“It’s almost like they built a runway for criminals,” a landlord says with regard to a $13.8 million Auckland Council street upgrade and what he sees as its disastrous consequences.
Alan Wiltshire, managing director of Wiltshire Property Group, expressed sadness about consistent ram-raids and thefts from the Michael Hill Takapuna, which his business Constellation Projects owns.
It got so bad that the international jeweller simply shut the flagship shop, even though it had just renewed its five-year lease. That’s now been reassigned to another retailer about to shift in, he said.
Wiltshire praised the council’s Hurstmere Rd upgrade, the aim of which was to make it more pedestrian and cycle-friendly with new landscaping, roading, footpaths, services, trees and street furniture.
But he said the design and layout also helped criminals because signs and posts had been removed from outside Michael Hill on Hurstmere Rd.
That gave criminals in vehicles the chance to straddle the massive Lake Rd/The Strand intersection and get a big run-up to the front of the premises.
“They basically improved it for criminals,” he said, telling how the ram-raiders even once backed into the storefront at speed from the wide, cavernous intersection to mount a heist.
“Before the Hurstmere Rd upgrade, the corner finished more opposite the shop. It would have been difficult to drive straight into the shop because road signs and pedestrian crossings were in the way,” he said.
But once the extensive roading and footpath work was finished, ram-raiders arrived a number of times at night and during the day, he noticed.
John Dunshea, general manager of the council’s development programme office, disagreed with Wiltshire and said ram-raids pre-dated the upgrade.
The streetscape was upgraded to create an open, vibrant, people-focused retail destination, offering more space for pedestrians, outdoor dining and events. A busier town centre should contribute to the safety of the centre, Dunshea said.
“Not only does a level surface between the road and pedestrian space improve accessibility for mobility impaired users, it encourages a more natural flow for pedestrians and allows for open-street events closed to vehicles and street activities, such as the Takapuna Winter Lights Festival and Christmas Market. We are sorry to hear about what has happened to one of Alan’s stores in Takapuna.
“We do projects like the Hurstmere upgrade because we want to create better street environments where businesses are able to thrive. However, we do not believe our upgrade has made it easier for criminals to access this shop. The corner site where Michael Hill sits is prominent, with high visibility and expansive glass frontages, and was targeted by ram-raiders prior to the upgrade as well. As mentioned above, the standard kerb style outside the Michael Hill shop that was there before the upgrade remains,” Dunshea said.
Auckland Transport had developed advice for businesses on protecting themselves against ram-raids, and the council’s website had advice for residents and workers on anti-social and community safety issues, he said.
When the road was cut from two lanes to one, the footpaths on either side were widened. Those footpaths extended the slope of the existing footpath towards the road. All footpaths slope towards the kerb to direct rainwater away from buildings, he said. The road was lowered slightly to accommodate the required gradient.
It was worth noting that a standard kerb outside Michael Hill had been retained: the footpath was not level with the road except where there are pedestrian crossings. These pedestrian crossings were in place before the upgrade, Dunshea stressed.
The jeweller had been on Hurstmere Rd for 40 years, opening there in 1983. The store was one of the first three it opened, and management expressed a great fondness for the area. In 2014, they had doubled their footprint.
Wiltshire said the store was around 100 square metres and was particularly attractive. His business had bought the corner property about nine years ago.
Auckland Council said of the project: “New streetscape features include a dedicated cycle lane, wider high-quality pavements, new timber seating and stonework walls, offering more space for pedestrians, outdoor dining and events. New energy-efficient lighting has improved safety at night.”
The street is now greener with native plantings, including mature pūriri and tī kōuka trees in 16 garden beds and eight stormwater rain gardens, which are actively collecting rainwater and filtering out street pollutants, it said.
The one-way northbound street runs between Lake Rd and Anzac St and has a safer speed limit of 30km/h, cutting vehicle dominance and making it safer for pedestrians and cyclists. Twenty-four new carparks and two mobility parks are now available, as well as four loading zones.
Ageing infrastructure has been replaced, including laying a new road to replace the old subsiding carriageway. New PVC pipes have replaced the old cast-iron water main running along both sides of the road, the council said.
Wiltshire acknowledged all that, but said what had happened outside his building at 3 Hurstmere Rd was extremely unfortunate.
“We’re sad. They’re sad. Takapuna is sad,” Wiltshire said of Michael Hill’s closure in the beach suburb.
“In the end, Michael Hill decided they would assign the lease and put it on the market. They renewed for five years and had four and a quarter years to go,” Wiltshire said.
Criminals hit the store three times last year alone, mounting daring smash-and-grabs - once in broad daylight, with their vehicle left running in the middle of the street just past the traffic lights late one afternoon.
The store was dangerously exposed on two sides, and the thieves twigged to that. Shocking footage captured one brazen smash-and-grab shortly before 4.30pm on June 16, 2022, with bystanders threatened and the thieves escaping arrest.
The heist was recorded on video - the sound of smashing glass in the premier shopping strip as a Mazda hatchback sat waiting outside at 4.22pm while criminals ransacked the store in front of terrified staff.
And it was those staff who Wiltshire said had prompted the retailer to leave his building.
“Michael Hill himself didn’t want to leave. Rob Fyfe, the chairman, didn’t want to leave,” Wiltshire said, noting the ex-Air NZ boss was also a local.
“But they could not get any staff to man it anymore, they wouldn’t go there,” Wiltshire said.
Michael Hill wasn’t the only jeweller there robbed, he said. Fifth Avenue Jewellery on Hurstmere Rd was robbed in 2021. Robbers smashed window glass and fled while dropping a trail of jewels back in December of that year. At 3.30am on December 11, police were called to reports of store glass smashing.
“Two people were seen fleeing in a car but at this stage, they have not been located,” a police spokeswoman told the Herald back then.
Takapuna Beach Business Association chief executive Terence Harpur today praised the Hurstmere upgrade. But he’s sorry to see Michael Hill shut after 40 years.
Takapuna was not one of the most-hit ram-raid suburbs, he stressed.
“It was not part of the plan to make it easier for criminals. It just happened to do that, the way the road was upgraded and the way the store was laid out. It’s just a coincidence,” Harpur said.
But he said he didn’t agree with Wilshire that the council had “built a highway for criminals”. Ram-raids had increased markedly in the last three to four years throughout the city, he stressed.
He is welcoming a new international retailer to the street corner where the jeweller once was.
The store is one of the most profitable and popular in Foodstuffs' North Island co-op.