Streets of Mt Albert

Get ready for a rise in your rates

Property prices in Mt Albert have moved ahead of most parts of the country over the last decade, and a higher rates bill from next year is the likely result for most home-owners. Auckland Council rating values won’t be adjusted until July 2018, but the process to set new valuations is well advanced. The city’s…

Marcelo Bianchessi, co-owner of Mt Albert's new Mexican restaurant, Taco Loco

Muchas gracias – pass the chilli!

Marcelo Bianchessi came all the way from Brazil via Portugal to bring Mexican cuisine to Mt Albert. It may sound an odd trek to deliver one of the world’s most popular food choices to a local audience. But Marcelo (pictured here), one of the two Brazilians behind Taco Loco café at 847 New North Rd…

Ruins of the old Four Kauri Medical Centre in Mt Albert

Opinion: standing up for causes

We can be a sedentary lot when it comes to standing up for ourselves. Of course, some people are better at getting off their backsides to fight for their corner than others. But the Facebook era (“give ‘em a spray and I’m away”) has allowed too many to sit at their keyboards and imagine they’re…

Mt Albert view from the cop

Final result widens Ardern lead

Jacinda Ardern picked up a swag of special votes to sheet home her dominance in the Mt Albert seat in the 2017 general election. Ardern built on her election night majority – and Labour’s share of the party vote in the electorate – and left National’s Melissa Lee a distant second. In the final result…

Margi Watson at shared path opening

Margi’s day as pathway opens

When it came to the final hurdle, well, what could Margi Watson do but throw up her arms in delight. It had been a long, long mission. Really, you couldn’t call it a hurdle after what went before. Simple stuff actually – grab the scissors, cut the ribbon and join the march down the Waterview-Owairaka…

Zoe Nash, Mt Albert artist

Q and A: spotlight on Zoe Nash

Zoë Nash is an artist and lives in a creative Mt Albert household – sharing with a partner who writes children’s stories and works in radio, two children, a Siamese cat, and a “rather naughty terrier” fond of chasing rabbits down Oakley Creek. As well as working on her own multidisciplinary projects, Zoe teaches part-time…

Mt Albert Aquatic Centre

Key issues at heart of board plan

The future of Chamberlain Park and the Aquatic Centre, and a commitment to the Mt Albert civic square stand out as key features of the annual plan adopted by the Albert Eden Local board. Hardly a surprise, but the board is moving ahead with its steps to implement its Chamberlain Park masterplan – aiming to…