Mt Roskill’s diversity great

What do you like best about where you live?

A lot of people from Mt Roskill have retired here so there are quite a few people we know. I like the diversity of Mt Roskill, it has changed from 20 years ago when it was largely European.

How long have you lived there and where are you originally from?

My wife and I came to Selwyn Village five years ago. We’d been in Mt Roskill for 40 years before that. I was born in Hokitika and in my first seven years I lived in 14 different places.

What do you like least about where you live and how can we fix it?

The Mt Roskill shops – nobody will upgrade them. They’re an eyesore to such an extent the modern thinkers have gone to Stoddard Rd to create shops. It’s been taken away from the town centre. There needs to be some rejuvenation.

Where is the best place to have dinner?

The restaurant here at Selwyn Heights. We have an international chef.

Who is the Kiwi admire most and why?

Right now it is Richie McCaw, he’s on the up at the moment.

If I was Auckland’s mayor I would...

Instead of building a railway in the city that will cater for relatively few I would start with a railway to the airport extending from Onehunga and from Manukau.

When I’ve got a free few hours I like to...

I’m pretty busy. I’m the president

you of the Mt Roskill Probus Club, a Justice of the Peace, a member of the Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship and I’ve been a elder in the Presbyterian Church for more than 50 years.

The spot I would most recommend to tourists is...

It will be the new beach on the Onehunga foreshore. However, Monte Cecilia park is a good place to walk. And there are some beautiful walks around the Mt Roskill

coast.