Welcome to the first Spinoff Auckland serial: The Bakers’ Tale, Brian Ng’s story of a couple of guys and a pastry stall at La Cigale market. Episode 1: Starting with a thousand leaves. Ever the Frenchman, Ben Chevre’s first question when talking to a girl was if she had a boyfriend. Of course, if she … Read more
It’s not just the sailing, or the tourism, or the technology. Major sports events give cities the best chance they ever get to transform themselves – so, asks Simon Wilson, will Auckland seize the day? And will the oil companies and other corporates currently sitting on the Tank Farm turn out to be good corporate … Read more
Remember that proposed new highway from Penrose to Onehunga, the East-West Link, set to cost close to $2 billion? Turns out no one has worked out, using current figures, if it’s worth the money – and it’s most likely no one ever will. And it’s not clear if the responsible ministers even know this. You … Read more
Opera – especially an opera like Carmen – is the world turned upside down: being good makes you miserable and being in love is a sure portent of doom. And it’s fabulous, says Simon Wilson. The best way to listen to opera is when you don’t know the language. I probably should confess I am … Read more
Better than algebra! The Greens’ Chlöe Swarbrick and Labour’s Jacinda Ardern talk personal aspirations and politics with students at an Auckland inner-city school. Jacinda Ardern told the students at ACG Senior College this week she got saddled with a nickname when she entered parliament: “Socialist Cindy”. She hates being called Cindy, although her mother has … Read more
The Official Information Act is being badly undermined and our transport planning system is broken. Researcher Harriet Gale reports on the nonsense at the heart of both problems. Sir Geoffrey Palmer has written just recently about the failure of the Official Information Act to provide true government transparency. He noted that as a country we … Read more
Last September a meditation centre in the Kaipara discovered the council had allowed a shooting club to move in almost next door. Simon Wilson went to a public meeting to find out how the battles lines are drawn. The little community hall at Makarau smells of mice and dry rot, but mildly, like it’s what … Read more
The Pacific Dance Festival, opening in Auckland tonight, brings rich and challenging expression to the stage. Leonie Hayden talks to dancer and choreographer Tia Sagapolutele. Artists are compelled to dismantle. The best of their generation are revered, reviled and remembered for being the most disruptive. But ambitious Māori and Pacific artists are eventually faced with the … Read more
In our video series Kiwis of Snapchat, comedian Tom Sainsbury sources exclusive Snapchat footage of Kiwi citizens making the news. Today, Auckland Transport parking warden Mark Chisholm walks us through his job and hints at the dark desires that lurk beneath. The Auckland section is sponsored by Heart of the City, the business association dedicated … Read more
Simon Wilson is fresh back from France and filled with enthusiasm for ways to make Auckland better. Here’s the first: a great big bike share scheme. Ten days ago I rode a bike around the Place de la Concorde. It’s that roundabout in Paris with about 10 lanes, none of them marked on the … Read more
To fix the housing crisis in Auckland, mayor Phil Goff put most of the key players in a room and locked the door. Good plan. And guess what? They’ve produced a really good report, full of good ideas and provocative proposals, says Simon Wilson. Now we’ll see who really wants to fix Auckland’s housing problems. … Read more
The government and Auckland Council have announced a two-year study of congestion charging. OK, but why aren’t they trying to fix the city’s transport crisis right now? It’s not that hard, you know, writes Simon Wilson. The government and council have announced a two-year plan to investigate congestion pricing for the inner city. It’s a … Read more
Free clothes, entertainment and more: a one-day freestore is coming to west Auckland this Saturday, writes Zaskiya Lesa. The Street Store, initially a South African venture, provides clothes for the homeless and others in need, especially families. It’s already popped up in central and south Auckland and now, hosted by Habitat for Humanity and Taniwha … Read more
It made good sense to develop the port in its current location on the Waitemata Harbour. But, says Urban Auckland’s Julie Stout, it doesn’t make sense to keep the container and mixed-goods operations there now. So what happened to the consensus agreement to find a new location? Read other contributions to this debate here. Ports … Read more
An interview with the super-sharp, furious, funny and startlingly creative Eleanor Bishop, whose acclaimed play about campus rape, Jane Doe, is on for two weeks in Auckland. When she was aged 20, Eleanor Bishop says she was struck by three things. One, she was surrounded by sexual harassment. Two, there was, thank god, feminism. And … Read more
Yes folks, hold on to your rates, it’s time for the other budget! This week’s council budget is set to get a lot of people’s backs up, writes Simon Wilson – and some of it might not even be legal. NB: An earlier version of this story attributed the distribution of white feathers to The … Read more
Now more than ever, says Simon Wilson, critics are good for restaurants and good for their customers too. The real problem in media coverage is the exact opposite: it’s uncritical feel-goodism and the lack of critics. Everyone’s a critic. It’s always been true about restaurants, because we all eat so we all know what we … Read more
Does the minister of finance understand the needs of Auckland? He lives here, so of course he does, right? Here are five things, and the speech to accompany them, that Simon Wilson would love to hear Steven Joyce deliver in his first budget speech today. Read all our Budget 2017 coverage here. 1. “Every child … Read more
The Auckland Council is going to decide soon whether begging should be banned. There’s a better approach, says Auckland City Missioner Chris Farrelly. A colleague of mine found a man waking up in Aotea Square a few winters ago. It was early in the morning and fog – it might as well have been fog … Read more
Mike Lee, councillor and former chair of the Auckland Regional Authority, explains why he thinks the Auckland Chamber of Commerce CEO Michael Barnett has got it wrong on a port sell-off – and why Mayor Phil Goff is an even bigger problem. This is part two in our debate on the future of the Auckland … Read more
The Storm in the Port is a new series in which the key players in the debate over the future of the Auckland port put their cases. First up, Auckland Chamber of Commerce CEO Michael Barnett, who argues that selling it off could be one of the best things to happen to the city in … Read more
Devonport is getting that new retirement village but developer Ryman Healthcare has agreed to make it more like, you know, a village. Is everyone happy now? Well, almost. The citizens and architects of Devonport have won their dispute with Ryman Healthcare. The company is now just one legal step away from building its new 600-unit … Read more
Sure, Alfred Ngaro screwed up royally – but there was a lot more to the National party conference this weekend. Steven Joyce let a budget secret slip, Paula Bennett stole the show, and the party revealed its 10 point plan to shut down Labour, writes Simon Wilson. “I can’t tell you how proud I am,” … Read more
Finally, some good news about traffic in Auckland. Simon Wilson sings the praises of the new spots in Shortland St. Credit where it’s due. The council has put big beige spots on Shortland St at the intersections with High St and O’Connell St and it’s all kinds of wonderful. Some people are going, what does … Read more
AT has defended its attempt to keep buses on Victoria St – thus sabotaging plans for a park along that road – by claiming the support of both the University of Auckland and AUT University. What do the universities say? Remember that plan to turn Victoria St into a limited-access roadway with a park all … Read more
Heads should roll, writes Simon Wilson. Auckland Transport is preparing to ask for government funding to build an expensive and inefficient bus route through the central city, blocking plans for a new park, despite its own analysis revealing it has chosen the wrong option. Why? How do senior executives at Auckland Transport manage to keep … Read more
Do the Devonport nimbys have a point? Is it good enough to settle for developments that are merely ‘good enough’? Simon Wilson reports on the retirement village project that has big implications for the whole city. My parents spent their last years at a Ryman Healthcare facility, so I know a little about that company’s … Read more
Prime Minister Bill English made his big pre-Budget speech in Wellington yesterday. He mentioned Auckland exactly zero times. Is this a deliberate election-year strategy, asks Simon Wilson. It’s three weeks till Budget Day. Three weeks until the government sets out the financial framework for the programme it will take into the election in September, now … Read more
Gareth Shute asks for your help in creating a map of all the venues that have existed in Auckland, from the early 20th century through to the present. With less than a month before the Volume exhibition closes, Auckland Museum has posted a series of extended reads on their website on subjects including fashion in … Read more