Visit date: Wednesday 6th February 2019.
Just past the former famous ‘Steepest Street in the World’ is where you can find The North Dunedin Shed Society.
The Shed is down a side road at the end of which is a farm gate and a farm track that leads to a large yard and an old open ‘aircraft hangar’ sized agricultural barn structure. Surrounded by scaffolding, from the website it was what I was looking for. Cars were parked outside, but there was no sound of activity within, so I walked up to the door and saw the lads sitting around chatting and having a cuppa! Result!
Shed President, Gerard Kenny with his cheerful, beaming smile, (he looks absolutely nothing like his famous American singer/songwriter namesake) welcomed me in, and introduced me to the lads. I was then given a cuppa, and introduced myself and explained the reason for my visit.
The Shed is affiliated with MENZSHED, and is not a ‘closed’ shed for men only. They welcome women members.
While we were chatting, I started to notice something very strange with Harold who was sitting next to me. This started to worry me; was it was his stature, shiny pate and aquiline features! My mind raced, distracting my attention from the intelligent conversations going on around me. Then it dawned on me, Harold was none other than Jean-Luc Pickard, Captain of the star ship USS Enterprise!
Of course, wanting to keep incognito – he denied it!
The Shed started in 2014. The site is part of a local farm which has been donated rent and rates free to the Shed by the farm owner. The building measures 16m x 18m (floor area 288m2), and there are 2 x 40ft containers used as storage, with another one on the way. Further good fortune came because the farmer is also a demolition contractor who has supplied gratis building materials for the walls, and an old car sales lot office building which has been installed within the building to be used as the office and messroom. The same applies to the materials used to fit the building out. Water and electricity are installed, but there is a lack of proper toilet facilities. An outside yellow Dunnie ‘Portaloo’ has to do!
All work has been done by the lads themselves over the past four years! Very ‘enterprising’!
The scaffolding: you ask? The roof was being completely replaced with proper insulated sheeting, funded by a huge New Zealand Lottery grant!
With all this work going on the lads consider that they are now in the final stages of consolidation, and therefore not really been able to establish themselves within the larger Dunedin communities.
That is not say they have not done anything. To the contrary: their ‘Facebook’ page details a lot of community projects that they have helped with. For these they ask for a suitable donation for their efforts, and reimbursement for any materials that have had to be bought.
Health and Safety issues are managed professionally, but no self-accreditation process has yet been implemented. That will come when the Shed is up and running properly.
Membership currently stands at 20 members, all regular attendees, with more enquiries coming in. The annual Membership fee is NZ$10, supported by a ‘joining fee’ of NZ$10.
The ‘tea fund’, a contribution of NZ$1 per session is asked for. It is interesting to note that many members contribute a lot more to the tea fund which gives them enough free cash to splash out on having a members’ BBQ every month or so.
Obviously, running costs are minimal, but these are covered by small donations, fund raising from selling firewood cut from demolition timber, and a ‘margin’ on materials from the community projects.
Bunnings, the DIY chain, are very generous with donating materials and small tools etc.
For more information: The Shed has a Facebook page, and local media websites.
Martin's OZ and NZ Shed Stories 