Sunday, October 31, 2010

George Shierny bus shelter



A bus shelter today in Auckland can look like this. It can take ages for someone from the Powers That Be to agree to put through the paperwork to get these in place. The one above, in Avondale, took at least 47 years. Seriously. I know this, because it's in my neighbourhood, where I've lived all my life, and that only appeared this year.

As I recall, a chap named George Shierny got tired of waiting for municipal provision of shelter from the elements while also waiting for our buses, so -- he built his own, on Mayoral Drive, in 1987. There's an article here, from 2002, about his campaign.

Mr Shierny's shelter shock tactics have been winners in the past with the city's mayors. One he built in Mayoral Drive in 1987 captured the heart of Dame Catherine Tizard, who had a council shelter which replaced it named after him. In 1991, Les Mills officially opened another one of Mr Shierny's creations in Victoria St.
Well, here it is: the George Shierny Bus Shelter.




When I first photographed it around quarter to nine in the morning last Friday, it was giving a homeless member of our community shelter from the elements.

In 2000, Mr Shierny was having a tussle with a local power company, at the age of 79, and campaigning for a Britomart bus centre in 2003. He was still going strong as at 2008 and last year: more bus shelters in 2008 with some cobbers, proclaimed a "good sort" in 2009, and protested against the Super City amalgamation.

Thank you, Mr George Shierny, for considering your fellow commuters.

3 comments:

  1. Best bus shelter I have ever seen. It even looks like it could give shelter.

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  2. I can vouch for its comfort rating as well.

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  3. Looks better than the next-to-useless things here in Melb with a postage stamp-sized seat tucked in the corner for 1 person.
    He must be a top bloke :)

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