Two days of intense debate and tough decisions brought Auckland Council’s 2022-2025 Governing Body term to a close, ending with the valedictory speeches of three councillors standing down after nearly 70 years of service between them. This is part two in our series of tributes - Councillor Chris Darby.
Mayor Wayne Brown acknowledged the work of the Governing Body and paid special tribute to the three departing councillors.
“The role of councillor can be both demanding and thankless. This term alone the Governing Body has spent more than 375 hours in meetings and workshops, with mountains of paper to wade through.
“Yet it can be a richly rewarding experience. I respect anyone who is willing to put their hand up and serve,” said the Mayor.
A sharp mind and a regional view
Mayor Brown applauded Councillor Darby for serving in varying roles over the years.
“Chris has been a highly effective councillor who brings a regional focus to decision-making. I commend Chris for his diligence and sharp mind. As a director on the AT board, Chris has done a superb job in holding the organisation to account.”
Making space for something new
After three terms on the council’s Governing Body, a term as chair of the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board and six years as a North Shore City councillor, Chris Darby is farewelling local government.
“After 21 years in public office my chapter with you closes, making space for something new for me. I’ve absolutely loved this work. Not every day was easy, but every day mattered.
“I gave it everything. And now, in this one precious life that we have, it’s time to take stock and create the chapters I’ve long set aside,” said Cr Darby.
Cr Darby acknowledged his family for their support and backing, noting the many hours that elected members spend away from home or doing work on family time.
He spoke of leading the Ngataringa Bay Society, an environmental group that took on and won several court challenges against the then developer of the Bayswater Marina, and being talked into standing for North Shore City Council when friend and fellow Shore stalwart Joel Cayford vacated his local council seat for one on the regional council.
“To the people of the North Shore, thank you for trusting me with your support, for putting your faith in me.
“Thank you for returning a progressive with big ideas for 21 continuous years, in a part of town which many would’ve said was a bastion of political conservatism, where no big ideas were required,” he said.
Clean Beaches – Public Transport
“In 2004, I stood on a platform of ‘Clean Beaches – Public Transport’. Beaches were closing from sewerage overflows; buses came hourly,” said Cr Darby.
He reminded the room that improving the natural environment and reshaping public transport were (and remain) his anchors, alongside shaping a city for lives not yet lived – citing stormwater to urban poetry, zoning rules to electric ferries.
“What began as a call to repair became a 21-year vocation—to restore, reimagine, and reconnect Auckland with its own best version.”
It also included a stint on the Tūpuna Maunga Authority which has lead him to advocate for applying for UNESCO World Heritage status for the 14 ancestral maunga.
“In my time at the authority I learned the significance of these fragile, living cultural landscapes. I learned of the sensitivity iwi had to cars being driven over the maunga, particularly the tihi.
“I’m delighted to have been a strong voice that got in behind making our maunga places to peacefully walk not drive.”
An architect for Auckland
Cr Darby chaired the council’s Planning Committee for six years and acknowledged the strategy, planning, transport and mayoral office teams that allowed those six flat out years to produce great things for our city. He made special mention of the council’s first mayor, “the incomparable, omnipresent, mayor Len Brown”.
“Len showed me that vision and big ideas could be realised with strategy and calculated execution. Len was the consummate city cheerleader who navigated the organised chaos of amalgamation and helped lay important foundations for councils to come, this city and generations not yet born,” he said.
“As Planning Committee chair, I quietly referred to myself as the architect for Auckland—a phrase that captured both the scale of the job and my intent. I pushed for public transport to be modern, seamless and sought after. I fought for a quality compact city and design that serves.”
Cr Darby reflected on the journey to open a new library in Devonport that was in many ways the opposite of everything people knew that heritage-proud community to be and has now become a much-loved community anchor.
He recalled the transformation of Takapuna from ‘soulless car park’ to a metro centre that faces the best urban beach in Auckland, unified by Waiwharariki Square. And how Northcote Central is now unfolding into a vibrant new centre with community and green spaces, retail, hospitality, retirement living and a town square.
“These are but two examples of the urban regeneration initiatives that the former Eke Panuku has successfully led across many of our town centres. That programme, one that I backed hard, has been and will be in the future recognised as significant in revitalising the social and economic fabric of our suburban centres.
“I urge those that sit here in the future to back that work even harder and roll it out to embrace all our town centres,” he said.
Cr Chris Darby speaks at the opening of the new Devonport Library in Windsor Reserve in 2015
“Auckland gave me 21 years to serve and shape its story. I’ve stood where voices clashed and visions formed, where change came quietly, step by step. Now, with gratitude and absolutely no regret, I step aside—not from the city, but from a role that’s run its course.
“To this city, its people, and all who shared my journey—thank you. For your trust, your energy, your ideas. It was an absolute privilege to help shape what we built together.”
Watch the valedictory speeches at the last meeting of the Governing Body for the 2022-2025 term here.
