Trustee & Staff Profiles

Dave Veart, Chair – Dave trained originally as a lawyer and later went on to teach in New Zealand and the UK. On his return to New Zealand in 1980, Dave retrained as an archaeologist and worked in that capacity until 2013 for both the NZ Historic Places Trust (Heritage New Zealand) and the Department of Conservation.
 
In 2008 Auckland University Press published Dave’s history of New Zealand cookery, First Catch Your Weka which went on to become a double finalist in the Montana Book of the Year awards. A second book on archaeology for children, Digging Up the Past was also successful, winning an Honour Award at the NZ Post Children’s Book Awards in 2011. Dave has contributed to a history of Auckland’s engineering heritage, Evolving Auckland with chapters Auckland’s coastal defences and the Auckland gas companies. In 2012 Dave was awarded a NZ Copyright Licencing Ltd award to write a history of toys in New Zealand, Hello Girls and Boys which was published in 2014.
 
As well as being chair of the Devonport Peninsula Trust, Dave is a member of the Auckland Council’s Heritage Advisory Panel, a trustee of the Frank Sargeson Trust and the Rangitoto Island Historic Conservation Trust, a committee member of the Devonport Museum and treasurer of the Association of Handcraft Printers.
 
Dave has lived in Devonport since 1980 and is married to Dr Sarah Treadwell. Dave and Sarah have two children, Paul and Hester.
Ian Cunliffe, Trustee – Ian has lived in Devonport for 14 years and in that time he has served as President of Devonport Rotary Club on two occasions. He had also served on various Boards of Trustees including those at Devonport Primary School, St Leo’s Primary School and North Shore United Football Club. Ian presently works at Harcourts Real Estate in Devonport but also has both a legal and educational background from previous positions held in the UK.
Gay Richards, Trustee - Gay has been a trustee since the Devonport Peninsula Trust was formed, and before that she was a member of the Devonport Community Coordinator’s Management Committee for a number of years.
 
Gay is the Chair of the Bayswater Community Committee Inc community group that she has been involved with for over ten years. She is also a member of the Living Streets Aotearoa executive, championing safer walking environments for everyone, particularly children, older and disabled people. Gay has lived in Bayswater most of her life but has mostly worked on the city side. She uses public transport every day and has advocated for many years for better ferry services and facilities for Bayswater. Gay is actively involved with the Lake Road Travel Alliance working with Auckland Transport to reduce traffic congestion and increase transport options for people living and working on the peninsula. Gay maintains Facebook pages for Bayswater Community Committee and Living Streets North Shore.
Alastair Fletcher, Trustee – Alastair moved to the peninsula in 1948 as a one year old. He attended pre school and primary in Belmont, and then at Hauraki when it opened. BIS and TGS were followed by Auckland University and North Shore Teachers College, with later Massey study. Alastair’s degree majors are Education and Social Anthropology. He has lived on the shore for all but 13 years and has spent the past 33 happily in Cheltenham.
 
Forty years of teaching and leading in Schools gave Alastair a good insight into people and communities. Alastair believes if we actively care for our communities, they are great places to live, to bring up families, and to share with visitors.
 
When Alastair retired he was encouraged to stand for President of Devonport Museum. It has been a busy involvement ever since.  Alastair furthers his interest in local heritage conservation through the North Shore Heritage Trust, and the Vauxhall Dinghy Club. He is a committee member of Company Theatre and The Rose Singers of Belmont, and involved in presenting shows. Alastair is also a past board member of the Rose Centre.
Picture
​Philipp Jaser, Trustee – Philipp’s background is in business management and performing arts.  He holds a masters degree in Arts Management and has experience in both commercial and not-for-profit sector arts organisations. 
 
Philipp’s past work includes music and arts festivals, international touring acts and helping to create sustainable organisations and events, bringing together artists and audiences in the best possible circumstances.  Philipp currently works with the Victoria Theatre Trust to create a sustainable business and hub of performing arts and screen arts in the historic Victoria Theatre Devonport for the benefit of our communities.  Philipp is also the Chair of the Devonport Arts Festival Trust and is a board member of the Devonport Business Association.
Picture
Brent Talbot, Trustee - Brent is a chartered accountant and a chartered member of the institute of directors. He uses the skills developed through these memberships to bring a disciplined approach to finance and governance oversight. Brent has had a long career in both finance and information technology developing strong skills in both. He has worked in NZ and overseas as a consultant with many organisations to implement and realise the benefits from new systems.
 Brent has lived in Devonport since 1990 with his wife Andrée. Together they have raised two children in Devonport – Evie and Frank.
 Brent enjoys working with community groups which work to make our communities inclusive and respectful of all. Brent is also a director of Altus Enterprises which is a social enterprise providing employment for people with disabilities.
Maria Teape, Devonport Community Coordinator – What is the most important thing in the world? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata: it is the people, it is the people, it is the people.  Maria has been Devonport Community Coordinator since 2012.  She is passionate about the community and has a vision for a thriving community where people feel a sense of belonging and pride of place.
 
Prior to her Community Coordinator role, Maria worked as Branch Coordinator for the Auckland Branch of the Cystic Fibrosis Association and Maria’s working background has been in administration and office management.
 
For a number of years Maria was involved in the local voluntary sector while her children were young including Devonport Plunket Committee, Takarunga Playcentre, Bayswater School PTA, Devonport Waterwise Programme, 1st Devonport Scout Group Committee, newsletter editor for the American Muscle Car Club and reviewer of the Devonport Chamber Orchestra.
Carolyn Pomeroy, Summer Events Coordinator – Carolyn has been Devonport Peninsula Trust’s Summer Events Coordinator for well over a decade, working closely with the Devonport Community Coordinator. She has occasionally filled in for the Community Coordinator (past & present) during periods of leave, and between staff changes. Carolyn established Splash Children's Art Gallery at Devonport Community House and coordinated it for a number of years. She works part time at Paradox Books Devonport and  administers the North Shore Artz on Show holiday programmes.  Her volunteer history includes: Vice Chair of the Board of The Rose Community Centre and Theatre in Belmont, stage management and backstage help for young children and teens, over 10 years reading to primary school children, managing sports teams, front of house assistance, Storylines Family Day committee member responsible for poetry zone and in 2016 for "Factopia" and Chair of BIS PTA for 2 years. Carolyn ran a small business in Australia, and has a background in adult learning in a corporate environment. She also completed a Diploma of Health Sciences while living in Sydney. She has very recently dipped her toe into learning Te Reo Maori, and hopes to continue this journey.
​Moira Janzen, Winter Fun Coordinator – Moira has worked for Devonport Peninsula Trust since 2013 and is the Winter Fun Preschool Play Facilitator. She also stands in for Carolyn during January’s Summer Fun Preschool Play and helps out at times during various community events run by DPT. 
 
Moira and her partner have four children, and they have lived on the Peninsula on and off for over 30 years.  Moira attended Takapuna Grammar for her senior years and her children now attend Belmont Primary, Belmont Intermediate, and Takapuna Grammar.  Moira and her family also spent many wonderful years at Takarunga Playcentre while the children were preschoolers and they made some great friendships there.
 
Currently Moira volunteers as a Scout Leader and is a member of the committee for 1st Devonport Scout group where 3 of her children are involved.  Moira has also been on the Belmont Primary PTA since 2011.
Hannah Catterall, Events Assist - Hannah and her husband were both born and raised in Narrow Neck and Bayswater and now raise their two children in Belmont. They have actively attended Devonport community events since 2015 and have made many long lasting relationships within the community.  Being a part of preparing activities, facilitating and welcoming new and familiar faces within the community is something Hannah thrives doing. Curating a positive, compassionate and welcoming environment is at the forefront of her values, as well as supporting others to find belonging and whānaungatanga (connection through experiences). Hannah has years of experience working with babies and toddlers, is ECE trained and studied Te Ara Reo Māori for two years. Hannah is curious and passionate about parenthood and the psychology surrounding all in which we do, and currently Volunteers for Youthline as a phone counsellor. She co-runs a weekly community playgroup in Bayswater, as well as her son attending Devonport Community Crèche and daughter Belmont Bayswater Kindergarten.
Ines Gereda, Events Assist - Ines and her family have always enjoyed meeting other families through community based activities in Devonport since their arrival to New Zealand in 2011.  Having developed this wish to be part of and help others to also enjoy these initiatives, Ines started working for the Devonport Peninsula Trust in 2014, assisting with the Preschool Play and Summer Fun Events Programmes. Ines says working for the community rewards her with unique opportunities to fulfil her two passions: stimulating the healthy development of children and families and sharing the wellness benefits of Yoga.  Previous to her involvement with the Devonport Peninsula Trust, she performed as Co-President at Takarunga Playcentre for one year followed by 4 years as the Learning, Evaluation, Assessment and Planning Officer.
She has a BA degree in Education Phycology and has worked as an early childhood educator for 3 years prior to moving to New Zealand. She is also a certified Yoga teacher  and has been teaching for more than 7 years. She is currently running weekly Community Yoga classes in the Devonport area.
Julia Mak, Promotions Coordinator - Julia joined the Devonport Peninsula Trust team in June 2018 in a part time capacity. She has been helping with events promotion, maintaining the website and social media channels, compiling the monthly Devonport Peninsula e-news, creating marketing materials and organising paid advertisements. Julia has a Bachelor Degree as Engineer Manager specialising in Quality Management from the Budapest Polytechnic Faculty of Economics in Hungary, and worked in several different industries (and countries) starting from quality management, through retail & customer service to marketing & PR.  She loves being involved in her community and feels very fortunate and proud to live and work in this beautiful part of the world with her husband and their two young children. ​
For more information, please contact Maria Teape, Devonport Community Coordinator, ph: 445 9533 or 027 924 3494 or email: maria@devonportpeninsulatrust.nz 
​
You can also view the Devonport eNews and subscribe to it at ​http://www.devonportpeninsulatrust.nz/.