This is an argument which on the face of it, sounds convincing.  Google Earth’s satellite view makes it easy to spot properties that have an outdoor uncovered pool.  The largest one visible in Waikanae (whose then owners Sue Smith and her husband Mr Mitchell objected to us mentioning it) we estimate has a capacity of 1 million litres and the second largest visible in Waikanae is this one on Awanui Drive, which probably contains 600,000 litres, a few times the amount of water that the average family would use in a year.

However, arguments against are: 1. there aren’t many swimming pools, from what we can see, less than 100 in Waikanae, all except one of which are smaller than the one shown; 2. there is nothing to say that these pools aren’t filled in November or December when there is still plenty of rainfall, some of which the pool itself would capture.

People who have swimming pools on their properties are sure to be wealthy, but pools are expensive to maintain regardless of the water used and in America they are generally considered a liability rather than an asset.

Pumps, filters, heaters, the power used and chemicals required aren’t cheap and those who have pools probably spend more time raking leaves out of them than swimming in them. Thousands of dollars can be required every so often replacing things like the liner and the covers or repairing cracks or leaks, particularly in an earthquake-prone country like New Zealand.

We have been asked how much the council water charge would be for a pool this size.  All water used is at present charged for at a volumetric rate of $0.99c per cubic metre which is 1,000 litres.  Thus a pool containing 600,000 litres would incur a council charge of $600 plus GST.  During the summer period a net (of rainfall) quantity would evaporate and require replenishing, too.

The Kapiti Coast District Council has already begun looking at what this scene will be like post-Expressway opening, and its thoughts are contained on this webpage.

To us, most of what the KCDC has to say reads like wishful thinking, and the issue of how much could and should be paid for the ratepayer isn’t addressed.

Mahara Place isn’t visually exciting as it is, and some things could be done to improve it. The west side of SH1 is a typical small town main street, and some things could be done there, too.

The basic principle is that to attract visitors, there needs to be visitor attractions, and the only two things that can be pointed to in this area are the the art gallery and the marae.

In an age of Internet shopping, shops need to be quite distinctively different to the ‘run of the mill’ to attract people to them, and it’s doubtful that retail investors would see Waikanae having sufficient potential because of its population to be worth the risk.  But as rents fall from lack of demand, there may be some locals who are willing to try having a shop to sell things like homemade arts and crafts.

This is an issue on which there will be a lot of discussion to come.

As nearly everybody is aware, the Kapiti Expressway, also known as the Sandhills Expressway, is now being constructed under the present central government’s “Roads of National Significance” plan.  Like the water meters, a large number of locals were unhappy about it, and like the water meters, it is now a fait accompli.  Exactly when it will be complete and opened is uncertain, but it will be within a couple of years.

Before it sees a single passing car or truck, however, the physical divide will be obvious to all those who drive along Te Moana Road towards the Waikanae Beach, or walk/cycle down the Waikanae River banks.

The existing State Highway One combined with the Main Trunk Railway alongside has long represented one physical divide and the railway will still do that.

The Expressway with its bridges over both the Waikanae River and Te Moana Road will be another divide.

How much traffic which, instead of travelling through Waikanae on the today SH1, will travel along the Expressway remains to be seen, but it’s a safe guess that about 60% of it will take new route.  Thus for most of these travellers, the experience of Waikanae will be limited to a view of a few low undulating hills and a glimpse of the Waikanae River.

As there will be an interchange with Te Moana Road less than 1 km from Waikanae Beach, however, the beach will be much closer than it is from the present SH1, thus the impact on visitor numbers to the beach and the few shops along it (3 cafés, 1 small grocer and a Kiwiana shop open on weekends) will be minimal, and there could even be a slight visitor increase.

But how many will take the off-ramp and turn east to frequent the shops along the present SH1?  It’s likely that hardly any will.  It will be interesting to see too, how many who live west of the Expressway in the beach area will, instead of going to do their weekly shopping in Waikanae, travel down to the Coastlands mall area in Paraparaumu as the Expressway on-ramp will be close to them.

The Waikanae businesses along the west side of the today SH1 that sell petrol (2 stations plus New World) and small items including food will be most affected by the Expressway, and it’s probable that the drop in trade will affect their viability to the point that they may close within months of the Expressway opening.

The picture by Geoffrey Churchman shows the northbound Capital Connection entering Waikanae over the bridge crossing State Highway 1. 

At present the weekdays Capital Connection train, which runs from Palmerston North to Wellington in the morning and back again in the evening (see timetable), is operated by KiwiRail’s long distance passenger train subsidiary KiwiRail Scenic.  However, the company makes no secret of the fact it doesn’t want to run the train.  Passenger trains are notoriously difficult to run at a profit and the company clearly has orders from the present government (the sole shareholders) that it must make profits.

The obvious solution is to replace the Capital Connection with commuter trains that run between Palmerston North and Waikanae.  At Waikanae the passengers could transfer to an already scheduled electric commuter train to continue to Wellington.

As can be seen from the timetable, the time required between Palmerston North and Waikanae is only a few minutes more than the time required between Waikanae and Wellington. Because the demand for services north of Waikanae would, however, not be as great as they are south of Waikanae, there would not need to be as many trains, maybe only one every hour in the peak period and only one every two hours the rest of the day in each direction. This would only need two train sets.  Thus the existing train consist could be halved, a diesel locomotive attached to one end of say three cars, and a driving cab installed in one end of a carriage so the train could operate in a push-pull service fashion as is done overseas.

The advantages of this are the potential for passenger traffic northbound to the towns of Otaki, Levin and Shannon, and to the city of Palmerston North and the likelihood of people making visits to these towns as day trips from Wellington, Porirua, Paraparaumu etc.  At present the only choice is a long distance bus to Palmerston North.  People tend to prefer trains because they are more comfortable than buses and the stations are both more substantial than bus stops and are away from the constant procession of road traffic.

The five candidates for the KCDC Waikanae Ward councilor by-election addressed a candidates meeting organised by Grey Power this morning.  While the candidates presented their views on different local issues, it was a good opportunity to hear what issues concern the attendees.  It’s fairly clear that the proposal for a super-city, rates for what services are received for them, the future of Mahara Place and water were the main ones.

Like Geoffrey, Michael Scott, who is chairman of the Waikanae Community Board doesn’t like the super-city notion; other candidates seem to be straddling the fence.   All seemed to agree Mahara Place needs a makeover to make an appealing shopping destination post-Expressway opening and no-one seemed to like water meters. While they are a fait accompli, they are only considered to have a lifespan in the ground of 10 years, so they may not be a permanent feature of the scene.

Since the opening of the electric train service extension from Paraparaumu to Waikanae in 2011 the bus service, timetable number 280, which used to head down to Paraparaumu, has been truncated to a circuit of sorts between Waikanae railway station and Waikanae beach.  That was to be expected.

But there is an obvious deficiency in it.

The route map shows what streets are covered.  Along the beach area the coverage is fine, and the section of Te Moana Road between the beach area and the main town area is the only obvious path.

But the shortfall occurs around the main Waikanae town area: not many streets are within a reasonable walking distance of a bus stop, and on the other side of the railway line, there is no coverage at all.

The timetable shows what capacity there is for expansion of the route on the other side of the railway line:  instead of the bus and driver which arrives at Waikanae station doing nothing between, for example, 8.54 am and 9.18 am, it could be doing a circuit around the streets on the other of the railway line whose population is quite significant.

A photo taken above Waikanae on 3 April 1965 looking east towards the Tararua Range.  Te Moana Road is on the left while Ngaio Road is roughly in the centre.  This ends in a tract of native bush, as it still does today, albeit smaller than it was.  Next to it on the right, Kohekohe Street leads into Ngarara Road horizontally across the photo near the bottom.

State Highway One and the main trunk railway line are discernible across the centre of the photo.

Most people know that the drought-prone regions in New Zealand are on the east coasts of the North and South Islands – Gisborne, Hawkes Bay, Wairarapa, Marlborough and Canterbury – while the regions on the west coasts of the two islands get plenty of rain.  The reason is simple – the west coast regions take the brunt of of the precipitation-laden clouds that advance across the Tasman Sea, because of the mountain ranges that form the ‘spines’ of the two islands.

What coast is the Kapiti Coast region on?  Yep, the west coast of the North Island. And it receives ample rainfall during most of the year, the only exceptions are the months of January through March, sometimes April.  So why has the Kapiti Coast District Council made such an issue of water?  It decides to furnish every household with a water meter, and accompanies them with signs proclaiming “Our water is precious”.  The cost of this exercise was officially stated to to be $8 million, but the real cost has been closer to 10 times that.

The people that have been most affected by the water meters are those who live in Waikanae because of the amounts they use in the summer months to water their gardens – and Waikanae is known for its trees and gardens.  Many of its residents are retired and gardening becomes a hobby for them.

Were the water meters simply a prelude to the water supply being sold off, i.e. privatised?  It’s quite possible.  Water metering the whole Kapiti Coast is all but a fait accompli, but it doesn’t need to be the case – the water meters could simply be taken out of the ground and sold to a region on the east coasts where they would be appropriate.

But that doesn’t mean I support wasteful use of water – quite the contrary, and if it were not for the water meters I would agree with the “Our water is precious” signs.  But with the meters the signs are simply an insult.

In 2013 we installed two 800-litre water tanks behind our house quite unobtrusively as shown, with the supply simply being the rainfall from the roof along the spouting.  Then we put a pump in one of the tanks to give us a supply pressure from the outlet tap at the bottom that is enough to operate a sprinkler to water the garden or for a water blaster to clean the house.  That is all — we still use the town supply for the bathrooms and toilets and for cooking.  The all-up cost was about $2,600.

During the summer we also cart, by buckets, used bathwater to the garden.  Soap in bathwater won’t hurt plants.

by Geoffrey Churchman

With the death of sitting Waikanae Ward councillor Tony Lloyd last November, a by-election is being held to fill the vacancy on the Kapiti Coast District Council and I am one of the candidates standing.

I contemplated standing in the last general council election in October 2013, but as I thought Tony Lloyd was a good councillor and deserved to be re-elected, I decided against it. Now I am standing, and this blog is intended to present commentary and provide a forum on matters that affect the 10,000+ people who make Waikanae their home.  It will continue beyond the by-election, regardless of the result.

My interest in local body affairs goes back to 1977 when I supported Tony Brunt’s bid to be Wellington Mayor.  Although he didn’t win the mayoral race (Michael Fowler was reelected), he topped the poll for the Wellington City Council.

Conservation has always been a hot issue for me, and unspoiled outdoor areas in NZ’s beautiful scenery provide everyone with the ability to escape the stress of everyday life and revitalise themselves.

On other political topics I am an independent thinker, sometimes finding myself agreeing with those on the right, at other times with those on the left.  It comes down to a question of what does the most good for the most people, and what people need to be protected from.  Nevertheless, a guiding principle is Abraham Lincoln’s adage that ‘the government which governs best is that which governs least’.  Government is all about forcing people to do things or not to do things: the less government, the more freedom there is. That does not mean minimum government, period, but the minimum government necessary to limit the negative impact on society of those who only think of themselves and no-one else.

I moved with my wife to Waikanae at the beginning of 2006 with the expectation it would soon be our place of retirement from the publishing business we have run; to enjoy a leafy town that is quiet and warmer than Wellington, but still being a short commuting distance from Wellington when things are happening there.  As a youngster, my family often came out from Wellington to enjoy Waikanae Beach on weekends.  Thus I have had a long appreciation of the distinct Waikanae character and I want to protect and nourish it.