Did any of us really think we would still be in lockdown in November, when it was announced on August 17th that Delta had arrived?

Our tiny nation’s success in managing to contain Covid-19 when it first arrived on our shores in March 2020, then eventually resuming relatively normal daily lives a couple of months later, put us in a unique position globally. We watched news reports with a mixture of sadness and relief as around the world countries endured lengthy lockdowns while trying to contain horrifically high infection rates and death tolls.

Then suddenly Delta arrived in New Zealand and life as we knew it changed completely. Many, like myself, may have assumed that this outbreak would be contained much like the last one was, but that hasn’t been the case. We have been told that this strain of the virus is significantly ‘trickier’ than its predecessors, as though it has a personality, mind, and agenda of its own. Perhaps referring to the virus in this way helps us to visualise our collective fight against it; to be sure, identifying the virus as the enemy and not our fellow humans is the right way to look at it.

It’s important to remember who and what our enemy is. Unfortunately, we are becoming more polarised and divided over the issue, and at the end of covid there will be wounds that will have to be healed as a community. But we were a community before this virus, and we will be again.

It’s normal to feel helpless in the face of an enforced lockdown; people report feeling insignificant, more fearful, that their lives have become smaller, and that they do and say things that are out of character.
But we are not without some ability to fight back against this disease. We have a weapon, the ability to take our lives back and experience freedom, and that weapon is vaccination.

I was vaccine hesitant for months, I had read some stuff from well-meaning friends and that created doubt. I eventually did my own research and settled the doubts in my mind. Even then, I still felt sick with nerves as I drove to the vaccination station near the airport.

I needn’t have worried; I was and am fine after two doses, as are millions and millions of other people. Not so fine are people who are struggling to breathe as the virus attacks their bodies, the people with “long Covid” who are not sure they will ever feel normal again, and of course, those who have lost their lives.
It is predicted by some experts that things will get worse over the next 12 months before they get better. The vaccine is not a guarantee, but it does give us a fighting chance.
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I got vaccinated because I want to get my life back, and I want our country to move on from being the “smug hermit kingdom” that one former politician so succinctly labelled it. I’m looking forward to reconnecting with the world and bringing New Zealanders home.

It has been a challenging spring in the Whau.

The snap lockdown in August threw many people’s lives and businesses into turmoil. After enjoying covid-free status for months, suddenly, we crashed into a hard lockdown with just a few hours’ notice. But this time, it wasn’t someone else, somewhere else. It was in the heart of our community, with local colleges and supermarkets implicated. Contact tracing and emails brought the reality home that many people could have been exposed.

Long lines formed at testing stations, and people were isolated, waiting for their results and worrying. Unfortunately, many younger people have been infected this time around, which was a huge concern for parents. Fortunately, there were relatively few cases in the Whau, but it took a while to find out.

The next blow to hit was the terrorist attack at Countdown, New Lynn. This wasn’t somewhere far away, but right where many people go every week, and a place that is part of their lives. We all wondered, ‘how could this happen here?’ A video posted from a customer at the store onto local Facebook groups got picked up by TV and shown repeatedly. Why were people still trying to get into the store while people were being stabbed? The video showed the confusion that happens during such an event.

A few days later, accounts emerged about what it was like to be inside during the attack. Ex paramedic, Ross Tomlinson, gave a vivid narrative to NZ Herald. In the immediate aftermath, he was able to provide urgent assistance to some of the victims. Stabilising them so quickly helped avoid deaths.

Rodney Khan confronted the attacker while a woman was being stabbed. Rodney yelled at the offender, who then stopped stabbing the woman. Rodney was carrying two cans which he threw at the terrorist. It is possible that this act of bravery saved the woman's life. However, Khan suffered a dislocated shoulder after falling over once the attacker chased him. Rodney says, “I had to go and do something because that’s someone’s mother, someone’s grandmother. I just couldn’t bear it.”

Hope comes from people stepping up in a crisis to help others in the community.

There will be a long tail to this incident as multiple investigations are carried out. When the attacker wanted to renounce his citizenship and leave NZ, were we too slow in processing that? That he was living in nearby Glen Eden was a shock.

As I write, we are going down alert levels. (Please, God, I hope that this is still true when people read this!) The vaccine gives us hope for living in a covid world. In the near future, it looks like everyone will have covid antibodies in their system. But, for a short while, we still have a choice whether we get them from a vaccine or from covid. I have many anti-vax friends and some family. While I am thrilled that it looks like NZ could achieve a high vaccination rate, I am fearful about the next stage where vaccine mandates will affect those in our community who are unable or unwilling to take the jab. Vaccine mandates have the potential to continue to tear lives and communities apart.
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Maybe our best hope is for a lovely summer, despite what covid brings us.

Whau Local Board missed the Waka Kotahi boat to trial leaping into the utopian future of car free streets, but maybe we should not feel bad about being left out. On offer were pilot projects to help envision things like streets becoming playgrounds, parklets, pavement art, pop-up cycleways and low traffic neighbourhoods.

$29M was used to 90% fund 60 projects nationwide of which Waka Kotahi spokeswoman Kathryn King said, “Our programme is designed to support partners to develop their capability in delivering tactical urbanism projects.”

Back in the day, tactical urbanism described a good thing where low-cost action was taken by citizens to rapidly improve their urban environment for positive outcomes. Central government could not resist adopting this languaging to disguise imposing massive changes on some communities, in the hope that resistance would be worn down and the locals would eventually accept changes becoming permanent.
The good people of Gore, who would not know a traffic jam if they were stuck in one, have also been subjected to the experiment in a $1M “Streets Alive” project. The main Street of Gore is wide enough to do a U turn in a container ship. The council ordered 440 concrete planter pots for its projects, which include 45 “courtesy crossings” and blocking off some streets. Some of the pots have been tipped over in protest.

In Onehunga there has been vocal pushback against the blocking of roads to create low traffic neighbourhoods. Some residents faced their commute time doubling as neighbouring arterial roads suddenly clogged with traffic. Locals there engaged in a bit of tactical urbanism themselves, removing the plywood box barriers each night until the Local Board stopped the trial, but not before the opponents’ efforts were labelled as vandalism and criminal. Of course, If you are going to effect change, you have to control the language.

The end of the trial must be a setback for Waka Kotahi, who mandated that projects “must also be able to demonstrate the value of using tactical urbanism to advance a future permanent change.”
There are many creative ways that our streets can be improved. Often better solutions come from the people directly affected on the ground rather than being imposed from above by Wellington. The innovating streets projects have divided opinion at a time when cohesive communities are needed more than ever.

I quite like Mother’s Day. It’s grown on me.

But for many years I dreaded celebrations like Christmas, birthdays, and Mother’s Day, which are traditionally celebrated by the giving of gifts. But I suck at finding gifts for people and I feel anxious about receiving gifts and trying to pretend that I like them. Over the years I have downplayed and avoided celebrations, often being “away” on my birthday, and our family Christmas tradition no longer involves shopping and swapping gifts.

But that was before I understood what my Love Languages are. If you have never heard of this concept, check out our Mother’s Day feature  where I explain the 5 Love Languages and how they can transform relationships. Not just couples, but parents, siblings, and children as well.

“Receiving Gifts” is one of the Love Languages and it’s #5 on my list of 5. No surprises there. What really floats my boat is “Acts of Service” (40%) and “Quality Time” (30%). “Words of Affirmation” (20%) is also up there. This means that I feel loved when someone does something for me, like when John installed a new set of shelves in my office, and when my son Zane called me on my birthday and told me how much he appreciated me and why. Brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.

So, Mother’s Day in our house is usually celebrated by a lovely combo of togetherness with my mum Raewyn and my daughters Betsy and Ruby. And sometimes my sister Sharyn as well. This all-female outing ticks the my Acts of Service box (someone else has prepared the food) and the Quality Time box where we are all enjoying each other’s company, and laughing at shared memories.

Understanding loved-ones’ Love Languages also helps us to be mindful of how to express love to them. For instance, I need to be especially mindful of Betsy’s primary Love Languages - “Physical Touch” and “Gift Giving” – which are my bottom two. This girl loves hugs and cuddles. One Christmas her gift to me was a stack of vouchers labelled: “Free Hug From Betsy”. The clever girl had managed to use her incredible gift-giving skills to figure out how to get more of what she really needed – hugs. It’s not that I don’t want to show affection in this way, it’s just that it’s not what I need, so I forget.

How many of us have empty love tanks because they don’t understand the delivery? An Acts of Service person loving their partner by doing things for them can miss the mark if what the partner really want is lots of affectionate touching. Likewise, that partner might miss the love cues that are being sent in the little acts of service being done for them. How sad. Two people love each other dearly, but are blind to each other’s cues.

We need to learn to express our love in ways that reach the one we love in the way they receive it, instead of our own. It’s incredibly transformative. Imagine how relationships might change if our loved ones really felt our love because we learned how to express it in their language!
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While researching for the Mother’s Day article I found a really useful resource: a quiz section on the 5lovelanguages.com website. So, my next project is getting my family to do the quiz and have the results emailed back to me. I will then compile them and share with the family so we can all understand one another’s Love Languages.

Let’s learn to fill each other’s love tanks! It’s a win-win all round.

The last 12 months have been quite rough – even in our part of paradise. This time last year, New Zealand was crashed into a strange new existence of a hard lock down. Now we are far more confident after Covid has been well managed, that there is light at the end of the tunnel with vaccines. We are learning to live with it and hopefully soon, to move on.

While there have been delays, there is still ongoing progress in the Whau. Most of the current momentum is happening in Avondale with some big-ticket items progressing through the planning stages towards a start. Panuku will be seeking feedback on the new Avondale Library and Community Centre. Kāinga Ora has several projects underway that will deliver 950 new homes in Avondale (as well as hundreds more in New Lynn, New Windsor and other suburbs). Avanda Group is progressing its project at The Yards, New Lynn.

There are big infrastructure projects moving along as well. The $42m Wolverton Culverts project is not very sexy but will protect against future storm damage and disruption. Likewise, the Central Interceptor tunnel reaching into the Whau, will help clean up water pollution at beaches. After years of talk and numerous accidental falls, Avondale Mainstreet has had stage 1 of the slippery bricks replacement completed.

More exciting is the $44m New Lynn to Avondale Shared pathway opening this winter. It is a completely new travel option that is mainly off street. The Te Whau coastal pathway has also been given the green light.

Global hardship: It’s not a new thing

Our forebears also faced challenges with sickness and wars that shut the world down for years. WWI was big in Avondale, with the Maori Pioneer Battalion and the Tunneling Corps among others training at Avondale Racecourse. In 1918 the flu pandemic killed about 9,000 kiwis in a few short months. The grief over war and flu deaths must have been overwhelming.  In this edition, we cover military training in Avondale in WWII. Things got real at that time with the treat of imminent invasion. Avondale was even the site of a POW camp for Japanese for a while. I will be leading a walk on ANZAC Day afternoon looking at the military history of Avondale.

The RSAs are hoping that they will be able to parade and have services on ANZAC Day for the first time in two years, after the March 15 attack and then Covid last year, where all we could do was participate in the “Stand at Dawn” event. There are even races at Avondale Racecourse for the family to enjoy. Yes, it has been a difficult 12 months, but the future is looking brighter.

After a busy and unusual year, and with the December issue safely printed and distributed in late November, it was time for John and I to head off on our big OE - "Overseas Experience". So, we hitched up our caravan and headed south to cross the Cook Strait.

A highlight and bucket list destination was Stewart Island - not at all what I expected, with mild temperatures, gorgeous golden beaches, crystal clear water, and prolific bird life.

Experiencing bird life up close and personal was magical. Within minutes of landing at Stewart Island we encountered a kereru sleeping on a head-height branch not 2 metres from us, unphased by our presence. And tui apparently showing off to us, always just out of arms reach. We frequently heard bellbird (korimako) song – as my cell-phone ringtone is a bellbird it was quite disconcerting, especially since it’s rare to hear one in Auckland!

At a visit to the Royal Albatross Centre at Taiaroa Head we observed thousands of red-billed gulls who have made the area their breeding ground. The car park is literally covered in guano – which surprisingly is pink! Apparently, that’s how it should be because these birds’ natural diet is krill, not ‘fish and chips’.
To experience birds, both exotic and native in their natural habitat has been a real pleasure. It’s made me think about the common and kindly-meant practice of ‘feeding the birds’ – usually cheap bread or leftovers from lunch. In years gone by it was a favourite pastime for our family to go and feed the ducks and I guess we felt that we’d ‘helped’ them. It certainly hadn’t occurred to us then that we were doing quite the opposite; the only thing we were helping was to artificially bolster the population.

A visit to NZ Bird Rescue in Green Bay this week was an enlightening experience. I saw first-hand some of the ducks currently in care recovering from avian botulism - a widespread problem, particularly at this time of the year. On a single day in January the centre admitted 16 ducks suffering from this horrible illness.  The toxin produced from botulism causes paralysis, often resulting in the bird drowning.

One of the things that contribute to this is bread rotting in ponds.

I’ve never thought of myself as a ‘bird-lover’, but perhaps I am. I don’t love that there are swarms of pigeons and ducks defecating around our house, but I really enjoy the tuis feeding off our flax and bottlebrush, and to hear the moreporks (ruru) in the bush at night.
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Perhaps what I really love is nature in balance.

What will be your enduring memories from this unprecedented year? The year in which COVID-19 was an excuse for anything that didn’t happen.

Running a community paper gives one a great perspective on how much never happened in the aftermath of two lockdowns. Calendars wiped clean and at times there were no events to cover.

This has meant that Kerrie and I have had to go out more and find stories to include in the Beacon. We have done more controversial stories in greater depth than before. The upside is that we have enjoyed making stronger connections in the community. We have also worked together on the paper more closely than ever before, which has mainly been a good thing!

Like most media, it has been a challenging year financially. Beacon is about as low cost an operation as it is possible to be. We would have ended this year in the red if it had not been for the support of our advertisers, sponsors and COVID-19 relief from the government.

Running on this knife edge is why there are some stories that you either will not see in the Beacon, or they will only get a passing mention. There are many large council and government organisations that employ armies of comms and PR people and they produce, at great expense, the stories about the million-dollar projects in our community. But they are unwilling to sponsor those stories or place advertisements, instead expecting us to personally subsidise them for hundreds of dollars a page. Nope. Not happening. We would rather tell the stories that are about you, not about them.

Next up is Christmas and the quintessential kiwi summer. What will that look like without international tourism and kiwis (under house arrest) in NZ? We are about to find out! COVID-19 lockdowns have already caused a lot of domestic stress in finances and relationships, so perhaps this year we will not see the usual summer spike in relationship breakdowns and suicides. Being aware of the potential problems is to be prepared and look after yourself and those that you know and love.

While 2020 has taught us some unexpected lessons, we are over it. Like a smorgasbord, take the things that you liked from the year and leave the rest behind. May 2021 be a lot more boring and yet much happier.
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Christmas blessings to you from us.
John and Kerrie Subritzky.

It’s fair to say that there has been a lot of dissatisfaction with the way 2020 is turning out. The war on COVID-19 has left many casualties. The government has done its best to cushion the financial blows as well as fighting the virus, but everyone has been affected to some degree. We have all lost almost a year of our ‘normal’ life. Families separated across borders have had an especially difficult time, and as one ages it becomes more apparent that there is a limited supply of years available.

Personally, what has impacted me is seeing event calendars wiped clean – twice. This has affected the club I work with, the organisations that I volunteer with and most significantly, with the Beacon. As a community paper a lot of our content relates to local events, schools and organisations. How do you fill a paper when those stories are not coming in? You must go out and find stories and write them up, so I have become a lot more involved in writing than before.

Recently my friend Gary Colville wrote about the seasons of life compared to the seasons in nature.

Autumn can be a time of letting things go – even things that have served us well. He says “Maybe you have had to let go of some things like a relationship, job aspirations, a profession, money goals, or you may have realised that you need to shift in the way you think, relate or behave around people.” Dark clouds and winds of adversity can cause insecurity.

Winter can be uncomfortable. 2020 feels like a long winter to endure for many of us. With trials come opportunities to gain strength to overcome the next challenges. Conversely, we can prolong our pain if we are unwilling to change, to let go, to forgive.

Spring starts slowly and can still feel like winter. Some people live in a prolonged winter of life if they are unwilling to let go of the old instead of preparing for new growth. When we feel fresh and alive, we can look forward to summer with hope.

For summer, Gary says “It is a place of warmth, laughter, freedom, adventure, empowerment and fruitfulness. Oh, what glorious, powerful satisfaction is waiting for those who are willing to be reclaimed, reshaped and renewed during autumns and winters. Our summers will be long, pleasant, fruitful and satisfying.”
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Life is too short to be living in an endless personal winter. With determination and the help of those we know and love, we can grow into a summer of freedom. I trust that you have the hope of a satisfying summer in your life.

​Since their first race day meeting on Saturday 26 April 1890, the club has overcome many difficulties, but now a plan has been produced from the highest levels of government to take their assets without compensation.

The 2018 Messara Report proposed radical changes. Patronage at racecourses is in free fall and racing is facing strong competition from overseas sports betting. The NZ racing industry is already undergoing huge structural reform and in May it was bailed out by the government with a $72.5m emergency rescue package. Most of this was needed to pull the Racing Industry Transition Agency (RITA), which operates the TAB, back from imminent insolvency.  "Of the immediate grant, $26 million will be used by RITA to pay its outstanding supplier bill, which it hasn't been able to do because of strangled revenue," Minister of Racing, Winston Peters said.

The Racing Industry Bill is currently working its way through parliament. It is expected to be passed into law before the September election. A significant part of the bill deals with how to take over assets from about fifteen racecourses nationwide that are deemed to be surplus to industry needs. The mainly provincial tracks have minimal capital value, but Avondale is the massive exception.

The racing reforms will be mainly paid for by declaring Avondale racecourse to be surplus and sold, with the proceeds “transferred” to the racing industry. The AJC, the Avondale community and West Auckland are expected to cover the cost of nationwide reforms that will benefit even the well-off clubs like Ellerslie and Cambridge. The result that Avondale gets is that we will lose 30ha of open green space, ten sports fields, and the venue for the iconic Avondale Markets. The Whau Ward already has one of the lowest ratios of green space of any ward in the city.

A select committee reviewed the bill and there was significant concern expressed about the provisions for asset transfers. Several specific protections would require the Minister to consider whether there are special circumstances regarding the use of the surplus venue by the community, including not-for-profit use and historic donations of land made to the venue by the community. It is doubtful that any of the nine proposed conditions apply to Avondale. If agreement is not reached, then a reviewer can be appointed to go through the issues. Failing agreement, then an Order in Council can be made taking the assets.

​Another criterion for club dissolution and transfer of assets to the racing industry is that the club is deemed to be no longer racing by not holding a race day for two years. The irony is that clubs who wish to race are now being denied race days in the coming season calendar by RITA. How can a club stay active if it is not allowed to host races? Along with fifteen other clubs, Avondale has been excluded from the calendar.
The AJC had already felt like the unwanted relative after previous discrimination. They had fought industry attempts to close the track in 2008-2009. The lucrative weekend profit sharing race days were taken away and AJC was left with the minor midweek races that were only expected to break even. Their season was progressively shortened. Fixtures were reduced from fifteen race days in 2015 to twelve race days in the following two seasons. Then last season there were only nine race days – the lowest possible level under the NZ Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) funding model. Now there might never be another horse on the track.
Unlike weekend races where clubs get a commission for on-course betting, there is neutral income from holding weekday racing as AJC Treasurer Tracey Berkahn explains: “NZTR’s policy that drives racing activity, applying to all racetracks in New Zealand, is a ‘command model’ designed to achieve various outcomes, including that clubs holding weekday events (‘industry days’) break even on those days and generate no income for themselves. For Avondale JC (and many others) commissions for the club from the level of on-course betting are non-existent.”

It is mind-boggling that 180 years after the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, that now in 2020 there is a brand new law being passed to enable private property to be acquired with no compensation by the Crown on behalf of a government regulated sporting code. New Zealand has spent three decades working through trying to redress other historic injustices so why create new ones where private property rights are extinguished without compensation?

The only dissent on the review committee was from the Green Party who added a minority view:

The Green Party acknowledges the almost one-quarter of submitters who raised important concerns about Subpart 2 of the bill, allowing the Minister to approve the transfer of assets and “surplus” venues from a local club to the racing industry. The committee heard very strong opposition from many country clubs, in particular, who are largely sustained by their local communities and who fiercely dispute the view that they are a drain on the industry as a whole. 

We heard different visions for the future of racing in Aotearoa New Zealand: one that embraces a diversity of racecourses and supports trainers and community participation around the country, and another more heavily invested in a smaller number of “strategic” venues providing all-weather tracks and high-stake races. A majority of submitters, who are less likely to be negatively affected by any transfer of assets, supported the second view. There is a very clear disagreement within the industry that needs to be resolved, and is not, in our view, convincingly resolved by the evidence. The Green Party believes industry leaders need to better engage with and understand the role and value of smaller clubs within the industry as a whole as well as their communities.

In coming years, people will ask you about your memories of the global pandemic and how it affected you. We are living through a history-making period right now!

Your answer will depend a lot on your personal circumstances, especially your health and employment. The bigger picture is how society and government may change. After government intervention in many areas of our lives for months, will there be a shift away from private enterprise being so influential to more state activity?

This issue of the Beacon marks our four-year anniversary. We truly hope that we can continue to publish in the coming months. We are small local fish in a big nationwide pond.

We have seen recently how vulnerable the top tier of privately owned media is in New Zealand. Bauer Media dramatically exited its dominant position early on crashing many much loved magazine titles. Next up NZME offered to buy Stuff for $1 which was rebuffed. Mediaworks (incl. TV3) has been up for sale for a long time with no buyers and the television arm could be closed.

The media shock wave has finally woken up government and local bodies to the risk of losing NZ media. Indeed the public sector has contributed to the crisis by being entranced with vanity metrics of clicks on campaigns that send advertising revenue offshore to Google and Facebook in their tax havens. Recently the public bodies have returned to support local simply by allocating some budget onshore. That support is evidenced in this issue.

The strength that local and hyperlocal print like Beacon has is a loyal and engaged audience who want to read stories about the people and the place where they live. We know because of feedback we receive regularly from people just like you, that the Beacon is widely read and enjoyed in the community. We are committed to continuing to publish for as long as we can still meet our costs because we love what we do and we love being part of this community.

As you can see, our advertisers are a vital and integral part of the Beacon. We can’t publish without them. Businesses are as much a part of our community as you are. So please choose to use them when you can, and let them know that you saw their advert in the Beacon.

Thanks for reading this issue and for all your support. We would love to hear from you with your comments and feedback.
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Stay strong.