Simon Wilson

Simon Wilson is the former editor of The Spinoff Auckland, Metro and Cuisine. He joined the NZ Herald as a senior writer in January 2017.

Auckland
Jun 21, 2020

Here’s a totally mainstream idea: let’s take the cars out of Auckland's central city

Why isn't our transport planning keeping up with the ideas now transforming the cities of the world? Not radical ideas, just orthodox planning ideas, writes Simon Wilson. Like: banning cars from the middle of town.

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Auckland
Jan 10, 2018

Witty, stylish and diverse, Paperboy was a weekly burst of energy. So why did it die?

Bauer has announced the closure of Paperboy, its acclaimed ‘freemium’ Auckland magazine. Why did its publisher let it perish?

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Auckland
Jan 3, 2018

Summer reissue: Why have Parisians fallen in love with bike sharing?

Simon Wilson came back from a visit to Paris filled with enthusiasm for ways to make Auckland better. Here’s the first: a great big bike share scheme.

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Auckland
Dec 28, 2017

Summer reissue: The fire inside – eating at Auckland’s most remarkable restaurant

Simon Wilson eats at Pasture, the restaurant that cooks with fire and fermentation and a very singular vision.

Read on.

Politics
Dec 22, 2017

It’s not easy being Jacinda: the challenges ahead

In the wash up from that extraordinary election, Simon Wilson looks at where to now for the new government and the new opposition.

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Auckland
Dec 21, 2017

Ten ways to make Auckland a glorious city of the night

How can Auckland create a bigger, stronger and more rewarding night-time economy? Simon Wilson sets out a 10-point plan.

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Media
Dec 20, 2017

The new Star Wars: a battle of good vs bad, in so many ways

Simon Wilson wanted to like Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and some of it he really did. But then there was the rest of it. And, yes, there are many spoilers.

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Auckland
Dec 13, 2017

The kauri, the Waitakere and the rāhui

What exactly, asks Simon Wilson, has the council decided to do about kauri dieback? Why did the Maori board members contradict themselves and which trails have been closed?

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Auckland
Dec 12, 2017

Why is Auckland slowly strangling its art gallery?

The Auckland Art Gallery is under threat - from a council that ought to know better.

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Auckland
Dec 6, 2017

Has the council done enough to save the Waitakere Ranges kauri?

The council has voted to close tracks in the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park and spend a lot more money trying to stop the spread of kauri dieback. But, asks Simon Wilson, is it enough?

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Auckland
Dec 3, 2017

The extraordinary incompetence of Auckland Transport

Auckland Transport is busily wrecking the suburbs of the city’s inner west. A long hard look at how that happened – and who's fighting it.

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Auckland
Nov 30, 2017

No, not 9% and not 6.2% either: The real figures for Auckland’s new rates

Is it 1.4%, 2.5%, 6.2%, 9% or something else? Simon Wilson explains how much Auckland rates are really going to rise under the mayor’s new proposal – and wonders why some of the reporting has been so confusing.

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Auckland
Nov 27, 2017

What happened to ‘not one more metre’? Council approves cruise ship wharf extensions

Last week Auckland Council voted to build an extension on Queens Wharf: a fixed walkway to two moored “dolphin” buoys, stretching 80-85 metres further into the harbour. Simon Wilson was at the meeting and asks, how the hell did that happen?

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Auckland
Nov 23, 2017

The day Grant Dalton backed down

Team New Zealand manager Grant Dalton didn’t turn up to the council meeting today, to decide where the America’s Cup syndicates should be based. As Simon Wilson reports, he already knew he wasn’t going to get his way.

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Auckland
Nov 23, 2017

Why is Grant Dalton so unpatriotic? And other vital questions about the America’s Cup

Auckland Council meets today to debate where to site the America’s Cup syndicates. Simon Wilson has some questions.

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Auckland
Nov 21, 2017

A tale of property, rates and bullshit

Auckland Council has released the city’s new property valuations and some people who should know better have taken the chance to say all sorts of stupid things. Simon Wilson sets them straight.

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Auckland
Nov 21, 2017

After the West Lynn debacle: a better way to plan Auckland’s suburbs

After the disappointments of West Lynn, Simon Wilson proposes some principles to help the council with its suburban town planning.

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Auckland
Nov 20, 2017

The fiasco in West Lynn: how did Auckland Transport get a shopping village makeover so wrong?

The council has been remaking the West Lynn shopping village on Richmond Rd in Grey Lynn, putting in bike lanes, calming the traffic and, they say, enhancing the shopper experience. What, asks Simon Wilson, could possibly go wrong?

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Politics
Nov 14, 2017

New radicals: the challenge for NZ politics in the time of Corbyn and Trump

Radical populism arises on the left, the right and in the middle. In this essay, from the newly published Journal of Urgent Writing, Simon Wilson proposes a New Zealand option.

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Auckland
Nov 14, 2017

A base for the America’s Cup: where are the good options?

Hosting the America’s Cup should be the perfect event for a sailing city like Auckland, shouldn’t it? So why, asks Simon Wilson, is there a risk it’s going to wreck the place?

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Auckland
Nov 11, 2017

The fire inside: eating at Auckland’s most remarkable restaurant

Simon Wilson has been eating at Pasture, a restaurant that cooks with fire and fermentation and a very singular vision.

Read on.

Auckland
Nov 3, 2017

It’s different now: highlights of the new-look Auckland Arts Festival

Simon Wilson sat down to pick the 5 shows he was most looking forward to in the 2018 Auckland Arts Festival next March. Here are 10 of them. And a few more.

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Auckland
Nov 2, 2017

A green park on top of a carpark (!) and other remarkable plans for the Auckland port

Ports of Auckland has released its brand new long-term plans. Simon Wilson is impressed, but also not impressed.

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Auckland
Nov 1, 2017

The council cuts its spending – but it’s not what the mayor expected

Mayor Phil Goff has announced the results of his first round of spending cuts and, as Simon Wilson explains, they’re full of surprises – not least for him.

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Auckland
Oct 31, 2017

Te Pō: a great play in Auckland with just a few more nights to run

Simon Wilson called the play Te Pō “a masterpiece” when it premiered last year. It’s back for a short return season and he went along to see if he got it right.

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Auckland
Oct 31, 2017

What are all those black and yellow bikes doing on Auckland’s bike racks?

Auckland has a new bike share scheme! Or does it? Simon Wilson investigates the strange case of the bumblebee bikes in the central city.

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