A privilege to have the opportunity to write for this two-bit magazine…

We’re nearly two thirds of the way through the year again; what a funny old world we are living in and God knows where it is all going to end.

A big decision for us all is, do we get the vaccine or not? Do you want to travel again or do you never really want to step offshore again? I have had a pretty good look at the world, at times through the end of an empty glass. I’ve still got a lot of New Zealand to look at. 

It seems like our lives are in limbo and have been for the past 18 months. I think people of my age may have had the best of it, travelling the world at will, hopping on an aeroplane and hopping off, entering new countries at their arrival gates to be greeted by friends. Now, what drama it is to go travelling anywhere, let alone return back home.  Currently, I think it’s in the “can’t be bothered department”. We all took it so much for granted, the freedoms that we had.

Bayswater Marina – I wonder what is going on down there. I have heard that there are going to be 90-plus apartments, then I’ve heard also that the owner is going to split the land into super lots to be sold to different developers to develop as they wish. This could be a long-drawn-out process, creating a construction site for many years, fundamentally to the detriment of marina berth holders, who now have no information on their rights, parking areas or in fact the whole future of the marina as it stands today.  What sort of pressure is a development of this size going to put on the current infrastructure, roads, sewers, water etc. which basically hasn’t been upgraded since after the Second World War, when Bayswater was transformed from market garden areas to residential. I have had it on very good authority that there are going to be an extra 3000 houses in the Takapuna to Devonport peninsula area in the next 10 years because of the change in the Unitary Plan. I’ve discussed all this before, we have a Government and a Council that are bent and determined to pack as many people in as they can.

I’m really gutted to see that after lying idle and in a state of disrepair, the wharf at the Devonport Yacht Club has finally been demolished. Also, the slipway at the end of Huia Street Devonport, adjacent to the Naval Base, has been demolished. The wharf and the slipway serviced local boat owners at the yacht club and around Devonport; it’s an absolute disgrace that these facilities have been demolished with no plan to replace them. Again, another erosion of our amenities, yet they can find a quarter of a million dollars to erect an unwanted sculpture, which was unceremoniously dumped upon us, again to the detriment of the view at the end of Devonport Wharf. They found enough money to erect dozens of signs all along the waterfront, for dog walking, bird protection etc though. 

I got caught up on the Harbour Bridge recently, in my diesel ute, in the howl of a protest, and I was pretty proud to be part of the farmers and contractors demonstration against Government policy with regards to farming regulations. It was a great demonstration right throughout the country showing the enormous frustration people have with Government policies. 

I believe there are a few more things people could demonstrate about. I don’t understand how unemployment could have doubled since Labour became Government. I talk to many small business owners and the biggest pressing problem they have is labour. So how do we have a big unemployment problem and yet we cannot get workers?

Congratulations to the North Shore Premier rugby side on their Championship Final victory at North Harbour Stadium in July, which saw them defeat their arch rivals, Takapuna, on a rainswept filthy afternoon, the final going down to the final second with a score of 12-11. A great victory for the green and whites.

Also I see that the rabble rouser bar owner Leo Molloy is putting his hand up to be Mayor of Auckland. What a fantastic thing that would be. He’s a straight-shooting businessman originating from the West Coast of the South Island, who would shake a few people up. It’s also rumoured that Mayor Goff will be shunted off to Washington as our new Ambassador. God help us.

And here’s another one: it is time Metro buses stopped running their huge diesel dinosaur buses in and out of Devonport and up Lake Road, carrying sometimes up to six passengers at peak times. It’s time we had smaller passenger buses and here’s a thought, maybe connecting with the ferries.

Well that’s it for the month of August. Next month we will be looking down the barrel at Christmas again. Thanks for reading for my column and to the people who come up to me at the supermarket, in the streets, the hardware shop, and the footy club and vent their frustrations at what is going on. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to write for this two-bit magazine.

Ed's note: Simon, I loved your grumpy last sentence so much it had to be the headline!


By: , Gundry's Grumbles

Issue 122 August 2021