The Category I Wintergardens at Auckland Domain have now reopened after two years of conservation and improvement works. The two glasshouses have been seismically strengthened with additional steel ties and cleats. Glazing bars have also been added, and clear glass re-introduced, as per the original design intent. Their 100th birthday...
After years of campaigning by people and community groups, a Container Return Scheme was about to happen. But it’s been deferred by the government. Greenpeace have launched a petition calling for the Container Return Scheme to be returned. You can add your name here. This scheme will have enormous benefits...
The government has announced fundamental changes to the way we make, use, recycle and dispose of things, ushering in a new era for Aotearoa New Zealand’s waste system. The initiatives are: a new waste strategy to set New Zealand’s direction on waste for the next three decades new and more...
Auckland Council’s food scraps collection service – rukenga kai, which translates to food cast onward – is about to begin. The service will help reduce the amount of organic waste going to landfill by converting food scraps into a renewable resource. It will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The collection...
The new website of Historic Places Aotearoa is up and running at https://historicplacesaotearoa.nz CTA, as an associate member of Historic Places Aotearoa, has its own spot on the new HPA website at https://historicplacesaotearoa.nz/civic-trust-auckland The old HPA website (suffix org.nz) will still be active until all the old newspaper...
Submissions for the 2023 Auckland Heritage Festival are now open. Theme: Peace, Love and Protest Dates: Saturday 23 September to Sunday 8 October 2023 Inspired by 50 years since anti-nuclear protests were embraced by the nation, this year’s theme explores the events that defined who we were and who we...
The government has dropped their Biofuels Obligation Bill. The most likely outcome of the Bill would have been extra food being burnt as fuel, driving tropical deforestation and increased greenhouse gas emissions. Fuels obtained from organic material can be used to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions. However, they can also...
The Environmental Defence Society has published a report titled Environmental Advocacy in a Future Resource Management System. Authored by EDS Policy Director Dr Greg Severinsen, it investigates how advocacy could be improved as part of the reform process replacing the Resource Management Act. A key recommendation is the creation of...
The Colonial Ammunition Company Shot Tower in Normanby Rd, Mt Eden, a Category I and Category A heritage item, has been demolished. It had stood for 109 years and was the last remaining 20th century tower of its sort in Australasia. The tower was built to produce lead ammunition as...
Civic Trust Auckland is pleased to announce the publication of the book The Partingtons and their Mills by past Board member and past President, Munroe Graham. The book is due to be officially launched in March, but copies are already available for sale, having arrived in the country this month....