Seriously Concerned About The City I call Home- Auckland !
A walk around Auckland city last night left me in disbelief. The city is falling to rack and ruin. Rates rise and the council have their head in the sand. They have just written of 65 million dollars in scrapping the automation of the container terminal. Some of that is my hard earned money, but whoosh, a flick of a pen and 65 million dollars is down the gurgler. And yet they rely on the likes of me to report dumped rubbish, litter, blocked drains, fallen trees, graffiti etc. because they do not have enough money to be proactive concerning rubbish and so they are only reactive! So they have littered the city central streets with cheap, nasty triangles of leaf littered red carpet (with a trip able edge) with just as cheap, completely out of place, concrete pipe cylinders, AKA planter boxes, full of half dead, half missing, scrappy ? natives sitting on top. Hideous!! Embarrassing! They are used to dispose of rubbish in & cigarette butts and vandalise. There are many shops for lease, (this I can understand post Covid) ram raided broken windows, homeless in many doorways, old phone box debris, bags of rubbish littering the pavements (why they do not have to use bins I do not understand) you have to walk around, graffiti, shop signage dirty and defaced, ugly planters which are unkempt, ugly temporary cheap looking scooter parking, great chunks of the city blocked with construction, speed limits at a snail’s pace, one way or no way on many streets, difficult parking, and no life or vibrancy. This city for me,is really an embarrassment to call my home. Would love to hear from other likeminded Aucklander’s, who care with some real doable ideas that we could do as a group to improve our city as not ready to let go of this city yet!
Poll: Should all neighbours have to contribute to improvements?
An Auckland court has ruled a woman doesn’t have to contribute towards the cost of fixing a driveway she shares with 10 neighbours.
When thinking about fences, driveways or tree felling, for example, do you think all neighbours should have to pay if the improvements directly benefit them?
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82.5% Yes
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14.8% No
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2.7% Other - I'll share below
Live Q&A: Garden maintenance with Crewcut
This Wednesday, we're having another Neighbourly Q&A session. This time with John Bracewell from Crewcut.
John Bracewell, former Black Caps coach turned Franchisee Development Manager and currently the face of Crewcut’s #Movember campaign, knows a thing or two about keeping the grass looking sharp—whether it’s on a cricket pitch or in your backyard!
As a seasoned Crewcut franchisee, John is excited to answer your lawn and gardening questions. After years of perfecting the greens on the field, he's ready to share tips on how to knock your garden out of the park. Let's just say he’s as passionate about lush lawns as he is about a good game of cricket!
John is happy to answer questions about lawn mowing, tree/hedge trimming, tidying your garden, ride on mowing, you name it! He'll be online on Wednesday, 27th of November to answer them all.
Share your question below now ⬇️
What's your favourite recipe for courgettes?
Kia ora neighbours. If you've got a family recipe for courgettes, we'd love to see it and maybe publish it in our magazine. Send your recipe to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, and if we use it in the mag, you will receive a free copy of our January 2025 issue.