This is what I hate about dentists. $2000? And they say I need two more???
In what world is this ok? $1 for a coke, $5.50 coffee, $15 Kmart shirt , $60 sky sport and $2000 for a tooth fix? You’re joking me!!

The Auckland Council has appealed the Fast-track approval of Winton’s Sunfield development because it believes the panel did not fully consider the flood risk, and the impact on water and wastewater infrastructure.

Publicly listed property developer Winton gained approval for its 3850-home Sunfield master-planned community through the Fast-track consenting process on March 10.

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Sunfield, a proposed Winton Property development two minutes away from Papakura station in Auckland, will feature just one loop road, with paths connecting housing and shops.

When the founder of NZX-listed Winton Land Limited, Chris Meehan, donated to the National and ACT parties in 2023, the company was in the throes of a court case with Kāinga Ora (KO).

At issue was the company’s controversial Sunfield development. The big development, which had been slated to contain some 5000 houses and was, quite incredibly, to be built on a flood plain, was stalled.

In 2021, KO, in its role as administrator of the Urban Development Act, rejected the Sunfield proposal. The 2020 Urban Development Act empowered Kāinga Ora, in some circumstances, to get involved in a Specified Development Project. The idea was to get the Government partnering with developers outside the normal processes of the Resource Management Act to help get big and complex urban developments off the ground.

KO rejected the development because Winton was primarily using the new provisions to get its development going quickly, rather than genuinely partnering with KO.

Being on a flood plain surely wasn’t viewed favourably either. KO said Winton would have to talk to Auckland Council and was happy to facilitate that. According to KO’s press release, Winton refused. In the end, KO refused to even assess the proposal. Winton duly took it to court, suing the Government agency for more than $300 million.

In opposition, both the National and ACT parties went into bat for Winton against what they viewed as a monopolistic Government property developer that did not like private developers. Even to the extent this critique may contain an element of truth, there has always been something uncomfortable about the way a particular big donor’s project – to which there were clearly reasonable and legitimate objections – was supported, especially given the flood risk and lack of existing infrastructure. Usually, MPs, even in Opposition, try to avoid commenting on live litigation.

Sure enough, when the list of projects was announced under the Government’s new fast-track regime, Sunfield was on it. By August 2025, four months after it had made its fast-track application, Winton had discontinued its legal action against KO, the details were confidential but no party accepted fault or wrongdoing and the proceedings were discontinued with no issue as to costs. By March this year, the project, with 3854 houses, had been conditionally approved under the fast-track regime.

The final fast-track approval came down with so many conditions that it is unclear what shape any final development could take. The company has said it is ready to proceed. The Auckland Council has appealed the decision. The High Court will consider the matter shortly.

What is clear here is that Winton was a developer that, unhappy with the pace of approvals or having to go through the hurdles faced by everyone else, sought the quickest route possible and eventually got it. It was also a big political donor.

The Post is not suggesting anything untoward or inappropriate. But the fact remains that a property development company disagreed with a decision it did not like from a Government agency, which it then took to court. That company’s chief executive donated money to political parties which publicly supported the development. Those parties then became Government and changed the planning laws, and the developer’s project appeared on a list of potential projects in a constitutionally questionable piece of legislation. The project eventually got approved, by a government appointed panel.

This is precisely the sort of sequence of events that helps to degrade belief in democracy and fuel conspiracy theories of corruption in high places.

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Next time you fly out of Auckland, spare a thought for the workers who produce your inflight meal.

A recent Employment Relations Authority decision details the operation at LSG Sky Chefs in Auckland. Between October and March, the operation pumps out 22,000 airline meals a day.

The production is split across several stations or benches - the Asian, SQ, grill, sausage, and economy benches.

The workload does not fall evenly across these benches. For example, Asian bench had only two staff members, while the SQ bench had three to four people. The two chefs on the Asian bench processed bulk meat, sauces, casseroles, vegetables, breakfasts, and Asian meals. Raise workload concerns with the benches - they will not actually fix the problem. 

A chef de partie preparing these meals earns around $31.25 an hour and shifts can be 10 or 11 hours a day. When staff work overtime or missed their breaks, the company forced them to self-manage their entitlements and manually submit paper claim forms.

Despite putting in the hours and doing the paperwork, as detailed in the decision, LSG Sky Chefs in Auckland failed to pay this chef for 109.75 hours of overtime across 13 separate shifts and for sick leave. 

When the worker finally resigned citing severe burnout, back pain, and the physical toll of overwork, LSG Sky Chefs in Auckland ghosted him. 

Found myself the lucky carrier of Flu A here in the sweltering NYC summer! No one here has it. Clearly someone traveled!

I’m here on r/auckland because Kiwis are the only ones experiencing what I’m experiencing right now. It is SO BAD, even though I had the shot last November. I haven’t been this sick in 20 years.

I was here in the city during spring 2020, with overwhelmed hospitals and medical providers. I know what you’re going through now, and it’s really scary. I’m worried for you and worried for us this winter.

(Love your country — went there on my honeymoon. Flew Air New Zealand, rented a car in Auckland, and drove all around — eating, hiking, learning — and ended in Wellington. Incredible country!)

Thought this was a great article. Even if NZTA wants to build silly low value highways elsewhere they finally seem to get that it's not the future solution for Auckland.

Who's got this license plate? has good taste, just thought I share it with you's all, it's really cool

i've been looking at apartments in auckland cbd recently and what i've noticed is the majority of apartments i see i feel are far too small for most people to live comfortably alone yet alone a couple or flatmates. and this is ... most of them? there seems to be no shortage of these 1/2/3 bedroom apartments but calling them this is generous. the bedrooms are usually tiny built in rooms the size of a small prison cell with no windows and awkward thin sliding pocket doors due to the fact the bedrooms never fit in the apartment in the first place. i would understand something like this being necessary in a higher population city but when they are barely affordable for someone with a full time income here it seems like the greed is just reaching a tipping point. just another thing killing the cbd.

for 600 dollars, you get a space with a tiny kitchenette (no counterspace), miniscule bathrooms (again counterspace? in this economy? and why would you want to store things?), views of others windows/people looking into your windows. most of the time your lounge is only as wide as the hard two seater ikea couch they've so blessedly "furnished" your shoebox with. you are LUCKY if your bedroom gets a window to the outside world (tbh lucky if you get a bedroom) flatting? you will find your flatmate in the closet however the landlord swears its the second bedroom. and hey that's fair enough, there IS a window /s - a window to your room which has a window to the "living room" so when the stars align you allow your room to feel like a fishbowl for the sake of your flatmates vitamin d intake. that's expensive sunlight, be grateful. oh you want an actual closet to store stuff? nah. just... nah.

the icing on the cake is you pay out your ass for it!

for half a grand a week you get your own prison cell where you get to slowly go mad, potentially with another person within mere meters of you at all times... and yeah no shit this contributes to all sorts of statistics. domestic violence, mental illness, health issues from lack of affordable nutrition.

but it isn't even the housings fault, not directly at least. high density housing can be awesome! but not when small studio apartments the size of hotel rooms have been frankensteined into depressing multi bedroom prison cells. anything bigger than that has been frankensteined similarly to squeeze as much out of the "investment" as possible. anything better? ie. wow it's a 3 bedroom and the kitchen isn't a kitchenette! bam over 1k. OR airbnb.

i'm not talking luxury spaces here either. ironically hotels are now advertising their empty rooms with weekly rates to make up for lost profits resulting from apartments using airbnd to switch to a nightly rate model like hotels do... the snake eats itself? i'd find it hilarious if it wasn't so gd depressing.

privacy, storage space, counter space, living space, any space to do any hobbies, ALL now treated like luxuries when they were once just the bare minimum for a persons home. hotel rooms were designed for short term, apartments designed for long term. thus the size difference. WHEN DID THEY SWAP AND WHY DID I MISS THE MEMO???

i look at these apartments and i'm saddened that landlords have taken what once was gorgeous, functional, LIVABLE, spaces and have instead decided to build what can only be described as office cubicles inside them.

concluding my rant: why am i struggling to find an apartment when there are seemingly hundreds on trademe in the area of town i want and in my price range? simple: i care about my mental health and paying out my ass to live in a prison cell just isn't that appealing at where i am in life. it didn't used to be this insane.

ps. this sounds like i don't like high density housing at all, i actually am super fond of it which is why i'm looking for a place in town in the first place. i hate that there is no shortage of apartments for rent but every young person i know who wants to be central just cant justify the sacrifices they would have to make to make it work. financially, privacy wise etc.

maybe i'm just fucked up from watching so many sitcoms growing up where people my age could actually afford to live in the city. i knew not to expect a friends or himym style pad but little did i know i would be looking forward to a future of paying the majority of my income to live in a windowless prisoncell. (27yo for anyone wondering)

the future of auckland city looks bright and youthful guys! i'm tellin ya /s

Developer bought neighbour property, knocked down old house, today they used digger to pull tree root out, unfortunately my fence was damaged. What a reasonable neighbor will do? I have dog in my property, she will hurt other dog if escaped...

Next year, my fiancee and I will have a wedding in Auckland. We are both foreigners and have no friends in Auckland (for now).

Because we love the city, we from China, we decided to hold a wedding in Auckland and register our marriage. We have been thinking about this for a long time.

So does anyone want to come and participate? Maybe we will have a good time, but more is unknown to me

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I didn't expect to get so many messages and blessings. Thank you. You make me feel unprecedented warmth. I will sort out the dates and inform all the friends who bring hope.

If you want to play better with us, you might as well send me a private message and let's get to know each other. It will be great :)

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Hello, friends. Because I haven't been using reddit for a long time, I don't know if my friends who have left messages can see it after I update the post. But no matter what, it is also prepared for new friends, so I will write it here:

Although I will not start holding the wedding until next year, don't worry, holding a wedding is something that will definitely be done, but I don't know the specific time, and many details have not been finalized at all.

I want to ask my friends, as the organizer of a regular wedding in New Zealand, what do I need to prepare for the guests? Do I need to arrange transportation, food and accommodation?

Are there any friends who are willing to settle the score with me and start preparing for our almost crazy wedding next year? If there are any friends who are willing, please send me a private message：）

Anyone got bruno mars tix yet? 👀

🌷

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Hey guys. I hope all of you had a great start of the day.

I came to auckland a few weeks ago and I am searching for a job around glenfield.

I thought that there may be anybody that need seasonal help or Is fine with me working only a few months?

Hopefully it's okay to ask those questions in the subreddit.

A LONG time ago (speaking 10+ years ago) at the Dew Drop Event Center in Manukau there was this event based on biology and the human body. I remember walking/crawling through a huge interactive digestive system. There were screens and such with related information yet i can’t remember anything else about it apart from an interactive distracted driver kiosk where you just watched a driver’s POV of them hitting a kid on a bicycle. Heheha. I don’t know the name of what this event was called but i think about it every now and then and nothing ever really comes of it or is found. No photos, news articles, publications or anything.

Are there any events or markets that are like Retro Event or ones where you can find vintage things? A lot of the toy markets i've seen advertised are on the other side of the city, and i'm wondering if Auckland has any that are local that I can go to.

Hey all, I’ve been job hunting for a while now and it’s been rough — rejection after rejection, even for entry-level and casual roles. At this point I’m open to pretty much anything part-time.

A bit about me: I’m currently doing my Master’s in Business Analytics (FinTech) at University of Auckland, and I’ve got prior experience in finance/reconciliation (BNY Mellon) plus hands-on work with Xero, MYOB, and QuickBooks. I’ve also worked in hospitality before, so I’m not limited to office-type roles — happy to do retail, cafe, admin, bookkeeping, whatever’s going.

If anyone knows of openings, is hiring, or has tips on what’s actually working for people right now, I’d really appreciate it. Thanks in advance 🙏

Hi, sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, I'm trying to get an AEWV as either a sous chef or a chef de partie, both are skill tier 1 and 2 respectively. I'm just wondering if anybody knows how this process works, would it be easier for me to come on a tourist visa and then try to finsld a job while I'm there or should I keep trying to secure one while still in Ireland. Also if anybody has gone through this process before I'd love to hear your advice and experiences!

hi all. id like to meet and talk to new people and possibly make some friends. im 23f and i like art, music, books, good chats, and more. please feel free to send me a message!

Six inner-west Auckland rail crossings face $2.5b-$3.5b rebuild – and disruption to communities