Once again you have the dubious pleasure of another offering from the Old Mate from the Pub, as Mr G is otherwise engaged. Travelling we understand – what a life! Gee the Old Mate from the Pub knows how to grumble – fast becoming the champ!

A big thumbs up to Emirates Team New Zealand for successfully defending the America’s Cup, the White Ferns ICC T20 Women’s World Champions, Auckland FC, Black Caps first test win in India since 1988, and Liam Lawson, a future F1 champion in the making?
I was mightily encouraged a few weeks ago, to read a comment from our local MP, the Hon. Simon Watts, that central government intended to get more involved in major local roading issues such as Lake Road. Now, if this means taking control away from those legions of highly paid, car hating individuals at AT that would be extremely good news.
However, I have doubts that anything will actually happen. Let’s face it the country is flat broke and the last set of uninspiring plans for Lake Road had an estimated cost of around $50 million, probably closer to $75 million in today’s money, not including the additional millions for the orange cones.
You might recall a few years ago there was actually $30-$40 million in cold hard cash allocated for Lake Road improvements which was purloined by the long gone and unlamented Mayor Leonard Brown to help fund the never-ending CRL $$$$ sink hole.
As a little aside, when the CRL was first mooted, I recall a radio interview by the great Leighton Smith with an American professor, who was a leading authority on this type of metro rail project. He said there were three constants: Construction will take twice as long as planned; the cost will be at least double the initial estimates; patronage will be around 50% of the projected usage. Well, he was absolutely spot on with the first two.
Figures from 2020 showed over 30,000 vehicle movements on Lake Road every day and with the planned and already under construction apartment developments around Belmont there will soon be even larger numbers of vehicles travelling Lake Road every day.
Now as much as our friends AT and the handful of cyclists I see grimly pedaling up past Wilson Home with their ‘One-Less-Car’ backpacks may wish otherwise, cars are going to be around for some years to come and will still need safe and efficient roads. As will cyclists.
Obviously, I’m no roading engineer but here’s a wild suggestion for Lake Road from Belmont lights through to Hauraki Corner. Create a dynamic-lane like Whangaparaoa Road, and the Panmure Bridge. I understand AT have already said it can’t be done, which probably means that it could be but just doesn’t fit their objectives.
It may mean marginally reducing the width of the footpaths on both sides should the road need widening, and while we’re at it, on the eastern side, step the lamp posts back from the kerbside and underground all the electric and telecom cabling.
As well as improving week day traffic, it would be handy in the weekends when inexplicably there’s always massive traffic flows heading towards Devonport. A dynamic lane would also be useful for emergency vehicles. There could be problems with right turning vehicles, and possibly the Belmont shops, but nothing a good traffic engineer couldn’t sort out.
Any improvements on Lake Road are likely to be a compromise because I just can’t see $50 million or more being available any time soon. Surely an interim option as suggested, or something similar, is a better proposition that just hoping for a full redevelopment sometime in the future? Because if that decision is left up to AT it’s unlikely to ever happen.
It pains me to say this, but Devonport village is sadly a shadow of its’ former self. We know there are many reasons – our parlous economy, Covid lockdowns, AT zealots, online shopping, Lake Road – all of which add up to very tough times for local businesses. What used to be a thriving shopping centre with a good range of shops and services is now mainly cafés/restaurants, hairdressers/barbers and op shops.  Even the magnificent old Esplanade Hotel looks dreadfully tired, run down and long overdue for a major refurbishment. I know a group of local investors have bought several buildings in Victoria Rd and we can only hope they are able to turn Devonport’s fortunes around and inject some much-needed life back into the place.
I don’t want to dwell on the economic mess left by Labour, but a recently opened nine-apartment Kainga Ora development in Meadowbank encapsulates the incompetence and reckless spending we’re all paying for. The build cost per unit was $1.2 million rising to $1.7 million with the cost of land included.  Yes, public housing should be safe and comfortable, but that shouldn’t extend to $1 million-plus apartments? A private developer said for what this cost KO, there should have been somewhere between two-three times the number of apartments built. Mercifully the entire KO board has gone, and many senior staff as well, but not the $12 billion in borrowing they accrued over the five years, and yes that is billion with a B.
One year on, and despite the bewildering array of challenges, the coalition government is holding together with no major disagreements, at least not in public anyway. The economy is gradually recovering, inflation is back within the prescribed range, interest rates are coming down, tax cuts are in place, and the punishing ‘greedflation’ we’ve experienced seems to be in abeyance. Perhaps in 2025 we will begin to see some material improvements, but it’s going to be a long haul back to better days.