Together, west and north-west Auckland are one of the most poorly served parts of Auckland for transport into the city, according to Labour MP and busway campaigner Phil Twyford.

“West Auckland suffers extreme traffic congestion and since New Zealand Transport Agency introduced ramp metering on the motorway, it’s pushed the congestion back into the surrounding communities,” he says.

“For many people who have to travel during peak hour, it can take 40 minutes from their front gate to get to the motorway.”

Patrick Reynolds, from the Auckland Transport Blog, supports the proposal and says it is vitally important to West Aucklanders.

“It would offer a choice to people that currently have none. The choice to avoid congestion, to avoid the costs of parking and driving but without incurring a new cost of wasted time.

“It would also improve the driving experience for those who choose to continue to do that. It’ll reduce the number of cars on the North Western considerably, and we know this because that’s what the Northern Busway has done.”

The proposal is to put in a busway from Westgate to the city.

Currently West Auckland bus routes from Westgate have to detour through Henderson and Te Atatu, taking up to an hour for some journeys.

The proposed busway travel time is estimated to take just over 20 minutes from Westgate to Auckland’s CBD, instead of one hour.

Bus stations would be set up along the busway to help create bus loops between West Auckland communities and the busway.

Twyford says North Shore’s Northern Busway is a great example of how successful a West Auckland busway could fix local traffic and transport issues.

“It’s a great asset for us that the Northern busway is there. It is a working model and West Aucklanders know about it. It’s a real plus for us.

“The Northern Busway is taking currently 9000 cars off the harbour bridge every morning.”

The proposal is included in the Auckland Council’s plan but has no set date for implementation.

While it’s planned to happen within 30 years, Twyford is hopeful it can be achieved in the next five years to accommodate West Auckland’s growing population.

“The council has designated the area around Westgate as a massive growth area . . .  basically creating a whole new town.”

Northern West Auckland’s population is predicted to rise 115,000 in the next 20 years.

“You can’t do that development without having a mass transport system to support it,” says Twyford.

“If that development goes ahead and they rely on the existing North Western motorway to support it, the whole thing will seize up and come to a standstill.”

The proposal is expected to cost between $300  to $400 million dollars and will be funded by central and local government.

Shutter Pirates Tim Lambourne (left) and Joe Dowling. Photos: Cass Mason.

“Shutter Pirates” Joe Dowling and Tim Lambourne, who run a photography blog by the same name, are throwing what they call “a democratic photography exhibition run by two pirate dictators”.

Inspired by the Photography Club in Brighton, which invites people to send in photocopies of their work for monthly exhibition, Dowling and Lambourne are asking aspiring photographers to each print four photos on A3 paper, stick them in a tube and send them in.

The Shutter Pirates will pick their favourites and hold a free exhibition at design space Flagship above the Grey Lynn shops on May 31. Guests will be able to admire each other’s work and tear down the photos they like the best at the end of the night and take them home.

“Basically, there are millions of photographs on the internet so we wanted to give people the opportunity to see their work on a white wall,” says Lambourne.

“It’s an open call for anyone who feels a connection to photography.”

The duo, who teamed up in 2009, has gathered a dedicated following.

Their work, which ranges from ethereal landscapes to snapshots of strangers, got them noticed last year when Auckland website Concrete Playground awarded the pirates its Best Blog award.

Lambourne says the response to Paper Pirates has been overwhelming.

“Twenty-five strangers have sent in incredible photographs and we’ve still got more coming.”

Fashion designer and co-owner of Flagship Jack Roy says he was approached by the Shutter Pirates after Lambourne saw the design space in the background of a Whitney Houston tribute video on YouTube.

“We’re always supportive of this sort of thing – it’s what we’re about.

“There are four of us who are lucky enough to have the space but there are lots of people out there who want to do similar stuff but just don’t have the space, so we’re supportive of that,” he said.

Once the exhibition is over, the Shutter Pirates say they will be putting together a magazine of the best submissions – scanned and formatted into lo-fi and distributed across the city.

The Pirates haven’t yet organised how the magazine will be funded but Lambourne says he will be “begging and stealing” to make it happen.

“The aim is basically to get more physical prints into the hands of punters and to encourage people to print and show their work,” says Dowling.

The seven-year-old was treated in North Shore Hospital recently for a dislocated shoulder and stiffness in the neck.

Ryan Oosterbaan and his friend Daniel Tarbin were attempting to pull off some hard-hitting World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) moves when the injury happened.

Ryan and Daniel were watching a WWE show on Sky Television and were fooling around in the Oosterbaans’ lounge when the incident occured.

Ryan was dropped onto his upper-back by Daniel, causing the dislocation, bruising and stiffness. Daniel said it was meant to be a “superplex” manoeuvre.

The injured boy’s mother recalls hearing her son shout from the next room.

“He was screaming in pain when I came into the lounge. I called an ambulance and asked Dan what had happened . . . he said they’d been playing wrestling games,” Carly Oosterbaan says.

Ryan’s parents were shocked when their son was able to tell them that he and his friends often tried out wrestling holds which they have seen on TV.

“We knew he liked it and that he watched the shows sometimes, but we never saw him trying to do wrestling moves with his friends,” says Carly Oosterbaan.

She says this experience has opened her eyes to the dangers posed by violent TV shows, regardless if the content is fake or real.

New Zealand’s pay TV network Sky shows up to five hours of WWE content every week, a large increase from its hourly highlights package which used to air in the early 2000s.

A Sky Programming Director, Shawn Ammerston, says: ”If parents were concerned that their children were having access to content which they don’t want their kids to watch, then they have the options to block the channel which the shows were broadcast on.”

He says every decoder has options to block channels and shows with ‘R’ ratings.

Sky says it does receive complaints from concerned parents about its programming, particularly around violence and WWE, but they are confident in their stops in place to control what is seen and what is not.

At the start of every WWE programme, a message is shown advising the viewer that “the actions seen in this programme are performed by trained professionals and should not be attempted at home”.

Members of the public had a chance to voice their concerns about the end of TVNZ7. Photo: Sarah Krieg.

The meeting at the Freeman’s Bay Community Centre was the first of seven public events planned by the Save TVNZ7 campaign to discuss the end of the free-to-air channel on June 30.

With the end of New Zealand’s only non-commercial, free-to-air channel in sight, the public and the speakers expressed concern at the future of New Zealand television.

Clare Cullen, a Labour MP who has put forward a private member’s bill to save the channel, said current commercial television was “turning us into drones”.

“Let’s not have our kids growing up on American TV.”

Cullen said there was no longer a question of whether Kiwis wanted TVNZ7 to stay on air.

“The question is how much are we willing to pay?”

Among other things, Cullen’s bill would set up a public media foundation which would allow for a public broadcaster independent from TVNZ.

“It’s not about creating more bureaucracy. TVNZ aren’t able to support public broadcasting because of their commercial interests.”

Professor Graham Murdock, of Loughborough University in England, said it would be a chance for Kiwis to get culturally and politically involved.

Murdock said New Zealand was not the only country sacrificing public broadcasting channels, with similar debates happening in Portugal.

“You may lose the battle for TVNZ7, but it should be the start of something better.”

The Save TVNZ7 campaign has had 22,000 people sign its petition, and has more than 30,000 Facebook fans.

Nielsen Research shows about 1.4 million Kiwis tune in to TVNZ7 each four-week period.

The next public meeting will be held at the Wesley Church hall in Wellington on May 21.

The app has "hot guys" on it and marketing it on YouTube.

The Your Man Reminder application has a range of four “hunky” men that you can choose from, to remind you to give your breasts some “TLC”.

TLC in this case stands for Touch, Look and Check but the man you choose will also tell you “any guy would be lucky to have you” and ask, “Have you given your breasts some TLC today?”

Chief executive of the New Zealand Breast Cancer Society Evangelina Henderson says any message that gets women thinking about breast cancer is helpful but in this case the application has gone too far.

“This is not a medic alert. They are taking a very important, very earnest and very serious issue and turning it into something overly sexual.

“It’s tongue and cheek, yes, but I don’t think it’s authentic in caring about these women.”

The application, which was produced by the Rethink Breast Cancer Charity, has a website slogan for the application that read: “Hot men want you to touch your boobs.”

The application was launched in 2011, has already had over 70,000 downloads and over two million views on YouTube.

“Young women are busy and often need a reminder to show their breasts some TLC,” says Rethink executive director MJ DeCoteau.

“What better way to check yourself than getting a reminder from a hot guy?”

But Henderson says the application is made so that the “gorgeous” men dominate and the real risk of breast cancer is forgotten.

“You can’t feel the microscopic tumours in your breasts,” she said.

Women under 30 are not advised to have mammograms but be vigilant in knowing the changes to their breasts.

“Just because you can’t feel anything doesn’t mean you’re safe. That’s why you have to know what is normal for your breasts and check your family history,” said Henderson.

“Breasts are viewed as a sexual part of your body and that is why they’ve created something like this. They’re making light of a life-or-death situation.”

Herne Bay residents want the on-ramp opened immediately. Photo: Amanda Best.

Christine Cavanagh, of the HBRA, told the Auckland Council transport committee this morning the increasing volume of traffic through Herne Bay caused by the closure was preventing residents from restoring their suburbs to “liveable communities”.

The Wellington Street on-ramp was temporarily closed at the beginning of May 2011 as part of the construction on the Victoria Park tunnel. The NZTA said it would reopen in November 2011. This was then extended to March 2012.

In March the NZTA said the on-ramp would stay closed until it and Auckland Transport had a chance to assess the impact of the opening of the Victoria Park tunnel would have on the central motorway junction. It is still closed.

NZTA’s Auckland and Northland regional director Stephen Town asked people to be patient.

“We simply extended the temporary closure so we can have a look with Auckland Transport at what is the best option.”

Cavanagh said the HBRA wanted the on-ramp re-opened immediately.

“Residents tolerated the temporary closure on the condition things would get better. What we’re not getting is better. We’re getting worse.

“We feel let down.”

Town said it was not the NZTA’s aim to favour motorway users over communities, and he had sent a draft consultation plan through to the HBRA.

“We are trying to come up with a proposal what will meet the interests of both parties.”

But Cavanagh said the plan “does not talk about partnership with communities”.

“They are simply not sharing what they are researching.”

 She said unless the NZTA offers more information to the HBRA, it wouldn’t be in a position to consider it.

Councillor Cathy Casey said the lack of information from the NZTA to the HBRA, as well as the Waitemata Local Board, wasn’t good enough.

“To be frank, the NZTA don’t have the best track record with consulting.

“That’s not the way we treat our public and we expect the same from a partner association.”

The committee chairman, councillor Mike Lee, said the ongoing closure of the on-ramp was “lowering the quality of life of ratepayers in that area”.

He said the only fair option to ratepayers was to reopen the on-ramp.

Lee moved the committee communicate its support for reopening the on-ramp to the NZTA and Auckland Transport. The motion was carried.

Councillor George Wood was one of several who disagreed. He said reopening the on-ramp right away “could be diabolical”.

“Let the NZTA do their work. Let’s wait until they’re done their assessment.”

CricHQ lets cricket lovers follow, track and visualise their favourite teams, from the Pakuranga Primary First XI to the Ashes test series.

Unless you’re a proud member of the Beige Brigade or a high school cricket coach you may not have heard about the Kiwi cricket smartphone app knocking the world for six.

Kiwi smartphone app CricHQ, co-founded by former Black Caps captain Stephen Fleming, is forecast to overtake popular website TradeMe in the number of online users at any one time, currently at 44,000 people worldwide.

When CricHQ launched in Sri Lanka it managed to crash Amazon.com, due to demand.

Fleming says the popularity of the app comes from its transformation into a social media tool, where the users provide the essential content for the app’s success: hard cricket data, news and analysis.

The app and its website, www.crichq.com, has 500,000 users each month, growing at 230 per cent month-on-month.

Chief executive Simon Baker says there is still huge growth potential for the programme in North America and India.

“We’re huge in New Zealand, Aussie and the UK but cricket, globally, seems to be lacking in tools to analyse and there’s a huge market for it in India – they’re a smartphone kind of country,” says Baker.

The app caters for all cricket fans from the IPL Superleague right down to the young, grassroots level and all in real time.

“The technology is just so easy to use, games can be easily tracked and viewed on your phone. If grandma can use Twitter and Skype, she can now see little Johnny’s after-school cricket game from her phone,” says Baker.

Cricket enthusiast Paul O’Halloran is a big fan of the app, using it for news and stats on a weekly basis.

“It’s really good on match day, to see who’s on form. It has even helped me win a cheeky bet from time to time,” he says.

Graham Candy is on a high after his theatre company launch. Photo: Sophie Ryan.

So he started his own theatre company, Candy Productions, in March.

The actor has been involved in many different aspects of show business, such as acting, dancing and singing since he was 12 years old.

Graham says leaving Auckland Theatre Company was hard but he believes it happened for a reason.

“I found the Broadway [Newmarket] studio on Trade Me, and it was almost like fate,” he says.

He quickly found around 20 people willing to help him out with services such as makeup and costume designers to jumpstart Candy Productions.

He says the biggest challenge he has faced with getting the company off the ground is people not taking him seriously.

“I think the biggest thing for me is people look at me as if I have no experience because I am kind of young. But really I have been doing this since I was 12.”

“It is nearly impossible for someone my age to book a big venue,” he says.

He relies on the help of big-name connections to book the venues he needs.

One of those connections is seasoned comedian Jeremy Randerson, who is performing with Candy in Dog Star, a comedy show featured as part of New Zealand Comedy Festival.

Randerson says he has always admired Candy’s dedication to his work, and says he had thrown himself into all aspects of production.

Their good chemistry is obvious on stage as they perform a fusion of dynamic slapstick and subtle satire in their quirky two-man show.

The opening night performance recently at The Basement drew a reasonable crowd and a few big laughs off the bat.

Tate Soinila, a Californian wine-maker, was in the audience with friends and thought the beginning was strong but that the material let the comedians down in the second half.

“Was it our different sense of humour? Maybe as Americans we didn’t get it, but I think the beginning was very good,” he says.

Randerson told Te Waha Nui he would be delighted to work with Candy on more projects.

Candy is currently involved in a feature-length film that he hopes to be destined for the Sundance Film Festival.

Twenty-two Olympic-qualified rowers will leave for Lucerne, Switzerland, where they will join the New Zealand men’s eight, light-weight four, and heavy-weight four crews, who left two weeks ago.

Mahe Drysdale has his sights focussed on gold again. Photo: supplied.

The eight and light-weight-four crews are yet to qualify for the Olympics and will get their last chance at the “sudden death” qualifying event in Lucerne on May 20 to 23.

It is a must-win for the eight and the four must come first or second.

Five-time world champion single sculler Mahe Drysdale says it would be awesome to have everyone qualify and he’ll be there cheering the crews on.

Drysdale has “unfinished business” going to the London Olympics. After falling sick at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, he had to be carried from his boat by life raft to a waiting ambulance at the end of the final where he placed third. London will be his third Olympic Games and he is aiming for the top.

“It’s another Olympics, another chance, and there’s probably been some motivation over the years –knowing what happened in Beijing – but ultimately this is a new event, a new chapter.

“I think it’s pretty well known I want a gold medal – and that’s what I’ve been aiming for, for the last four years.”

Drysdale says the Olympic team is so strong and it’s been special being part of an awesome time in New Zealand history.

“I think it’s going to be, hopefully, rowing’s greatest ever Olympic event,” he says.

Women’s single sculler Emma Twigg thinks the feeling within the team is “pretty upbeat” and says that having a number of world champions and world medallists in the team, they have potential to do really well.

At just 21 years old, Twigg was one of the youngest to compete at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where she placed third in the B final. Now 25, she says it’s an honour to be representing New Zealand and would like everyone in the team to win a gold medal.

“The experience I had in Beijing will definitely help me out this time round. If you look at those that have done well at the Olympics, their first one’s never that great. Then I guess you get a bit older and wiser and learn from it and that’s what I’m aiming to do.”

Twigg is tipped as one of New Zealand’s strongest contenders for gold in London. Since Beijing she has had a fourth and two third placings in the last three world championships.

Twigg says that after London it’s not over either. “I would definitely like to say I would be rowing in Rio, I think I’m still young and I’ve still got another one in me.”

She says she always dreamed of going to the Olympics, however being a representative hockey player when she was younger, she didn’t know it was going to be in rowing.

“I had an idol in hockey but when I started rowing the Evers-Swindells filled that mantle”, she says.

Emma Twigg is experienced racing on the world rowing circuit. Photo: supplied.

Two of New Zealand’s greatest Olympic athletes, identical twins Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell, won back-to-back gold medals at the Athens and Beijing Olympic Games, in the women’s double-scull event.

Caroline Meyer – formerly Evers-Swindell – says it had always been a dream to go to the Olympics so to then win them was pretty amazing. However she says the two were quite different.

“Beijing was a different situation for us – in Athens we were favourites and in Beijing we were definitely not favourites, so the wins had different meanings but they were both cool experiences.”

Of the current team, she says she is pretty confident they will do very well.

“In rowing it takes a bit to get to the top and these guys have been at the top now for a few years and they’re cranking along so well. For what it’s worth I think it will be the most successful Olympics for rowing and I wish them all the very best.”

Six hundred people attended the service at Holy Trinity Cathedral, Parnell. Photo: Skye Wishart

Chorister Tania Wilson received a kidney transplant in 1990, and on Sunday she sang with her community choir in an emotional thanksgiving service at Parnell’s Holy Trinity Cathedral.

The service, organised by Organ Donation New Zealand, is held every year to remember those who donate and receive tissue and body organs.

Thanks to Wilson, the community choir Heaven Bent has sung at the service since 1998.

They include “healing” songs in their repertoire, which is primarily gospel but also has modern African and Maori songs.

“It’s quite emotional and we want to make sure we’re thoughtful [in our selection],” said Wilson.

“Audiences tend to like Heaven Bent because we’re non-denominational, with variety in our repertoire.”

ODNZ donor co-ordinator Janice Langlands said that the choir performance was a very important and beautiful part of the service.

“They’ve been involved from [almost the beginning], and I can’t imagine the service without them,” she said.

During the service, organ recipients each lit candles, and families of organ donors were given a potted camellia of the ‘donation’ cultivar.

Between the choir’s songs, speeches were made such as that by father-of-five heart recipient David Rich.

Through tears, he said he was now living life to the full, even though he was initially hesitant to go through with the transplant when he was critically ill.

“I didn’t want to swap my life for someone else’s,” he said.

Another speaker, Dayna, had a sister who had died in a car crash.

She spoke about her family’s difficult decision to permit donation of the organs, especially with objection from the Maori elders in her family.

She said it was healing to receive anonymous letters from the recipients, and hear of how these people’s lives and their families’ lives had benefited.

A respiratory physician, Tanya McWilliams, spoke on behalf of all recipients to thank donors’ families for the gift of life.
                                                   
She recounted a story of a young man who “lived life to the full” after receiving a new heart, even working as a lift attendant on North America’s ski slopes.

“Isn’t that what you want for any young person in their twenties?” she said.

Wilson said everyone handled the complex issue of organ donation differently, and a service like this helped in the healing process.

“Some of the audience have lost someone and take years to come to a thanksgiving service,” she said.

According to the ODNZ annual report, surgeons performed 118 kidney, 11 heart, 10 lung, and 44 liver transplants in New Zealand in 2011.