A sign that we took this picture of in Kapiti Road in 2012, fairly close to where the Expressway interchange construction is now taking place.

It was the issue which cost former mayor Jenny Rowan her job in the elections the following year: she polled third.

The protesters obviously saw the ‘super-city’ notion as salvation against this sort of stupid, massive waste of money, but as we have seen, it would be like going from the frying pan to the fire.  The KCDC ignored popular feeling on this issue, but the super-city would be even worse.

A new ratepayer group, the Auckland Ratepayers Alliance, has been established to hold Len Brown’s council to account.

Rate hikes, proposed new taxes and a culture of wasteful spending has led a group of concerned citizens to form the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance which begins operations from today.

Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesperson, Jo Holmes, says, “Our purpose is to hold Auckland Council to account. With 130 spin-doctors the Council is very good at sidelining the concerns of neighbourhood ratepayer groups. By combining forces, this new group will shine the light on those wasting ratepayers’ money.”

“Aucklanders who are sick and tired of the Council wasting ratepayer money are invited to join us.”

It sounds as though the Ratepayers Alliance is keen to unite the neighbourhood groups throughout Auckland and gear them up ready to take on the council rather than having their voices lost in the suburbs.  Read more

One of our campaign helpers in January was Joanna, a family friend from Poland, who is a judge’s assistant in Krakow. We when told her local voting in NZ is mostly by postal voting, she said that couldn’t be done in Poland because of the potential for fraud.  While NZ certainly isn’t free from official corruption, it’s not the problem it is in some countries.

A photo by J.W. Sutherland from the book New Zealand Railway Memories (published 1999).

A painting by Otaki artist Wallace Trickett of the former BP service station at the corner of Rauparaha Street and Te Moana Road before 2002 when it ceased to sell petrol and became a vehicle repairer only. (Thanks, Wallace)

A letter from about 6 months ago. We can well empathise with this woman’s experiences, unfortunately being next to a certain retirement village and having had items stolen from us.  One misconception that needs to be dispelled, however, is that this sort of incident happens only at night — in fact it is far more common during daylight hours. The men who stole this woman’s barbecue probably just showed up in a ute and lifted it straight on the back — would neighbours have realised the owner hadn’t arranged this and they they were stealing it?

When talking with one of our supporters who runs a garden supplies business in Waikanae, we learned that thefts are a significant problem for many — plants get dug up out of gardens, ornaments get stolen, and in one case a masonry garden seat was removed, only for it to be broken when it proved heavier than the thieves could handle getting it on the tray of their ute and they dropped it.

The WCB minutes for the 10 February meeting record: “Sam Hutcheson, Senior Social Wellbeing Advisor, spoke about the Draft Local Approved Products (Psychoactive Substances) Policy and the submission period that had been extended to 18 February, giving Board Members the chance to discuss and consider making a submission on behalf of their communities (papers were tabled). Ms Hutcheson clarified that it was a Districtwide policy that aimed to restrict areas where psychoactive products may be sold. While no area was ideal for this purpose, the Policy would consider locations that were visible therefore discouraging loitering, was close to medical and police services and away from sensitive sites such as schools, churches, community halls and residential properties.”

Basically, while the KCDC doesn’t want them, it can’t prohibit shops selling legal highs, only restrict their location.   As Jean Kahui says, why not let the purveyors of psychoactive substances have the empty shop on SH1 in Paraparaumu next to the electorate office of Otaki MP Nathan Guy?  It might be educational for him.

The short answer is, not much.  Commuter trains stop at Waikanae, except for the Capital Connection which heads through Waikanae northbound in the evening, and returns the following morning — and even that train is under threat.

When it comes to buses there isn’t much either.  The timetable for route 290 north from Waikanae to Otaki is given above: two in the morning and two in the late afternoon — with the same number and times of day back.

If you want to go further north then the option is a long distance bus.  The timetable for InterCity to Palmerston North is shown below: three buses in the morning (and for some strange reason three different transit times!).  Likewise there are three services in the afternoon. The fare is about $20 each way — and you need to book.

All up then, a quite unsatisfactory situation.  The answer? See the earlier post on a proposal for a connecting diesel-multiple unit train between Waikanae and Palmerston North.

Another Waikanae Community Board candidate mentions this proposal, but my response is, what’s wrong with the existing bus? (Apart from the fact that it could be covering some streets on the other side of the railway line, see earlier post.) Sure, it takes a bit of a convoluted route compared with a straight burn along Te Moana Road, but it doesn’t add a whole lot to the time required for that, only about 5 minutes max.  The other question is, how many would use it?  The existing bus isn’t exactly crowded and my feeling is that a direct shuttle wouldn’t be either.