I was round at Gerry Hill’s and Sally James’ place on Ponsonby Terrace the other day. As everyone knows, over the last two years Gerry has been courageously battling motor neuron disease (MND). He’d...
No peaceful retirement as veteran Councillor Mike Lee vows to ‘stay and fight’. After months of soul-searching on whether to retire as planned this year or even run for mayor, island resident Mike Lee...
Auckland Council is currently processing a change to the Unitary Plan, ‘Plan Change 26’. This is especially relevant for the historic townscapes (‘heritage zones’) of Ponsonby, Grey Lynn, Herne Bay and Parnell. The plan...
I guess nothing sums up the incompetence and waste of the Super City than the sorry tale of the Civic Administration Building. Auckland Council’s fire sale of the Civic Administration Building (CAB), 22 levels,...
The announcement of a billion dollar cost blow-out for the City Rail Link (CRL), 3 years after start of construction, is deeply troubling. At $3.4b, that is $1b per km, the CRL was already...
This month, in the calm before the storm that will be Auckland’s local body elections, I thought I might put politics aside and return to the subject of my recent book ‘Navigators & Naturalists...
On this day the people of New Zealand and Australia gather as they have since the first Anzac Day, to commemorate the fallen and to honour those men and women who have served in...
I just watched a video of an appalling accident on Auckland’s southern motorway.https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12212109 Some idiot in a fast car drove up a bus lane, veered behind the bus then ran into the back of...
What a gorgeous summer it’s been – the ‘Auckland Dream’, the pursuit of which brought me from Wellington when I was 21. Unfortunately it’s not been the happiest summer for everyone in Waitematā. From...
BEFORE THE INDEPENDENT COMMISSIONERS IN THE MATTER of s88 of the Resource Management Act 1991. Application for Resource Consent CST60323353 by Panuku – Development Auckland, for consent to construct two mooring dolphins located at...
