At the beginning of 2010 the council surveyed the native trees that existed in all Kapiti properties at the time and we got a letter recently pointing out that under the central government’s changes to the Resource Management Act in 2013, all councils in NZ now have to identify specifically all native trees subject to their District Plan rules: this replaces their hitherto abilitity to describe them generally.  It is both a time-consuming exercise for local councils and also a useful one as it should enable direct answers to specific questions a lot of the time henceforth, in theory at least.

Waikanae has a lot of trees and, except for a few unscrupulous property developers (and their deceitful lawyers), that is the way we want it.

As the council already knows from a visit in early 2013 what we have on our property, we sent them the letter shown below; you can give your responses, however, on the KCDC website — Read all about it here

The current council with the exception of Michael Scott (his day job as a lawyer often requires him to be in court instead).  Mayor Ross Church in the front centre is a well-known personality and Pat Dougherty, the KCDC’s highly paid boss bureaucrat, likewise well-known, is to his right.

This is another page worth bookmarking, as it contains the link for viewing on your computer live streams of council meetings.  This is the body that decides how much of your money is taken in rates each year and how it is spent, so you have a vested interest in it.   You can also judge the performance of councilors.

The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, 16 July at 10 am.

A photo taken today from the upper floor of our house showing the snow on the peaks of the Hemi Matenga Memorial Park, which are the nearest foothills of the Tararua Range to Waikanae.  These are 400-500 metres above sea level.

A reader has sent in this little chuckle after seeing our post of 27 May.

The signal box from 1908 was restored and was opened on 6 August 2008 in conjunction with a stop of the “Parliamentary Special” recreation of a century earlier.  It serves merely a decorative role now; the men visible inside are just dummies.The photo here shows Jean Batten during her visit in 1936.

Most Kapiti people will notice the Paekakariki station without a second thought as they pass through and probably don’t even realise it contains a museum, but it’s worth a visit which is what we did today.

Paekakariki began life as a railway town back in the 1880s when the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company built its line through the settlement.  For the next five decades plus it was a base for housing helper steam locomotives for the climb over the Pukerua Hill.

When the railway was electrified from Wellington in 1940 it became a changeover station from electric to steam.

A Weston Langford photo taken in December 1963 showing an Ed electric locomotive which has just been attached to a train (probably from Auckland) from which the steam locomotive has been detached and backed down to the sheds in the distance.

Throughout these years the station contained a refreshment rooms for train passengers and there was a hostel in the township for the several women who ran it.

In 1967 when tunnel floors in Pukerua Bay were lowered, diesel hauled trains began running right through, the Refreshment Rooms in the station closed and the locomotive sheds became redundant.

The sheds later became the base for the Steam Incorporated museum, and the station later still was turned into the Paekakariki Museum.

It doesn’t just contain exhibits of the railway, but also the general history of the town and the US Marine Bases during 1942-1944.

We have made a campaign platform plank of the issue of local thieves/ intruders and pleasingly the Destination Waikanae website is now also taking it seriously.  Let’s hope the WCB will too.  From the stuff website:

“At 5.30 in the morning he let out an absolutely gut-wrenching scream from his room,”  Melissa Rodrigues said. “I knew something wasn’t right.”

Her son led his father outside at their Waikanae home, north of Wellington, where they found footprints in the frost and their gate wide open.

A couple of extension cords and a toolbox had gone missing previously, Rodrigues said.

“The family called police, and spent the next day exploring security options.

CCTV was too costly, so the couple used an old smartphone to download an app called Salient Eye, which overrides the phone’s camera to capture images whenever it senses motion. It then emails the images to the owner.”

Read the rest and of course, earlier posts on here

This was adopted by the council the week before last, but is not yet on the council’s website.  However, according to the press release which is there:

“The plan, which sets the direction of Kāpiti for the next 20 years, focussing on the next three, includes four key initiatives:

• transforming Paraparaumu and Waikanae town centres
• rebuilding Te Ātiawa Park courts,
• future proofing Ōtaki pool and building a splash pad next to the pool
• investing in the Kāpiti College Performing Arts Centre (development of a community events facility will be revisited as part of the next long term plan).

Major projects to be undertaken during the term of the plan are:

• constructing the Paekākāriki sea wall,
• redeveloping the Raumati pool building
• upgrading Mahara Gallery, subject to successful fundraising, and Waikanae Library,
• planning and starting work on developing Otaraua park
• creating a youth development centre
• assessing earthquake-prone buildings.

“New fees and charges, changes to the rating system and a policy for revenue and financing were also adopted, along with a strategy for managing and growing the infrastructure and a policy to guide contributions made by developers.”

The seawall at Paekakariki.

This makes no mention of a tap water reservoir, which is actually the most important issue.

For those interested, all submissions made by people and groups to the LTP can be read at the District’s libraries, 3 ring binders of them.

Documents obtained by us under the Official Information Act from the KCDC reveal that Brian Peter Ranford showed contempt for local by-laws by erecting large remote billboards for his business on the roadside without obtaining the required Resource Consent.

Given his occupation as a lawyer it raises eyebrows to say the least, and makes one wonder about the quality of advice he gives others.

The documents reveal that two years ago the Waikanae Golf Club applied for Resource Consent to have the billboard erected near its entrance relocated just inside the boundary fence with council land, along with a smaller billboard for Harcourts real estate.  However, while the Harcourts billboard features a picture of a golf ball on a putting green and their logo underneath it, the significantly larger Ranford billboard only advertises his law business.

The council granted the consent on the basis that this part of Te Moana Road is “rural”.

While the KCDC does allow billboards for candiates during elections in this area, it is only for the duration of campaigns, and not as permanent fixtures.

Another salient feature of Randford’s billboards is that he asserts that the well-respected Susie Mills is part of his business; in fact she is not: she has her own separate practice.  The Companies Office records reveal that the only other owner of Ranford’s business is Jane Maree Stevenson.  However, that is a matter for Susie Mills to pursue.

Our concern, as mentioned before, is that Ranford’s billboard in this area particularly sets a precedent for more visual pollution with the forthcoming Expressway off-on ramps nearby.

The consent expires after 5 years and we hope it will not be renewed.