I’m reasonably confident that the garden recipes above couldn’t be followed nowadays, as many of the products are banned. However, back in October 1955 when this article was published in the Avondale Advance and Blockhouse Bay Beacon, if you wanted your garden to thrive, this is what you did.

In a century-long love affair with the magic of chemistry, from the 1890s to the late 1980s when products like lead arsenate and DDT were banned, home gardeners and farmers poured gallons of poisons on their crops, oblivious to the far-reaching consequences to humans, the soil or the food chain.

Of course, we do have a long history of chemicals being recommended as perfectly okay to use with no after-effects, later to be told they’ll kill you.

The battle between the compost heap and chemicals continues today; many modern gardeners extolling organic practices, but out of necessity resorting to the sneaky use of chemicals.
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If you love a good horror story, just Google the chemicals recommended in the old article above – you’ll be shaking in your boots!

A walking group began last month to help and encourage men in the area with their health and fitness goals. Walking as a group gives guys a chance to socialise, and the camaraderie helps them stay motivated by being accountable to others in the group.

All men of any fitness level are invited to meet at the Glenavon School gates, Saturdays at 7am for a fun walk with other guys, followed by breakfast at Glenavon Hub.

Recently a strange string of lights has been spotted speeding across our West Auckland skies.

No, they are not aliens riding space wagons in a convoy, but the start of the Starlink Satellite Internet Access system being developed by Elon Musk’s Space X. The US$10 billion dollar project is racing ahead to meet its licensing deadline of deploying at least half of its 12,000 satellites within six years. While designed for internet access it could be possible to also use them for 5G.

With other operators like Oneweb and Amazon also working on building their own constellations, there is growing concern that every night sky will have satellites passing through it. For example if these mega constellations reach 25,000 satellites, over 1500 would be above the horizon at any one time, resulting in possibly hundreds being visible.

The brightness of Starlink has surprised everybody including SpaceX. They are now experimenting with less reflective coatings. The Starlink strings are most visible soon after launch and they get less visible over following weeks as they are raised into their final orbits.
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At this early stage, no-one knows what the effects will eventually be. However, many are concerned about the prospect of going from a night sky where you have to search for satellites to a night sky where you can’t escape seeing them constantly passing.

Many of the things that matter most in the area where you live are a result of decisions made by the local board. Parks, playgrounds, footpaths, cycleways, and council facilities are either provided by or advocated for by the local board. Most Beacon readers are in the area managed by the Whau Local Board.

About half the Whau board representatives are new after the last election. The only full-time role, and by far the most visible, is that of chair. Tracy Mulholland was chair last term and then ran successfully for Whau ward Councillor. Kay Thomas is now on the local board and the chairperson for this term. With the board now settled in, we thought it was time to find out more about our new chair and what her vision is for the Whau.

Kay grew up in Golden Bay. She is of Te Atiawa descent – an iwi which extended from Taranaki to the Marlborough Sounds, and included Wellington. Her family’s marae is the Waikawa Marae in Picton. Kay enjoys gardening, reading, travelling and spending time with her partner Murray and her family.

Kay has a background in education and had some exposure to politics through her involvement in the PPTA. She initially took some persuading to stand for election, but is now excited by her new role and the opportunity to serve the community in this way.  She is a new face and brings a fresh perspective to Whau politics.

Well-known in education circles having spent more than thirty years in the sector, Kay has taught in secondary schools around Auckland, including Auckland Girls’ Grammar where she was HoD for English, Arts and Languages; more recently she taught at Kelston Girls’, preceded by a role as Deputy Principal at Mt Roskill Grammar for 11 years.

Her involvement in education has taught her how to bring people on board and work with them in a collaborative way. This is a strength that she brings to the board as chair.

Kay continues to volunteer four hours a week with Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB). She loves helping people and says the CAB work helps her to know what issues people face. The most common need she’s found is helping people interact with government departments. Now that people are being pushed to do things online, if they cannot access the internet or don’t know how then they struggle to interact successfully with agencies. The low participation in the last census highlighted the issues of internet access!

Council projects always take longer than people expect, and often span two or more board terms. Kay has inherited several that are in process and need to be seen through to completion. The big one which is still in the early stages is the $100m+ swimming pool for the Whau area and needs land acquisition to progress.

A project Kay would particularly like to advance is the linking of the Te Whau Pathway, which has the potential to enhance road safety. For instance, if children were able to take the pathway to school instead of being driven, it would reduce the number of cars on the road. Construction of the $44 million New Lynn to Avondale Shared Pathway has started which will open up access through the heart of the Whau area. It will connect to the Waterview shared pathway giving a safe, off street route to both Onehunga and the CBD.

Kay is keenly aware that some suburbs are not represented by local board members living in the area. These include Kelston, Green Bay, Blockhouse Bay and New Windsor. There are four representatives who live in Avondale, and Kay wants to ensure that all areas receive equal consideration across the Whau. For example, there is a major playground planned for Archibald Park in Kelston that is being built to benefit Kelston families.

It’s not just the big projects that impact people’s lives though. Infrastructure as simple as safe footpaths are very important to locals and Kay wants the Board to get out and see the problems for themselves. Avondale’s ‘slippery bricks’ issue has had a lot of discussion, but every footpath is important to users.

Kay comments, “These past few months have been a steep learning curve, and the chair role has necessitated me learning really quickly across everything”. 

​Her personal vision statement for the Whau is “To create positive, constructive relationships within the board that work well for the communities within the Whau”. This aligns with her belief that people are at the heart of all that is important within the responsibilities of a local board, and as long as the focus remains on people their priorities will be in order. 

​​Auckland threw on another magic day of weather for Auckland Anniversary Day; sunny and warm, perfect weather for the outdoors.
 
So, it was with great anticipation that the New Lynn Scouts gathered together crews for seven boats to take part in the 180th Auckland Anniversary Day Regatta on the Waitemata Harbour alongside other sea scout and cadet units from all over the Auckland Region.
 
Boats were rigged quickly with the crews eager to get out on the water, but then the wait for the wind began: unfortunately, true to forecast - very fickle and variable. After an hour it was decided there was (fingers crossed) just enough wind to get a race under way.
 
The course was set from Narrow Neck Beach to head up into the inner harbour against the outgoing tide via the number 11 channel marker; the thought being that should the wind die away entirely then it would be easier to get back to the beach with the tide.
 
The outgoing tide proved to be stronger than the wind for much of the first hour on the water, making headway very challenging. A lot of concentration was required to try to pick out the little wind that there was while not getting carried away by the tide.
 
Many crews simply gave up in frustration and got out their oars out to propel themselves along, but the patience from the New Lynn crews saw them eventually take line honours, second and third place. It’s thought to be the first time that one group has taken all three line positions for this race.
 
As the weather gods would have it, the wind really picked up once the boats were all back on shore at the end of the day. Some of the New Lynn crews went back out on the water on the pretext of practicing capsize drills to take advantage of a refreshing dip! Despite the frustrating wind, a fun day was had both on and in the water.
 
The New Lynn Sea Scout Group caters for boys and girls aged 5 - 19 years. If you’d like a slice of the summer action on the water, or to go camping and explore the awesome adventure playground that we are blest with out West, then call Andrew on 027 6939 756 or go to www.newlynn.seascouts.org.nz.