The gathering at the Grey Lynn Library Hall promises to take on a ‘corrupted election’, 5G, Covid-19 and ‘Satanic ritual abuse’. A new online group has formed to combat conspiracy and disinformation, and their first project is challenging an event scheduled for a council-run venue in the Auckland suburb of Grey Lynn tomorrow. Hosted by … Read more
Community initiative or commercial enterprise? How a planter box-slash-chair is trying to revolutionise berms around Auckland. On the corner of Ariki Street and Crummer Road in Grey Lynn is a cafe called Crumb. It’s a good cafe, but that’s by-the-by. It’s the berm next to Crumb that’s controversial; it’s at the centre of a dispute between … Read more
Summer reissue: An urban farm in Auckland has been raising cows for meat for years. This time, they decided to involve the community in the process – but the backlash was so intense, the plan was canned. Alice Neville talks to those involved about what went down, and what we can learn from the saga. … Read more
Instead of buying a cuppa in exchange for a place to work, Coffee Supreme is flipping the script. For the last 25 years, Coffee Supreme has done one thing very well: sourcing, roasting, brewing and selling some seriously decent coffee. Running cafes is pretty much second nature to its business. Running a shared workspace? Not … Read more
An urban farm in Auckland has been raising cows for meat for years. This time, they decided to involve the community in the process – but the backlash was so intense, the plan was canned. Alice Neville talks to those involved about what went down, and what we can learn from the saga. A sprawling, … Read more
Two Auckland friends have combined their love of tea with their passion for te reo Māori – and turned it into a business. In India, chai wallahs are an institution — you’ll find one in every alleyway, on every street corner and railway platform, making and selling tea to thirsty customers. Half a world a way … Read more
Councillors and council officers are forever going to public meetings to receive bad advice from angry people who mostly don’t know what they’re talking about. Hayden Donnell asks why. In Takapuna last week, Mayor Phil Goff, councillors and council officers stood in front of a packed meeting and got yelled at. They’d committed the crime … Read more
Employees at organic supermarket chain have reached a deal for a living wage, reports Alex Braae A strike that was set to take place outside Grey Lynn organic grocery store Harvest has been called off, after an in-principle agreement was made to progressively move all staff to a living wage. Huckleberry, who own the Grey … Read more
At a central Auckland organic supermarket, where the shelves are stocked with high end specialty foods, the workers are about to strike over low pay. And they’re not the only supermarket where workers are getting fed up. Update: Strike cancelled! More here Organic. Spray free. Superfood. Gluten free. Ethical. These are some of the words … Read more
There are protest signs all over Grey Lynn, but who do they really represent? Jolisa Gracewood and Max Robitzsch present the case for better bike riding and good planning in Auckland’s inner west. Decades from now, we’ll look back on 2017 and say: that’s when it changed. That’s when Auckland reclaimed its urban mojo, stared … Read more
After the disappointments of West Lynn, Simon Wilson proposes some principles to help the council with its suburban town planning. The possibilities for Auckland are no better expressed than on Great North Road: that wide slow slope down the ridge from Karangahape Road to St Joseph’s, the views across to the upper Waitemata and to … Read more
The council has been remaking the West Lynn shopping village on Richmond Rd in Grey Lynn, putting in bike lanes, calming the traffic and, they say, enhancing the shopper experience. What, asks Simon Wilson, could possibly go wrong? You can’t laugh. It seems pointless to cry. But Auckland Transport (AT) has just spent a couple … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today Jesse Mulligan, former celebrity figurehead for the local anti-Bunnings campaign, takes a first look around New Zealand’s most controversial hardware store. The new Bunnings is big and green with a sausage sizzle and a playground. In these respects it … Read more
When the council took a much-loved piece of playground equipment out of Grey Lynn Park, the kids fought back. Monkey bars – remember them? That moment you found the courage to walk upright on the top! And when you discovered you were strong enough to hold your own weight, swinging from one rung to the … Read more