In the second part of a new event series looking at the future of Auckland, The Spinoff and Auckland Council host In My Backyard: Glen Innes, to ask what the suburb can teach the rest of the city about housing. Photographer Brendan Kitto shares his images from the 2016 exhibition Redevelop which explored housing changes in Tāmaki and new photos of the neighbourhood. 

My relationship with Glen Innes began in the mid-90s when my family relocated from Whanganui to Auckland and their school of choice for me was Sacred Heart College. The bus route was a tour of Panmure and Glen Innes which was an eye-opener for a new kid who had just moved to Pakuranga. Later on, I became friends with Gary Silipa – a Glen Innes local who now runs GI’s The Good The Bad art gallery – which kept me frequenting the area. My documentation of Glen Innes began when the fences went up and the houses came down. The project is neither for nor against the transformation; it’s a visual record of an event that many thought would never occur in their lifetime.