He’s a green-eyed charmer and dashing dresser, regularly snapped sipping champagne and mingling with A-listers at all the right events.

But when the party’s over, it’s to good old Mt Albert that local boy-turned-international model and television personality Colin Mathura-Jeffree heads home.

Fiercely proud of the suburb he grew up in and returned to after a successful stint overseas, our very own local celebrity wouldn’t consider living anywhere else in Auckland.

Mt Albert, he says, was and remains “proper New Zealand”. With its strong sense of community and happy family memories, living here suits him right down to the ground. And it’s got great cafes!

Colin’s career trajectory is the stuff of a movie script — good-looking and colourful Anglo-Indian lad raised in suburban Auckland who was discovered one day as he walked down Queen St with his sister.

His modelling career saw him walking for Versace and led him to India — the first in four generations of his family to go — where he was based for several years.

Then it was back to New Zealand, where he quickly built a profile as a fashionista and social butterfly. But don’t be fooled, it’s not all parties and play. He has built a successful business being Colin Mathura-Jeffree, model, brand ambassador and television host.

Before all that, there was growing up in Sandringham and Mt Albert. The very charming Colin was clearly always popular. As a youngster, he was always part of a moving mass of kids at play roaming the streets and up on the mountain itself after school.

Many of the friends he made at Edendale Primary have remained friends for life. His Facebook page shows photos from a reunion held at the Lord Kitchener bar in Sandringham at the end of last year. Of course, everyone’s much older, but they’re still teasing him about his enduring passion for dinosaurs.

Colin’s early years were spent in Sandringham, before the family moved more into Mt Albert so he and his elder brother could attend Mt Albert Grammar School.

Growing up as an Anglo-Indian in 1970s Auckland had its interesting points, even without a colourful personality and pronounced love of fashion.

He remembers staying over at friends’ houses and struggling through offerings of curried sausages from well-meaning parents. “They told me it was something they thought I might like,” he says.

“After that, living in India was an interesting experience. In New Zealand, we were considered Indian, but in India I was considered a New Zealander,” he says.

MAGS, too, was largely a happy experience. Despite being “rather naughty”, he claims to have stayed out of any serious trouble, although he remembers run-ins with staff, caused not so much for what he had done but who he was.

Things came to a bit of head in his seventh-form year. At the start of term one, he remembers being summoned, against a background of oohs and aahs from classmates, to the office of then-headmaster Greg Taylor.

“We hadn’t crossed paths before and Mr Taylor said he wanted to meet me. I had received the highest number of votes for prefect from staff and fellow pupils and he wanted to know why.

“Quick as a flash I replied, ‘Because it’s a boys’ school and I have a very beautiful sister’.”

Colin also remembers leading a mini rebellion against the newly introduced school uniform. There was no way he was going to be seen in polo shirt and shorts — “that was far too low rent”.

Instead, he marched off to the school uniform shop, found a school tie, and together with a group of like-minded friends turned up in white shirt and tie and trousers.

“We got a lot of support from a lot of people in the community. They thought we looked very sophisticated and like students from a private school, which they liked.”

These days, he lives in the heart of Mt Albert and is busy preparing for his new television show, The Great NZ Dance Masala, an Indian dance competition series.

If you see him at a local cafe, chances are he’s there for a business meeting — “I always arrange to get them to come and see me in Mt Albert.”

Good to know that Mt Albert remains a key part of the Colin Mathura-Jeffree brand.

The post Meet Colin Mathura-Jeffree appeared first on Mt Albert Inc.

The post A peaceful haven on the edge of the motorway and Chamberlain Park – Meola Creek at Rawalpindi Reserve. Picture: Bruce Morris appeared first on Mt Albert Inc.

Marian Caulfield, who took up the reins at our oldest primary school at the beginning of the fourth term, spent several years at Gladstone Primary as deputy principal in the 1990s.

It was the memory of her time at Gladstone that tempted her to make the move from Dominion Road Primary, where she had been principal for the past 17 years.

“Working in the Mt Albert community again really appealed to me and I had heard good things about this school, so this opportunity came up at a good time,’ she says.

Marian Caulfield (pictured here with some of the school’s pupils) is described in Dominion Rd Primary’s most recent ERO report as a “respected and trusted principal”.

She says her first priority is to get to know her new school community and has lost no time in arranging a series of sessions during her first month at the school for parents to meet her.

It is, she says, too early to start talking about her aspirations for the school, but her first impressions are of a friendly and diverse school community, with pupils and families engaged in learning.

The new principal is diplomatic in her choice of words when questioned about perceptions that the school may not be the preferred option for many families in the community.

“Every school wants to be the school of choice for their community – Mt Albert Primary School is no different to that, and I will be working with staff and board towards that goal.”

Mt Albert Primary school was established in 1869, and now has 23 classes, with a staff of 35 and a roll of over 500 pupils.

The school has seen considerable roll growth in recent years, particularly across the last 18 months, prompting the introduction of an enrolment zone earlier this year of which a portion overlaps neighbouring Gladstone School’s zone.

This is quite a turn-around from the previous two decades where the roll languished compared to neighbouring schools, hitting a low of 153 in 2005.

Former Principal Unasa Enosa Auva’a was farewelled from Mt Albert Primary at the end of Term 1 this year, after spending 26 years at the school.

Jenni Austin

The post New principal’s aim – ‘choose us’ appeared first on Mt Albert Inc.

It may sound an odd trek to deliver one of the world’s most popular food choices to a local audience. But Marcelo (pictured here), one of the two Brazilians behind Taco Loco café at 847 New North Rd (where Sprout once lived), reckons it will all be worth it in the end.

He left Brazil in 2002 in his mid-20s and headed for Portugal, where he got on-the-job training as a chef. Three years later, with valuable kitchen time behind him, he was back in his home country – and quickly deciding he had to get out and see more of the world.

He settled on New Zealand, coming here to learn to speak English, and found himself in the kitchen of a Ponsonby Rd restaurant for six years, teaming up with fellow Brazilian Roger Mordes.

They both loved Mexican food (taste buds provoked by Roger’s three years in Mexico) and, with cooking guidance from two Mexican friends, started testing Kiwi palates at Auckland night markets in carpark buildings across the city. But on top of day jobs, it was a lot of work for small reward.

So they turned to a cheap caravan (bought on Trade Me, of course), refitted it as a food wagon and found much more in their pockets by plying their Mexican food trade at events and markets and catering for special occasions

Long story short: the food truck became a regular at the Mt Albert Friday night food market and the lads, with supportive wives, jumped at the chance to take up the Sprout lease.

They started trading in a low-key way, serving just coffee for the first week or two. But now they’ve moved to stage two: seven-days-a-week (6.30am-3pm Monday to Friday; 8am-3pm Saturday and Sunday) for breakfast and lunch with menu items like huevos rancheros (eggs, tortilla and beans), quesadillas, tacos, chilli con carne and, of course, nachos.

Stage three is just around the corner – opening Friday nights to coincide with the regular food market and then, when summer arrives, they hope to extend evening trade to Wednesday-to-Sunday, closing about 10pm.

No liquor licence yet, but it may not be too far away. Marcelo is anxious, though, to let locals know he’s not setting up a pub.

Taco Loco (“crazy taco”) will in time be a relaxed family-oriented café where people can enjoy a beer or glass of wine with their nachos and quesadillas. He’s aiming for a bubbly, friendly atmosphere with reasonable prices where everyone is out the door by 10pm.

“The food will be everything – the best fresh ingredients with the Mexican flavours we have spent a long time perfecting,” says Marcelo. “I make the best chicken quesadillas!”

Are he and Roger just a little worried that locals won’t take to their version of another country’s cuisine?

“We started with no money and we learnt a lot as we went along,” he says. “It was a struggle. But we know the food we make is great and we also know that everything is going to be all right.”

Bruce Morris

The post Muchas gracias – pass the chilli! appeared first on Mt Albert Inc.

Of course, some people are better at getting off their backsides to fight for their corner than others. But the Facebook era (“give ‘em a spray and I’m away”) has allowed too many to sit at their keyboards and imagine they’re making a contribution with a flippant remark or ill-informed comment.

Interesting to contrast two stories on this page: the opening of the new $26m shared path and the cavalier attitude of a developer (with little concern from the council) over the burnt-out shell of the old Four Kauri Medical Centre building.

Go back 12 to 15 years when the SH20 extension to Waterview was starting to bubble, and study the effort and impact of true neighbourhood activism over a cause that might otherwise have slipped under the radar.

It took a handful of people to stand up and mobilise a community against the prospect of a 1950s motorway cutting a swath through their backyards. If not for the commitment and energy of that initial handful – and the support they gathered along the way – would we now have the Waterview tunnels and the shared path? Doubt it.

Now turn to the Four Kauri site. To me, it’s a disgrace it has sat there for over two years since it was sold, and judging from the reaction to the story, most people agree with that.

Why hasn’t the council required the developer to demolish the ruins and spare neighbours and the rest of us the ugly sight at the main gateway to Mt Albert? The council says it doesn’t have the power. Really? Well it needs to get the power and show us those fancy salaries are worth our rate money.

While the hovel sitting in an overgrown jungle at 728 New North Rd is hardly in the same category as a motorway charging through our neighbourhood, the response was interesting.

The Mt Albert Community Facebook page, with a mix of commonsense, concern and dopeyness, featured a lively debate over the Mt Albert Inc story. But no one stepped up to say ‘let’s do something about it’ – in the way Margi Watson and the others did over the motorway all those years ago.

I also got this note from someone who lives close to the ruins: “I doubt very much that the owners, property manager or the council will read the article and take any action whatever.”

The story would not have shaken the town hall foundations, sure, but correcting wrongs takes a bit of effort. You’ve got to climb off your backside and get away from Facebook screens!

If 20 people used the story as a catalyst for action and formed a united front, badgering the local board and demanding meetings with our ward councillors – and keeping on their backs right through to the next election – we might be surprised at what could be achieved.

But playing keyboard warrior on Facebook will certainly get us nowhere.

Bruce Morris

The post Opinion: standing up for causes appeared first on Mt Albert Inc.

A train of 18 ballast waggons, drawn by a heavy engine, broke away as it was running down the grade from the scoria pit at Mount Albert yesterday morning, and crashed into eight stationary trucks on the siding above the Mount Albert station. Five of the trucks were destroyed, some damage was done to the engine, and for nearly two hours traffic on the main Kaipara line was disorganised. Shortly before 10 o’clock the train was stalled from the scoria tip below the quarry, the 18 hopper waggons’ and the brake van which it comprised being hauled by an 80-ton engine of the WF class. The grade of the branch line is 1 in 40 crossing the main road and curving round into a siding with a dead-end a short distance above the Mount Albert railway station. Six of the trucks were fitted with Westinghouse brakes, which were connected with the locomotive, and on four of the others the hand brakes had been put on. The load represented about 63 tons of scoria, and in ordinary circumstances the brake-power would have been sufficient to control the progress of the train, but the rails were slippery, and as the train was approaching the level crossing it broke away and ran down the incline at a rapidly-increasing speed. The driver, McPhail, endeavoured to arrest it by reversing the engine, but his action was ineffective.

Trucks Reduced to Scrap.

There was fortunately no traffic upon the level crossing as the runaway train passed over it, for in less favourable circumstances a more serious result must have attended the accident. The train ran on to the siding at a considerable speed, until it was brought to a standstill by colliding with a string of eight ballast trucks of the M class, loaded with scoria, which were standing at the end of the line. The result was the immediate destruction of five of the trucks, the derailment of the locomotive, and the blocking of the main line. One truck was thrown upon the one next to it, and the two vehicles which received the full force of the impact were reduced to scrap, the woodwork being broken into kindling, and the iron framework being shattered. Three of the other trucks were overturned and damaged beyond repair. The remaining three, waggons were only slightly damaged.

Train Crew Escape Injury.

The locomotive was completely derailed, and immediately it left the line it ploughed into the ballast until the main structure was resting upon the ground. The cow-catcher and other parts of the head of the engine, were badly damaged, and oil-pipes, water-leads and other frail parts were broken. None of the hopper-waggons left the rails or sustained any damage, and the driver and the fireman who remained on the engine were uninjured. At the spot where the collision occurred, the line was torn up in a remarkable fashion, one length of rail being bent into a perfectly symmetrical curve like the letter 0.

Main Line Quickly Cleared.

The wreckage caused by the collision completely blocked the main line, but no time was lost in clearing the way for traffic. The inspector of permanent ways (Mr. J. Northcott) was at the quarry at the time, and he at once summoned the relaying gang, which was at work at Avondale, and within a couple of hours, a section of about live chains of the main line was taken up and relaid round the obstruction. The passenger train from Helensville, which is due to arrive at Auckland at 10.18 a.m., reached the obstruction shortly after the accident, and it was delayed for about an hour and three-quarters, reaching Auckland a few minutes before noon. The motor-train, which left Newmarket for Henderson at 9.20 a.m., was delayed for about the same time, and when it reached its destination, it was too late to make its usual return trip, and the service from Henderson, starting at 10.27 a.m. was omitted. Another train was put on to make the 11.45 a.m. running, and this one and the 10. a.m. train to Helensville were not delayed. During the morning the ballast train was despatched to Helensville, and throughout the day a gang of men was engaged in breaking down the wreckage.

Papers Past link

The post TRAIN RUNS AWAY. COLLISION AT MT. ALBERT. FIVE WAGGONS SMASHED, PASSENGER SERVICE DELAYED. appeared first on Mt Albert Inc.

Ardern built on her election night majority – and Labour’s share of the party vote in the electorate – and left National’s Melissa Lee a distant second.

In the final result announced today, the Labour leader grew her election night majority by 3329 to a huge 15,264 – one of the largest of the country’s 71 electorates and up more than 6000 over David Shearer’s winning margin in 2014.

She won a total of 24,416 electorate votes, against 9152 for Lee, taking special votes at a rate of almost three-to-one in the contest with the National candidate.

The party vote was closer, but Labour was still dominant. It won 3667 party votes from specials in Mt Albert, pushing its share to 16,742. National grew its election night tally by 2477 to 13,112.

To an electorate that has gradually changed from the first-past-the-post Labour stronghold of some decades ago, Ardern obviously held wide appeal.

In 2014, with John Key a popular Prime Minister and Labour struggling under David Cunliffe’s leadership, Labour’s local party vote reached 10,823 on the final count – 3536 behind National.

This time the Ardern factor turned that 3536 deficit into a gain of 3630 – a 7000-plus vote turnaround.

Across the country, National’s share of the party vote dipped to 44.4 per cent, costing it two seats in the final result. Labour lifted to 36.9 per cent and gained one seat, while the Greens also won an extra seat.

But as the talks with New Zealand First on the makeup of the new Government extend over the next week, National (56 seats) hold a two seat lead over the centre-left grouping of Labour (46 seats) and the Greens (8 seats). National and Labour/Greens each need NZ First’s support to form a Government.

Bruce Morris

Go to this link for the final result in Mt Albert (scroll down to electorate breakdown)

The post Final result widens Ardern lead appeared first on Mt Albert Inc.

Really, you couldn’t call it a hurdle after what went before. Simple stuff actually – grab the scissors, cut the ribbon and join the march down the Waterview-Owairaka shared path that, without her drive at the helm of a tribe of locals, might not have happened quite this way.

“This day is just fantastic,” she said as the council and state agencies she once battled joined her to share today’s scissor-cutting duties.

The whole business goes back to 2000 when the then-Transit New Zealand started talking about its plans for SH20.

Neighbourhoods quickly grasped the full picture of a big motorway slicing through their neighbourhood and anxiety levels started to rise. Locals rallied to challenge the then-Auckland City Council, the Government and Transit NZ and demand concessions for having to suffer a 1950s-style motorway pushed through their neighbourhood in the 21st century.

As time moved on and local voices grew louder, part of the above-ground motorway became today’s 2.4km stretch of Waterview tunnel.

And an independent board of inquiry, effectively forced on the Government by the will and drive of the people, gave its support by finding there should be appropriate recompense for the loss of community amenities like parks.

Part of the result was the $26m shared path (paid by the NZ Transport Agency, Auckland Council, Auckland Transport and local boards) that officially opened today, leading through and over parks and reserves like Te Auaunga-Oakley Creek, Waterview Glades, Phyllis Reserve, Harbutt Reserve, Alan Wood Reserve, Kukuwai Park and Valonia Reserve. Next year, work will start on the Avondale-New Lynn segment.

Margi Watson, these days an Albert Eden Local Board member, was there for most of the long journey – through marches, protests and endless meetings, and today was very special.

She knew that from almost the time the sun was up that local people would just love their new walkway. As the iwi blessing broke the morning calm, kids and their parents, dog walkers, cyclists and skaters were already enjoying their new patch.

At the ribbon cutting ceremony Margi wasn’t interested in taking credit for her role, pointing to the vigorous community, great legal support and fellow board members like Graeme Easte for their contributions. Not to mention the board of inquiry members who forced a shift in attitude from NZTA that would continue to benefit a growing Auckland.

But everyone there knew whose day it really was.

Bruce Morris

Link to the board of inquiry report

The post Margi’s day as pathway opens appeared first on Mt Albert Inc.

So how did you get to Mt Albert?

I originally lived in Mt Albert in the early 1990s. I’d just left uni and had taken up a short-term really crappy admin job at Auckland College of Education over the summer. This job quickly evolved into a substantially better full-time position, and I enjoyed three years at Taumata Rd, where I’d taken up a flatmate vacancy through a friend. I loved Mt Albert then and had a particular fondness for the mountain and for Alberton. I left Mt Albert in about 1994, but returned in 2004 and have been here ever since. It feels like home.

Tell us about your childhood

I grew up in the UK and had quite a blissful childhood really, full of woodlands, dog walks, family, friends, and countryside. We emigrated to New Zealand when I was 15, which was quite a traumatic experience at the time as it was much against my will. We wound up living in Te Awamutu. I was going through a rebellious teenage punk phase, and there were definitely no punks in TA, despite me frantically searching for them!

Your first job?

Depends on what you mean by first? As a school student I worked part-time in Woolworths, Te Awamutu. Back then you got time-and-a-half for evening shifts, and double time on weekends, so I did pretty well for a 15-year-old! But before that, I’d worked my butt off cleaning out stables, as an under-12, in exchange for free rides on horses! My first ‘real’ full-time job, however, was as schools liaison secretary for the School of Secondary Education, ACE. Several years after that, I moved into publishing and graphic design.

The most uplifting moment of your life?

Probably visiting Rome for the first time, walking around a quiet street corner and unexpectedly simply ‘coming across’ The Pantheon.

The saddest?

Endings… without going into too much detail, deaths of people, of dreams, of expectations and of future plans.

Things you’ve learnt about life that you will take to your grave?

Experiences are the only currency that count; creating good memories is what it’s all about; the people that you expect to be there for you, sometimes aren’t, but other people, who you didn’t expect, continue to surprise you with their kindness and generosity.

What’s made you very proud?

My partner and I taking on two young children who are not ours by birth, to give them a forever home. These children had a difficult start in life, and I am immensely proud of the fact that we have provided them with a loving family and some great experiences. It’s a challenge at times, but we don’t regret it for a moment.

What makes you damned angry?

Uggggh, don’t get me started! I turn increasingly into Victor Meldrew with each passing year… but I guess fundamentally that dishonesty and injustice are my main bug bears.

What could you not do without?

A nice cuppa tea! Oh, and my furry friends… and my partner, Ronnie, of course!

The thing you have always wanted to crack but haven’t yet managed?

To fully develop my artistic career. I still consider it to be a work in progress.

Who are the people (past and present) you most look up to?

They are many and varied and constantly changing, but I guess my key go-to people are artists such as Tracey Emin and Yayoi Kusama, film makers Mike Lee and Ken Loach, musicians such as Morrissey, Nick Cave, and Thom Yorke, and British comedian Stewart Lee.

What personal frailty (in others) do you most detest?

Regretfully, I am not overly tolerant of sniffing people with allergies, having sadly developed a kind of ‘harden up’ attitude to sickly-ness.

What about yourself – do you have flaws you wish weren’t part of your make-up?

It would be beneficial if I was better at business and self-promotion.

Your perfect weekend?

A sea view, a beach just down the hill, hardly any people except those you are with (who are awesome company), some kayaking on clear, flat waters, happy children and tired animals.

And the dream holiday if money was no object?

Overseas travel. Always. Places you have never been to but always wanted to go.

What about that magic dinner party – who would share your table?

Alan Carr? Frida Kahlo? Billy Bragg? Nick Cave, deffo. Helena Bonham Carter? William Turner… oooh, Tom Hardy!

What about books and writers – what/who will stay in your mind until your dying day?

I enjoy a good, thought-provoking gritty novel: Niall Griffiths, Ian McEwan, Irvine Welsh, Nick Cave, to name but a few… (I’m aware that they’re all men! That definitely wasn’t intentional.)

Your favourite movies?

So, so many… All of Mike Lee’s and Ken Loach’s… I loved And When Did You Last See Your Father? with Colin Firth, Moulin Rouge is also a fave, and Melancholia stuck with me for ages… Geez, I love loads of movies and look forward to the Film Festival every year. I have a particular fondness for gritty British slice-of-life arthouse films, but the Aussies make a good movie too… Anything with Ben Mendelsohn in it is usually good, and NZ’s own Sam Neill — he was amazing in that lovely little film Dean Spanley.

Watch much television? Favourite shows?

Talking of Sam Neill, you can’t go past Peaky Blinders for a bit of Brit grit, and I enjoyed Carnivále… Stranger Things was awesome and gave me the heebie geebies for days… but to be honest I don’t watch much TV, as such. I tend to find series that I like and then me and my partner binge on them big time. We can watch re-runs of Alan Partridge or Saxondale till the cows come home.

Your biggest concerns for the future (locally and elsewhere)?

Waste, plastics, global warming, pollution, islands made of plastic bottles, poisoning, obesity and cheap, fast, preservative-filled food, the increasing chasm between rich and poor, decreases in social conscience and community shared responsibility. Films like I, Daniel Blake really pinpoint an alarming rise in systemised, privatised, and centralised public “services” that fail to deal with individuals on a personal basis. (See comment above, ‘Don’t get me started!’).

What do you particularly like about Mt Albert… and/or hate?

It is just the right amount of distance from the city for me, and not too far away from those beautiful west coast beaches either. I love the fact that I personally know the majority of my neighbours, and that we do things old-school, like swapping veges and bringing over home baking. I love the fact that we know our local community board as real people, ditto many of our shop owners and local businesses.

I love our cultural diversity, and the fact that our town is constantly striving to improve itself. Alberton has always held a special place in my heart, as does our mountain Owairaka, and the walkway along Oakley Creek. In general, most of us here in Mt Albert are friendly, approachable, and want what’s best for our community. I do get frustrated by the traffic, and am very saddened by recent losses in green space, and the Government’s insistence on road building rather than public transport investment.

If money was no object, what would you spend it on to make Mt Albert a better place?

If money was really no object, I would buy up Unitec’s un-wanted land (before they develop it and sell it off) and turn it into a beautiful public park (along the lines of Cornwall Park) instead of it becoming a huge sprawling housing development. I would spend millions earthquake-proofing the historic hospital buildings that currently exist on site and turn them into maisonette flats and a vibrant creative community of art spaces and workshops.

Aware of Auckland’s need for more homes, I would be happy to see additional housing developments in Mt Albert, but would ensure that all new housing projects are architecturally-designed and beautiful, eco-friendly and green (both in terms of how they operate and how they look), adding benefit to our community, and visually enhancing our streetscapes in a way that encourages community engagement and participation. I would invest funds researching and creating more tiny houses, building smaller spaces that address the housing shortage rather than financially benefiting developers.

I think we should be building ‘up’ rather than ‘out’ and would love to see ‘green buildings’ that incorporate trees, plants and green space vertically. I would upgrade all of the buildings in the main shopping area, giving them a colourful facelift while preserving their historical significance.

I would employ a team of locals whose job it was to maintain the shopping precinct (it being laden with plants and flowers, public seating, and artworks that I had put in). I would go around slapping heritage status on all local buildings worthy of preserving, so that they remain intact and free from destruction to maintain a historical visual link to the Mt Albert of 100-plus years ago.

And, of course, if money was really no object, I would ensure that we had enough resources to benefit those in need… I’ve sadly seen people sleeping rough in their cars in my very own Mt Albert street, and if I had the money to ensure these people were properly looked after, I would be happy to spend it on them.

I’d also employ full-time caretakers/security guards/gardeners to live on site and maintain our public parks. And I’d dump millions into improving infrastructure, public transport, and social welfare… I’d bring back the community constable and pay for them to have a full-time local role. In fact, I’d pay for a team of local police and crime-busters… Ahhhh, if only…

• If you’d like to have a go at our Q and A, we’ll send you the form. Contact us
  

The post Q and A: spotlight on Zoe Nash appeared first on Mt Albert Inc.

The post Hiccups on HNZ Asquith site appeared first on Mt Albert Inc.

Hardly a surprise, but the board is moving ahead with its steps to implement its Chamberlain Park masterplan – aiming to develop a local park and playground, new paths and cycleways, restore the Waititiko/Meola Creek and provide for a quality nine-hole golf course (in place of the present 18-hole course) and driving range.

It also maintains its strong position on the Mt Albert Aquatic Centre, declaring it will continue to advocate to the council through its 10-year budget process for a replacement pool in Mt Albert or another appropriate Albert-Eden site.

That “another appropriate Albert-Eden site” gives a clue to how difficult it may be to retain a public pool in Mt Albert once the aquatic centre on the Mt Albert Grammar School grounds shuts in something like five-to-eight years.

The board is including a new pool in its Chamberlain Park redevelopment plans, with council land behind Rocket Park also in its broad sights. But if neither makes the cut – because of traffic issues or local objections, say – the board appears to be saying it may have to consider other sites within its boundary but outside Mt Albert rather than lose the facility to another area.

The 2017 plan, adopted last week, also reinforces the board commitment to the Mt Albert civic square – the present carpark behind Albert’s Post, with stairway to the railway bridge, that is tied up until 2022 by historic lease arrangements.

The objective has always been to develop an appealing square on the small block to give the town centre real focus, but the board’s best intentions came unstuck when the council ran headfirst into the rigid leases.

Local board plans are strategic documents that are adopted every three years to set a direction for the local area that reflects community priorities and preferences.

They guide local board activity, funding and investment decisions and also influence local board input into regional strategies and plans, including the Auckland Plan (the 30-year vision for Auckland), the council’s 10-year budget and annual budgets.

But any plan from a local board can come unstuck if the money isn’t there. All boards have made their cases under the council’s 10-year plan due to be adopted in June next year – and that will be a huge balancing act with major capital works on the horizon and ratepayers showing no appetite for big rate rises.

As Albert-Eden chair Peter Haynes notes: “This balancing act may impact local boards’ ability to carry out all the key initiatives in their local board plans.”

In his preamble to the 2017 plan, Dr Haynes said the plan built on the board’s work to make Albert-Eden a “safer, livelier, greener place that is easier to traverse, cherishes its heritage, and offers better choices to play, work and do business”.

He was pleased to see such a high level of feedback – second highest in the 21 local boards – and pointed to “seven outcome areas to guide our efforts over the next three years”. They were:

• We are all proud to live in Albert-Eden and feel that we belong. Our community is connected and everyone’s involvement is welcomed. We are able to come together to support each other, and to celebrate our diversity.
• Everyone can access the parks we share in Albert-Eden, and use them in ways that enhance their lifestyles. As a community we feel a shared ownership of our parks, and we take care of them together.
• Our shared facilities underpin our strong community. They provide diverse and inclusive spaces that meet the changing needs of people of all ethnicities and ages. We have spaces that are inviting, flexible and well used by multiple community groups.
• Our town centres are attractive to locals and visitors alike. Our local businesses are well supported and thriving, driving a strong local economy that creates opportunities for everyone in Albert-Eden. Well-established business networks foster innovation, growth and sustainability.
• It is simple to travel between the many places in our area that people want to visit. We have a range of options to meet the different needs of our community. We have quality public transport and our streets are safe and enjoyable to use.
• Our community has a strong awareness of our area’s heritage. We are proud of the features that give our area its unique character, and work together to protect and preserve them.
• Our community cares for our environment and develops innovative ways to look after it. Our natural landscape is healthy and well looked after.

Bruce Morris

Read the full plan at this link.

Go to Big issues page for details on Chamberlain Park, the village upgrade and the pool’s future

The post Key issues at heart of board plan appeared first on Mt Albert Inc.

The post Please come along for the ride appeared first on Mt Albert Inc.