No St Johns village

was “one of the world’s finest hosts”.

“In a world of fluff and ego, Matthew was genuine.”

His friend, Dougal Innes, recounted their hunting adventures together and likened Matthew to a “Jack Russell chasing a rabbit” who would not give up the chase.

He had a great sense of humour and “never suffered from any form of embarrassment”, he said.

The service ended with Matthew’s brothers and friends carrying his casket to one of five helicopters.

While he and passengers were being loaded on board, an Ohakeabased Spitfire, a Warbirds show regular, performed aerobatics piloted by Squadron Leader Sean Perrett.

The fleet of helicopters then flew to Matthew’s favourite places in the mountains. An application for resource consent for a massive retirement village development in St Johns has been declined. Summerset Holdings Ltd had lodged the application with Auckland Council to build a sevenstorey, 344-unit retirement village on a 2.6ha site fronting St Johns Rd, where the height limit is three storeys. The application was refused by commissioners after it was heard in June. Panel chairman Mark Farnsworth said in the decision there was a general agreement that the site would be suitable for a retirement village but the panel found the proposed development would result in adverse effects which did not sufficiently balance the benefits.