We hope you’ve all managed to take a decent break. It’s been a very testing few years with Covid-19 and we pray things will get better one day. Most people I know have had their boosters to help keep everyone safe.
This month Ponsonby’s new medicinal cannabis clinic - CannaPlus+ is opening and breaking barriers to improve our quality of life. This new business is New Zealand's first internationally affiliated medicinal cannabis clinic network and telemedicine platform dedicated to improving both health and lifestyle. The CannaPlus+ clinic is conveniently located in the heart of Ponsonby, opposite Bambina.
I can’t tell you how disappointed we were that Gael Baldock did not get a Good Citizens Award. This local advocate does a huge amount of unpaid work on behalf of our community. Despite meeting the criteria and with eight nominations, Gael was overlooked by the Waitematā Local Board when selecting the recipients of their Good Citizens Awards. I agree with Sarah Trotman’s sentiments in her letter opposite.
We love our local community gardens. For the fourth year in a row Grey Lynn’s Kelmarna Gardens is inviting Aucklanders to join them for an outdoor restaurant experience, enjoying food from the farm - on the farm. The team are working with Auckland restaurants for a unique farm-to-table experience at their urban community farm.
John Elliott and I have been talking about housing and young people who are trying desperately to get onto the property ladder. Many can’t afford the deposit and are desperate. We like the quirky possibility for empty nesters living in large houses with spare bedrooms who could take in young people as both companions and boarders. This is the premise of the British programme now on TV, 'Lodgers for Codgers'.
A lot of learning can take place both with the young and the old. Any innovative ideas are worth trying.
We have been banging on about the dangers of glyphosate for several years, but nothing seems to change. Recently my colleague John Elliott told me how incensed he was to find the berm outside his house had been sprayed, despite being on the no-spray council list, or is supposed to be. We have been told repeatedly assured by Council, including Councillor Pippa Coom, that glyphosate is being “phased down”. We'll believe it when we see it!
Last month we walked through the Western Springs Forest (the tracks are good) to see how the newly planted natives are faring. Most are still alive, but very dry. It will be way beyond our lifetimes before any real restoration of a native forest actually occurs. It’s a shame, but relitigation of the pine removals was pointless; however we have to move on. But what an error of judgement was made by our local board.
Keeping fit and healthy, both physically and mentally is paramount says Helene Ravlich, especially as we head further into 2022 as the pandemic continues to rage on and life remains in a constant state of upheaval. It’s easy to say that the best way to counteract the feeling of uncertainty is to just roll with the punches. But that is most definitely easier said than done.
This month’s cover story is all about the KT10 Sushi Train, located at the rear of St Pierre's in Three Lamps. Check it out. (MARTIN LEACH)
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Published 4 February 2022