I cannot believe the sudden plethora of signs put up around Devonport, guiding people to either Mt Victoria or North Head, big horrible brown signs, at least a dozen of them around the borough. These apparently come at a cost of $4,800 each just to construct, let alone the installation of them. Yet another bit of visual pollution cluttering our landscape, and also another instance of state control, telling people what to do and where to go. I would have thought in this modern world, if a person wanted to find their way to Mt Victoria or North Head, they could just put it in their Google Maps and there it would be, a nice map of how to get there. The signs are in Māori, so of course less than 10% of the population know the meaning of them. Tourists won’t have a clue what they mean. It is yet another complete waste of our money.
While we are around in Devonport, I see new parking restrictions will be put in place and again Auckland Transport is asking Devonport people what they think. They are asking if local knowledge will help them improve the proposed changes so there is less congestion and frustration, more availability and flexibility and more time to enjoy all that Devonport has to offer. The last time I remember Auckland Transport asking for residents’ input was at a public meeting at the RSA over a year ago, when AT attended and asked shop keepers and residents within the Victoria Road precinct their thoughts about the proposed raised pedestrian crossings, a new bus stop and fewer parking areas. At that meeting there was an overwhelming “No” to the proposal, and just over a week later contractors moved in and started installing all these traffic measures, despite public consultation opinions. So I don’t hold out much hope that our input will have any sway regarding these proposals for parking in Devonport. The plan is that along King Edward and Queens Parade there are going to be parking meters and people will only be able to park for two hours. For a large proportion of the lower Devonport area, there will be residents’ parking permits and for those without a permit there will be only two hours parking. We are all told to use public transport, but where are commuters supposed to put their cars? Their advice is that commuters should use public transport to connect to the ferry. My mate at the pub tells me that the majority of buses leave with only two or three people on board; I’m wondering if they have yet synchronised the buses with the arrival or departure of the ferries. Which brings me again to my oft-repeated complaint: why are we continuing to use these large Metro buses roaring through the streets, when generally there are only a few people on board? Again, I can see Queens Parade and King Edward Parade getting another visit from the cone truck and being ripped up to enable the Pay and Display machines to be installed. Yet more visual pollution along our waterfront.
It’s great to see that Auckland Transport is finally killing off Takapuna shopping centre, Devonport village and of course Queen Street, with their endless raised crossings, bicycle lanes, planters, speed restrictions and restricted parking areas and many, many litres of road paint, while the faceless people sit in their ivory towers, unable to answer the telephone to anyone who wants to question or complain.
And while I am talking about AT and Auckland Council, I have a friend who lives next door to a public reserve in Gatman Street, Birkenhead. On that reserve there has been a continuing major earth slip happening, and do you think this poor resident can get any response from the Council or his Local Board. This poor gentleman has a lovely home, the slip is slowly taking away the backyard of his property, and he cannot get anyone to respond to his plight. It’s disgraceful. Again, we have overpaid faceless people sitting in offices, who cannot be contacted for help.
On another completely different subject, I am wondering whether, when companies use iconic songs for advertising purposes, are the composers or their families getting paid royalties for the use of these songs? Two classic examples are “It’s a Wonderful World” written by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss and made famous by Louis Armstrong. This song has over the years been used by many different advertisers on television and radio. The other song is “This Land is Your Land, this Land is my Land” written in 1940 and sung and composed by Woody Guthrie. This song is repeatedly on radio advertising Waitomo Fuel Stops, a petrol company. I do hope the Guthrie family or whoever owns the rights to that song are getting royalties paid. As I hope the Thiele and Weiss families are also. It would be interesting to find out.
It’s hard to believe we are halfway through the year, the shortest day has passed and we are looking towards springtime again. As I write this I am so looking forward to the announcement of Razor Robertson’s first All Black squad. It will be very interesting.