Here we are again, the last column before Christmas. It may well be my last column ever; I’m fully intending to retire one day.

It was a great thrill for both Walter Gill and myself last month, to be inducted into the North Harbour Business Hall of Fame. We have spent over 50 years in Gill and Gundry Concrete Construction Ltd, a company whose grass roots go back to the late 1960s. It was a wonderful occasion at the Spencer Hotel in Takapuna, surrounded by friends and family to celebrate this achievement. A black-tie dinner, with everyone dressed up, and the function room looked wonderful with all the tables set beautifully. 

It was great to see Sir Stephen Tindall, our teammate from the 1969 Takapuna Grammar School First XV get a lifetime achievement award. It is so well deserved for what he has done in the community over many years. 

I’ve worked out the perfect plan to get rid of all the road cones that are proliferating throughout Auckland at the moment. If everybody could “Adopt a Cone” and take it home, take it to the beach, take it out on the boat, gift wrap it and give it to a friend, take it camping, maybe post it overseas to someone in a foreign land; if we all did this, all 1.7 million of us in Auckland, it may go some small way to relieve us of this cancerous problem. There is a small roadworks job they’ve been attempting to do in the early weeks of November, adjacent to the BP in Clifton Road. It was a small reconstruction of a footpath, but there have been days where there has been nobody working there at all. I have it on good authority that the road cones and signage have been charged out at $1800 per day and these have been there for three weeks.That’s well over $40,000. This is completely out of control. I do get sick of writing about these things, but there is so much wastage and bad planning going on that if someone doesn’t keep track of it, and comment about it, we risk it being forgotten. 

I’ve heard the Bayswater Marina Development has been chopped back a bit on the number of dwellings, but it seems there’s only been a few tweaks to address the community’s concerns. Let’s wait and see what the decision is. My concern is that the community continues to have good access to the boat ramp, as the shortage of good, safe boat ramps around the Shore is diabolical.

It is going to be a big year at my beloved North Shore Rugby Club next year, as the club is celebrating 150 years, being formed at the Masonic Hotel on the waterfront in 1873. It is the oldest rugby club in New Zealand, still playing on the original playing fields. The club has a full programme for Easter 2023 with a golf tournament, dinner, annual game v. Takapuna and a club feature on the Saturday afternoon.  Any former players, with wives, girlfriends, administrators, managers, coaches, physios, anybody who has had a former association with the club should enroll for that weekend and catch up with people you won’t have seen for many years. There will be a full weekend, and on March 17 there will be the official launching of a book on the history of the Club, with a swanky lunch to celebrate. It will be a lot of fun.

So, please save the date, Easter 2023 – a book launch, followed by the swanky lunch then all the other activities planned.

I would like to wish all my readers a very happy festive season, I know we have put a tough couple of years behind us. We have plenty to look forward to as a nation, as we do live in one of the greatest countries in the world. Enjoy the summer, take the time to walk the beaches, have a barbecue with friends and family and enjoy every sandwich as we never know what will be around the corner.

Merry Christmas, let’s look forward to a better 2023 – we have the Rugby World Cup and maybe a change in Government.

Ed's Note: Well done to you and Walter on your recognition. We have included a brief summary of those achievements in this issue. Please don’t retire from being our award-winning columnist, our readers love your work. Oh, and readers, we don’t condone this cone problem solving idea – leave the cones!