This morning Vic Crone and Phil Goff were guests of the West Auckland Business Club for a breakfast meeting at the New Lynn Memorial RSA.

Vic spoke first and showed an exceptional grasp of issues and with a business background she was able to clearly articulate the key points and her ideas on a way forward. She says we need a much stronger vision and purpose for Auckland, looking forward 20 – 30 years. If you look back 30 years you see how much it has changed. The Unitary Plan will be the basis for ongoing change over the next 30 years but the council seems to have a horizon of less than a decade.

Phil Goff followed in an easy going and affable manner. He covered the big issues of housing and transport. While Auckland is experiencing fast growth with a very diverse population, we still need to preserve the great natural environment which is part of what we like about the city.

Crone has valuable experience and interesting ideas but it is hard to see her as anything except the underdog against Goff with his strong name recognition due to decades in Parliament. Having a career in Labour probably won’t hurt him in South Auckland either.

“We are a city of scale – a small global city” – Goff

“Diversity of thought creates magical outcomes” - Crone

We all thought that the MV Westport had sailed into the Manukau for the last time on the sunny but cold morning 2 July.

However, there are many unexpected turns in this story. Westport is coming back, but when depends on the weather. You can find out yourself by checking here and searching for MV Westport.

Here is Holcim's statement as at 12 July:

To keep you up to date with the MV Westport....
 
As with any business going through a lot of changes - things can change - especially in shipping and distribution!
 
The MV Westport has made another 'final' trip to Westport.
 
I've checked with Robert Bright our Supply and Operations Manager who has confirmed the following.
 
A decision was made to clear final stocks at the Westport Packing Plant and wharf silos for supply to customers in Auckland. It was originally going to be trucked to customers in the South Island. Using the MV Westport is the most effective way to transport it to Auckland.
 
The MV Westport arrived in Westport last night and departure will be dependent on the weather and bar conditions - it is tentatively scheduled for Saturday but it is likely to be Sunday at the earliest looking at the forecast. Once again it will come back to Onehunga.
 
The MV Milburn Carrier II is the only vessel that can load at Timaru and is required to deliver cement to Wellington and Nelson depots as part of our market transition and to resupply other depots.
 
Regards
Robyn

Anya: Hilling street lunch time

Today Auckland experienced it’s highest ever rainfall rate per hour for June.

Many drainage systems were simply overwhelmed while for some others an all too familiar pattern repeated itself. For a lucky few, drainage improvements by Auckland Council saved the day.

Nicki Tawharu: I can happily say that the major drainage that the council put through my driveway last year worked - 3 years ago had 2 major house floods. If anyone has issues with flooding from the council drains not coping - hassle them until they do something

Christina Francis: No flooding here ... just as well with the money spent on drainage recently :-) But lawn is sodden and the bunny is a bit on the damp side!

Did you experience any weather related problems?

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Earlier this month Holcim’s cement tankers made what were supposed to be their last visits to Onehunga. The Milburn Carrier II departed but MV Westport remained. The plan was for her to be laid up until sold. After a few days she sailed again and BEACON BHB was surprised that the ship may have been sold so quickly.

BEACON asked Holcim CHC HQ what had happened and we were advised by Robyn:

“As those involved in shipping know - never say never! 
The MV Westport ended up taking another load from Westport and is due to leave there at 5.00pm Wednesday (tomorrow) and we're looking at arrival back in Onehunga on [UPDATED] Saturday 2 July 9.30am, weather permitting. But this could change!”

Apparently they found a bit more cement.

You can follow progress yourself live via ship tracker here>>

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Two Monterey Pines were deconstructed Sunday 19th June 2016.

Originally the Auckland Council planned to fell all 11 pines but after community feedback this was reduced to just two dead/dangerous trees. The remaining trees will be monitored for safety.

The pines are a landmark and can be seen for miles in some approaches to Blockhouse Bay.
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This is the week that decades of commercial coastal shipping comes to an end at Onehunga.

Holcim Cement is landing the final loads at Onehunga. The Westport will arrive for it’s final visit and remain at Onehunga until sold. The Milburn Carrier II is due in Friday morning at 8.15am (17th June), leaving Saturday morning at 7.30am (18th June). This will be her last visit to Onehunga.

The MV Westport has visited Onehunga over 1100 times. No other ship has come close to reaching this milestone at Onehunga, with fellow vessel MV Milburn Carrier II the next best on the all-time visit list having made close to 950 calls to Onehunga.

In future Cement will come from Japan into the new facility at Auckland.

www.bhb.nz

No cement tankers have visited Onehunga over the last 3 weeks, leading to speculation that Holcim has already ceased shipping cement from Westport to Auckland. This is due to end in June.
However the lack of sailings is apparently due to the weather and the effect of shifting sands on the harbour entrance bars of both the Manukau and Westport.
Soundings are due to be taken at the Manukau Bar later this week and it is hoped that deliveries will resume, abeit for a short time until the service ends.
As long time shipping observers, we were unaware that sea coditions and the harbour bars had such an influence on these ships. Who knew?

There is a lot of concern about criminals targetting our community.
The BHB Community Patrol is active on our streets looking out for us. Now you can support these volunteers by simply voting for them at Z Lynfield when you fill up your car. It costs you nothing but time but is giving thousands of dollars of support for the Community Patrol to continue to help us!