members-only luxury car storage opens in Auckland
Auckland has just welcomed an unprecedented offering for the country's automotive elite: Matchbox, New Zealand's first members-only luxury car storage facility. The brainchild of property developer Mark Francis and business partner Zlatko Filipchich, Matchbox is located conveniently between Auckland Airport and the city's CBD.
The facility has been purpose-built to meet the needs of classic, performance and collector car owners. The secure, climate-controlled garage uses car stacking systems to maximise space, with each unit accommodating up to four vehicles.
But the service goes beyond storage as Matchbox offers full concierge support including WOF checks, insurance and registration management and pick-up/delivery services across Auckland.
'Matchbox is about more than just storage, it's about creating a home for cars and a community for those who love them,' says Francis. 'We saw a real need for a facility where vehicles could be cared for as works of art.'
Filipchich adds, 'Whether it's a classic Mini or a modern supercar, every vehicle gets the same meticulous attention. We take care of everything, so members can simply enjoy their cars when they want to.'
The facility is designed with lifestyle in mind, featuring a members' lounge, private lockers, and an automotive library. Its location makes it attractive to not only Auckland residents but also out of town property owners and international clients, who can fly in, pick up their vehicle and head directly to their destination.
Matchbox aims to cultivate a vibrant community, with regular events and social opportunities for members.
'Matchbox is a club as much as a facility,' Francis explains. 'We're building a community around a shared passion.'
Find out more at matchboxnz.com
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
17 hours ago
- Scoop
29-30 June: Massive March And Rally In Seville Demanding UN Action On Debt And Climate At Global Finance Summit
SEVILLE, SPAIN — As world leaders arrive in Seville for a high-stakes United Nations finance summit, global activists are mobilizing in force. A massive public march on Sunday, June 29, followed by a powerful press conference and rally on Monday, June 30, will bring calls for debt relief, fair global tax rules, and climate justice to the forefront of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4). The events come as the UN prepares to finalize a potential new global framework on tax, debt, and development—without participation from the United States. Civil society groups say the summit represents a crucial opportunity to build a more just financial system, free from the influence of powerful nations and institutions. Public March through Seville Sunday, June 29 – 7:30 PM CET beginning at the Jardines de Cristina, Casco Antiguo, 41001 Sevilla. March route map here. Thousands of protestors will flood Seville's historic center to demand UN-led solutions on the sovereign debt crisis and global wealth inequality through taxation. Colorful banners, music, and street art will highlight the call to end financial colonialism and uphold multilateral cooperation. Rally to Make Polluters Pay with a Solidarity Levy Monday, June 30 – 8:30 AM CET, (location tbc - near FIBES Conference Center) Civil society leaders, faith-based advocates, and frontline voices will address the press and public with a unified message: it's time for a Global Solidarity Levy to hold polluters accountable and fund climate resilience. This striking rally will be rich in visuals and symbolism, with international speakers laying out a vision for equitable global finance. Ice cream Against Inequality Monday, June 30 – 3:30 - 7:30 pm, Calle Augusto Peyré, in front of the main entrance to FIBES Activists will serve up treats and tough truths from a vibrant ice cream truck—inviting summit attendees to pick a 'flavor for the future' or take a bite out of inequality with a billionaire biscotti. MORE INFORMATION: This summit takes place just after the release of the Jubilee Report, commissioned by the late Pope Francis and co-chaired by Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz and former Argentine Minister Martín Guzmán. The report offers a sweeping critique of the current global debt and finance architecture, paired with bold, practical solutions—including proposals to clear illegitimate debt, invest in sustainable transformation, and link financing to citizen-tracked progress indicators. Calls for radical debt transparency are now backed by the World Bank. Currently, just 25% of low-income countries publish data on new debt; campaigners demand that transparency becomes a global norm. Activists say the U.S. rejection of the FFD4 outcome is emblematic of its broader role in blocking efforts for a just, democratic global financial system. While other nations have come together to back the UN process, the U.S. continues to undermine multilateral solutions, perpetuating cycles of debt, austerity, and inequality. 'The world can move forward without the U.S. acting as gatekeeper,' said Andrew Nazdin, director of Glasgow Actions Team. 'And they can do better. We are in Seville to call for true global cooperation—led by those most impacted and long excluded.' Campaigners are demanding urgent steps to dismantle illegitimate debt burdens, establish a UN-based framework for debt resolution, and stop the influence of powerful nations and institutions that continue to impose economic domination over the Global South.
Scoop
22-06-2025
- Scoop
West Coast Regional Council Chief Executive Calls For More Staff As Goldmine Delays Bite
Article – Lois Williams – Local Democracy Reporter The West Coast Regional Council has conceded it needs to take on more staff, after a raft of complaints about the time it takes to process resource consents, including some from its own councillors. The council's former chair – and alluvial goldminer – Allan Birchfield released letters last week from a company distressed that its fledgling goldmine had been shut down, and its seven workers and capital put at risk, after waiting 17 months for a consent. Council resource management committee chair Brett Cummings – also a veteran goldminer – has set out his concerns in a letter to West Coast Regional Council (WCRC) chief executive Darryl Lew, with a long list of questions about how consents are being dealt with. Both councillors have criticised the council's practice of hiring North Island consultancy firms to process goldmine consents, alleging the planners involved are unfamiliar with the industry, ask for irrelevant information and delay the process by asking what Cummings has called 'stupid ' questions. In his case, the wait has been seven months for what should have been a straightforward consent on Ngai Tahu forestry land, which the iwi had approved, Cummings said. In reply to the councillor's questions, Lew said the council had received 56 resource consent applications this year, and half of them had been outsourced to consultants in Buller, Greymouth and New Plymouth. Of those 28, two had been approved, 11 were sent back to the applicants because they were 'incomplete' and the rest were still being processed, Lew said. 'Similar to the WOF process for a car, when deficient applications are returned, applicants are informed of areas that are required to be enhanced and they can then resubmit the applications for processing.' Of the remaining 28 being dealt with by council staff, 10 had been approved, one had been sent back for more information within the statutory time limit and 12 had been returned to sender as 'incomplete'. The rest were still being processed, Lew said. The council's use of consultants has increased, compared to the same period last year, the figures show. Between January and April 2024 , the council received 57 resource consent applications – one was publicly notified, 51 were processed in house and only six outsourced to a consultant. There was little difference in the fees charged to applicants – council staff were charged out at $185 an hour and consultants' hourly rates ranged from $140-192 – all plus GST. There had been only two council consents staff employed in January this year, joined by a trainee in February, and their availability had been reduced by sick leave, annual leave and training time, Lew said. Last year, there had been three officers on the job. 'To date, I haven't increased the consents team, however I do believe now is the time. More consents are requiring technical input and we are having more going to hearings, so this is impacting on resourcing, not to mention future demands like the fast track projects.' The council would prefer to use its own staff who had local knowledge, Lew said. But it would be impossible to do away entirely with consultants because the volume of consent applications and workload was unpredictable. Consents for alluvial goldmining were much more complex than they were in the early days of the RMA in the 1990s, the chief executive noted. They now had to be assessed against a lengthy list of national policy statements and environmental standards, including Freshwater Management, Indigenous Biodiversity, drinking water, air quality, greenhouse gases, and management of contaminants in soil to protect human health. 'We await the government changes to these national instruments and the replacement RMA to see if this becomes simpler … I agree it would be ideal to have consents and application forms as simple as possible. It is a challenge to have them reflect the law and remain simple.' In the meantime, the WCRC consents team was working on new application templates and more guidance for alluvial goldminers, and would bring a paper on this to Council on July or August, Lew said. The council had complicated the process by trying to impose static conditions intended for subdivisions and septic tanks on alluvial mines, Cummings said. 'An alluvial site evolves as you work your way through it, so you'll start off with your pumps and your pond, and even your access tracks in one place, and as you move along, you move them along as well, but they're demanding maps and trying to include these all things as fixed conditions on the consent. ' Until about a year ago, those details were set out for the council in a separate mine work-programme, which was updated, as the site progressed, Cummings said. 'The compliance staff would have that and refer to it, when they did their inspection visits. They didn't try to cram everything into the consent itself – that makes no sense, when you're dealing with a dynamic system. 'If you move your pond, you're technically in breach.' Hiring more consents staff could help the situation, as long as basic issues were addressed, Cummings said.
Scoop
22-06-2025
- Scoop
West Coast Regional Council Chief Executive Calls For More Staff As Goldmine Delays Bite
The West Coast Regional Council has conceded it needs to take on more staff, after a raft of complaints about the time it takes to process resource consents, including some from its own councillors. The council's former chair - and alluvial goldminer - Allan Birchfield released letters last week from a company distressed that its fledgling goldmine had been shut down, and its seven workers and capital put at risk, after waiting 17 months for a consent. Council resource management committee chair Brett Cummings - also a veteran goldminer - has set out his concerns in a letter to West Coast Regional Council (WCRC) chief executive Darryl Lew, with a long list of questions about how consents are being dealt with. Both councillors have criticised the council's practice of hiring North Island consultancy firms to process goldmine consents, alleging the planners involved are unfamiliar with the industry, ask for irrelevant information and delay the process by asking what Cummings has called "stupid " questions. In his case, the wait has been seven months for what should have been a straightforward consent on Ngai Tahu forestry land, which the iwi had approved, Cummings said. In reply to the councillor's questions, Lew said the council had received 56 resource consent applications this year, and half of them had been outsourced to consultants in Buller, Greymouth and New Plymouth. Of those 28, two had been approved, 11 were sent back to the applicants because they were "incomplete" and the rest were still being processed, Lew said. "Similar to the WOF process for a car, when deficient applications are returned, applicants are informed of areas that are required to be enhanced and they can then resubmit the applications for processing." Of the remaining 28 being dealt with by council staff, 10 had been approved, one had been sent back for more information within the statutory time limit and 12 had been returned to sender as "incomplete". The rest were still being processed, Lew said. The council's use of consultants has increased, compared to the same period last year, the figures show. Between January and April 2024 , the council received 57 resource consent applications - one was publicly notified, 51 were processed in house and only six outsourced to a consultant. There was little difference in the fees charged to applicants - council staff were charged out at $185 an hour and consultants' hourly rates ranged from $140-192 - all plus GST. There had been only two council consents staff employed in January this year, joined by a trainee in February, and their availability had been reduced by sick leave, annual leave and training time, Lew said. Last year, there had been three officers on the job. "To date, I haven't increased the consents team, however I do believe now is the time. More consents are requiring technical input and we are having more going to hearings, so this is impacting on resourcing, not to mention future demands like the fast track projects." The council would prefer to use its own staff who had local knowledge, Lew said. But it would be impossible to do away entirely with consultants because the volume of consent applications and workload was unpredictable. Consents for alluvial goldmining were much more complex than they were in the early days of the RMA in the 1990s, the chief executive noted. They now had to be assessed against a lengthy list of national policy statements and environmental standards, including Freshwater Management, Indigenous Biodiversity, drinking water, air quality, greenhouse gases, and management of contaminants in soil to protect human health. "We await the government changes to these national instruments and the replacement RMA to see if this becomes simpler ... I agree it would be ideal to have consents and application forms as simple as possible. It is a challenge to have them reflect the law and remain simple." In the meantime, the WCRC consents team was working on new application templates and more guidance for alluvial goldminers, and would bring a paper on this to Council on July or August, Lew said. The council had complicated the process by trying to impose static conditions intended for subdivisions and septic tanks on alluvial mines, Cummings said. "An alluvial site evolves as you work your way through it, so you'll start off with your pumps and your pond, and even your access tracks in one place, and as you move along, you move them along as well, but they're demanding maps and trying to include these all things as fixed conditions on the consent. " Until about a year ago, those details were set out for the council in a separate mine work-programme, which was updated, as the site progressed, Cummings said. "The compliance staff would have that and refer to it, when they did their inspection visits. They didn't try to cram everything into the consent itself - that makes no sense, when you're dealing with a dynamic system. "If you move your pond, you're technically in breach." Hiring more consents staff could help the situation, as long as basic issues were addressed, Cummings said.
