Mount Roskill, Auckland

627 days ago

Glitter bombs, joy and politics: The history of Auckland's Big Gay Out

Melanie Earley Reporter from Central Leader

Kia ora neighbours, twenty-two years ago a couple of hundred members of Auckland’s rainbow community gathered in Point Chevalier’s Coyle Park for a family-friendly picnic.

At the first-ever Big Gay Out, a small stage was set up for performances from local bands and drag queens, and while the… View more
Kia ora neighbours, twenty-two years ago a couple of hundred members of Auckland’s rainbow community gathered in Point Chevalier’s Coyle Park for a family-friendly picnic.

At the first-ever Big Gay Out, a small stage was set up for performances from local bands and drag queens, and while the smell of a sausage sizzle wafted through the air attendees played games like “toss the handbag” and tug of war, along with running races in stilettos.

Kevin Dunseath, better known by his drag persona The Outrageous Miss Ribena, was emceeing that event and said he had “no idea” so many years later it would be going strong and attracting crowds in the thousands.

Read the full story by clicking read more.

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626 days ago

Flood Images Wanted

The Team from Auckland Council

Help us make our communities more resilient to storms. Visit the link below to upload photos, videos and details of flooding in your neighbourhood.

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626 days ago

Auckland water prices to rise 9.5 per cent

Brian from Mount Roskill

Watercare’s board of directors confirmed the increase from July 1, which follows the price path approved by the board of directors in December 2020. It was included in Auckland Council’s Long-Term Plan which was formally adopted in June 2021, after public consultation.
Watercare chief … View more
Watercare’s board of directors confirmed the increase from July 1, which follows the price path approved by the board of directors in December 2020. It was included in Auckland Council’s Long-Term Plan which was formally adopted in June 2021, after public consultation.
Watercare chief executive Dave Chambers said since the board approved the price path the organisation has “faced significant challenges”, including “very high rates of inflation and extreme weather events ranging from drought to the recent floods.”
“However, we know many people are facing financial strain, so it’s important to us to keep price increases as low as possible,” he said.
“This is why we’re sticking with the price path we communicated in 2021 as part of Auckland Council’s Long-Term Plan.”
Chambers said Watercare has been able to keep costs manageable by reducing its overall head count through attrition.
Infrastructure growth charges will also rise by 8 per cent.
The price for 1000 litres of water will now go from $1.825 to $1.998, while 1000 litres of wastewater will go from $3.174 to $3.476. The fixed wastewater charge will go from $264 a year to $289.
“In real terms, households with average water use will pay about $2.20 more per week,” Chambers said.
“We encourage our customers to get in touch with us if they’re struggling to pay their bills. We can work out flexible payment plans or refer them to the Water Utility Consumer Assistance Trust, which we fund to support customers suffering genuine hardship.”
He said during the past year Watercare has been “focused heavily on reducing our controllable costs.”
“Without this work, we would have been looking at a price increase of 10.7 per cent, so it’s thanks to this drive to find efficiencies that we can keep the increase to 9.5 per cent.
“One of the ways we’ve made savings is by reducing our overall head count through attrition. We’ve gone from having 1255 full-time equivalent staff in June 2022, to 1198 in January 2023.”
A recent review of Watercare’s Asset Management Plan identified a forecast capital expenditure increase of $3.6 billion over the next 10 years.
“This takes our forecast capital expenditure to more than $13 billion over the next 10 years. To fund this, we’ll need to increase the amount we borrow,” Chambers said.
“In the next financial year alone we’ll be spending more than $1b on infrastructure projects that cater for growth, replace ageing assets and deliver better outcomes for the environment. These include completing a new 45-million-litre water storage reservoir at Redoubt Rd, which significantly boosts our water supply resilience, and continuing to tunnel our Central Interceptor wastewater pipe between central Auckland and our Māngere Wastewater Treatment Plant.”
The announcement comes after the axe started to fall on jobs across the Auckland Council group to address a $295 million hole in Mayor Wayne Brown’s first budget.
Eke Panuku Development Auckland confirmed about 20 positions are initially going at the property development arm.
Council chief executive Jim Stabback, with a staff of 7200 and an annual wages bill of more than $530m, has also confirmed job losses are looming.
Stabback and the chief executives of council-controlled organisations (CCOs) are having to trim services and jobs in response to the $295m budget hole brought about by rising costs from high inflation and interest costs and falling revenue from things like public transport fares.
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www.nzherald.co.nz...
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626 days ago

Pi Day

The Team from NumberWorks'nWords Royal Oak

Pi Day is on March 14, and any day that combines fun, education, and pie is a day worth celebrating! Pi, also known by the Greek letter “π,” is a constant value used in math that represents the ratio of a circumference of a circle to its diameter, which is just about 3.14….15…9265359… … View morePi Day is on March 14, and any day that combines fun, education, and pie is a day worth celebrating! Pi, also known by the Greek letter “π,” is a constant value used in math that represents the ratio of a circumference of a circle to its diameter, which is just about 3.14….15…9265359… (and so on). Not only that, but the fourteenth of March is also Albert Einstein’s birthday, so all together it’s nothing short of a mathematician’s delight.

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626 days ago

📮Total BAN of life chaining of dogs request 📮

Ana from Mount Albert

If you are animal lovers, please consider to support this request by Wed, March 15 🙏🏻
www.facebook.com...

Every email counts! Please help to end the most inhumane cruelty to the thousands of NZ dogs💔
youtu.be...
Dogs were born to be human's soulmates, but thousands of humans … View more
If you are animal lovers, please consider to support this request by Wed, March 15 🙏🏻
www.facebook.com...

Every email counts! Please help to end the most inhumane cruelty to the thousands of NZ dogs💔
youtu.be...
Dogs were born to be human's soulmates, but thousands of humans chain them 24/7. They are eating, sleeping, defecating, urinating, and walking in the same circle for years. Most of them have no shelter, starving, rotting alive and dying on the chain in unthinkable pain 💔
www.facebook.com...

627 days ago

How good was Polyfest 2023?

Sapeer Mayron Reporter from Auckland Stuff

After four years of disruption, high schoolers all over Auckland finally got the Polyfest they had been waiting for.

It was estimated about 60,000 people attended Polyfest last week, where 8000 students from 181 cultural groups representing 55 schools performed traditional speech, song and … View more
After four years of disruption, high schoolers all over Auckland finally got the Polyfest they had been waiting for.

It was estimated about 60,000 people attended Polyfest last week, where 8000 students from 181 cultural groups representing 55 schools performed traditional speech, song and dance.

It’s the first time in several years that the festival has gone ahead without a hitch, following cancellations due to the Christchurch terror attacks in 2019 and the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

For most, it’s not about the win, but the chance to celebrate their culture and embrace their Pasifika heritage.

Manurewa High School’s Sarai Makara-Moreland, 16, was completely out of breath as she stepped off the Cook Islands stage following their high-energy performance.

She said it was a “real privilege” and “a blessing” to get on stage tell the audience: “Hey look, this is my culture. This is where I’m from.”

“The most important thing was we made it up there, and we performed as a team. We are going out, win or lose, as a team.”

Read more of our coverage at Stuff.co.nz, and tell us below - did you watch or compete at Polyfest? How did it go?

627 days ago

Ukrainian family living in uncertainty in NZ, with special visas to expire

Mildred Armah Reporter from Central Leader

A Ukrainian couple who fled their war-torn homeland and found sanctuary in Aotearoa are pleading with the New Zealand Government to let them stay.

Andrii Mishchenko​ and Olha Turska​ arrived in New Zealand in April 2022 on the two-year special Ukraine visa.

The area surrounding their … View more
A Ukrainian couple who fled their war-torn homeland and found sanctuary in Aotearoa are pleading with the New Zealand Government to let them stay.

Andrii Mishchenko​ and Olha Turska​ arrived in New Zealand in April 2022 on the two-year special Ukraine visa.

The area surrounding their hometown of Sloviansk in Donbas​ was involved in intense fighting, with Russian forces unleashing attacks. They are now staying with their daughter in Auckland.

630 days ago

Poll: How much is your monthly BROADBAND bill?

The Team from NZ Compare

Internet is something we need these days for work, study, keeping in touch with loved ones or just to watch a movie! It's another bill to manage right?!

With the cost of living rising, we want to know how much your broadband bill is setting you back each month?

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How much is your monthly BROADBAND bill?
  • 28.1% Under $75
    28.1% Complete
  • 27.6% Between $75-$85
    27.6% Complete
  • 44.3% Over $85
    44.3% Complete
1593 votes
627 days ago

欢迎, Welkom, स्वागत है, Witamy, ยินดีต้อนรับ

The Team from Auckland Council

Celebrate Auckland's vibrant cultures at our World of Cultures festival! Visit the website for more than 70 FREE or low-cost activities across the region. Partnered by Vector Lights.

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627 days ago

Have you got a great recipe for jerusalem artichokes?

Mei Leng Wong Reporter from NZ Gardener & Get Growing

Every month, NZ Gardener runs a series of tested reader recipes using a seasonal crop. We are still on the hunt for amazing and inventive jerusalem artichoke recipes! Send your best ones to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz by March 26, 2023. Every published recipe wins a copy of the May issue of NZ … View moreEvery month, NZ Gardener runs a series of tested reader recipes using a seasonal crop. We are still on the hunt for amazing and inventive jerusalem artichoke recipes! Send your best ones to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz by March 26, 2023. Every published recipe wins a copy of the May issue of NZ Gardener.

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627 days ago

Your young Blues fan could be a special guest at the next Blues home game!

Auckland Blues

Be in to win an experience of a lifetime for your child.

As the official coin toss partner for the Blues, Stuff is giving away six experiences for kids across Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland to take part in the famous ritual at the DHL Super Rugby Pacific and SKY Super Rugby Aupiki home games.

View more
Be in to win an experience of a lifetime for your child.

As the official coin toss partner for the Blues, Stuff is giving away six experiences for kids across Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland to take part in the famous ritual at the DHL Super Rugby Pacific and SKY Super Rugby Aupiki home games.

They won't just participate in the toss but will also get to watch the game, visit the commentary box and take home a bunch of goodies.
Find out more

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632 days ago

World Maths Day

The Team from NumberWorks'nWords Royal Oak

Whether the actual crunching of numbers sounds exciting or scary, celebrating World Maths Day can be oodles and oodles of fun! Maths is believed by many people to be one of the hardest subjects to achieve in because of its strictness in needing correct answers, its abstract concepts, and the … View moreWhether the actual crunching of numbers sounds exciting or scary, celebrating World Maths Day can be oodles and oodles of fun! Maths is believed by many people to be one of the hardest subjects to achieve in because of its strictness in needing correct answers, its abstract concepts, and the overall stress involved in succeeding. But don’t let that be intimidating!

World Maths Day is a chance to test your skills, practice maths, and get involved in a worldwide event that celebrates the history of maths to improve the lives of students, parents, and teachers everywhere.

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628 days ago

National Geographic magazines from 70's and 80's

Anita from Blockhouse Bay

Over 100 National Geographic magazines from the 1970's and 80's.
One from 1964, and a few from the 90's and 2000's
In very good condition.
They provide an interesting insight into the life and issues of those times. I am hoping that somebody will enjoy these as I would hate… View more
Over 100 National Geographic magazines from the 1970's and 80's.
One from 1964, and a few from the 90's and 2000's
In very good condition.
They provide an interesting insight into the life and issues of those times. I am hoping that somebody will enjoy these as I would hate to throw them away.

Free

634 days ago

NZ: Share a favourite female historical figure...

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

We're all mostly familiar with Kate Sheppard's role in the women's suffrage movement (and her face on the $10 note) and you've likely heard of the bold, Jean Batten. But who else should not be forgotten? Tell us why!

Let's celebrate Women's History month as well as … View more
We're all mostly familiar with Kate Sheppard's role in the women's suffrage movement (and her face on the $10 note) and you've likely heard of the bold, Jean Batten. But who else should not be forgotten? Tell us why!

Let's celebrate Women's History month as well as International Women's Day (this Wednesday) by sharing some of the lesser-known, inspiring women who've played a part in New Zealand's history.

Share your thoughts below for the We Say You Say column of the local paper - write NFP if you wish your comments to be excluded.

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630 days ago

Clear the decks

The Team from Resene ColorShop Mt Roskill

Refresh your outdoor spaces with Resene Lumbersider and Resene Walk-on with these easy ideas.

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