After a decade in business on Auckland’s North Shore, the multi-storey complex that once attracted out-of-town shoppers has finally closed its doors. Its owner, fashion designer Karen Walker, explains why The Department Store had run its course. Opening an upmarket shopping hub is the last thing you’d expect to be doing in the middle of … Read more
Having just returned from a trip to Spain, Avondale resident Maria Slade wonders what New Zealand can do to create more spaces for locals to gather and hang out. The Spanish have a thing they call la hora de paseo – literally, the hour to walk. It occurs after the strangely quiet time of the … Read more
The power balance of the incoming Auckland Council could be decided by two overheated local debates about a golf course and a carpark. Hayden Donnell reports. The Spinoff local election coverage is entirely funded by The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism click here. Albert-Eden local board member Graeme … Read more
An ancient grove of pōhutukawa on Takapuna beach was once used by Māori to prepare the dead for burial. Today the trees are frail and pose a danger to the path below. Mana whenua want it closed but some residents want to keep it open as it provides easy access to the beach. There’s a … Read more
A rogue Auckland Council email footer has sparked a wave of angst and recriminations in the sleepy North Shore suburb Takapuna. Hayden Donnell explains footergate – and how it fits into the broader conspiracy culture in local government. These are the facts we know about the email the lobby group Generation Zero sent out to its … 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
Co-working space B:HIVE opened its first two floors in December and a third in February, so it’s a good time to check on its progress as it attempts to scale up the benefits of shared workspaces to the size of a five-storey building. Gareth Shute talks to two B:HIVE tenants and Smales Farm CEO Paul … Read more
There’s a big carpark on Takapuna’s Anzac Street and the council wants your imaginative ideas for what to do with it. Councillor Chris Darby has been thinking about movies… When does a carpark become something better than a carpark? Panuku Development Auckland, the development arm of Auckland Council, is asking for ideas from the public … Read more