Letter to Len Brown

Kia ora Len ,

We had the greatest respect for you as Mayor of Manukau . When you put your hat into the ring for  Auckland we were excited .

We donated funds to your campaign. Sally  and I delivered  and paid our staff to deliver your leaflets. We also worked the Ponsonby Business Community to vote for you and achieved some success.

 We have been concerned  about your lack of understanding of the importance of heritage buildings to our community, but have kept our  comments to a few trusted friends .

However, our disappointment on your view about the port workers and you refusal  to take a principled stand for these workers has reached new levels. Under previous boards which have been led by experienced ship mangers such a Peter  Dunlop, the port worked well, productivity improved  and industrial peace was maintained .

You expectation of a twelve percent return has always been fanciful and has contributed  to the current situation in the port. We would all like 12% returns, or 25% , or whatever number is pulled out of a hat, but it is just not possible.

The public do not accept that you have sit on the sideline in this dispute and nor do we .

We believe if you met with both parties and came  a realistic settlement then your re-election is more likely.  The mana that would be achieved by reaching a solution would become the stuff of legends .

If you don’t many of your supporters will regard you as a Claytons Labour mayor. The position you  have taken aligns  you not with your people but with John Key,  the man who  is also kicking your  aspirations for a transport solution for your city, for a six .

We  urge you to become the leader we all hoped you would be and come out of this dispute with honour.  

Not Smart Thinking

This blog was published as the lead letter  in the New  Zealand Herald Friday  9 March

The decision by the port company to contract out its workforce is not smart thinking . It is a very expensive folly that will not bring productivity  increases or increased dividends to Auckland City . The proud health and safety  record of the port could well disappear. Tauranga has had three workforce deaths within the last two  years whereas Auckland has had none.

New Zealand needs  a national port strategy and in our region a three port strategy   of Whangarei, Auckland and Tauranga linked with a fast rail network serving the region .This merger  would also break the power of the global shipping lines which are playing  each port off against each other and who  are not paying a realistic rate for port services and labour. This would allow for greater returns on investment  for communities . Perhaps Mayor Brown’s 12 % return would then become realistic.    Albany could be connected to the rail network with a station and a freight distribution centre which would reduce the number of trucks that clog our roads and Auckland would become the aspirational and  liveable city that Mayor Brown was elected to deliver .

Because this takes a national vision to achieve it is always easier to demonize a waterfront workforce  than make  rational decisions. We will probably  slip behind the East Coast Australian ports in performance. The poor  rate payers will be paying for this foolish decision of the Port Company and the mayor.

Volvo Ocean Race StopOver

·    Volvo Ocean Race Auckland Stopover

• Viaduct Harbour, Auckland CBD.  Thursday, 8th Mar 2012 – Sunday, 18th Mar 2012

It's back! After a ten year gap, Auckland, the world's premier sailing capital, will once again welcome the Volvo Open 70s fleet home as an official Stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Previously sponsored and named after the venerable British brewery Whitbread’ Round the World Race. Auckland was the most popular port of call for these boats and crews.    New Zealand sailors were prominent in many of the teams .The late Sir Peter Blake was involved with all of Whitbread races from the original race of 1973/1974 winning the1989/1990 race in style with Steinlager 11

In March 2012 Auckland will stage the Leg 4 finish from Sanya in China and the start of Leg 5, which takes the fleet into the Southern Ocean once again, round the infamous Cape Horn and up to a finish and Stopover in Itajai, Brazil.

The Volvo Ocean Race at 39270 nautical miles is acknowledged as the greatest test of sailing prowess and human endeavour as the world’s fastest monohulls race a nine month marathon around the globe deep into the bleak latitudes of the Southern Ocean and through the world’s most hostile seas. There is a kiwi connection as all the boats have the Canting keel designed by Jim Young one of New Zealand’s gret designers   

Each Stopover features an In-Port Race, with points counting towards the Volvo Ocean Race overall standings, and a Pro-Am Race.

The boats are due to arrive in Auckland on Thursday 8 March. The Pro-Am Race is scheduled for the Friday 16 March with the In-Port Race on Saturday 17 March. The Start of Leg 5 will take place on Sunday 18 March.

The last Auckland Stopover was a decade ago, during the 2001/2002 Race which made a memorable  maritime experience and we are set  do it again with lots of entertainment and partying on the city.  Auckland Viaduct will be transformed into a vibrant Race Village for the Stopover with the new Viaduct Events Centre acting as Race HQ and a packed programme of entertainment on Latitude Island.

And, best of all, many things are free

Full details will be announced over the coming months.

www.volvooceanraceauckland.com/

Brown Street Ponsonby Knocking Shop

The decision to allow the Brown Street Ponsonby  brothel to continue  to operate without a resource  consent is wrong.

This decision by council  offices  is  akin to putting the cart before the horse. This  is  the formula that council planners work by . The brothel is not the issue and it is not  the only business to be given this favour .Boutique  accommodation has also been allowed to operate in this way . Well run and legitimate businesses are like good and considerate  drivers, they  obey the rules .

If the council allows any business to operate without resource consent  why would business owners go to the effort and cost to do  things properly and safely?

For Brown Street residents the issue is not the brothel. The issue is with people working in a business that offers  thirty minute to an hour service so the resulting  traffic movements in a narrow residential  street is simply not manageable .There will be issues such as noise and sometimes lost and  inebriated men will disturb neighbours at unreasonable times.

Businesses can create problems in neighbourhoods that’s why it is essential to have resource consent to ensure the public interest  is served .

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Paget Street: Community Board should have final say

This was published an abridged  form in the Weekend  Edition of the New Zealand Herald 28 January 2012

The decision to allow the demolition of 18 Paget St  is wrong. A city council report states ‘it was also possible that a different conclusion could have been reached which would have been equally defensible’. So why demolish this house ? The purchaser knew the rules so did council officers who flatly refused to enforce them . In any other job this would be a sacking offense.

Mr McKay realises ‘our community in Auckland is definitely moving to more  protection and more care and concern for our built heritage.’

Aucklanders voted overwhelmingly for councillors to do exactly that . The breakdown has been with the council employees  who don’t believe in heritage and pay lip service to the electorate.

There is some hope that the council has finally learnt and that community boards and senior management be briefed, but is this enough? Will senior management back their elected community boards or will they buckle as they have at Paget and Turua Street? How often have we heard the mantra “it will not happen again”?

The local community boards should always have  the final word to address public concern.

Soho hole in Ponsonby transformed into art

All photos by Jane Gilkison

The Colours Of Our Community is a project directed by Mark Castle of The French Art Shop

   and sponsored by Resene paints and Progressive Enterprises.

.The walls are being painted by leading Auckland  artists .Otis  Frizzell,Karl Maughan ,  Askew O'Donnell ,Dan Tippet ,Adrian Jackman and Darryl Thompson.

This is a substantial contribution to the public art of Auckland and when all four hundred  meters of panels are  completed may be one of the largest contemporary murals in the universe.

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. The murals  depict the built and social heritage of Ponsonby ,A celebration our multiracial complexion and our colouful fauna and flora.

The first  two completed panels

Otis Frizzell, Dan Tippett, Adrian Jackman and Karl Maughan have been invited to work with The Colour of Our Community.

This is  a community-driven beautification project with support from Progressive Enterprises, the Auckland Council, Artstation, and the Ponsonby Business Association.

This is  a continuing story  of the Spirt of Ponsonby where community and art walk hand and hand.

  Each artist has been asked to design and paint a 12-metre mural which reflects the “colours of our community”, as well as becoming mentors to various local community groups who will be completing other sections of the hoardings currently surrounding the Ponsonby site known as Soho Square

Viv Rosenberg, Gerry Hill, Hemi and the artists children

Resene is the project sponsor and will underwrite most of the materials needed to complete the murals. The murals, which will stretch approximately 400m in total, will be on display during the construction phase of the development and will then be auctioned off at a charitable event.

if you are interested in this project it worth taking the Link  bus from the city and watching the work in progress,Cafes and interesting shops including The French Art Shop .

If  you want to stay a few days the best place to stay is The Great Ponsonby Art hotel

 

Not a rogues gallery but some of the most talented New  Zealanders The .artists

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Residential One Heritage Housing Protectoin

Published in the New Zealand Herald,Tuesday 17 January , 2012 As a business woman, Wynnis Armour, would have been well aware of the Residential One qualification. She would have known house when she bought her Paget Street property, she could not demolish it. Ian Smallburn, the Resource Consents Manager is ingenious with his claim that the case was too complex for the council planner . Mr Smallburn should resign. He, like Ms Armour, knows the Residential One rule and is well aware, as a council employee he is employed to enforce the council rules and implement their policies. By removing the council consultant planner Mr Jonathan Blackmore and selecting Mr Brooke Dales at the eleventh hour he failed in his duties. Decisions he has made may now be questioned. I take heritage walks through Ponsonby on a regular basis and along Paget Street the mix of the 20 century buildings is appealing and important . Among the gems are Queens Hall, built by a wealthy man for his daughter and a more modest house which was the first Auckland residence of Michael Joseph Savage. When we tamper in Residential One housing, we risk damaging our heritage and losing our history. Councillor Lee and Waitemata Community Board chairman, Shale Chambers are to be congratulated for standing up for this important economic and social issue of heritage.