Hobsonville history destroyed this week

[Dave Homewood]

Jeez what a big difference now. So sad to see one of our finest Air Force stations ruined like this.

[hpsssarah]

Hi there, my name is Sarah and I am a teacher at Hobsonville Point Secondary School.  We think the removal of all these historical buildings is really sad - and our students are creating a heritage trail to try and save some of the history and keep it alive in the community.  We were donated a large number of the Rimu pillars from the Hangar 3 - our students are making coasters, cutting boards, place mats and other kitchen materials as a woodwork project, raising money for charity and selling the items in the farmers market - they are putting an information flyer with each product about the wood and why it is so special.  

We were wondering if you might know where we can get some Black and White old photos of the Hangar in it's 'prime'  - so we can put images on the flyer - and for the heritage trail... we would need to get permission to use the images..can anyone help at all?  My email address is [e-mail]  We hope to do lots of history projects in the future, to really promote the stories and the 'adventures' that took place here.. so sad the buildings are gone.. we need to do what we can to save the stories and history.  Thanks

[Dave Homewood]

This is good to hear that you and your school are making the effort to preserve some of the history Sarah. Well done.

I cannot think of any old photos of that hangar other than what is in Bee Dawson's book on the base. The Air Force Museum of New Zealand will be your best bet to source photos.

[pjw4118]

Hi Sarah , my Sarah is a student at Hobbie Point and has mentioned the project. Please contact me and I will pass on the images I have .

[Dave Homewood]

1000 new homes for Auckland at Hobsonville

Fuseworks Media
Saturday, 13 June, 2015 - 16:30

Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith today welcomed the decision by the Hobsonville Land Company (HLC) to bring forward the development of 1000 new homes at Hobsonville Point in Auckland.

"The decision by Hobsonville Land Company to speed up the release of precincts at Buckley B, the Village and the apartment site near the Hobsonville Point Primary School means that more homes will be delivered faster. These homes would not have been available until 2019 on the previous schedule, but they will now come on-stream from 2017 - providing an additional 1000 new homes more quickly to help address Auckland’s urgent housing need," Dr Smith says.

"I further welcome the Company’s target to deliver a higher proportion of affordably priced homes at the Buckley B and Village precincts. At least twenty per cent of all the homes built at Hobsonville Point are already sold at under $550,000 - at these two sites, the proportion will be 30 per cent."

Hobsonville is former Defence Force land that is being developed by Housing New Zealand subsidiary Hobsonville Land Company. The first sod for housing was turned in 2002 by the then-Labour Prime Minister but no further work was carried out as the project became mired in planning disputes. The National-led Government revived a housing plan for the land in 2010, and the land was given Special Housing Area status under the new Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Act in 2013. Earthworks were consented a week later and now 716 homes and sections have been sold.

The development also includes parks, playgrounds, cycleways, walking tracks, a farmers market and new schools. Last year the Mayor of Auckland and the Prime Minister opened the new ferry terminal and service to downtown Auckland.

HLC chief executive Chris Aiken said that the last twelve months had seen record house sales at Hobsonville Point, with 337 homes sold in the twelve months to the end of May 2015.

"We see strong demand continuing, especially driven by the more affordable end of the market. We are bringing forward the development of Buckley B by around two years and the Village development by one year, while construction of the apartments near the primary school has been accelerated by revising super lot plans and the approach to land release in that block - all of which makes good sense in light of current market conditions," Mr Aiken says.

"Earthworks on the Buckley B precinct are planned for this coming summer and master planning for the Village precinct will commence immediately. This accelerated development timetable ensures that builders have sufficient land in two to three years’ time to continue momentum. It reflects both the very strong demand and the planning lead time of up to two years between starting a precinct and the first homes being completed," Mr Aiken says.

So far at Hobsonville Point, around 550 new homes are either under construction or have been completed.

HLC and its development partners have allocated builder-ready land to builders for a further 500 homes in the last stages of the Buckley A precinct, the first stage of the Catalina Precinct and in the Sunderland A precinct; building homes on this land is starting now. HLC also has development partners in place for around another 500 homes in the Sunderland precinct and the second stage of the Catalina Precinct, ready for construction to begin at these sites in mid-2016.

This means that - in addition to the homes already completed or under construction - there are 1000 additional homes in the pipeline in precincts where development is already underway. The initiative announced today is additional to this, and brings the total of homes that are either complete, under construction or in the development pipeline to 2550.

"The Government is focused on increasing the supply of housing in Auckland, and Hobsonville Land Company is at the forefront of this. I commend Mr Aiken and the team at HLC on the successes achieved to date, and look forward to more in the future," Dr Smith says.

"Hobsonville Point illustrates the type of scale and momentum the Government wants to support, and the type of development that Auckland needs to address its housing supply and affordability challenge.

"We have a wide programme of complementary initiatives in place, including constraining new section development contributions, removing tariffs on building materials, and making record investments in building apprenticeships. Our KiwiSaver HomeStart scheme, which came into effect on 1 April 2015, provides financial assistance to 90,000 first-home buyers. The next key measure is our planned second phase of the Resource Management Act reforms to tackle the long-term issues affecting housing affordability and supply."

www.voxy.co.nz/national/1000-new-homes-auckland-hobsonville/5/223812

[Dave Homewood]

I saw on Facebook that the Hobsonville Officer's Mess has now bee removed (or destroyed?). Another huge chunk of history gone.

[pjw4118]

I thought it was time for an update on Hobbie.
Pictures taken over Easter

Clark House is now vacant and the Aviation Medicine Unit has moved to Whenuapai. The old Clark House is apparently an earthquake risk



Windsocks mark the new entrance to the old base



And the old run way is covered in houses. The far hill that is in so many photos remains untouched



Housing is right up to the Southern Boundary and the engine test shed? is now a plant nursery





Sunderland Drive holds a street full of redone Air Force houses ($1.25m each!)



The barrack block is yet to be converted into apartments but down on the slipway the buildings are being reclad







The eyesore of Helens folly remains, the canadian and a few million long gone. They have a problem with it on trying to get the 'marine precinct' (All the boat builders have gone) made into a Movie Precinct. I think ideally it should just come down and call it quits.



One of the original hangars is coming down and the other may, again earthquake problems





Amongst a Historic Hobsonville display were these

[Dave Homewood]

Oh man, it's such a shame seeing the original large hangars being demolished. I thought they were preserving them. That sucks. The place will probably never get an earthquake sufficient to cause any problems, and if that did happen those cheap arse new buildings will come down sooner than those that stood the test of time. So many of the RNZAF's aircraft were assembled in those hangars, really sad. Why not strengthen rather than destroy? Ah yes, they want the land don't they. Pricks!

[skyhawkdon]

And the same design at Wigram survived all the Canterbury earthquakes with no damage! Sounds like just a good excuse to pull them down as the land is more valuable than the buildings.

[oj]

In the first of the historic display photos, why do we have what appears to be an inverted J on the registration marks?

[shorty]

If you are referring to the Seafire it is a "C" not "an inverted J". It was used at the TTS for the S & S trainees and the AC-F codes reputedly stood for AirCraft Finishers

[ErrolC]

www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/home-property/90498700/air-force-history-preserved-in-plans-for-catalina--bay-development

Air force history preserved in plans for Catalina Bay development
Historic air force buildings and hangars will be restored in the first stage of the multi-million dollar Catalina Bay development at Hobsonville Point, near Auckland.

Developer Willis Bond & Co has revealed its plans for the former Hobsonville Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) Base, which focus on creating a new gateway to the west from the water.
...
McGuinness describes Catalina Bay as a pristine waterside precinct."We will be utilising much of the existing infrastructure, refurbishing to ensure the most modern of facilities are properly housed in a very historic environment. Surprisingly it is highly unusual in Auckland to sit over water and enjoy a meal or a coffee. You will be able to do that at Catalina Bay."

[Dave Homewood]

www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11819215

They are taking away all the character. 70 apartments on the Wet Apron. Bunch of pricks.

[kiwithrottlejockey]

Is the wet apron actually used for any aviation-related activities any more?

What about maritime-related activities?

Or is it just vacant land begging to be redeveloped in a city which is screaming out for land to build homes to aleviate the housing shortage?

You'll never bring Hobsonville back as an air force base again. And I doubt if the air force would even have any use for it any more.

[Damon]

They used to get PAX boarding the Beaver float plane there at one time. A slippery possibility at the best of times.
Dave , I hope you took heaps of pictures ages ago . its going going gone and most dont give a s... Turn around and keep walking . The character has almost disappeared and will be just a governments by line saying there is more housing being done in Auckland. I took some pics before the housing went in, and my kids played on the UH-1D hard stands .And we got the tour by pjw4118 a few years back. I'm sure that if the will and effort could be made that a hangar could be saved or kept for historical significance. The art deco building will probably end up the same way. Bon voyage Hobsonville.

[Bruce]

Both the big "Sunderland" and smaller "Catalina" hangars will be saved according to the release, and restored into practical, useable facilities. They wont have the ambience of a hangar, but at least will be preserved and loved by future generations. The apron area is more of a concern as that gives everything context. A developer just sees an empty space as somewhere to build expensive things. Sometimes that open space is the most valuable thing - why turn a nice, atmospheric waterside nook, with lots of character into a crowded urban area just like the rest of Auckland?

[Peter Lewis]

The slipway was closed and condemned shortly after Beaver ZK-AMA used it to offload/load passengers.

[kiwithrottlejockey]

Mar 16, 2017 14:59:58 GMT 12 Bruce said:

A developer just sees an empty space as somewhere to build expensive things. Sometimes that open space is the most valuable thing - why turn a nice, atmospheric waterside nook, with lots of character into a crowded urban area just like the rest of Auckland?

Ah, Auckland eh?

That's why I choose to live in Wairarapa where we have a population of only 42,600 people spread out over a HUGE area (including five towns) and not a single set of traffic lights to be seen anywhere. There's a lot to be said for having heaps of SPACE. Naturally, The Vintage Aviator is a huge attraction of living in the area. And Wellington is only a short drive (or train ride) away.

[bobajob]

No more fishing off the Braby in the early evenings of the school holiday. A La 1965.

[Dave Homewood]

A new article on Hobsonville
www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/05/18/29003/inside-the-new-hobsonville-model-of-house-building