Mt Albert auction results: 28 Harlston Rd.

Auction report: listings, sales dip

Mt Albert property values are holding up well, but the slump in listings and sales across the city has hit here too. Belinda Henson, Bayleys Mt Albert sales manager, says a shortage of new listings in the western corridor has seen “a palpable shift in activity over the last four weeks”, with a number of…

Details
Voting booth at Mt Albert Methodist Church on polling day 2017

Democracy no big deal for young

A third of young people living in the Mt Albert electorate apparently don’t want to trouble themselves with democracy – they failed to enrol to vote in the election. Actual age-bracket voting statistics aren’t yet available, but enrolments for people aged between 18 and 30 suggest a lack of engagement in politics and its importance…

Details
Gladstone primary school

Decision soon on Gladstone zone

Gladstone School expects to hear shortly whether its suggested zoning amendment will be accepted by the Ministry of Education. The school board has applied to the ministry for approval to remove the Unitec Institute of Technology land from its zone. While the Unitec block at present has no homes – and, therefore, no children –…

Details
Mt Albert Grammar School

MAGS appeal to fill funding gap

Mt Albert Grammar School is launching an appeal to raise money for important projects and specialist teaching staff because it can no longer rely on state funding to do the job. Headmaster Patrick Drumm explains in the latest MAGS newsletter that the new “annual giving appeal” has a different purpose to the annual school donation.…

Details
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…

Details
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…

Details
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…

Details
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…

Details
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…

Details
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…

Details
Asquith Ave development plans

Hiccups on HNZ Asquith site

Housing NZ staff working on the Asquith Ave development initially raised the prospect of up to 90 units being built on the prime inner-city land.

Details