My Cupid Noel Tovey - everyone should have a Cupid!

My Cupid - Noel Tovey
Janette Heffernan

Cupid the Roman God of erotic love and beauty, whose arrows can unite the most unlikely protagonists, is an elusive and enchanting creature. Everyone, if they are lucky, will meet the God of Love at sometime in their lives and when you do it is most important to keep on his the right side. A casual word in the wrong direction can mean the difference between wedded bliss or a lonely and impoverished old age.

Cupid can come in many guises. True we think of him today as a chubby cherub with a quiver full of arrows charged to inspire romantic love but that is not how the Romans saw him. To them he was is a lively youth who delighted in pranks and spreading love. It is said if Cupid's arrow hits you; you will fall hopelessly in love with the next person you meet.

I first meet my Cupid when I was twenty-one. I had no idea that he was the God of Love.
At first glance it was obvious to me that Cupid was exceptionally good looking, confident and self-assured. I was the Principal Girl in the Windsor Pantomime and Cupid was the premier danseur who picked me up and twirled me around in the final walk down. He was a good dancer too. The panto came to a close and I moved on never giving this man another thought. Ships that pass!
Little did I realize that this short meeting was to have life changing consequences that would effect the rest of my life ten years down the track. I had met my Cupid.

In between jobs I had taken up ice skating as a social hobby. I was hopeless at it but being in the theatre can be very lonely and for a single girl a bit like living in a convent. Not too much available talent around, the opportunities to meet suitable partners are few and far between owing to the unsocial hours worked. Ice rinks, well Queens in Bayswater ,were a wonderful place to meet people. Strangely I found it was a good place to meet members of the medical profession as St Mary's Paddington is nearby and it is a sport one can do alone and at anytime hence lots of doctors. You have to be intelligent to skate. Very challenging.

The first time on the ice after I had said farewell to my Cupid a very special medical specimen literally fell at my feet in the form of a Dr Miles Richard Castelhow Heffernan, General Practitioner of Shepherds Bush, right beside the BBC. He was not good looking, rather old for me at 35 but he had the sexiest voice I had ever heard. I just adore Oxford Accents. I fell head over heals in love with this man and I still am.

I wish I could say the feeling was mutual as unrequited love is truly unbearable but to Dr Heffernan I was just a pair of legs with skates on. It was a friendship of convenience, we were both beginners and someone to dance with as nobody else wanted to do so. It soon became obvious that Miles was not interested in me other than for holding him up but he was fun clever and intelligent, loved opera and ballet so he became a good friend and skating partner for the next 8 years! He never took me to the opera because he never bothered to find out my other interests. Got quite a surprise when he found out I knew Benjamin Britten at about six years into our friendship.

I knew Miles was not available which was sad because I knew he was the one for me. I had to look elsewhere and I did. I had lots of boyfriends but I never meet the one who was just right. It was infuriating because I knew that Miles was just right. Miles just did not see ME.
I wondered if Miles might be gay as he ran a boarding house above his surgery and most of his lodgers were single men Bit like ‘Rising Damp’ in fact a lot like ‘Rising Damp’ as he had the Nigerian Pathologist, a Norwegian shipping owner’s sons and various musicians but the one or two knee tremblers I had received under the table convinced me that Miles was all man but definitely not interested in me. I just gave up on him.

My career had sort of come to a full stop and for two years I spent trying to break into London Theatre with little success so I spent hours down at the rink with my skating girl friend Virginia, she too is worth an epitaph as she really taught me how to live as I was just so innocent. The Theatre is worse than a convent and completely isolated from reality.

Then one day out of the blue Cupid turned up on ice skates. There he was skating like an angel and whisking me off my feet, dancing The Blues and throwing me into fish dives. I could hardly believe my eyes as it takes years to become a good skater and Noel Tovey, for this is what my Cupid was called, was not only a fine ballet dancer but also a more than competent skater.

Noel was an Australian who was just beginning to make himself a name in the West End of London. I knew little about him but he liked me and he made me like him. He was just so nice and enthusiastic about life and clever and talented. I introduced him to Miles and Noel joined our small circle. Again it had not dawned on me that Noel/Cupid was to arrange the rest of my life.

I had absolutely no money during this period. Just enough to go skating and auditions. I had no money for food and would sit and watch the others eat cream caramels with my cup of tea looking as if I did not care for such delights. Miles never bought me a cup of tea although he was on £3,000 a year. I had £104 a year in discretionary income after living and traveling expenses. His salary was a fortune when the average wage was about £15 per week and he used to protest when I pinched his chips.

Noel won a job in the chorus of a new musical ‘On the Level’ at the Saville Theatre. This was a highly sort after job as these are hard to get and was a great career move up in the right direction. I was so pleased for him and extremely jealous at the same time. Regular money and in the West End! His skating days were over as West End Musicals and Skating do not mix. Considered too dangerous.
Then when I was 24 my career took off. I went from understudy to West End principal virtually overnight. I had to take over the lead in an intimate revue and luckily for me I collected real live fans that sent me flowers, chocolates perfumes and gold necklaces. The management was impressed at my performance. No other cast member was getting such adulation, so I kept the part. It appeared the audiences found me a ‘sexy bit of goods’, much to my surprise it appeared I had ‘IT’.

Miles reluctantly came to see me and was obviously not impressed when I could not leave rehearsals and go and skate with him.

Then as if by magic Cupid was to cross my path again. I got a part in the ‘Desert Song’ at the Palace Theatre and my Cupid had partnered up with the fabulous leading lady. By this time Noel's career had taken off too into the stratosphere and he was the choreographer for the Sandy Wilson revival of ‘The Boy Friend’ at Wyndhams Theatre, which was a huge success. His partner took over the role of ‘Polly Browne’ when ‘The Desert Song’ closed. I was so jealous as I knew I could have played ‘Polly’ too. I liked them both a lot.

Miles was extremely useful to me during this period although he did not know it. ‘The Red Shadow’ had a wandering eye and I could see I was next on the list. A 45-year- old family man is not my cup of tea so it was necessary to develop a fiancée quick and Miles was the obvious choice. Miles was ‘real’ and I could lie convincingly and believe me I needed too on this occasion. The only thing odd about my fiancée was he only turned up to see me in the last week of the run and someone stole my fake engagement ring! Serves them right as it came from Woolworth’s.

Cupid phoned and asked me to be ‘Polly Brown’ in his production of 'The Boyfriend' that he was taking to South Africa. I was thrilled as at 26 I had never been outside of England. Could never afford it. The major industrial cities I knew well but my foreign travel had been limited to Cardiff. I was once invited by a college friend Elizabeth Himsworth whose father was at that time I believe, Ambassador to Afghanistan of all places to spend the summer in the Khyber Pass. The fare would cost just £92 but as I only had £104 to live on for a whole year this was out of the question. I wish I had gone now.

I was so naive but on the trip to South Africa I grew up socially and politically and I have never been the same again. Everyone sheltered in the democratic West should see third world conditions and experience dictatorship then the world would change. I know I did, overnight! Loved the country to look at hated the politics!

Noel who was of aboriginal descent and Inia Te Wiate, a famous Maori opera singer from New Zealand where I ended up eventually both were there at that time and made a nonsense of the hateful apartheid system.

One evening after a party in Johannesburg, Noel said 'Janette why don't you marry Miles? I cannot think of anyone more perfect for you!' 'Yes' I replied ‘but he does not see me. He thinks I am a stupid under educated middle class child but I do love him and the person I marry has to be as good as Miles if not better or I shan’t bother' and that was it!

Noel left for London and I never saw him again but when I returned to London Miles was a different man. Miles went to Greece and on his return he started to woo me as only an English Upper class Oxford educated male can. I got the lot, the punt on the river, the boxes at the Royal Opera. I enjoyed that bit, the picnics at Glyndebourne, within a year I was Mrs. Heffernan and I remained happily Mrs. Heffernan for thirty years until Miles died. I often wondered what had bought about this change of heart. I thought it was a trip to Athens.

One day, years into our marriage, I said to Miles that I wondered what had happened to Noel Tovey. Twenty years ago you could not Google to find out.

‘Oh you mean Cupid’ said Miles, 'When he returned from South Africa Noel said to me 'Miles you really should do something about that girl' so I did!'

Without Cupid's intervention Miles and I, stuck in our repressed middle class mores, would never have had the courage to speak out to each other. I should have missed out on thirty years of a happy marriage and a beautiful daughter who is every inch her father's child, scaringly brilliant at both Arts and Sciences and Miles gave me the education that the nuns should have provided. Miles introduced me to Proust! My life would have been poorer.

My Cupid not only gave me a part to dream for ‘Polly Browne', my first trip in an airplane, air travel in the 60’s was only for the rich and famous, the chance to work in a foreign country, a political vision of reality I shall never forget, but also a glorious husband in the 'Mr. Darcy' category and his sadly his pension.

Now I am aged 65 and Cupid has turned up again as an Australian National Treasure. You name it Noel Tovey has achieved it and I am not surprised. One highlight was the aboriginal section of the Opening of the Sydney Olympic Games. Wonderful!

I shall always be thankful that I had the good fortune to fall into his path. The Gods have truly smiled on me.

Everyone needs a Cupid. Unlike the other Gods around today this ancient God works!

No Room at the Inn - How to avoid spending Christmas alone

How to avoid spending Christmas alone? -  The answer is simple. Your friends and neighbours should invite you to join them for their family Xmas dinner. Easy! Any Christian  family would do this. The problem is they don't! 

For sixteen years, ever since my husband died, I have grappled with the problem of where to go for Xmas if my family cannot join me? They live on another Island and work makes it impossible to travel to be with me. You would think that the answer above would be enough but it isn't. 364 days of the year my friends and neighbours are happy to see me but on the 365th day, Christmas Day, they do not want to know. I am not their problem.  If I gave a champagne and Xmas cake party on Boxing Day morning I could have the world here. I know this as I have done it. With the exception of one very kind and thoughtful neighbour who helped me out on two occasions I have had this problem which one would think in this day and age would never happen but it does. Year after year, same problem until this year. It has been such a disaster that we have all had to confront it. Xmas 2016 was a disaster for me, my friends and neighbours because this must never happen again to me or anyone else. Being alone on Xmas Day is cruel punishment and unnecessary and all it takes is for the fortunate to invite the lonely to dinner. For once my friends and neighbours have had to confront it head on.

In UK and Scotland it is almost obligatory to have anyone to the festive table who finds themselves alone on this special day. And it is special for Christians! It is the day that the Saviour was born and we are forced to remember that when Jesus came to die for our redemption there was ’No room at the Inn’ that night, Jesus was born in a stable. The stranger at our table reminds us that there is 'Room at our Inn’ and we have learned the lesson and give thanks. It is the same with New Year in Scotland. The greatest  of good fortune ensues  if on the hour of Midnight a tall dark stranger knocks on the door bringing a piece of coal for the fire, bread for the table, and a whiskey for the heart! It is called 'First Footing’. And my Scots father was sent out five minutes before midnight to ensure if not the stranger, which is obviously best, that a man bearing these gifts was the first foot over the threshold. 

This tradition of inviting the less fortunate seems to have withered in the wish of NZ and Australian families  and sadly in many other countries too to use this occasion for a yearly get family together forgetting the real reason of the Holy Day.

 My husband, daughter and I have had many strangers to our Xmas meals and I always ask anyone who I know might be alone to come to us as no one should spend this day alone. It is the meal that counts a visit for a coffee  or Skype will not do. These are gestures nothing more kind though it is. This special meal rounds off the year. however bad the year has been. It is the time when we try renew out faith in the human race as loving, understanding and kind but NZ and Australia  it appears Norway seems to have forgotten this in the glorification of  family first.

This year I thought my problem was solved. After 16 years my balance system was healed so that I could fly again. I could fly to Christchurch from Auckland for Christmas with my family in my daughter's home and spend the day with them. Everyone who had seen me grapple with this problem year after year  were obviously delighted and happy for me and it relieved them of finding another excuse as to why I could not be invited to spend Xmas with them. I do not blame them for this after all Xmas is for families. I was all packed, flights booked and just ready to set out for the airport when my Xmas was cancelled. My son in law thought he might be starting a cold. My balance may be better but my immune system is fragile any cold can kill as I cannot take antibiotics. Foolishly I had not foreseen this could happen. I had no plan B. I was devastated. For once I was really going to be alone on Xmas Day as it was too late to make any other arrangements.  Crushed to the core. What I had been dreading had happened. I was going to be absolutely alone and what was worse I had no food in the house so not even a Xmas Dinner. In truth I did not feel like cooking.

Yes, very dear friends asked me over on Xmas Eve to try to make up and it was lovely but I was still alone on Xmas Day. If anyone is interested Xmas Day by oneself is just as horrendous as one imagines. Skype ad FB do nothing to help. Watching your friends have a Happy Xmas and wishing you were there is horrible if you are not. 

This year my own immediate neighbours have been forced confronted this full on. Before I left my immediate neighbour was so thrilled that I was going to be with my daughter as she knew that this had been a problem for me  that she said “Yes Xmas is for families.  She could see I was so happy. It is all about families” and in truth in NZ it is so my pride was not going to let me intrude or risk a refusal when my Xmas was off. They had no idea that I had not gone to Christchurch until one of their family, the only one that knew told them during their Xmas meal. I had hoped that no one would find out and just keep quiet. I have my pride.  I find the refusals given to me as to why it is impossible for me to be invited to join them to hard to take. Unfortunately as I left my house to buy some milk I bumped into one of the her family. 

At that moment the family member should have said “ Oh that’s dreadful, I’ll ask if you can come’ but because this occasion is so sacred to the family, we both know this, she would not do so and I did not expect her to do so knowing how close this family has been. 

Evidently she mentioned my plight at their Xmas supper. There were 25 at table and my lovely neighbour of nearly 90 was horrified that her good neighbour of 40 years was alone. She told all of them that this must never happen again. She came round two days ago and was most apologetic.  She said she too was devastated She said she and her family had had no idea that this had been allowed to happened and I believe them. Those fortunate to have large families around have not a clue of how lucky they are.  She said in future I had an open invitation to any of her family gatherings  and that I must never fear being alone at Xmas again. I am so grateful. It was a pity she did not find out earlier so I could have joined them.

This is my New Year’s Resolution I am gong to try see that nobody is alone at Xmas 2017. 

I do beg everyone to check on their single neighbours before Xmas 2017 to ensure that no one is alone. Just to be asked makes it OK. They maybe happy to be alone but the invitation gives them the privilege of choice. If they are alone your invitation will be worth its weight in gold and make you and your family feel good too.  To confront this may make many of my friends uncomfortable and it should but like my neighbour and her family it has to be done. The problem is yours to solve, not mine or theirs, and it is easy, just say:-

 “Please come to us for Xmas Dinner”.

Janette Miller/Heffernan Wikipedia BBC 100 women

BBC 100 Women 2016 : Season ends with record breaking Wikipedia edit.

"It is one of the worlds most popular websites. A source of information on  many things but there is one area where Wikipedia - the online encyclopaedia - is severely lacking. This is articles about and by women. This is something the organisation is trying to tackle and today they have teamed up with the 100 women season to do something about it. Nuala MacGovern has spent the day at a very special event." BBC World Service Radio

Women through the centuries have been airbrushed out of history and it is still happening today. Sadly only 17% of Wikipedia's articles are about women and only 15% are edited by women and today the BBC set out to reverse this. I am one of the 15%. I am fortunate I can edit because I have a coding background as I used Dreamweaver and now Adobe Muse but that was in the early days when one could have a go.

Technically it is supposed to be easier in 2016 using Visual Editor and I had a try. I still do not find it any easier and I am good with computers. The video training is not up to lynda.com standard

Today all Wiki articles need published references and for many amazing  women these are hard to come by. I should love to have my own Wiki page but sadly I have no one who will take the time and effort to put it up for me and being a woman I don't cheat and put it up for myself. You are not supposed to put up Wiki pages about yourself so how do all these men get one? So I have done the next best thing I have put a Wiki style bio on my blog and that will have to do until one day someone does it for me. I can supply refs and citations for everything and all can be checked but it will take hours.

Once I did get an offer but sadly it never materialised. May be if I send him this and ask nicely he may relent and upload it for me.

Janette Miller's Strange Life Wikipedia Style

I have been lucky. I have really solid references because being an artist I get written about in newspapers but thanks to the fact that I can edit Wiki I got the most respectable reference one could have on an International DVD,  and it is such a strange tale it is worth telling.

I use Wiki a lot and I was researching a one of Britain's foremost documentary producers Tony Palmer. Palmer has a list of productions and awards that take one's breath away. It was all there on his Wiki Page but no references or citations. In the early days these were not essential. Palmer does not need references as everyone knows who he is but there on the page was a huge warning saying that unless references were supplied and proof that Palmer was notable and worthy of inclusion on Wiki this page would be taken down within days.

I did not know Palmer. I live in New Zealand but I thought this was so unfair and I wondered if Palmer knew. I felt I had to warn him because it was so unjust. With great difficulty I found his email and got in touch with him and he rang me up to say thank you. As one is not allowed to put up one's own page or edit it he was stuck. He had no idea where the page had come from but obviously did not want it taken down.  Timidly I asked would he like me to try and see if I could put up a few refs. I had no idea how to do this but I could have a go.

Somehow I managed it. It was not easy and I only managed one or two. I also had to deal with an editor who obviously had a grudge against Palmer which was not pleasant. You can see it. Only three refs.It was enough and the page is still there! Really everything else on the page was enough but rules is rules, as they say but today Wiki wants citations for nearly every word.

Palmer was so grateful. He only knew me as an unknown woman from Auckland NZ. I remember he rang and said "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He said he was going to send me some of his DVDs as a present. He did. He knew I liked opera and ballet. Imagine my surprise when I found myself in one of them on Benjamin Britten. I knew Britten well and so did Palmer. In fact I think Tony Palmer knew Britten as well as anyone. His Britten DVD of Death in Venice is definitive.

Years later in 2013 Tony Palmer featured me in his centenary film on Britten. I felt so honoured. If it had not been for my edit on Wiki we should never have known each other. I also got to feature in The London Times and asked to contribute to The Britten's Centenary Collection, my essay just after that of Alan Bennett! It was edited by Hannah Nepal.

I still await a Wiki page. I think I deserve one even for being  Auckland's Plunket Woman of the Year 1981/2 for services to the Arts. ref NZ Herald Now that is an honour but like most women I won't get one which is a pity. It is because of the fight that I and my sisters put up that women are better off now than they were in my day. Not equal yet but getting there. Wiki should change its  policy and let people like me post a Page with as many refs as possible that can be verified to encourage other young women to have a go.

Janette Miller's Xmas Cake Best Ever Recipe

Janette Miller - Xmas Cake  Secret Recipe

This recipe was given to me a long time ago in the 1980s by an old friend. I found out later that she had made it up with food she had had in her larder and had no idea what she had done! It was magic then and magic now. My friends and family think it is the best ever and it is truly delicious but takes an age to make. So I thought this year I would share the recipe with you and what is more the best way to make it. For Xmas it takes 4 days and I cook it in last weekend in October. It takes about 8 weeks to age and feed with a little brandy. ( seriously not too much as if you over do the brandy it ruins the lovely flavours.)

Day 1 Buying and collecting Ingredients

(maybe 2, 3 or 4 days if ingredients hard to find. Last year no almond essence, not even for ready money!)

Recipe

• 375g Raisons

• 375g Currants

• 400g Sultanas

• 100g Figs finely chopped (Absolute must)

• 300g Cherries glace real (2pkts)

• 150g Peel

• 150g Ground almonds

• 150g Almond slices (for crunch)

• 250g Dark brown sugar

• 250g butter

• 250g flour, plain or self raising

• 2 tsp Baking powder

• 1 tsp Salt, cocoa, coffee, cinnamon, allspice,  grated nutmeg 

• 2 dps Treacle (must for colour)

• 1 tsp Vanilla and almond essence (go easy on this) grated orange peel and juice

• Grated lemon peel and juice to one cup

• Grated orange peel and juice

• 1/2 cup brandy

• 1/2 cup sherry

• 5 large eggs.

• A good square Xmas Cake tine 9 inches, 20 cm

Try to buy real glace cherries but if stuck and you have to use red gelatine blobs for colour give them a good wash. I do not use angelica or the green blobs!

I find cooked walnuts make cakes bitter so do not add to cake. You can decorate with them though. I add sliced almonds for crunch.

2nd Day - Preparation

Prepare to soak all the fruits, peel, figs, glace cherries in the brandy and sherry and leave to soak overnight. I wash my fruit but I suppose the brandy would kill off any nasties. Do not bother soaking the currants as they don't soak.  I wash  these. Waste of effort! I prepare the baking tin brown and non stick baking papers and line the tin box with foil and grease proof paper and I get out all the packets of ingredients. I write a list so I can check them off as it is easy to forget something. Before I begin baking I add everything that is wet, like lemon and orange juice, currants, almonds, treacle,essence, coffee etc.

I leave the butter out over night too to soften. If you forget this give a very quick 10 sec micro wave when it is cut into pieces, no more. Overnight softening makes life easier.

Day 3 Cooking and baking 

First I was my hands really well and I get out all of the utensils that I think I might need. I shall forget some but having most of what I need to hand helps as this is a massive job. 

I paste inside the tin with melted butter and stick the baking papers to it. Then I give a good melted buttering to the inside. I take care over this as it protects the cake from burning when cooking.

I use the Delia Smith method and take ages over the creaming of sugar and butter. See YouTube. down below. I am very careful about adding the 5 beaten eggs. This can take many minutes, 20 in fact as you do not want the mixture to curdle.  I do it desert spoon at a time, little and beat in well. If it does it does not matter but cake won't rise as much.You can add a little flour to try and get it together but I don't find this helps. If you are brave you can use very dark Demerara sugar in NZ it is Billingtons but this is harder to use than soft dark brown sugar as it is gritty. Makes a wonderful cake though.

Then when all is mixed and sort of fluffy fold in flour, and I mean fold with figure of 8 gently all the dry goods, salt, ground almonds, spices and anything that you have forgotten. This is hard work if you do not have a big chef machine. (coffee?)

When all dry goods are in add the fruits. I have to do this in two batches as my bowl is not big enough. I do this with my hand mixer but it does not take long. Then into baking tin. Mine is 9 ins 20 cm I think. All the mixture goes in surprisingly.

Then place brown paper on outside held with string and into oven at 140c. For me with a Bosch oven it is on the lowest shelf but for other ovens one shelf below centre.

I  pre-heat my oven  but ovens go down to zero when a cold dish is inserted so you could start from cold I suppose. I do sprinkle a little water on top and place 2 folds of baking paper lightly on the top with a hole in the middle.

Now here is the spooky bit. For a nine inch tin bake at 140c for 4.5 hours and do not, repeat do NOT be tempted to open the oven door until 4 hours is up. Then you may. Your cake may be cooked. You can see I have an oven thermometer for accuracy but the Bosch oven is absolutely accurate so I ned not have bothered. This timing is for Bake NOT Fan bake. I don't like fan bake as I find it dries my cakes up. 

I won't patronise you by telling you how to check but if the pin does not come clean just keep on testing every 10 minutes till it does. Mine was cooked at 4 hours but I gave it a bit longer.

During this time you can wash up. The washing up is colossal and will take 4.5 hours even with a dishwasher.

4.5 hours later and here it is! Wow what a smell. Leave in tin till cold.

This one rose beautifully!

When cold wrap in grease proof paper and foil and put away for a month in a cool place. Not the fridge!

Bliss!

SkyPath & Auckland Councils Win in Environment Court

Northcote Point lost its appeal against SkyPath in the Environment Court.  Judge Newhook indicated that conscent would be granted and that SkyPath can go ahead without virtually any restrictions to begin a few may be granted later if the effects on the Point are unacceptable.

It was greeted by those in court in a very somber and restrained fashion especially by the victors for perhaps everyone  realised that the Northcote residents have been the subject of much abuse and  downright bullying especially by media, cyclists and council and they now have to live with this decision. It is a bitter outcome for a supposedly heritage area and does not inspire confidence for heritage protection in the future. The judge said that there will be change! whereas the Team SkyPath say the effects will be minimal. Who is right? The judge has allowed SkyPath to be built first and then find out how to manage it after it is open. He is  courageous!

Hooded  down trodden green cyclist attacked by a Northcote Point NIMBY.
The faces were obscured to avoid recognition while these two cyclists harassed theatre goers
The cinema manger is asking them to cease and desist!

The case did not start well for  Northcote Heritage. The Environment Court Judge Newhook began the proceedings by beaming warmly at the expensive Council funded Team Sky lawyer and publicly congratulated Daniel Minhinnock of the prestigious law firm of Russell MacVeagh for being made a partner.  It was an unfortunate beginning for this was a serious case not a celebration party for the lawyer.  It appears this sort of banter is tolerated in courts but perhaps it is time to stop as it gives a bad impression to the public and a loss of confidence in the fairness of the court for those not aware of its quirky ways.

The case hinged on a change of a definition of SkyPath. SkyPath Ltd gained conscent as a tourist attraction not an NZTA approved road/footpath. It was and is still a commercial operation for tourists and was subject to certain laws conditions which would have protected Northcote Point and its heritage. NZTA rules would have been much tougher. If this case had been tried under the old laws as in law it is required to do it was doubtful if SkyPath conscent would have been granted so a few weeks ago Auckland City Council changed the rules under the new Unitary Plan and came up with this special definition of Off Road Cycle and Pedestrian Path that allows SkyPath to be built under any circumstances and until challenged in a further court can do what it likes in a heritage area. This change meant the case was over before it had begun.  It is a pity to see the law treated in this way against citizens even if you do not agree with them. One felt at the end that most were uncomfortable about how this result had been achieved. There was no sense of elation.

This case proves that it is extremely difficult for individuals and societies to fight against authorities and companies who are fully funded by a City Council. Even the grant of $50,000 that is available by the government to do this was denied to the Northcote Point and Westhaven residents who have had to fund this themselves.  This grant would have enabled them to pay experts which appeal courts require these days. But are paid experts reliable and trustworthy? Like lawyers Paid experts produce what their employers want them to say so their evidence is biased and any child of average intelligence can see that. 

At the moment Russell MacVeagh lawyers are fighting both sides of the Unitary Plan parking rules. For SkyPath having to produce no parking at all for SkyPath under the new Unitary Plan is acceptable and R. MacVeagh will produce a paid expert if required to say this but for their clients Progressive Industries who oppose new developments that do not supply parking under the Unitary Plan it is not and if necessary R. Macveagh will produce another paid expert to argue this. This appears to be a money making cash cow for lawyers and experts and has little to do with justice! The courts and judges should be wise to this by now.  The public are not to be fooled.  Time and again Daniel Minhinnock, Russell MacVeagh reminded the judge that because his paid expert witnesses were paid they were infallible and the other sides unpaid witness was not worth listening to!   If Heritage Trust could afford Mr Minhinnok he would argue with equal force for Northcote Point. It is his job and he is paid to do it. He does not have to believe in it and neither do the paid experts. Unpaid expert witness who come forward on their own with no payment because the believe in what they are saying are far more valuable but not it appears in NZ courts at the moment. The richer side wins. Not quite cricket.

Two local resident societies withdrew. Westhaven withdrew their appeal because they felt that SkyPath will not be built and were not willing to pay huge sums to lawyers. They may live to regret this as the majority of SkyPath users are now being re-directed to their landing as everyone realises that the Northcote Point landing is totally inadequate for the traffic expected. NRA withdrew under the threat of the Council lawyers of exemplary expenses if they lost the case which could have cost millions and ruined many personally. 

I do not belong to either local society although I do live on Northcote Point so this was not my personal fight.  My major concerns do not lie in parking, noise and inconvenience issues although these are all valid. I live near the cinema/ restaurants/shops complex and I am used to crowds and no parking. Because of my professional crowd management experience with large events I am concerned with the safety aspects of SkyPath which are serious, many and have to be addressed. 

It seems Health and Safety is the last item to be addressed whereas I feel it should be the first. No good building SkyPath if it cannot be managed safely. Northcote Point is an unsuitable landing for what is now no longer a tourist attraction but a major transport hub serving thousands a day and many thousand on weekends, up to 20,000 a day in five years time and it is a pity that the resource consent was not judged under this category as NZTA would have had more input and maybe a better cheaper solution, perhaps two Western lanes on the Harbour Bridge now, approached by Stafford Rd and Westhaven. Could be done immediately, cost nothing, free and safe. This is my preferred option. Car owners have already given up many lanes in Auckland so two more would hardly matter. This is not going to happen! Even AT and NZTA who are happy to slice lanes off Auckland Streets dare not give up one lane on the Harbour Bridge although that is the solution. Try it for a month or two and see the patronage. If it works keep it if not shelve it. Cost nothing!

Although many residents can put this behind them because of my professional knowledge and experience in the field of crowd management and safety  I feel  I cannot stand by and leave it to others. It would be morally wrong of me to do so. Annoying as it maybe, and cyclists do think I am a spoil sport one thing is certain eternal vigilance not only applies to freedom but crowd safety. Just do it and see what happens in this area is a recipe for disaster. Traffic planners are not experts in crowd management as they deal with objects/cars that they can control. Crowds cannot be controlled like this and have to be managed. Crowds left to themselves are dangerous. Crowds need space even more space if they have bicycles. Big difference! Even though I may be unpopular at least SkyPath will be safer  when it is built than it is under the present design. I realise nobody in authority in Auckland wants to hear this, the council and some in government want a crowd pleaser up and running, bread and circuses, to take ratepayers minds off rate rises and economy and that is why SkyPath gets an easy passage from politicians and councillors who do not wish to lose votes and who can blame them. 

NZTA, AT, Councillors,  local MP Jonathan Coleman and the Transport Minister Simon Bridges are aware of SkyPath's safety issues and although the elected members have no responsibility of due diligence to ensure SkyPath is safe the other parties do. Health and Safety have heavy penalties for unwise risks to safety. I have been assured by the Minister and NZTA that they will be taking the safety issues very seriously indeed. I was impressed with the Minister and NZTA and I believe them when they say that no ones safety, user or resident, will be sacrificed for the greater good they mean it.

The CEOs have to sign off on this project and will be responsible for any injuries or worse that arise.   If I were a CEO at the moment I should have difficulty in doing this even for one million dollars+. Experience has shown with new bridges, it is the early days when problems arise. This year, 2016, two new major bridges have had to shut  because of safety and overcrowding problems that should have been addressed and were overlooked in the haste to get them built.  A wait and see basis  in this day and age is not acceptable but this is what the Judge Newhook has gone for. 

As ex Councillor and new Local Board member George Wood said at the Council meeting before the councillors voted unanimously for SkyPath the residents of Northcote Point have been very badly treated and I think this was obvious as well at the end of the Environment Court hearing. Like the council the judge gave every indication that he understood the problem and then voted for the opposite. The Environment Court was not asked to consider safety issues as this would have been dealt with by NRA,  just patronage numbers which are still anyone's guess. Auckland may take to SkyPath or may not but planners have to plan for the largest number. The judges conclusions when published will no doubt address this.

Now we all have to wait and see what happens next. There will be a big hiatus while NZTA works out how to mange SkyPath and if the Bridge can take it safely. Lets us all hope that the effects on Northcote Point as promised will be minimal and the SkyPath safety issues raised will be solved but whether I am around or not SkyPath must be safe and  fit for purpose for cyclists and Northcote Point residents alike. 

Northcote Point Residents SkyPath Appeal crushed by Council-funded blackmail

Residents’ concerns crushed by Council-funded blackmail

Northcote Residents have withdrawn their Environment Court appeal against SkyPath, which they consider to be a financial, functional and environmental failure. They also consider that SkyPath is unlikely to ever be implemented and that its blatantly obvious safety hazards alone, should have prevented it from seeing the light of day in the first place.

Although Council tells itself that SkyPath is merely a $33M project, its real costs are set to deliver yet another Council blowout, this time set to amount to hundreds of millions. In turn, Auckland’s ratepayers are now unwittingly set to pay for that blowout, via Council’s underwrite for SkyPath. To approve the underwrite, Council acted illegally and violated its statutory obligations, in the emphatic opinion of a legal specialist in the area of government regulation, Dr. Grant Hewison. 




SkyPath is funded via a PPP arrangement. Every failed PPP arrangement world wide, exactly replicates Council’s PPP arrangement for SkyPath namely - SkyPath’s claimed patronage is pumped through the roof, patronage shortfalls are underwritten by Council and the funders interest charges are about double the rate at which the underwriter (Council) could borrow finance. The PPP funder must be delighted. SkyPath can lose as much money as it likes, while the PPP funder gains its full interest charges, management charges and debt repayment. A picture-perfect PPP plunder (PPPPPP).

That goes some way to explaining why some Auckland ratepayers such as Northcote Point residents, faced rate increases this year that were 60 times the rate of the country’s residual inflation rate. We’d be better off living in a banana republic, than continuing to rely upon this Council’s fiscal literacy.
Council has aggressively supported the development’s comprehensive violation of its own regulations regarding zoning, parking, amenity, pathway design, emergency egress, emergency management and public safety. The extent to which SkyPath violates those regulations would be a joke, were the consequences not as grim as they are. Violations of public safety provisions alone, are certain to cause many serious injuries and worse. Aggressively promoting a patently hazardous facility is not quite in line with delivering “one of the World’s most liveable cities”. Particularly if SkyPath turns some living customers into half-dead customers or worse.

SkyPath’s is primarily a commercial tourism and leisure facility, since that’s what 87.5% of its customers are projected to be. Council’s regulations sensibly do not permit any large-scaled commercial developments in residential areas such as Northcote Point, yet that is where Council wishes to locate SkyPath’s North Shore landing. Council claims that SkyPath’s patronage, will “conservatively” amount to 13,000 - 20,000 visitors at the end of Northcote’s cul-de-sac peninsula suburb, every summer weekend day. Eden Park’s averaged attendance ranges from 13,000 - 18,000, depending on what is happening in any given year. The effects of these perpetually huge crowds are “not more than minor”, say Council’s and the Applicant’s so-called “experts”.

The Northcote Residents Association (NRA) withdrew from its appeal under severe duress. The Council-funded and underwritten Applicant, threatened to claim costs against it “to the maximum extent possible”, in the event that NRA lost the appeal. Those costs would likely amount to many millions - the amount both Government and Auckland Council have provided in support of this purportedly private commercial development. The developer has previously claimed it doesn’t have enough money to pay for postage, but that has not stopped it from threatening rightly concerned residents with multi-million dollar claims of costs that Auckland Council has already fully underwritten.


Nobody yet knows if SkyPath’s implementation will ever be possible. That is so, because before SkyPath can be implemented, it needs NZTA’s approval. If that approval is ever granted, that can’t happen for another year according to NZTA. For obvious common-sense reasons and for reasons we are advised are duly backed by case law, resource consent hearings are not supposed to start until such basics have been resolved. They are not, yet the appeal hearing is proceeding regardless.

Another issue that calls SkyPath’s viability into doubt, arises from recent discussions with the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA). Information provided by NZTA states the Auckland Harbour Bridge “will allow for ....walking and cycling facilities” and, “four lanes on the existing Bridge, will become redundant” when the next Harbour crossing is installed and that, “the Bridge’s box girders need strengthening to accommodate SkyPath” and that “further strengthening of the Bridge’s box girders is not physically possible, except at connection points”.

The SkyPath function could occupy less than two of the four redundant lanes freed up when the next Harbour crossing is implemented, without adding additional stresses to the Bridge and without decreasing its usable life, as SkyPath will. That could be achieved at virtually no cost and far better than SkyPath, since cyclists and pedestrians would be safely separated and would access the facility without causing any neighbourhood any detriment. SkyPath’s genuinely huge costs, amenity detriment and safety hazards are wholly unnecessary, since the Next Harbour Crossing solves all the problems SkyPath does not, never could and never will.

Since NRA’s supporters have always supported the idea of walking and cycling from one side of the harbour to the other, we say, “bring on the Next Harbour Crossing so we can all enjoy cycling or walking across the Harbour Bridge, but in a way that works functionally, financially and environmentally”.

Too logical? Too workable? Too environmentally friendly? Too cost effective? Apparently. Maybe the consenting authorities need a pile of serious injuries to awaken them to the responsibilities they are paid for, even if they don’t care less about SkyPath’s fundamental and glaringly obvious environmental, cost, funding and design problems.

Kevin Clarke

Chair, Northcote Residents Association Inc. SkyPath Appeal Committee