31 May, 2019

Mystery of musical seats around Devonport

The mystery of Devonport’s disappearing Victoria Rd seat has deepened, with the appearance of a bright-blue seat on historic Kerr Street, to the consternation of heritage advocates.

Devonport Heritage’s Margot McRae noticed the seat a couple of months ago and contacted the local board, Auckland Transport and Devonport Primary School, but no one claimed responsibility for the stray seat.

“There it sits, a refugee from somewhere else and no one knows how it got there. It is bolted to the pavement,” McRae says.

“Devonport Heritage likes to see public seats fitting in with the heritage streetscape, and this one doesn’t. It looks like a leftover from a Takapuna bus shelter,” she says.

McRae says she is bemused more than anything. “I think it’s quite funny that seats seem to be disappearing and appearing in such a random way in Devonport.

“Is there a secret seat-stealer out there?”

Auckland Council is not aware of a seat at this location. Neither has it found the seat that was cut from its bolts and removed from a small park at the corner of Kerr St and Victoria Rd.

This article originally appeared in the May 31 edition of The Devonport Flagstaff. Download PDF.