Mike Lee – Waitemata and Gulf Ward Councillor

The introduction of a Hamilton to Auckland commuter rail service took a major step forward after Waikato region council leaders and MPs joined a KiwiRail Silver Fern unit on a pilot trip from Hamilton to Auckland this morning.

The KiwiRail Silver Fern which has undergone a comprehensive refurbishment is proposed as the best option to undertake the two trips up – two back weekday service.

Waikato regional leaders led by WRC chairman Peter Buckley and joint working group chairman Cr Norm Barker were accompanied by elected representatives of all the concerned Waikato District Councils and Hamilton City Councils.  Plus local MPs David Bennett (National) and Sue Maroney (Labour) and of course the Campaign for Better Transport activitists who campaigned fiercely to put the Hamilton service on the political agenda.  I was invited to join them – and with PT expert Darren Davis of Auckland Council travelled down to Hamilton by bus last night to catch the Silver Fern which departed Hamilton’s Frankton Station at 8am this morning.

Campaign for Better Transport members and various politicians as the 'Waikato Trains Now' campaign is about to leave the station (photo Darren Davis)

I was asked to give the passengers a peptalk on Auckland rail. Here it is:

Silver Fern Hamilton to Auckland trip, Friday 12 August 2011

As you know, I am strong supporter of rail and am proud to be able to play a role in the revival of a commuter rail service between our two cities.  A similar service, known as the Waikato Connection did operate a single weekday return trip between Hamilton and the old Auckland Rail Station from June 2000 until October 2001.  At the time it was cancelled, it was carrying 129 passengers per trip - with most boarding at either Pukekohe or Papakura.

Interestingly back in September  2001 (10 years ago) when I found out that the Waikato Connection was about to be withdrawn at a meeting of the the ARC Transport Committee I questioned the then ARC transport planners about the Waikato train patronage levels. They told me that they did not know, as the then-owners KiwiRail/West Coast Rail had told them the passenger numbers were  ‘commercially sensitive.’  So I said ‘why don’t you just go down to the station and count them?’  However they were not especially amenable to that advice – so I went down to the old Auckland Station, with a borrowed new-fangled digital camera and got on board – (and it was the same Silver Fern train prior to the excellent refurbishment) to Papakura – and we did the counting and interviewing of passengers and train staff and so on.  That’s when I first met our train manager today Fiona.  I well remember that the Waikato Connection train staff were pretty emotional and upset that evening – as the Silver Fern Geyserland service was also about to be retrenched -  but Fiona – 10 years on we are back – and the lesson is – never give up hope.

Unfortunately I was unable to convince my conservative colleagues back in 2001 to help save the Waikato Connection and the company retrenched it.

 But the important thing to note about the old Waikato Connection is that this service provided the first commuter rail connection between Pukekohe and Auckland.  At that time 46 people travelled on the Waikato Connection train from Pukekohe to Auckland – today there are 460 passengers boarding at Pukekohe and 20 return weekday services between Pukekohe and Britomart.

Rail has taken huge strides in Auckland.  Less than 20 years ago, there were barely one million rail passengers per year in Auckland and the system was on the verge of being shut down. Less than one month ago, on 29 July, Auckland reached 10 million rail trips, or ten times the figure of twenty years ago. Over 1 million of that increase was between 2009 and 2010 alone.  And the rate of patronage is accelerating. June’s patronage this year was 24.6 per cent greater than June 2010.  We are now looking at increases of one million passengers every year!

From a rusting rundown system facing shutdown, we have moved to a dynamic network that is becoming increasingly integral to the life of Auckland.  For example, last Saturday saw more than 16,500 people moved to the Bledisloe Cup match at Eden Park by train. This was 31 per cent – nearly one third – of the record 52,000 crowd. When combined with the 7,600 people who caught a bus to the game, 46 per cent of the crowd came on public transport. Just a few years ago, that sort of figure would just be unimaginable.

And key centres in Auckland are increasingly being connected to the rail network. Sylvia Park got its very own rail station in 2007, fully funded by the mall operator. Passenger rail services resumed to Onehunga in September last year, after a 37 year absence.   Now Onehunga reminds me somewhat of the Hamilton service.  Re-opening the Onehunga Branch Line was a personal crusade for me – and CBT – for many years, and for a time there was quite a bit of official opposition to it.  But it has succeeded beyond even my expectations.  Since it re-opened in September last year the Onehunga Branch Line has carried nearly 600,000 passenger trips and that’s with only 30 min services weekday – and only hourly services on weekends.  We can project over a full year that Onehunga could carry an astonishing 7% of the total patronage for Auckland – and with increased frequencies even up to 10%.

Apart from weekday working commuters Onehunga service also puts Auckland popular outlet mall, Dress Smart, within easy walking distance of rail for weekday/weekend shoppers.  There is plenty of potential still there.

Next February sees the opening of a new rail line and passenger rail service to Manukau. And later next year work will begin on constructing new railway station in the thriving, historic inner-city suburb of Parnell.

Britomart Station now has 25,000 passenger movements every weekday, up from less than 7,000 in 2004.

The Auckland rail system itself is being rebuilt from scratch. Effectively, all that remains of the previous rail system is the rail corridor itself and structures such as bridges and tunnels. We are two-thirds of the way through the station upgrade programme and you will be able to clearly see the difference between upgraded and yet-to-be upgraded stations as we travel into Auckland. A state of the art signalling system is being installed, including automatic train protection – a New Zealand first.  And of course, the network is being electrified -which will allow faster, quieter trains able to carry many more passengers than at present.

What this means is that for the past ten years, and for the next two years, Auckland’s rail network has been a continuous construction site.  KiwiRail has likened this to renovating your home while the residents are still home and increasing numbers of visitors come to stay.

So Auckland’s rail system is facing multiple challenges, primarily from its own success.  Passenger demand is running ahead of supply, meaning an on-going demand for additional rolling stock and more frequent trains.  As soon as more supply is added, demand quickly swells to absorb the increased supply.  Overcrowding on trains is becoming an increasing issue.  The recent extension of remaining station platforms for six-car trains and the introduction of another five carriages to the fleet (the last of the carriages purchased by the ARC in 2009) has alleviated the issue somewhat, in the short term at least.   That’s all the carriages we have left – so we desperately need the new fleet of EMUs to arrive on schedule in late 2013.

Something else we need is the City Rail Link or CBD Rail Tunnel.  Britomart, once famously derided by a former Mayor of Auckland City as a “glorified train garage at the bottom on Queen Street,” will exhaust its peak train slots in February next year with the introduction of 10-minute peak train frequency on the Western Line and the addition of the Manukau Line to the urban rail network. The City Rail Link is needed as a matter of urgency which would free up three platforms at Britomart for inter-urban rail service, including service from Hamilton.

It is ironic that Britomart’s very success means that, in the near-term at least, any commuter rail service will need to use The Strand, using platforms from the old Auckland Station which closed in 2003.  However, I believe that The Strand can work as a station with a dedicated bus connection to the City Centre. Back before Britomart opened, over 400 passengers transferred from trains to buses at the old Auckland Station every morning peak period to travel to Queen Street and Karangahape Road.

One advantage of using The Strand is that the costs of getting this service up-and-running can be kept down and the service, with its attendant infrastructure, built up over time as demand increases and funding becomes available.

Finally I believe the Auckland Spatial Plan now underway, provides an opportunity for the Waikato Councils, led by Waikato Regional Council to support the strategic approach of ‘necklace development’ or planned expansion of townships between Auckland and Hamilton – along the North Island Main Trunk Line.  Much of this future growth I believe, could take place within the Waikato region.  Therefore the concept of a Hamilton rails service is not only an attractive idea in itself, but looking to an electrified rail future could be the first step in a major reorientation of growth and development of the Auckland region and the northern Waikato.

 I look forward to sitting around the table later today and discussing how we can move this important project forward.” 

Tuakau rail campaigners attempt to 'stick up' the Hamilton to Auckland pilot train this morning

KiwiRail Silver Fern at Hamilton Station (Frankton) about to depart on 'proof of concept' trial trip to Auckland (photo Darren Davis)

Simon Moore is a highly respected Crown Prosecutor and long-time friend of the late Phil English.

The following is the  eulogy he presented at the funeral service for Phil.  Thanks to Simon and Michele Hewitson of the NZ Herald for sending it to me.

Eulogy for Philip Russell English

1953 to 2011

On the 3rd of February 1959 a tiny figure, clothed in maroon, shuffled self-consciously through the imposing brick gates of Kings School. At that time neither of his accompanying parents, Russell and Mary English, could possibly have guessed that while this event signalled their youngest son’s formal introduction to education, their apparently unremarkable, but deeply loved, 5 year old, would in his own and utterly unique way educate so many of those whose lives rubbed up against his own in the 52 years which would follow. He would influence so many in those core qualities of humour and human kindness. For if there is anything which summarises Philip English it is that he was the kindest and the funniest of men.

Philip Russell English’s passage through the 13 years of school which followed that event in 1959 was characterised by intense and prolonged periods of inconspicuous normality. He turned being inconspicuous into an art form. For him, sport and recreation held none of the allure which more prominent school boys thrived on. I am certain that if he had aspired to succeed he would have. But he found the whole sporty thing puzzlingly pointless. It was hard to argue against him.

Those 8 years at Kings Prep were sublimely happy ones. Wonderful life long friendships were forged and it is heartening, but not at all surprising, to see old friends from our Year 1 class here this afternoon and to receive messages of love and support from others like Chris and Marlene Palmer in Paris. Phil’s nickname from those days was Pinkie. Not even Phil could remember quite why. But it stuck right through to university.

I well remember one afternoon standing outside the school gates on Remuera Rd with Phil and Ken Whitney. We were about to finish our last year and were discussing how much fun we had had. Surely life could not continue to be this much fun.

How right we were. It wasn’t. We went to boarding school.

Phil’s five years at the College were as unremarkable as his primary years. He perfected the elusive art of cultural camouflage; never drawing unnecessary attention to himself; although he did join the choir at his mother’s insistence. Which meant that I followed. He and I chortled tunelessly from the front row of the stalls for nearly two terms before Phil was fired at the start of Term 3. I followed a fortnight later.

However, there are three qualities which emerged in those school years which, I am certain, were formative in terms of his later life.

The first was the development of Phil’s fascination in the natural world. At primary school he had devoured every David Attenborough book  ever published. After his dismal choir experiences he joined the Bird Club under the inspirational leadership of teacher Dick Sibson, an ornithologist of national standing. Almost certainly this experience was formative in Phil’s insightful understanding of the environment whether it was Godwits at Miranda or possum control in the Waitakeres. It was this interest which decades later made so obvious his appointment as the Herald’s environmental correspondent. He was easily the best they ever had because he loved the subject and truly understood the core issues around bio-diversity and sustainability long before it became fashionable.

The second was his natural creativity. He was a talented artist although his profound colour blindness resulted in some unusual effects especially after he made the error of trusting me to tell him which colours were which. He was also an accomplished writer. He loved and excelled in the subject. His career choice, even if he did not know it at the time, would prove to be a perfect forum within which to indulge those skills.

The third was his approach to others. He was not the sports jock. But he was popular; very popular. And that popularity flowed from his unadorned and plainly evident lack of any form of malice or self-importance. He treated everyone the same. He never had a bad word to say about anyone. He just got on with his life. Having said that, he was ruthlessly intolerant of unfairness. Where he saw unfairness he did all he could to right it. In that sense he displayed the same sort of moral courage which in later years we all so admired.

In 1972, along with just about everyone in our year it seemed, we headed to Dunedin to do Med Intermediate. Phil and I enrolled at Selwyn College. It was an utterly mad year of excess in every conceivable way. With the shackles of school conformity removed and with Selwyn’s healthy tolerance of eccentricity, we were all allowed to became 9 year olds again. And so we played like 9 year olds….for nearly a year. It was over this time that Phil’s wonderfully creative sense of the ridiculous began to emerge properly.

His musical tastes were unconventional (at least for a 19 year old in 1972). The cool music at that time consisted mainly of Leonard Cohen’s dreadfully depressing dirges and Joe Cocker’s tuneless shouting. But not so for Phil. He found Dean Martin. His favourite song was “Little Old Wine Drinker Me”.

In the interests of actually finishing this eulogy I shall restrict this colourful phase of Phil’s life to just two stories. Each is quintessentially Phil. Each demonstrates that even before he hit 20, the unique elements of his personality which we all so loved in this man were already present .

The first was his obsession with Napoleon Bonaparte. I am uncertain how it all started, but Phil began to grow his side-boards and a smudge of wispy whiskers above his top lip. His hair (much to his alarm) was already starting to recede. He did, indeed, share more than just a passing resemblance to the great Emperor. To this ensemble, as his meagre student allowance permitted, he secured a white waistcoat, tight white pants and a blue jacket. He then added a colourful sash and an impressive broach made from milk bottle tops. There is a wonderful photo of Phil in the College magazine of that year, in classic Napoleonic pose with his right hand inside his waistcoat. He even has a glass of brandy in the other hand. This phase only ended when Phil was denied entry to the college ball on the grounds that he did not meet the dress code. He was last heard berating the bouncers for their cultural insensitivity in not recognising the formal attire of a highly ranked Frenchman.  

The other occurred at the end of the academic year. In fact it was the final of the physics exam. Like most of us doing Med Intermediate, Phil found physics incomprehensible. The physics final was the last exam before we broke up for summer. We were all crammed into a hall with the usual cast of elderly ex-teacher types who are annually dragged out to make sure we didn’t cheat. Phil was seated towards the front. At 9.30 the bell rang to start the exam. Like a well drilled orchestra, the sound of pages turning filled the room as we scanned the exam paper to see how many of the questions were capable of an answer. Phil was the first to protest publicly. Shaking his head, he slowly stood up and began to make his way to the exit. He had not got far before the chief supervisor barked out that no one was permitted to leave the exam room before one hour. Phil slowly and clearly reluctantly made his way back to his seat.

The last question was the only one Phil felt he could make a decent stab at. It read,

 “Imagine you have a younger brother aged 11. Explain, using appropriate analogies, how Einstein’s Theory of Relativity works”

Phil settled himself down and began to write.

                  ”Well Bob (Bob is the name of my 11 year old brother), the theory of relativity is very complicated. It took many millions of years

                    of human evolution to produce a man brainy enough to work it out. His name was Einstein. He had a big white bushy moustache

                    and hairy eyebrows. I know that some people say that the theory has something to do with trains passing in a railway station.

                    I don’t understand it and if I don’t I can’t see how you will”.

Composing this answer occupied no more than 10 minutes and Phil still had at least 40 minutes to kill before he could escape. And because he was due to head home to Auckland the next day he decided that the most productive course would be to compile his shopping list on the paper the university had so generously supplied in the form of his exam book. This took him to 10.35. Shopping list complete, Phil got up from his seat for the second time that morning. He handed over his exam book and left.

A few minutes later we were all startled by a noisy ruckus at the door. It involved a heated exchange between Phil and the chief supervisor which went something like this;

                    “You cannot have it back. You surrendered your exam book when you left the room. I don’t care that you have left your shopping

                      list in it. You cannot have it back. Now please leave before I call the Proctor”.

Not unsurprisingly, Phil’s academic results were not quite enough to get him into Med School. But, as with everywhere he has gone in life, he made wonderful friends that year. A number are with us today. Thank you for coming.

It was time for a change. So Phil headed for the Kingdom of Tonga. He took up a teaching position at St Andrews School. His letters  and tape recordings from that time are wonderfully descriptive and terribly funny. As he had done elsewhere, he again created around himself a cadre of close friends; fellow teachers and AFS workers from around the world. He loved Tonga. He revelled in the absurdity and contradictions of so much of what he saw particularly the antics of the Royal family in the midst of such poverty. Phil detested unfairness and pomposity. But he recognised the futility of trying to confront these things head on, so he played with them. He made quiet fun of the silliness of it all. We had wonderful descriptions of the monocled Crown Prince squeezed into his London Taxi or the vastness of the King lost in the back of his even vaster Mercedes stretch limo.

Tonga influenced Phil in at least three ways.

First, he gained his second nickname. He became known as “Lampshade Phil”.

Secondly, and almost certainly connected to the first, he was elected to the Presidency of the Royal Nuku’alofa Martini Club. Martinis became Phil’s signature cocktail and were the catalyst for some outrageously wild parties in Tonga and later back here. The mix was proscriptive. There could be no variation from the obligatory 9 gin to 1 Vermouth. It was mind numbing stuff.

Thirdly, Phil’s musical tastes matured from Dean Martin. He fell in love with the discordant tones of the Fiji Police Brass Band. He bought up every recording he could get his hands on and no Martini party was complete without several tapes of the band being played. It was excruciatingly funny as the band mutilated its way through various brass tunes; some recognisable; most not.

On his return to New Zealand, and no doubt under pressure from Russell and Mary to get a qualification, Phil enrolled in the AIT’s journalism course. Initially I don’t think he was awfully keen on the idea. But in hindsight it was an inspired step because journalism indulged so many of Phil’s core qualities. He was an excellent writer; articulate, concise and always with an eye out for the absurd. He understood the central importance of the fourth estate’s role as social commentator and public scrutiniser. And he lived true to that code to the day he retired.

His first job was as the Coromandel correspondent at the Thames Star. It was there that he won the New Zealand Community Newspaper Young Reporter of the Year. It was 1977. Flushed with that success he joined the Waikato Times where he was based in Te Aroha.

Then, in 1979 he headed to the UK. He lived in Winchester where he worked as a reporter for the Hampshire Chronicle. In Winchester the Martini parties flourished. More life long friendships were forged. Phil established the International Martini Club and was promptly elected its President for Life. He did nearly three years with the Hampshire Chronicle before returning to New Zealand to be a groomsman at our wedding. When our first child was born there was never any question as to who would be his Godfather.

But we were not alone in that choice. Phil was Godfather to many others because his wide and eclectic range of friends saw in him a rare and golden sincerity. What he may have lacked in religious and moral instruction he more than made up with his deep reserves of human generosity and kindness. He was deeply loved by all the kids who revelled in his eccentricity. His presents at birthdays and at Christmas were always wonderfully innovative and always the best. He must have spent hours perfecting his choices.

With the exception of the last three years, when his health prevented him, Phil has been a part of every family summer holiday since Jane and I got married. His succession of cocktails was outstanding and his exotic entrees brilliant so long as there was not too great a lag between drinks and dinner. The contents of the boot of his beloved 1967 Wolseley 6/110 were always the same. There he kept his tent, groundsheet, lamp, transistor radio, inflatable mattress and his cast iron camp oven. Every summer he would drive down to the lake, unpack the boot and set up his camp. At the end of the holiday he would pack it all up again. It would stay in the boot for the next 11 months until liberated the following summer.

He was a fine journalist. In fact he was a good deal better than that. He was bitterly disappointed when he was taken off the environmental portfolio and put onto the local body run. But his journalist instincts never slackened and in this very important role he was deadly. At Phil’s farewell “roast” from the Herald in 2005, it was Mike Lee, the then Chairman of the ARC, who said about Phil;

 ”Philip English was feared and at times perhaps loathed by some ARC members who objected to public scrutiny. After he was transferred to court reporting duties it turned out to be a huge setback for the Regional Council and the public as the restraining influence of Phil’s watchful presence, his

            close knowledge of the ARC and his fearless reporting of

                  events was never adequately filled again by a single journalist.”

Long time friend and professional collegue, Michele Hewitson, put it perfectly when she described Phil as “…a very, very good journalist and any politician fooled by his Rumpole of the Bailey shuffle was a fool.

It is heartening to see friends from his days at the Herald here.

Phil’s uncanny knack of detecting and reporting on the ridiculous probably contributed to his being moved to court reporting. It had certainly made him unpopular in some quarters including the then Mayor, Colin Kay. On one occasion, after a particularly important speech, the Mayor’s gravitas was seriously eroded after Phil reported that throughout the address the Mayor’s right trouser leg was hitched above his ankle by a forgotten bicycle clip.

On another occasion, Phil reported the Mayor repeatedly referring to a prominent council member as “Mr Hewi Toheroa”.

As a court reporter, Phil was just as adept. He quickly gained the respect and trust of the High Court bench. He and I spent many happy hours together in court. It was a privilege and wonderful fun to work with him professionally.

One highlight was when he covered the trial of two Kings Old Boys. It was a distinguished cast of actors. The judge, both prosecutors and the reporter were part of this impromptu school reunion. Only the defence counsel, Peter Williams QC , was on the outer.

I must also make mention of Phil’s many years of contribution as a Council member of the Deafness Research Foundation. He was an invaluable conduit for getting media coverage of significant research developments and lead the work on a number of public relations initiatives for the Foundation. It is gratifying to see so many from the DRF here.

Phil was never one to be hurried. He moved through life at his own pace. He was never flustered. Everything he did, he did with impressive deliberation. It was a quality which influenced every aspect of his life. He was also a man of habit and every Friday night he would walk up to the local Indian takeaway, Bombay Junction, owned and run by the colourful and cheerful Prince. According to Prince, Phil would stand at the counter pensively scratching his chin peering up at the menu board. He would mutter and mumble as he wrestled with the bewildering array of mouth-watering options which confronted him. The decision making could take up to ten minutes. Finally Phil would make his decision. This was Prince’s cue to disappear out to the back of the shop and return with a freshly cooked Lamb Tika. Phil would look puzzled. “That was fast. How did you do that?” he once asked. “Easy” said Prince. “You always order Lamb Tika”.

Three years ago Phil was diagnosed with a progressive neurological condition with an unpronounceable name. His life was turned upside down. He had to move from his Parnell flat. He had to sell his beloved Wolseley. And patiently, without ever a word of complaint, a hint at self-pity or the slightest fuss, he simply wore out. It was excruciating to witness. The brunt of this horror was born by David and Caroline and I cannot record more strenuously our collective indebtedness to you both for all you did to look after Phil in his final years, particularly the last few months. 2011 has been a hell of a year for you. Only three months ago you, Robert and Phil lost your father Russell. Now its Phil.

You, together with Lucy and Sarah, were terribly important to Phil throughout his life. He adored you all. Robert, I also acknowledge your support and love as Phil’s Sydney-based brother. 

So now it is our time to bid our farewell to this extraordinary man; a man who touched so many lives in so many positive ways.

A man who was utterly non-judgemental, whose warmth and generosity of spirit should be an inspiration to us all.  

Through his efforts he leaves the world a much richer place than it was 57 years ago when he joined it. 

In every sense he was the kindest and funniest of men.

 Goodbye Phil.

Simon Moore

Friday 15 July 2011

“Separation penetrates the disappearing person like pigment and steeps him in a gentle radiance.” Walter Benjamin.

I didn’t sleep that well last Friday night – I kept thinking of my friend Phil English – former political and conservation reporter at the NZ Herald whose funeral I attended on Friday afternoon.

When I was first elected to the old 28 member ARC in a by-election February 1992 Philip English was already a veteran reporter and a major personality on the Auckland scene – and had been for many years. 

 It was a major period of change for Auckland – with a hardline National government having introduced the harsh New Right  ‘Mother of all Budgets’ was now intent on asset stripping and de-powering Auckland regional government.

Philip was a regular and very shrewd observer at ARC meetings and his by-line in the NZ Herald became famous for crisp, carefully-worded stories which made sense of the often complex and mercurial goings-on of ARC politicians and bureaucrats of that time.

With his tweedy ‘Rumpole of the Bailey’ image Philip was a familiar figure around the corridors of Regional House and though the name of the organisation had been recently changed to ‘ARC’, I had joined what was in effect the last months of the old Auckland Regional Authority – the ARA.   The place was filled with an interesting (and often discordant) mix of personalities – many of them ‘household-name’ local politicians like Keith Hay, Lindo Fergusson, Colin Kay, Jean Sampson, Alan Brewster, Gary Taylor and many others.  (See  http://www.mikelee.co.nz/2008/10/strangers-in-the-21st-century/#more-27)

During those years Philip’s stories – especially those relating to the drama around the government’s  attempted privatisation of the ARC owned Ports of Auckland were often on the front page and on the billboards in the street.  They were often picked up by the talkback radio hosts (this was the golden years of Pam Corkery and Radio Pacific) which amplified their reach and political impact.

Phil covered all those rather tumultuous stories of that time.  The major re-organisation of Auckland regional government, the government attempt to get rid of regional parks (which Phil’s reporting helped save), the demise of the old ARA,  the Regional House affair, the setting up of LATES, the attempted privatisation of the Ports of Auckland, the public revolt which stopped it, the rise and fall of the Alliance, the Great Auckland Drought, the Waikato Pipeline, the  divestment of ARC assets and the establishment and eventual abolition of the ARST and much more.

 Phil was the master of the political exposé.  He had a nose for a good story – and the killer instinct to drive it home. More often than not his by-line was accompanied by bold headlines. Such was his reputation that he was one of those journalists who could hurry out of a meeting, find the nearest phone (on a wall or at a reception desk – mobiles not then being in general use) dial up the Herald editor or chief reporter and say ‘Hold the front page’ – and the front page would be held.  During this period he was the most famous and respected – and in some quarters most notorious – reporter in the country.

 But there was more to Phil than that – while he was good at writing the devastating negative story  – but he could also write positive stories – if there was something positive to write about.  As well as being the Herald’s regional political reporter Phil was also the environment reporter.  It was evident that Phil had a genuine interest in natural history.  He loved the idea of protecting Auckland’s natural landscape – hence his enthusiasm for regional parks – and he had a knowledgeable interest in – and a passion for conservation of endangered birds.  I only learned at his funeral that he had been taught at Kings College by the renowned ornithologist Dick Sibson who was on the staff at Kings from 1939 to 1971. That’s what I thought was interesting about Phil – he could write both negative and positive stories and that perhaps is revealing of the writer – and perhaps editorial policy of the time.  While one would accept human nature and therefore human affairs being what they are, that most newsworthy stories tend to be negative, it seems that nowadays there is no room for positive stories at all. And if there are – they must treated with the deepest scepticism and if covered be thoroughly laced with negativity, and if that cannot be achieved -  then they are ignored altogether (see my previous post on Shakespear Open Sanctuary).  But it wasn’t always like that.

By the late 1990s Philip had become despite, his effectiveness – or because of it – a somewhat vulnerable figure.   What some detractors saw as hi eccentricity - was actually a quality they were clearly unfamiliar with – style. 

Over the years Phil had made some influential enemies which I suspect led to the premature termination of his career.

Here is something I wrote about Phil in a little souvenir publication his colleagues Simon Collins and Michele Hewitson and others put together when left the Herald in 2005.

“But Philip was not just a negative journalist – he could be also thoughtful and constructive.  When I was chairman of ARC regional parks committee between 1992 – 95 Philip wrote positive stories about the ARC’s successful drive to buy more regional parkland and about our pioneering initiatives in conservation – projects like kokako management in the Hunuas.  Nature conservation I was to find is a deep passion with Philip.

 Nonetheless he remained a formidable exposer of political and bureaucratic mismanagement – like the ill-starred plan in 1996 to bulldoze an airfield through the hilltops of Whakanewha Regional Park.  The Herald’s (Phil’s) relentless coverage of this very unpopular scheme over several years eventually forced the ARC chairman Philip Warren to do an about face and vote against it.  This sort of reporting meant that Phil English was feared and perhaps at times even loathed by some politicians who objected to public scrutiny and often complained to the Herald management about Phil’s coverage.”

 Sometime in early 2000 during a private meeting with the ARC chairman I was dismayed to be told by Philip Warren in his brassy voice (and with a certain amount of glee I thought) “by the way we won’t be seeing Mr English around here anymore –  he’s been transferred to court duties”. Court duties??

I recall the sinking feeling when after calling Phil – and telling him what I had heard, he expressed surprise…

To quote again from my 2005 article. 

Despite the obvious relief of some thoughtless ARC members this turned out to be actually a huge set back for the Regional Council and for the public – as the role of Phil English, the salutory influence of his consistent presence in the gallery, his knowledge of the ARC and his fearless reporting of events, was never adequately filled again by any one journalist.

Liberated at last from the relentless public scrutiny of Philip English, soon after the ARC went on to support spending a ludicrous  $112m on buying back Tranz Rail’s $1 year rail corridor lease and then over the next two years proceeded step-by-step down a decision path that eventually lead to the crippling 34% rates increase of 2003 – and the consequent extremely damaging ratepayer revolt. 

And when you think about it – because of the twists and turns of politics – and of fate, rather ironically that same rates revolt opened the way for what another Herald reporter (one of Phil’s successors Anne Beston) referring to me (accurately enough) as “unlikely Lee” (though I would have preferred ‘Lee unlikely’) to become chairman of the ARC.

So Phil English left the NZ Herald – and a job which seems to have been the love of his life – his vocation.  A role his unique talents seemed to match perfectly.  Afterwards we managed to arrange for Phil to do some work for the ARC as did Watercare.  But it seemed being a PR man churning out press releases didn’t seem to answer.   That was understandable, Phil was a specialist in his field and he clearly relished working as a senior journalist for the leading newspaper in the country.  That was his niche – there was no other.  I think leaving the Herald broke his heart.

After that it seemed to be all down hill for Phil.  He soon contracted a rare and deadly neural disease PSP which progressively laid waste to him.  He had to leave his flat in his beloved Parnell and sell his favourite Wolseley car.  I kept in touch and I always used to ensure he was invited to the annual ARC media Christmas party.   But it was terrible and very sad to see what the illness did to him.  When I last went to see him – he was almost unrecognisable as the rolly-polly Phil.  But his eye was bright and his handshake firm, his mind still sharp.  He couldn’t really speak – or not that I could understand him.  Thankfully this image has not erased the earlier pictures of Phil as we all remember him from my mind.

So I remember him as he was in his Glory Days, when he was a master of his trade and I a novice in mine.  I remember him at the ill-starred (now deserted – was there some sort of curse?) ARC Regional House – sitting at the back of the committee room number one, slouching more often than not, in the big comfortable chairs they used to have then, or in the debating chamber in one the gallery seats along the side.   In winter and for most of the year he would be wearing a sports jacket of Harris Tweed with a dark knitted tie – sometimes loosened at the neck.  The ever-present brolly would be close at hand.  A stern expression – almost a glower would be fixed on his face as he peered around the chamber.  As I say, often he would slouch in the seat until something newsworthy happened or was said  – then he would spring into action, leaning well forward, face close to the table, pen scribbling furiously. In summer I can picture him more casually dressed in blue shirt and light moleskin trousers – perhaps at some regional park – or on some Gulf island on the trail of a conservation story.  The stories were impeccably accurate –  words carefully chosen – the writing succinct in its economy.

So his long Gesthemane came to an end and he passed away last week.  I went to the funeral  at Purewa on Friday afternoon. (what a sensible time for a funeral, I thought, I must make mine at 3pm on a Friday).  It was a big turn-out, the English family and friends, led by Simon and Jane Moore, most of his Herald colleagues from those days were there – a few of the veteran members  of the ARC/ARA David Olsen, David Hawkins, Paul Walbran and myself and a contingent from Watercare.

It was a warm and moving ceremony.

An impressively eloquent, heartfelt eulogy was presented by his life-long loyal friend Simon Moore, with tributes from his niece Lucy and his elder brother David.  I hope they are published or put on a website somewhere.  Simon’s eulogy in particular was a superb tribute to Phil.  There was a hearty rendition of William Blake’s Jerusalem and then at the end (Phil obviously selected these songs) Kum Ba Yah.

The first hymn evoked his beloved Kings and all of the tradition that goes with that – and the second tells us Phil grew up in the sixties and still retained the pure-hearted idealism of those times still within him.  I have had a bit to say lately, criticising the Baby-Boomers but Phil English (and Simon Moore) remind us there are still people who represent the very best and noblest of that once promising generation.

In closing I must note that something about Phil English always reminded of my friend the late Bruce Jesson.  Both were small men physically, both were excellent writers in their different genre; both were key players in the momentous Auckland political scene of the 90s (their all-too-short  hey-day); both had recognisable ‘trade marks’ (Bruce – the wide-brimmed akubra hat, Philip – the Harris Tweed jacket, brolly etc); both were sociable drinkers, of the old school who loved the conviviality and hilarity of it all; and both were quite interested in nature – though tended not to advertise it; both were stricken with fatal illnesses relatively young in life; and proving NZ is not a meritocracy, despite their unquestioned talents both were terminated prematurely from their respective much-loved publications Metro for Bruce, NZ Herald for Phil

There were a lot of similarities – but that is not in the end why I find them similar persons.  At Bruce’s funeral in 1999, I was struck by the number of women mourners – and I realised that why women, intelligent women especially, loved Bruce, was not just for his exceptional intelligence but I think women sensed a remarkable gentleness within him.  I think that was the same with Philip.  The other thing they had in common was that they died much too early – leaving us to mourn that life will never be as fun without them.

The last word should go to his Herald colleagues, his fellow journalists and the tribute below says it all really.

Wednesday, 13 July 2011

ENGLISH, Phil. On 11 July 2011. Journalist, gentleman, tireless reporter of city affairs for the New Zealand Herald. Lover of brollies, Tongan police brass bands, Wolseley cars, mischief. Gracious host of legendarily lethal martini parties. Phil, your former colleagues at the New Zealand Herald will remember you with admiration and love. What fun you were.

Published in: New Zealand Herald

Philip Russel English - Journalist - 4 October 1953 – 11 July 2011

Last Friday 1 July was another historic day for Auckland conservation.  In beautiful settled weather conditions the first of three helicopter aerial poison bait applications took place on Shakespear Regional Park.  The meticulously organized operation went so smoothly that the application was completed by mid afternoon enabling the  Auckland Council general manager of regional parks Mace Ward to announce the good news almost immediately after

By now two days on, the thousands of rats and mice that infest the regenerating coastal forest at Shakespear regional park, having consumed the brodifacoum bait (which does not cause any immediate noticeable ill effects to the target animals) will slowly begin to die.   As each predator goes a whole coastal forest ecosystem which has been largely suppressed and disrupted for around 150 years by the heavy influence of alien rodents (ship rats, Norway rats and mice) and other predators (such as stoats and feral cats) will slowly come to life.  This process will take many years but the subtle signs of a habitat on the mend will become apparent almost immediately.  Wild food such as fruits and seeds of native plants and grasses normally consumed by rats and mice will now become available to native wildlife.  Invertebrates on the forest floor such as darkling beetles, native cockroaches previously consumed by the rodents will quickly increase in numbers.  This spring native birds, lizards and invertebrates still existing on Shakespear will now be able to breed safely and successfully.   What is more the constant stream of vagrant rare native birds from Tiritiri Matangi, especially kakariki and bellbirds, which are unable to survive for long on the northern mainland in the presence of high numbers of rats, are likely to ‘stick’ this time and breed – starting important new populations at Shakespear.   These will be the first significant examples of these birds breeding on the mainland so close to Auckland since the 1860s. With the ship rats gone, other smaller native birds from Tiri (which may have already attempted to colonise the Whangaparaoa peninusula in the past) such as stitchbirds and whiteheads will sooner or later almost certainly also become apparent.

Taking a very precautionary approach and to allay any public concerns the Auckland Council is closing a large part of the park from 1 July to approximately mid December 2011.

The area of regional parkland to be closed is all land east of the pest proof fence. Okoromai Bay, Army Bay and the wetlands will remain open to the public during this period except on operational flying days. Information and warning notices will be posted at entry points: http://www.arc.govt.nz/parks/our-parks/parks-in-the-region/shakespear/

Shakespear Regional Park at the end of Whangaparoa peninsula - one of our oldest and loveliest regional parks

The whole operation is a credit to all those involved.  The former ARC, now Auckland Council, The NZ Defence Forces for generously including their lands – a decision which made the whole project viable; and of course the dedicated hard-working citizen volunteers – members of the public organised as the Shakespear Open Sanctuary Society Inc (Sossi).  So ably led by Allan Parker. Sossi raised nearly $500,000 towards the cost of building the predator-proof fence:  http://www.sossi.org.nz/

Formal planning for the Shakespear open sanctuary was first  began by the Auckland Regional Council  in 2004 (but I first began promoting this idea 10 years before that  in my role as the then chairman of the ARC regional parks committee – see speech notes below).

In recent years the project was taken up and firmly pushed along by ARC politicians, especially  by the chair of the regional parks and heritage committee Cr Sandra Coney and her deputy chair and member for Rodney Cr Christine Rose.

The project had the committed support of Parks and Heritage staff, Mace Ward, Louise Mason, Janis McCardle, Tim Lovegrove, Shona Wardlaw, Matt Baber and  Sanctuary manager Matt Maitland – amongst others.  Predator-proof fence construction began in March 2010 with a formal ceremony – (see below) and was completed early this year.

The open sanctuary will encompass more than 500 hectares of land, including Shakespear Regional Parkland and the adjoining wastewater treatment plant and New Zealand Defence Force land.

The predator-proof fence and the Shakespear open sanctuary became one the 2009-10 ARC ‘Legacy Projects’ driven ahead at a frenetic pace by ARC members and staff determined to leave something of lasting good behind in the final days before the  ARC marched off the stage of history. Other legacy projects were: the establishment of the Hillary Trail; the opening of Queens Wharf to the public; purchase of Te Muri Regional Park; the gazeting of a Tawharanui Marine Reserve; bellbird transfers to Motuihe and Waiheke Islands; completion of the regional parks management plan; the publication of a history of the regional parks Dreamers of the Day; the opening of the Onehunga Branch Line  the funding of the CBD Loop Business Case; pushing for a joint aganecy study on rail to the airport; completion of plans for the Wynard Waterfront and Headland Park; and the creation of a waterfront heritage tramway – amongst others.  The beneficial impact of this inspired burst of regional government activism will be felt in Auckland for years ahead.  

In March 2010 in an event studiously avoided by the NZ Herald

http://www.aucklandtrains.co.nz/2010/03/07/wildlife-sanctuary-great-news-for-auckland-but-good-news-doesnt-sell/

the former ARC held a ceremony to mark the commencement of work on the predator proof fence as the first stage in building a pest-free wildlife sanctuary on Shakespear Regional Park.  Here is an extract from my speech as the then chairman of the ARC:

ARC legacy - ARC Chairman Mike Lee speaks at launching of Shakespear Open Sanctuary project. March 2010.

 ” Welcome to Shakespear Regional Park on thus historic day for Shakespear and Auckland’s regional parks network.

 The Regional Parks network was founded by the Auckland Regional Authority in 1963 when wise regional leaders of the time perceived that Auckland which was beginning to grow very rapidly and being 400km from the nearest national park had to make provision for the outdoors recreation needs of its people and for the protection of the region’s outstanding landscapes – especially its coastal landscapes.   They realised that if nothing was done, all of Auckland’s superb coastal environment would soon be covered by housing subdivisons.

 And since those early beginnings the regional parks network has gone from strength to strength expanding to cover some 40,000 hectares of open space in 26 [27 with later purchase of Te Muri] regional parks.  Many of those parks are coastal parks and the regional parks network now extends along some 170 km of coast line – protecting in public ownership perpetuity high value coastal landscapes.  To demonstrate the wisdom and foresight of those regional leaders – indeed it can be said that virtually the only remaining undeveloped coastal land areas between here and the Tawharanui peninsula are in the ARC regional parks.

The Auckland Regional Council owns and manages these parks on behalf of you the ultimate owners – the people of the Auckland region.  And the people of the region can be assured that the ARC is working very hard to ensure that the much loved regional parks network is kept together as we transit into the Super City.

As for Shakespear – it was one of the earliest regional parks, purchased by the Auckland Regional Authority in 1967 – soon after Long Bay and Wenderholm Regional parks – and with great foresight.   The land was situated close to a very rapidly expanding suburban area, and Shakespear regional park is now the largest area of public land on the Whangaparaoa peninsula – highly valued by local residents and visitors alike, attracting over 600,000 visitors each year.

 A large number of people here today are members of the Shakespear Open Sanctuary Society Incorporated, otherwise known as SOSSI, and are active supporters of our work on the park.   On behalf of the Auckland Regional Council I would like to thank you Alan Parker and members for your dedicated volunteering efforts – especially over recent years.  

 This event can be considered the pay-off day for you folk – for today we mark the decisive step in which this regional park begins its transformation from a beautiful country-side park into something even better – an Open Sanctuary.

 Our other major land-owning partner in this project of course is the New Zealand Defence Force – perhaps an unusual partner in a conservation project but one which has joined this cause with a great deal of enthusiasm.  I acknowledge and thank Captain Keating, and the servicemen and women here today and thank you for working with us on the Shakespear Open Sanctuary.

 Ladies and Gentlemen without the critical cooperation of the NZ Defence Force there could be no Open Sanctuary along the lines that we are planning.

 Also among us today we also have some of the businesses and groups who have contributed funds to the Fencepost Appeal. Your contribution joins that of the Auckland Regional Council, and the region’s ratepayers, and is greatly appreciated.

 I would also like to acknowledge the Department of Conservation, Massey and Auckland Universities and ARC parks and heritage staff for their technical contribution to this project. Research into the protection of native fauna and flora is vital to establishing the objectives of an open sanctuary and we are grateful for their input.  Thank you.

 Shakespear Regional Park’s and geographic position at the end of this 12km peninsula and its close relationship to Tiritiri Matangi Island and the Tiritiri Open Sanctuary has long been thought of as offering great possibilities for conservation.

 I recently came across a report I wrote for the Regional Parks Committee back in 1995, nearly 15 years ago when I was chairman of Parks.  It was essentially a strategy paper called Regional Parks for the 21^st Century.  Sparing the details essentially I was proposing a strategic approach for the Regional Parks network going forward based on two principals – expansion and intensification. 

 By expansion I meant expansion of the network by energetically acquiring more parkland – and I’m pleased to say the ARC, especially in the last 6 years with Cr Sandra Coney at the helm of regional parks, has done that. 

 In terms of ‘intensification” I was thinking very much of elevated conservation management and integrated pest control – especially on peninsula regional parks.  At that time the ARC was just starting to become involved in this field but since that time, natural heritage conservation work has become an important focus of our work.  Indeed the ARC with its dedicated heritage, biosecurity and ranger staff has become a national leader in this field.

 We in the ARC are determined that this work and the expertise of our people will to be carried forward into the Super City.

 But let me will read you what I wrote, with much enthusiasm and a certain amount of impatience back in 1995:

 I believe we need to start work later this year on formulating plans to enable regional parks to capitalise on the national celebrations at the beginning of the 21^st century. 

I propose we go for a concept centred around the idea of ‘LAND ISLAND 2000’.  This would be a four year project which would see predator-proof fencing at appropriate points across Tawharanui, Mahurangi East, Wenderholm, Shakespear and Umupuia Peninsulas.  Revegetation efforts on these parks must be stepped up starting this year.  The erection of predator-proof fencing must be followed by total pest eradication.  I believe the flagship for this project should be

Shakespear Regional park and a radical approach must be made in stepping up revegetation using an army of volunteers.  The whole visual catchment around Te Haruhi Bay must be revegetated and all major bush areas linked by corridor.  The project would culminate with the release of bellbirds, saddlebacks, whiteheads, kiwi and kakariki parakeets. Land Island 2000 could also apply to the upper Huia catchment of the Waitakeres. etc etc

Unfortunately due to the swings and roundabouts of politics I lost my position later that year.

But good things take time and they tend not to come easily. So in a time-scale, rather longer than I hoped back in 1995 we have nevertheless today, 15 years later arrived at last at the historic moment.

 Very soon Cr Sandra Coney will lead us in breaking the ground marking both the beginning and the point of no return for the building of the predator proof fence:

 I look forward to the day and it will not be far away when native bird species like bellbirds, hihi, parakeets, kaka and kereru and kiwi (many of which will arrive of their own accord) can breed safely and are abundant here –

 Not only will thousands of people come to experience the open sanctuary – but be in no doubt that these birds will be coming to visit you – the local residents of Whangaparaoa, the Hibiscus coast and beyond.”









The first fence post - ceremonial launch of predator-proof fence construction March 2010

8th of June is always going to be an historic day for tram lovers as today the first trams to run on central Auckland streets since 1956 were landed Jellicoe Wharf at the Port of Auckland.

The trams beautifully restored and resplendent in traditional Auckland tram scarlet and black livery were unloaded from the car carrier mv Hoeg Beijing.

Historic moment. First of two heritage trams being unloaded from MV Hoeg Beijing at Jellicoe Wharf 8.6.2011 (Photograph Nigel Marple for POAL)

Thanks to ports manager Wayne Mills I was able to inspect the new trams with the Chief Executive of Waterfont Auckland John Dalzell and Project Manager Iain Purdie. I can’t praise John and Iain enough and also tram guru Colin Zeff – they have done so much to make this happen – and happen quickly.

Usually when we talk about transport projects in Auckland – we are normally talking in terms of decades (a certain Auckland Central Rail Link comes to mind). But not in this case. I still find it amazing that it was just over a year ago that I was sitting in the Melbourne office of a Mr Mike Ryan of the Victorian State Government transport department discussing the possibility of the Victorian Government making some of their heritage trams available for Auckland – and now just over one year later its happened!

Australian-built hertiage trams - newly unloaded on the Auckland waterfront - nicely framed by a rainbow. Photograph Nigel Marple (for Ports of Auckland).

another view of the Australian built heritage trams (at left W2 and at right X-1) refurbished by the Bendigo tram museum in traditional Auckland livery. Photograph Nigel Marple (POAL)

The new waterfront trams are expected to be ‘launched’ and opened to the public on the weekend of 5th August. The following is an extract from Waterfront Auckland’s latest newsletter.

“There’s significant work being done on the tram tracks in Jellicoe Street at present to get them ready in time for the August opening. To help with this, a unique installation technique is being used. It involves a specific type of polyurethane which gets poured into the trench which the tracks sit in. This grout acts as a shock absorber and provides significant reduction in the sound and vibration that occurs. A feature which will obviously be key for the North Wharf eateries and for foot traffic in Jellicoe Street.

This is the first time the installation method has been used in the southern hemisphere and whilst it is great for the ambience of the surrounding area, it has proven to provide real headaches for the installers! The reason being the polyurethane grout has a consistency of water when it’s poured into the track trenches it goes solid in less than 10 minutes. Not exactly easy then, especially considering the tracks need to be set to exact specifications down to the millimetre.”

The arrival of these heritage trams means that this will be the first time trams have operated on central Auckland streets since 1956 when the Auckland City fathers working hand-in-glove with the pro-roads National Goverment terminated the tram fleet (physically destroying most of the trams and selling the rest as batches or sheds) and at huge cost ripped out 72km of tracks. At the time trams alone carried over 80 million out of 100 million passengers a year – a year later public transport patronage halved and has only recently showed signs of recovering. Given that Auckland’s population was then only around 400,000 and that now with a population of 1.4 million we carry 64 million passengers a year by bus, train and ferry, one can get an understanding about how popular trams once were with Aucklanders. And that Aucklanders were once per capita some of the highest public transport users in the world.

For further links on the topic of this project and Auckland trams in general go to:

http://www.aucklandtrains.co.nz/2011/06/24/waterfront-trams-to-britomart/ 

and my own earlier posts:

http://www.mikelee.co.nz/2010/06/trams-to-make-…klands-streets/

http://www.mikelee.co.nz/2010/09/motats-%e2%80%98i-am-the-last-tram%e2%80%99-exhibition-%e2%80%93-provides-remarkable-view-of-auckland-in-1950s-%e2%80%93-and-reminds-us-that-history-is-never-over/

http://www.mikelee.co.nz/2010/05/sins-of-the-fa…it-in-auckland/

Hard to believe! Here at last. Wayne Mills Manager Ports of Auckland, Mike Lee and John Dalzell CEO Waterfront Development Agency. (Photo Martin Leach Ponsonby News).

The purpose of this heritage tramway is not really public transport but to enhance and underline the heritage and character of the Wynyard Quarter – adding an attractive family-friendly drawcard to this tourist precinct soon to be open to the public in time for the Rugby World Cup. There is however a serious public transport opportunity in all of this – a Wynyard tramway if linked to Britomart would make it feasable to seriously consider Light Rail as an alternative transport mode on inner city streets. Already there is interest from Ponsonby residents and also talk of LRT on Queen Street, Dominion Road and Tamaki Drive. The Auckland Council Transport Committee which I chair has already called upon Auckland Council, Auckland Transport and the Waterfront Development Agency to make extending the Wynyard Tramway to Britomart a high priority.

Here is an interesting email I dug out today from sent from me to ARC chief executive Peter Winder whose active support was critical – its just over a year ago.

From: Mike Lee
Sent: Tuesday, 11 May 2010 6:52 p.m.
To: Peter Winder
Cc: John Smith; Christine Rose; Paul Walbran; ‘Sandra Coney’; Brent Morrissey
Subject: Waterfront tramway

Peter,

the idea of a heritage waterfront tramway was last year resolved to be one of the ARC’s legacy projects. As you will be aware it has been on the backburner for some months for a number of reasons. We have been distracted by the attention we have had to put into other projects (eg Queens Wharf) and of course by endless day to day political crisis management – but also to be fair because of difficulties around the project itself.

Three issues have been problematic:
– 1) location of stabling for trams (6 max)
– 2) obtaining sufficient heritage rolling stock
– 3) difficulties in connecting Britomart to the Wynyard Quarter.

In regard to issue 1) I trust staff have taken advantage of the interregnum to come up with some ideas on this – otherwise I have some myself. There is plenty of space around the Wynyard Quarter.

In regard to issue 2) I have obtained verbal agreement from the Victorian Government officers for a recommendation to the Minister to provide us with 2 x heritage trams in good working order – albeit final touch up work would be at our expense. Also as part of the gift – spare parts would be included. Basic frames and chassis could also be provided if we wanted to recreate replica ‘Auckland trams’.

In regard to issue 3) the logical answer is Te Wero bridge. However that is unlikely to happen for at least 5 years.
The other options are
1) connect Halsey Street via Viaduct Harbour Avenue (appealing but difficult because of tight turns and very narrow carriage way and therefore too problematic)
2) do what they would do in Melbourne and simply connect up through Fanshawe Street (difficult because car-centric Auckland City would likely oppose)
3) do not try to connect the Wynyard Quarter with the CBD – yet.

I have come to the latter conclusion after giving this matter a lot of thought. Getting in now with a tramway which encompasses the whole quarter makes a lot of sense. A tramway running along Jellicoe, along Halsey, back along Gaunt and northward along Beaumont would be only 1.5 km long and easily affordable. It could be started relatively quickly before we leave office.
On the Christchurch figures 1.5 km Wynyard Quarter tramway would cost around $6.7m. Extra costs would be incurred for garaging – though that could mean a creative solution but maybe there has been some good staff work on this.

I have given this matter a lot of thought and the benefits of a LRT system built into Wynyard now will add value to the Wynyard development (presently very much dependent on cars – despite hopeful talk of PT). It will also provide a very convenient way of getting about the quarter and from transiting from bus at Fanshawe Street to trams. ( I raised this idea in conversation with Shane Walsh of Sanford tonight and he was extremely enthusiastic – he said he had been suggesting it himself.)

But building a tramway – even a tiny one like this will also make history in terms of catalysing the return of trams/LRT to Auckland for the first time since the 1950s.
The other factor is that if we don’t do it now – I doubt it will ever happen.
I would like to talk further with you about this but now feel this could be our most meaningful ARC legacy project of all. We only have a few months to achieve this but of course it is not exactly a new issue for us.
Thanks,

Mike

I want to pay tribute to all the people whose support enabled this to happen.

First of all to Colin Zeff, Cam Pitches and Barry Palmer of Campaign for Better Transport who first suggested the idea of a tramway on the waterfront in 2009.  Thanks also to my fellow members of the Auckland Regional Council whose staunch support for this project was unwavering.  Then lastly to the people who actually made it happen Peter Winder and John Dalzell, Colin Zeff and Iain Purdie. Finally Mike Ryan and the Victorian State Government of Australia.

Coming soon? Graphic impression of tram at Britomart Transport Centre. (Mike Lee/Keith Strode Penny)

Thanks folks you have done Auckland proud.  A past wrong has began to be put to right.

The Minister of Transport’s announcement yesterday which sought to demolish the business case for Auckland’s long planned Central City Link (aka CBD loop) is a major set back for Auckland.

While for diplomatic reasons the Mayor and government are trying to contain the political fall out -this is a major act of bad faith by the National-led government against Auckland,

This is especially unfair as Auckland was forced by the government to undergo the major costs and dislocation of creating the Super City – ostensibly so that ‘Auckland can speak with one voice’.

Well, Auckland has spoken with ‘one voice’.

Unlike the Holiday Highway, the City Rail Link has a sound business case compiled by reputable NZ and international experts.  Moreover it has a powerful mandate reflected by the overwhelming majority of Aucklanders who voted for Len Brown who campaigned strongly on this very issue.  In contrast the politician who has done most to block the project, Transport Minister Steven Joyce as a first term list MP who unlike the Mayor of Auckland has no personal political mandate from voters whatsoever.   Steven Joyce who features prominently in Nicky Hager’s ‘the Hollow Men’ has never been elected by the public to anything.  This is history repeating itself and the third time a National government has done this to Auckland since 1954. 

The history of Auckland’s planned underground rail link goes back almost 90 years.

Such a scheme was first proposed by Minister of Railways (later Prime Minister) Gordon Coates as early as 1923.  In the late 1940s the Ministry of Works refined the scheme which was accepted by all parties for nearly 10 years before being killed off by the National Government of the odious Syd Holland in 1954– with unfortunately the active compliance of the then Auckland City Council.  Again in the late 1960s the ARA and the NZ Railways worked up another plan, again with an underground loop known as ‘Robbies Rapid Rail’. This in turn was killed off in 1975 by the newly elected National government of Robert Muldoon.  (Sins of the Fathers – the fall and rise of rail transit in Auckland).

Now the National government of John Key and Steven Joyce have done it again.  So much for all the brave talk about making Auckland ‘ a ‘World Class City’. In fact what Key and Joyce want is the removal (deregulation) of the former ARC’s Metropolitan Urban Limits to open up the opportunities for urban sprawl for vested interests.  Aspirations for sprawling and coastal subdivisions I guess can be the only explanation for the otherwise irrational Puhoi to Wellsford highway. 

History repeats? This Herald cartoon published 2 Nov 1954 lampoons the scuttling by the National government of a previous plan to build an underground rail link through Auckland. The bound and gagged figure depicts Auckland Mayor J.H. Luxford. (from 'Decently and in Order' by Dr Graham Bush).

Note that Sir Wellington Treasury has an uncanny resemblance to Steven Joyce.  Note also the two casks of dynamite – ‘procrastination’ and ‘dissension’ are still being used to demolish Auckland’s aspirations

 See my earlier post on this issue.

http://www.mikelee.co.nz/2010/11/cbd-rail-link-business-case-revealing-in-more-ways-than-one/

Multiple translocation of native lizards to Crusoe Island. Shore skinks from Tawharanui (Jan, March 2010), common geckoes from Noises Islands to Crusoe and Motuora Islands (Oct 2010) Pacific Geckoes from Hauturu (pending).

 Last Friday morning I escaped from a round of seemingly endless Auckland Council meetings to go and do what I used to do a lot of back in the ARC days – I  travelled down to Crusoe Island with Auckland Council scientist Melinda Rixon – courtesy Mick Courtnell of the Harbour Master’s office.  Our purpose was to carry out a survey to find out whether the shore skinks and common geckoes released onto Crusoe Island last year had survived and hopefully bred.

• 74 shore skinks Oligosoma smithii were released onto the island in January and March 2010.
• 30 common geckoes Hoplodactylus maculatus were released onto the island in October 2010

 I am very pleased to report that our mission was successful on all counts.

Baby skink born on Crusoe Island - Melinda prepares to weigh and measure. In background Church Bay, Waiheke Island

After landing on the island and beginning our search we almost immediately discovered a juvenile shore skink and later both adult and juvenile geckoes.

 In all during our 2 hour survey we found 8 shore skinks including 2 juveniles and 7 geckoes including 3 juveniles.

Baby common gecko - born on Crusoe Island probably in March.

I also noted a visible increase in spiders and larger invertebrates like native cockroaches and seashore earwigs suggesting ecological processes on Crusoe Island disrupted by decades of heavy infestation by mice are slowly but surely being restored to full health.

All this is very satisfying and augers well for the long term success of the translocations.   One good thing I have found about translocating lizards compared to say bellbirds is that lizards are less prone to fly off into the blue beyond!  I would like to now work on transferring Pacific geckoes to Crusoe.  Hopefully the island can become an important lizard sanctuary in the inner Hauraki Gulf as well as a useful outdoor laboratory for conservation research.

adult common gecko - transferred to Crusoe from its home on Otata in Noises group late in October 2010. Part of a family group of geckoes found on Crusoe in May 2011

Background information from previous web post: http://www.mikelee.co.nz/2010/11/gecko-release-on-tiny-crusoe-island-brings-to-a-close-arc-legacy-programme/

Crusoe or Papakohatu (0.7ha) lies approximately half way between Motuihe and Waiheke Islands.  Despite its presence in one of Auckland’s most popular fishing grounds (the Motuihe channel) the island remains in many respects ‘invisible’.

While most conservation attention focuses on the more larger islands like Little Barrier, (Hauturu), Rangitoto, Motutapu, Tiritiri Matangi and Motuihe, it is not generally appreciated that the much more numerous islets (less than 1 hectare in size) of which there are 350 in the Hauraki Gulf alone have significant existing and potential conservation values – especially for seabirds and reptiles.

The release of common geckoes (as well as shore skinks) on Crusoe Island has been a personal project since I first carried out a biological survey of the island as part of my MSc degree in 1996.  When I first visited the island in late January 1996, paddling by kayak from Waiheke, I discovered the island had been overrun with mice and its native vegetation infested with Rhamnus alaternus – an especially aggressive pest weed plant.  After a false start in 1996 in 2001 I finally managed to eradicate the last mouse from Crusoe. 

I always puzzled given the distance of Crusoe from the nearest neighbouring islands how mice ever got there in the first place and by chance recently I came across an account of how a Sanford fishing boat the Olive ran aground on Crusoe Island in October 1949 and as part of the salvage operation everything on the boat had to be unloaded onto the island.  This would certainly explain how mice got there.  Over recent years Rhamnus and other weeds have been progressively removed from Crusoe Island by ARC Biosecurity staff and myself – with Whakanewha parks ranger Andy Spence and Dan Beauchamp actively involved.  The island is now well covered in native coastal forest is in extremely good condition.

The geckoes were collected from Otata Island in the nearby Noises Group by scientist and lizard specialist Melinda Rixon for the ARC.  Melinda now works for the Auckland Council.  This release was combined with the transfer of 40 other common geckoes from Otata to Motuora Island.  Native geckoes are quite unique as they give birth to live young.  Common geckoes normally give birth to twins around about March.

About-to-be-released Gecko and Mike on Crusoe Island October 2010 (Photo Diana Worthy, Gulf News)

Mike Lee, Matt Baber and Melinda Rixon - releasing geckoes on Crusoe Island in October 2010. (Photo Diana Worthy, Gulf News).

Earlier last year, in January and in March we also released a total of 74 native shore skinks Oligosoma smithii on Crusoe.  The first release in early January comprised of 33 shore skinks which were were captive-bred at Massey University, Albany Campus in a programme run by Dr Weihong Ji.

The second release in March comprised of 41animals, which were all were collected from Tawharanui Regional Park.

The whole project was managed by ARC Natural heritage scientist Matt Baber (also a lizard specialist).

The lizard releases of 2010 are considered to have an excellent chance of success.

We are very appreciative of the support given by the Neureuter family who own the Noises Islands and of course Melinda who expertly collected the 70 geckoes involved in the double translocation.

To know that Crusoe – small as it is – has been restored to an almost pristine condition and stocked with native lizards is extremely satisfying.

Our application to release Pacific Geckoes from Little Barrier Island on Crusoe was put on hold by Department of Conservation but could happen in the future.  Special thanks (again) to Mick Courtnell from the Auckland Harbourmaster office for transporting us and the lizards to Crusoe -and for bringing us back. 

For more details on Crusoe Island see: Lee (1999) Biota of Seven Islets off Waiheke Island, inner Hauraki Gulf. Tane 37: 99-136.

ANZAC Day Address by Auckland councillor Michael Lee on behalf of the Governing Body Auckland Council, 

Civic Commemorative Service 

Cenotaph, Auckland Museum and Domain. 

But an elite force can only be forged after months, indeed years of training, with leadership, motivation and ésprit de corps – and also by the harsh testing lessons of combat.  

In May 1941 the New Zealand Division alongside British, Australian and Greek forces, was ordered to defend the island of Crete from a German invasion. 

After days of bitter fighting, German paratroopers had seized control of the strategic Maleme airfield.  In fighting around the nearby town of Galatas New Zealand forces came under heavy attack. Under the onslaught the exhausted riflemen of the 18^th battalion began to fall back, the trickle of men turning into a stream.  Had the line collapsed at that point, the enemy would have broken through and the whole position of the Allied forces on Crete would have been imperilled.  The New Zealand Commander Lieutenant Colonel Howard Kippenberger (later Major General Kippenberger) moved amongst the retreating soldiers exhorting them to stand and hold – calling upon them to: “Stand for New Zealand!  Stand every man who is a soldier! Stand for New Zealand!” 

The average New Zealander is not inclined to be demonstrative, (especially in those days), nor do we tend to be hand-on-heart patriots – and this citizen’s army was no exception – but the evocation of New Zealand and everything that New Zealand stood for in the hearts of those men – rallied them.  The retreat stopped – the line held.  Indeed the next day, led by Kippenberger the New Zealanders counter-attacked and routed the surprised enemy out of the town of Galatas.  This action saved the Allied situation in Crete enabling most of the expeditionary force to conduct an orderly withdrawal across the mountains to be evacuated by the Royal Navy to Egypt.  It was in the heavy fighting around Galatas that 2^nd Lieutenant Charles Upham won the first of his two Victoria crosses. 

John Mulgan was one of this country’s outstanding young writers of the 1930s.  Author of the depression-era classic ‘Man Alone’ he went on to Oxford University.  Upon the outbreak of war in 1939 he immediately joined the British Army rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.  The dashing Mulgan fought in the 8^th Army at El Alamein and latter with special forces behind the lines in occupied Greece. 

Towards the end of the war he wrote in nostalgic terms about his memories of New Zealand from which he had been parted for many years. 

 Mulgan also wrote about his impressions of the NZ Division which he had encountered in North Africa: 

“Afterwards, a long time afterwards, I met the New Zealanders again, in the desert below Ruweisat ridge, the summer of 1942.  It was like coming home.  They carried New Zealand with them across the sands of Libya.  This was the division that had saved the campaign of 1941 at Sidi Rezegh.  The next year, when Rommel came into Egypt, the same division drove down from Syria and up along the coast road against the tide of a retreating army to meet him, and waited for him near Mersah Matruh.  They held there for three days.  By the evening of the third day, the whole Afrika Korps, had lapped round them and was closing in.  Ordered to come out, the New Zealanders attacked by night, led out their transport through the gaps they cleared, boarded it, and drove back to Alamein.  Through all the days of a hot and panic-stricken July they fought Rommel to a standstill in a series of attacks along Ruweisat ridge.  They helped save Egypt, and led the break through at Alamein to turn the war. “ 

 “They were mature men, these New Zealanders of the desert, quiet and shrewd and sceptical. They had none of the tired patience of the Englishman, nor that automatic discipline that never questions orders to see if they make sense. Moving in a body, detached from their homeland, they remained quiet and aloof and self-contained.  They had confidence in themselves, such as New Zealanders rarely have, knowing themselves as good as the best the world could bring against them, like a football team in a more deadly game, coherent, practical, successful. “ 

“It seemed to me, meeting them again, friends grown a little older, more self-assured, hearing again those soft, inflected voices, the repetitions of slow, drawling slang, that perhaps to have produced these men for this one time would be New Zealand’s destiny.  Everything that was good from that small, remote country had gone into them – sunshine and strength, good sense, patience, the versatility of practical men.  And they marched into history” 

I close with some final thoughts by John Mulgan on the New Zealand he hoped would be created as an outcome of the sacrifices of the war. 

“If the old world ends now with this war, as well it may, I have had visions and dreamed dreams of another New Zealand that might grow into the future on the foundations of the old.  This country would have more people to share it.  There would be hard-working peasants from Europe, craftsmen that love making things with their own hands, and all men who want the freedom that comes from an ordered, just community.  There would be more children in the sands and sunshine, more small farms, gardens and cottages.  Girls would wear bright dresses, men would talk quietly together.  Few would be rich, none would be poor.  They would fill the land and make it a nation. “ 

“In this country in a dreamed-of future, men will remember names of desert places that have been dignified by fighting, battle honours of a small country, of that New Zealand of the past, and they will share these things as part of a history that will be dear to them. ‘All earth has witnessed that they answered as befitted their ancestry; they endured as the strong influences about their youth taught them to endure’” 

John Mulgan did not survive the war – he never came home. 

I think we New Zealanders in the 21^st century, of my generation in particular, could take more time to meditate upon the sacrifices made by our ancestors, especially those of the World War 2 generation and to reflect upon the hopes and aspirations, the spirit of national unity and national purpose of New Zealanders of those times – and the high price for nationhood that they paid for all of us. 

We need to ask ourselves have we measured up to those earlier war-generation New Zealanders?  Have we managed well the great patrimony bequeathed to us? Have we honoured the unwritten covenant between ourselves and the dead. 

In these uncertain, equivocal times the exhortations of Howard Kippenberger amid the noise and chaos of battle at Galatas call out to us – “Stand for New Zealand!”

Ponui Island (its literal translation means ‘big night’) which is just 18km from downtown Auckland is one of Waiheke’s closest neighbours (only 2km away) but one of those quiet neighbours that keep itself very much to itself.  The island is one of the larger Gulf islands at 1795 ha and though it is extensively farmed it has good areas of quite luxuriant kauri forest in relatively rare association with hard beech (Nothofagus truncata).    The island is totally privately owned and there is no public access.  Another name for Ponui is ‘Chamberlins Island’ as the island has been in continuous ownership and farmed by the pioneering Chamberlin family since 1853.

The island is now divided into three farms – two owned by branches of the

Chamberlin family and one by multi millionaire John Spencer.

Ponui is also an interesting Waiheke neighbour because of the remarkably high numbers of endangered brown kiwi – NZ’s national bird – that live there.

North Island brown kiwi were first released on Ponui in 1964 by the old NZ Wildlife Service.  There were only 13 birds released but they came from a remarkably wide variety of source populations. The birds released on Ponui came from Hauturu – Little Barrier Island – a population believed to be made up of both indigenous Little Barrier birds and Taranaki birds released on Hauturu earlier in the 20th century. A handful of birds came from Waipoua in Northland and one bird came from Coromandel.  The ‘mixed race’ nature of the birds is interesting (and problematic to some scientists) as they no longer fit into the distinct North Island brown kiwi taxons which genetic scientists have identified.  On the other hand given kiwi once existed as a contiguous population all over the North Island it is suggested that the original kiwi that lived in the Auckland region, on places like Ponui and Waiheke, actually would probably have had a genetic make-up pretty much like the present Ponui kiwi.

About 5 years ago Massey University scientist Dr Isabel Castro thought it timely to check up on what had actually happened to the Ponui kiwi population.  Much to everyone’s surprise Isabel and her researchers discovered that the kiwi population on Ponui had not only survived but thrived.  At an estimated 1500  birds the Ponui population makes up a remarkable 6% of the country’s entire brown kiwi population.  And given brown kiwi are endangered and nationally in decline this makes the Ponui kiwi population one of national importance – and their survival success scientifically interesting.

Landowners Peter Chamberlin and his son David and their family have always taken a keen interest in the wellbeing of their feathered guests.  Valuing the privacy of the ancestral island home they have nevertheless welcomed and actively assisted Isabel Castro and her research team.  For the past five years the formidable Dr Castro has had a team of up to 20 young scientists studying every aspect of the kiwi and it’s ecology.

Among the wealth of data they have collected is that the kiwi population on Ponui has been so successful that it is now reaching the maximum level of the island’s natural carrying capacity.

I had been following Dr Castro’s work on Ponui with some interest

I was also aware that Waiheke conservationist Rob Fenwick had been lobbying the Department of Conservation unsuccessfully for some years for a kiwi release to take place his 380ha predator-managed reserve on the Te Matuku peninsula.  I had also been appraoched by the owner of Pakihi Island (114 ha) John McCallum to intercede with DoC to approve kiwi liberations on his predator free island which lies just over a kilometre from Ponui.   In May last year, when I was still chairman of the ARC I proposed that the ARC natural heritage scientists initiate a transfer of Ponui kiwi to Waiheke. 

As well as the Fenwick reserve and Pakihi I also had in mind as a release site Whakanewha Regional Park.

(See also  http://www.mikelee.co.nz/2010/09/kiwi-release-p…-pakihi-island/ )

In July last year a high level meeting was held at the ARC in which the DoC Auckland Conservator Sean Goddard gave the project DoC’s in-principle backing.

Fortunately the programme has survived the Super City upheaval and under the direction of former ARC natural heritage scientist Dr Tim Lovegrove is on schedule for the first transfer of Ponui kiwi to the Fenwick reserve in about 10 month’s time.  This to be followed 3 years later by a release at Whakanewha Regional Park. The period between the initial release and the follow-up will enable scientists to assess the success of the first release.  It will also give Waiheke dog owners a long phase-in period to comply with the dogs-on-leash rule at Whakanewha which will have to be enforced as it is on  mainland regional parks.

On a rainy Saturday in late March I visited the island with Tim Lovegrove and Hazel Speed from DoC.  David Chamberlin was at Kawakawa Bay to pick us up in his boat and ferry us over to Ponui where his family has farmed for five generations.  On the beach we met Isabel Castro and David’s wife Ros and the remarkably large team of young researchers that stay on the island in a  facility in which the Chamberlin’s host Christian youth camps.  Here we were joined by Rob Fenwick and his wife Jenny who crossed over from Waiheke in their own boat.   After a welcome morning tea we recieved a series of impressive detailed briefings by Isabel and members of the Massey university team on the Ponui kiwi research project.

One of the more intriguing details that came out of the briefing session is that given the longevity of kiwi, it is not impossible that some of the original birds released in 1964 could be still alive on the island!

Isabel radio tracking kiwi - Ponui Island. At left Tim Lovegrove.

Then were were off to trace kiwi which had last year been fitted with tiny radio transmitters.  The objective was to locate the kiwi and replace the transmitters before the batteries ran out.  Using a Yagi directional aerial we soon found our first kiwi ‘Mauro’ – who was the first chick hatched during Isabel’s research programme.

expert intervention - Isabel attaches a new radio transmitter to kiwi. The transmitter cannot be too tight - nor too loose.

The transmitter attached to the Mauro’s stout leg was expertly replaced by Isabel in what looked to me rather like a medical procedure – but Mauro seemed quite used to this and lay relaxed all the way through.  The trick was to fit the little plastic strap (the same as those used to ID babies in maternity hospitals) attaching the transmitter not too tightly to the birds leg – and at the same time not too loosely. 

Monitoring the movements and behaviour of selected birds is a key element of the research programme on Ponui and monitoring the birds released on Waiheke and Pakihi – in similar yet different environments is likely to provide a great deal of useful science.

The research on the translocated birds will look at kiwi chick development and kiwi chick survival rates in the absence of competition from other kiwi.  It will also look at mating behaviour which on crowded Ponui (for kiwi that is)  often involves groups of birds rather than standard pairs.

And amongst other things close observation of the transferred birds will hopefully  help tease out the reason for the remarkable success of the Ponui kiwis.

Reintroducing kiwi to Waiheke is also likely to have other benefits such as enhancing the health and vitality of Waiheke’s  forest ecosystem.

There are also other possible less tangible, anthropocentric benefits that relate to people’s quality of life.

Kiwis are our national bird.  We like to call ourselves kiwi (we even call our currency the ‘kiwi’) but most New Zealanders have never had the privilege of hearing let alone seen a kiwi in the wild.

The Ponui kiwi have shown that given the right conditions the national decline in our national bird can be arrested – indeed turned around.