving.”
While he only made the decision to stand late in the day, he’d spoken to former top windsurfer Bruce Kendall (a Howick Local Board member) and former DTLB chair Aidan Bennett about what life was like as a local body politician.
Ellingham ran his own campaign, setting up his own website, and getting his father to help put up billboards.
“A big challenge will be adapting from being a small business owner, where decisions are made and problems solved quickly.”
Council processes took time and “I know I’m not going to be some sort of silver bullet”.
But he hoped to help rebuild the trust people seemed to have lost in local government.
He admits his election to the local board is the start of a learning curve. “I did not come from a background in governance.”
He’s interested in protecting the environment and coastline – “the very reasons we live here” – and finds it unpalatable “that we can’t swim off the coast after it rains”.
He hoped to put his engineering training to use on issues such as flood protection, stormwater upgrades and roading – the latter including a long-term solution to Lake Rd, which he recognises means reducing car numbers by greater use of public transport, electric bikes and – in the long term – trams. Widening the road wasn’t an option, he said. He broadly supported the Woodall Park Skatepark.
“It’s near where I live and I can understand neighbouring residents don’t want it near them.
“But you see the kids at the bike park [next to the planned skatepark] and it’s so cool... getting kids off their phones and outside has to be encouraged.”
Taking a professional sporting path earlier in his life had led to something of a selfish lifestyle, Ellingham said. It was “doing your own thing”.
While he’s single, without kids, his sister, who lives in Hauraki, has two. “And I can see how much sacrifice is made by parents – what my parents did for us... so [local board work] is definitely giving something back.”
His mother died from cancer aged 55 in 2016.
“It shifted my dial – I had a great upbringing, two lovely parents who got married, had kids and who were going to spend their retirement together.
“Life is not always long and you have to make the most of your opportunities when they come along.”
Flashback…Garth Ellingham and his sister Kate featured in the Devonport Flagstaff in 2004 after he won the Starling nationals and she was the top girl sailor in the P Class champs
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North Shore Cricket Club
By Rob Drent
Another round of local body elections and the old (he will be over 80 during this term) warhorse George Wood topped the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board poll.
No change there, as he polled best in the 2022 election as well. But there was a definite rightward shift this year, with Wood’s Communities & Residents (C&R) ticketmate Gavin Busch coming in second, improving on his sixth in 2022.
It was no landslide for C&R however, which must have been disappointing for Wood and Busch, who led an energetic campaign with a good variety of candidates.
Mike Single fell just short of winning a seat, finishing 7th for the second election in a row, which surprised some pundits given his strong support in sporting circles.
The election was a disaster for A Fresh Approach (AFA), which won control in 2022 with four candidates elected (Toni van Tonder, Terence Harpur, Melissa Powell and Peter Allen).
Harpur, who was then the third highest polling candidate, slipped to fifth this year,
The
just ahead of Scott Macarthur, the only other AFA candidate to make the cut.
Their ticketmates, Karleen Reeve, Kimberly Graham and Lewis Rowe, and the dumped Karin Horen, all ranked outside the top 10.
Undoubtedly AFA had a weaker team this year, without van Tonder (who left for Australia mid-term) or Powell and Allen, who decided not to seek re-election. Zane Catterall, the only A Fresh Approach candidate not to make it in 2022, came closer to election then than any of their 2025 losers.
Has the electorate become a bit disillusioned with tickets? All the 2022 board members came from C&R and AFA. In 2025 they won two each, being joined on the six-seat board by two independents in Trish Deans (formerly on the board with Heart of the Shore) and Garth Ellingham.
Overall, the big loser was the election itself, with only 34.9 per cent of eligible Devonport-Takapuna voters taking part, down from 43.4 per cent in 2022.
I had expected better from a high-decile area which should know the importance of engagement with politics at a local level.
A reader out for a morning coffee and a walk came across a stretch limo parked near the North Head gates (and sent us a picture). Chatting to the driver, he learned that, to-
Taste of the high life... Children enjoyed a limo ride to Devonport as a reward for school attendance
gether with police, the limo had conveyed a group of children from a low-decile school on an outing in our suburb as a reward for 100 per cent attendance.
“An uplifting experience, and quite a change from the frequent negativity we hear or read about,” our reader says.
It reminded me that 30 years ago, when my son attended Devonport Primary, the school had a regular cultural exchange with a school in Ōtara.
He came home after the South Aucklanders visited with the news that as part of the excursion they had been taken to Cheltenham Beach, the Devonport pupils learning that some of the visiting kids had never been to the beach before.
North Shore Rugby Club scooped almost every major award at the North Harbour Rugby Awards announced last week. The Vauxhall Rd-based club won:
• Junior Club of the Year.
• Senior Club of the Year.
• Senior Coaches of the Year (James Hinchco, Jason Ross, Allan Pollock and Chris Davies).
• Senior Club Player of the Year and Māori Player of the Year: Donald Coleman.
• Best and Fairest Senior Player: Oscar Koller.
• Outstanding Contribution to Junior Rugby: Matt Hunt.
• Under-19 Player of the Year: JD Van der Westhuizen.
North Shore club manager Callum McNair said it was a great result for the club, which won both the premier and under-21 North Harbour championships in 2025, but also for the wider community.
“Staying connected – as players, coaches, parents, sponsors and supporters – is how we’ll continue to deliver for our community and ensure North Shore Rugby keeps punching above its w8,” McNair said.
From Don to Don... Senior North Harbour club player of the year Donald Coleman receives his trophy from Adrian Donald, North Harbour rugby CEO
Hinchco shifts from prems coach to director of rugby
North Shore Rugby Club premiers head coach James Hinchco is stepping down after a golden three years in which the side won triple North Harbour championships from 2023 to 2025.
However Hinchco’s influence will continue at the club as its new director of rugby. He was assistant coach in 2023 and head coach in 2024 and 2025.
The new head coach for 2026 is Jason Ross, who has been part of the senior
coaching group for the last few years and previously led rugby at Takapuna Grammar School.
Wayne Ratu will continue as the premier development squad head coach and Shaun Morresey returns to lead the club’s U21s, as does Jackson Garea with the U85s.
The club’s junior committee will continue to be led by award-winning chair Matt Hunt, who is back for another season in 2026.
With women players coming through
from the Navy, and others from TGS and other colleges adding to its existing players, North Shore aims to field a team in the 2026 Harbour Development competition.
The club also hopes to have the new changing facility for women at the former Devonport Bowling Club open by the 2026 season.
Shore is also fielding a team in the new U19 competition launched by Harbour Rugby in 2026, with Ian Eakin as coach.
SPRING CLEAN YOUR PROPERTY
20 years ago from the Flagstaff files
• Increased charges for filming and sports events using Devonport’s public spaces are investigated by the Devonport Community Board.
• Devonport pensioner Bob Pope announces he will stand for the North Shore mayoralty against incumbent George Wood.
• Local potters Jengis Poor and Merilyn Wiseman win New Zealand ceramics awards.
• Rosie the labrador, a keen paddler with owners Jed Rice and Belinda Carpenter, enters the Harbour Crossing swimming race from Stanley Bay to the Viaduct Harbour.
• Cuts to Devonport bus timetables are announced under the heading “Enhancements to North Shore bus services”, angering locals.
• The cost of public consultation in the North Shore City Council purchase of
the Victoria Theatre has dropped from $80,000 to $53,000.
• North Shore city councillors rebuke Mayor George Wood over his attempt to derail the purchase of the Victoria Theatre. They refused to let him put a motion to stall the proposal, which would have effectively killed the purchase plan as the cinema owner needed to sell.
• Devonport local Simon Gundry lines up to be the quickfire raffle man at the St Leo’s School fair for the 15th year, recalling the most memorable item on sale was a Jonah Lomu jersey.
• Takapuna Grammar’s rowing 8 celebrates a rare win over Westlake in the bridge to bridge race – 10 km from the Harbour Bridge to the Upper Harbour Bridge in Greenhithe. The winning crew were: Cox Kath Englefield, Michael Tidbury, Stuart Pratt, Henry Poor, Tom Van Roekel, Alex
Newenham, James Seaton, Tom Moore and Brendan Sheehan.
• Devonport’s growing reputation as a musical hub strengthened further with the release of the band Vauxhall’s first full-length album Hanging on by a Thread. David and James McLaughlin recorded the album at the Depot.
• A geotechnical report into Devonport Domain says it needs a major upgrade which would see the ground closed for two years.
• Deteriorating murals on a Mt Cambria Reserve building, including a work by artist Pat Hanley, may be saved.
• The Navy launches a garden improvement programme open to tenants in its 386 houses.
• Bayswater foster mum Jenny Liddell, who for a time looked after New Zealand’s youngest killer, is the Flagstaff interview subject.
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Volunteers sought for weeding in Hauraki reserves Godwits skip party in their honour
Environmental efforts are stepping up in Hauraki, with a big group weeding in Jutland Reserve this month and hopes of recruiting more people to tend Charles Reserve.
Restoring Takarunga Hauraki (RTH) and community volunteers are to the fore, with a Chinese group joining in as part of an outreach led by North Shore gardener Ben Zhang, who has been bridging the language gap by running sessions helping Mandarin speakers learn about pest plants and connect with weeding, trapping and planting groups.
Three Hauraki residents keen to care for Charles Reserve have come forward, but RTH is hoping more locals might join them to make weekly weeding viable.
RTH co-ordinator Lance Cablk said turnout at the larger Jutland Reserve recently included eight or nine regulars from the group’s Bayswater Eco-Corridor team, who also worked in the Hauraki reserves from time to time, along with 20 or 30 Chinese visitors. Cups of tea followed the weeding.
A recent kayaking day run by RTH from Narrow Neck Beach had also attracted a good number of Chinese participants, Cablk said. Some of Zhang’s group were from the Devonport peninsula, and Cablk hopes to build on those connections.
RTH has been working in Jutland Reserve for several years. It is accessed via a path from near the western end of Jutland Rd.
Planting and weeding has been done there already, with an attempt made to remove privet and plant natives under the pōhutukawa. Hauraki School students have previously helped with some of this. But the aim is to build the number of adult volunteers. Interested people can contact lance@rth.org.nz
Fashionably late... Some of the crowd at the godwit welcoming ceremony last Sunday at which the birds did not appear, dropping in the next morning instead. Inset: bar-tailed godwits (kuaka). PHOTO
More than 80 people attended the annual event at Bayswater last Sunday to celebrate the return of the migratory bar-tailed godwit (kuaka) to the shores of Shoal Bay – though the esteemed guests of honour neglected to put in an appearance.
The birds began arriving as expected in early September, after a non-stop 12,000km flight from their breeding grounds in Alaska.
Participants still enjoyed a welcome ceremony, food and games.
But they decided not to show up for their usual high-tide roost coinciding with the welcome event organised by environmental group Restoring Takarunga Hauraki.
The birds’ movements have been less predictable this year due to some strong westerly winds and very high tides. Happily, they were reported to be present and correct at the estuary on Monday morning.
Some of the godwits will usually remain in Shoal and Ngataringa estuaries during the summer, feeding on worms and crustaceans, before they are ready to leave in March. They then complete the cycle by returning to Alaska via a stopover in China.
PHILIP MOLL
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School News
24 OCTOBER 2025
Celebrating Excellence in Sports, Service, and the Arts
Takapuna Grammar School celebrated over 160 students at its annual Co-Curricular Awards Evening, recognising outstanding achievements in sports, performing arts, and service. Deputy Principal Moira Mallarkey called it a highlight of the year, praising students for enriching the school community and embodying its values of excellence, integrity, and service. Here are some of our top award winners:
Musical Theatre Standout
Performance in a Song, Showcase or Musical: Milla Rodrigues-Birch
A versatile performer, Milla is an exceptional all-rounder in the Performing Arts. She starred in Shortland Street: The Musical – Teen Issue, earning a Showdown nomination, and continues to impress across school and external productions. Milla won a total of five arts awards at the event.
Sportswoman of the Year: Carrie Guo
Carrie Guo has delivered back-to-back seasons of dominance in table tennis, winning multiple regional and national titles across age groups and open divisions. Ranked #3 in NZ Open Women and #2 in U19 Girls, she claimed nine national titles and earned bronze at the NZ Top 8 Tournament, making her one of TGS’s most decorated athletes.
Junior Excellence in the Arts: Joao Diaz Martin
In just his second year at TGS, Joao has made a big impact. He sings in the award-winning TGS Chorale, leads the rock band Icarus, and played key roles in Shortland Street: The Musical – Teen Issue including Muffin Man Lionel Skeggins. Active in Musical Theatre and TheatreSports, Joao is a rising star in the Performing Arts.
Junior Sportswoman of the Year: Ariana Vosper
Ariana Vosper has had an extraordinary year, winning the OFC Women’s Champions League with Auckland United and captaining the NZ U-16 team to victory at the OFC Championship in Samoa, where she scored her first international goal. She is currently away in Morocco representing New Zealand at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
Excellence in the Arts: Audrey Melhuish
A dedicated and highachieving performer, Audrey led the TGS Chorale as head chorister, starred as Marj Neilson in Shortland Street: The Musical –Teen Issue, and served as Performing Arts Council leader. Her commitment and excellence make her a deserving winner of the Peninsula Cup.
Junior Sportsman of the Year: Neve Upston
Neve Upston has had an outstanding 2025 season, excelling in tennis at regional, national, and international levels. He won national titles, competing in Malaysia and Australia, and was selected by the ITF for the prestigious U14 Orange Bowl and IMG International Championships. Ranked No. 1 in NZ for U14 Boys, Neve is a Tennis NZ Gold Criteria Athlete and standout junior sportsman.
Contribution to the Spirit and Culture of Performing Arts: Jessica Parker
Jessica Parker has been a dedicated and versatile contributor to the Performing Arts at TGS. A reliable leader in the choral programmeespecially as Leonessa’s section leader - and a committed clarinet player in the Concert Band for four years, she’s also represented TGS at the KBB Music Festival. In 2025, her calm, consistent leadership on the Performing Arts Council truly stood out.
Sportsman of the Year: Will Mason
Will Mason led the TGS Sailing Team to 4th at Nationals and dominated the 29er class with multiple regional and national titles. Internationally, he placed 2nd at Kieler Woche in Germany and 14th at the European Championships in Italy. Recently crowned 29er Youth National Champion, he will represent New Zealand at the Youth Sailing World Championship in Portugal.
Yachties converge for annual classic
The annual Coastal Classic yacht race will bring more than 100 yachts to the start line off Devonport this Friday, 24 October, with the first gun to sound at 9.30am.
Yachts ranging from classic designs to modern match racers contest the event covering 119 nautical miles to Russell.
Run by the New Zealand Multi-Hull Yacht Club, the event is a test of speed, endurance and seamanship, and a must-do challenge for many yachties.
Among entrants it has attracted this Labour Weekend is Lucky, an 88-foot maxi that has just rewritten the record books in this month’s Sydney to Auckland Ocean Race. Skippered by Chicago-based owner Bryan Ehrhart, it has New Zealand sailing great Brad Butterworth as tactician.
Lucky crossed the Tasman in a blistering 2 days, 20 hours, 27 minutes and 7 seconds
– smashing the record of 5 days, 3 hours, 37 minutes and 57 seconds, set by Antipodes in 2023.
PIC Coastal Classic Commodore Adrian Percival says the event, which began in 1982, is unique. “The PIC Coastal Classic always delivers a mix of glamour yachts, family boats and hard-driving race machines. It’s a real celebration of New Zealand sailing, with something for everyone – from seasoned racers to families ticking off a bucket-list challenge.”
A more flexible format has been introduced this year to allow cruisers to be part of the action. Participants can depart on Friday morning and cruise alongside the fleet to be in Russell in time for the race after-party and prizegiving, or take a more leisurely approach with a new two-day option, departing on Thursday and stopping overnight at Marsden Cove, before joining the fleet for the final leg home.
Two mates, Adam Batt and Logan Stevens, have joined together to help out other blokes by raising funds for men’s health charity Movember through a black-tie event. The Speak Easy Gala, will be held on 31 October at the Brad’s Warehouse venue in Durham Lane, Auckland.
Stevens and Batt – well-known for his exploits as a rugged North Shore premiers rugby forward with more than 100 caps –founded State of Us Projects 7 years ago to raise money for charity.
State of Us has since raised more than $42,000 for Movember.
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The fundraising started with physically demanding challenges such as running the elevation of Mt.Everest in a day or completing 450km in a month.
“We started with small events like bowls, runs and conversations, and each year it’s grown. This gala is our biggest step yet,” says Batt.
The gala will feature live entertainment, raffles and guest speakers
“We’re calling on the community – individuals, businesses – to help us spread the word, buy tickets, or come on board as sponsors.
“All profits raised go directly to Movember to support mental health initiatives for Kiwi men,” Batt says.
For further information or to purchase tickets, email: stateofusprojects@gmail.com
Could a Devonport slogan reach beyond codgers?
Well done Roger Brittenden for giving it a crack to come up with a slogan and logo design to attract more visitors to Devonport (Flagstaff, 12 September).
But “Delightful Devonport” sounds a little too “tea and scones”, I feel. The key question is who is the target market for such a slogan? Old codgers off
the cruise ships maybe?
But wouldn’t it be great to have something a little bit “edgy” for our beautiful village?
Saatchi & Saatchi’s “Absolutely Positively Wellington” was a master class back in the day for making that city of public servants sound exciting.
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Village spruce-up to continue with focus on planters
The second stage of a Devonport village clean-up is planned, with replanting or replacement of its character wine-barrel planters.
The Devonport Business Association (DBA) last month completed the first stage of a village clean-up, which has involved removing weeds, planting and replanting in some areas.
The Devonport-Takapuna Local Board (DTLB) was providing funding of $5000 for stage two, DBA chair Michael Moughan told around 30 members who attended the group’s AGM last week.
The aim was to lift the area visually “with stylish and cohesive planting,” he said.
Longer term, the DBA intended to work with landlords to coordinate further improvements.
A highlight of the year was the board’s appointment of Tabitha Coleman as the new BID (Business Improvement District) manager from 30 March 2025, with a redefined role focused on marketing and promotions.
Moughan said the association terminated the use of a third-party social-media provider, bringing the work in-house as the group moved away from hosting events.
“Over the past six months we have continued to focus on getting the fundamentals right, and on advancing longer-term in-
vestments in marketing and promoting the BID (and our member businesses) and in revitalising Devonport’s brand/reputation.”
A first step was a “What I Love About Devonport” survey, to be followed by developing branding around the association’s marketing products such as photography.
“Looking online, a lot of the imagery when Devonport is googled is fairly stale,” Moughan said.
In the last six months the group had run both Mother’s Day and Father’s Day shop-local campaigns and a Matariki stars activation event, and supported the Depot’s First Thursdays initiative including an “Art Battle” and two Devonport Rotary “Business on Toast” events.
The DBA had also launched a monthly column in the Flagstaff to keep readers up to date.
Work was continuing on developing a Devonport placemaking sign which would be mobile and shifted to events such as Sunsetter and Sculpture on Shore.
The board recommended keeping the same BID rate – the amount council charges landlords through rates to pay for the association’s work. However it would be necessary to increase the amount in 2026 due to inflation, Moughan said.
Board members elected on the night
More improvements ahead… Business association chair Michael Moughan speaks at the group’s AGM
were: Michael Moughan, Gordian Legal (chair); Philip de Lisle, Axiome (Treasurer); Harriet Shields, Vic Road Wine Bar and The Kestrel (secretary); Bruce Grant, Jag Consultants; Amy Saunders, The Depot; Ian Cunliffe, Bayleys; Barbara Bradbury, Blue Illusion; and Liz Sloan, The Patriot.
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Crowd shows appetite for Oven’s hot blues,
Blues and burgers… event organiser Chris Priestley with Stone Oven owner Brendan Kyle at the Blues Revue night at the cafe which drew more than 100 people on 9 October. Below: Neil Finlay on vocals and guitar.
burgers and boogie-woogie
The Devonport RSA invites the people of Devonport and Takapuna to attend the Remembrance Sunday Service at the memorial of the Untidy Soldier Victoria Road, Devonport, at 1045 Sunday 9 November 25. Note there will be no street parade, participants will muster and fall-in at the memorial and dismiss from there. The public are invited to stand in the grass space in front of the library or across the road atWindsor Reserve.
Remembrance Sunday commemorates the loss of New Zealand lives from all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations. The Government recently amended the Veterans Affairs Act to formally recognise current and former soldiers, sailors and aviators who have served more than three years as veterans. On Remembrance Day we will honour those who lost their lives in the Great War and those wars that have followed it. We will also honour those who continue to serve, sacrificing time away from their families and friends, to contribute to international peace and security, and supporting our allies.
All veterans and participants seated/fallen-in by 10.45am Commemoration Service: 10.50am – 11.30am
Guest Speaker:
Commander Fiona Jameson, RNZN Recently deployed to the Middle East as Commanding Officer of HMNZS TE KAHA (Veteran- Afghanistan and Greater Middle East) Enquiries can be made to the RSA manager on 09 445 8938.
Boogie-woogie… Emily Chen (15) welcomed guests to the event on the piano. Below: Taking to the dance floor.
Tēnā koutou, and welcome to November!
This month we have three exciting new exhibitions opening across our gallery spaces. Read on to find out more!
Depot 3 Vic Road
Katie Robinson’s ‘The Weight of Things’ continues until 16 November, bringing together Robinson’s distinctive painting style with her unique form of storytelling. The paintings explore the Central Otago landscape, which underpins Katie’s deep connection to place, alongside objects and mementos chosen by others for their personal significance.
Later in the month, the opening of Anna Victoria’s ‘Time Well Spent’ takes place on Friday 21 November at 6pm with an accompanying artist talk. Spotlighting local architecture and community spaces, Victoria invites us to reflect on all the memories and stories these places hold.
Depot Artspace
Opening on Saturday 8 November from 1-4pm, Sarah Cowie’s ‘The Moon Looked at Me Funny’ uses puppetry and fabric sculpture with digital photography and videography to activate puppet creatures as they inhabit lush fabric worlds.
Cowie’s works are both whimsical and unnerving, with the creature’s mimicry of personality and life creating a skewed sense of reality.
Visit depot.org.nz for more info and stay up to date by subscribing to our e-news!
Ngā mihi nui, Amy Saunders
Director | Kaiwhakahaere, DEPOT amy.saunders@depot.org.nz
Volcanic power inspires experiments
Photographer Linda Jarrett has a fascination with volcanoes that has brought her back under the shadow of Devonport’s maunga for an exhibition exploring their power.
Not If But When: Art at the edge of eruption, on now at Satellite 2 gallery, has also spawned a public talk on their destructive threat.
“It’s definitely going to happen one day, probably not in my lifetime, but with volcanoes it could be in the next 10 minutes,” she says. “We’ve got to be prepared.”
Jarrett, who spent 10 years living in Devonport until 2021, isn't running from the risk. She’s always been drawn to visit volcanoes on her travels.
“I’ve been to quite a few around the world,” she says. “If we were anywhere nearby a volcano, we would go and see it.”
She even visited Mt Etna in Sicily during an eruption, along with nearby volcanic Italian islands, including Stromboli.
She also had a trip to Whaakari White Island.
Long-standing interests in geology were a prompt, but an artistic slant on volcanoes came later.
Living in a city of them increased the fascination for the English-born artist, as did the reaction of people who visited Auckland Museum’s volcano house.
“It shook them up for bit, but then they would move on. But I want them to start talking about it.”
The exhibition sprang from her previous art projects in which she explored ecological themes, including the destruction of landscape. From this she next focused on the impact of natural disasters.
“My photography is not photography as you know it. It’s very much experimental, using alternative processes,” she says.
“It’s my interpretation of how it might be. I use toxic processes, chemicals, to show what could happen in Devonport.”
It is, she emphasises, a speculative scenario. “That next eruption [in Auckland] could happen somewhere near Rangitoto, between Rangitoto and Devonport.”
The exhibition shows a series of manipulated prints of her photographs of local homes and landscapes, with added medias including soils and volcanic materials.
“Considering that destruction brings creation – that's where the soil comes in,” she says.
These days, Jarrett lives at Mangōnui in the Far North.
For the former nurse, who has also been a teacher, it was a move from the UK and her family growing up that first led her into art.
While in Devonport she expanded on
in photography
her teenage interest in photography, doing a bit of commercial work, including shooting weddings, before realising, “I wanted to make art.”
Studies followed. She is now in the final stage of her Masters in Fine Arts in photography, studying remotely with a UK institution.
The exhibition, the final project for her degree, renews her association with the owners of Satellite2 gallery, Lynn Lawton and Linda Blincko, who first suggested she do an artist’s talk.
“I didn’t think mine would be interesting, I’m there as an artist. Lynn and Linda suggested widening it, so I got a volcanologist from Java, he'll be there on Zoom, with Dave Veart and Trish Deans.”
Locals Veart, an archaeologist, and Deans, a driving force in the development of a community emergency plan for Devonport, will add their perspectives on volcanoes to Jarrett’s during a panel discussion next Tuesday.
Asked just what it is that draws her back to volcanoes, she opts for their power and colour. “You can’t control them, there’s nothing you can do about them.”
• Linda Jarrett’s Not If But When: Art at the edge of eruption, Satellite2 gallery until 29 October; a panel discussion on volcanoes, Devonport RSA, Tuesday 28 October, 6.30pm.
TGS Shorty Street star wins award
Kaitlyn Darroch, a star of Takapuna Grammar School’s Shortland Street musical this year, has been named Best Performer in a Lead Role in a Musical at the Showdown Awards.
The annual awards recognise performance and staging excellence in secondary school shows from across the Auckland region.
Year 13 student Kaitlyn (pictured) received her trophy at an awards night held at the Bruce Mason Centre in Takapuna on 9 October. She played the part of Nurse Alison Raynor in a musical based on the long-running television show.
Shortland Street: The Musical – Teen Issue was a finalist in other categories at the awards.
Kaitlyn, who has been involved in musical theatre throughout her time at TGS, also played a lead role last year, as Scaramouche in We Will Rock You
The overall Showdown best production for 2025 went to Rangitoto College for Les Misérables
SHOWING NOW
Prime Minister (M) 101min
Saint-Ex (M) 100min
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere (M) 120min
Mr. Burton (M) 124min
A Little Something Extra (M) 99min
Black Phone 2 (R16) 120min
Roofman (M) 125min
Eleanor the Great (PG) 98min
Miss Violet (M) 109min
Tron: Ares (M) 119min
Went Up the Hill (R16) 100min
SPECIAL EVENTS & NEW RELEASES
The Rocky Horror Picture Show Shadow Cast Returns! 24 Oct 113th Anniversary of The Vic: Toy Story (G) 80min 26 Oct
Pike River (M) - with filmmaker Q&A 31 Oct For more info on films & events go to
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