FEARED FOR HER LIFE
COMMUNE LEADER BERT POTTER AND HIS FOLLOWERS WERE BARBARA’S NEIGHBOURS FROM HELL
In the 1970s, Albany was a small rural town made up of lifestyle blocks and sprawling orchards. On Auckland’s North Shore, it was the kind of tightknit community where no one locked their doors and neighbours were always there to lend a helping hand.
But in 1978 the conservative town was forever changed when a free-loving commune moved in down the road.
Centrepoint touted the ideals of communal living and alternative therapies. But under the leadership of self-proclaimed guru Bert Potter, the utopian dream transformed from a paradise to something much darker.
A new documentary, , airing on TVNZ 1, sees survivors of Centrepoint share their harrowing stories of life inside the commune,
