Evidence of last week’s flooding with branches and other wood carried down the rivers and creeks is apparent a week later; this driftwood was along the whole length of the beach today.  For those with wood fires, it provides a convenient wood supply.

Another photo from Chris Bradley taken from beside SH1, this shows an 88-seater railcar about 2 km north of the Waikanae station in 1973. He doesn’t state the destination, but it was probably Gisborne.  This type of railcar only lasted about 4 more years before they were withdrawn.

A link someone sent us — how to open a bottle of wine in the most expensive way possible: this is so analogous to government bureaucracy in Auckland (the ‘super-city’) and Wellington!

We’ve had some pointed things to say on here about a few selfish and dishonest locals, but for every one of them there are probably 10 or more who are just the opposite and help those in need.  A Facebook message from Coastal Landscape Supplies in Omahi Street reads: “We’ve had a genuine customer come in this week and offer to pay for 1m3 of wood for someone in need! We think it’s a lovely gesture and so we are going to match his generous offer with another load to someone just as deserving.”

We should also say a big thank-you to the town’s Volunteer Firefighters who perform a magnificent role in coming to the rescue in the event of emergencies.  Here is another painting by Otaki artist Wallace Trickett of the station in Te Moana Road in 2004.  (Thanks, Wallace)

This article in the latest issue of the Kapiti News reports that Transpower are only proposing to strengthen the pylons.

This is a disappointment, but not a surprise — like KiwiRail, Transpower is under orders from the present central government (the sole owners) that it must make profits and what Transpower proposes will be the cheaper option; putting the power lines underground would cost a lot more.

As well as the concerns mentioned in the article, we wonder how well the pylons and cables would cope in a bad earthquake, let alone a bad storm.

Presumably the alternative wanted only involves putting cables underground through populated areas and not the whole distance from Haywards to Bunnythorpe.

We well know how frustrating it can be dealing with those in charge of government bodies: “You peasants, how could you possibly know more than our expert who has a degree from some university and has spent 20 minutes thoroughly examining the issue” is an attitude we’ve encountered more than once; but the message is simply to persevere — just because you’ve lost a battle doesn’t mean you’ve lost the war.

In fact it has been the wettest day of the year so far with flooding not only in Waikanae but in the Wellington region.  According to the Radio NZ news Kapiti waterways were at their highest levels since 1998.

TVNZ video

Today by chance we met KCDC councilor David Scott in a Paraparaumu Beach café and had a chat about Waikanae issues.

He is pessimistic about the future of Mahara Place post-Expressway opening, and felt that even the Countdown supermarket may not stay there.  A large amount has been paid by the council to Auckland consultants to come up with redevelopment ideas which feature on the KCDC website (see earlier).  But without enough people wanting to shop there, it may all be in vain and KCDC developments could be a repeat of the CleanTech centre fiasco in Otaki.

Near to where the Expressway off/on-ramps will be in Waikanae on Te Moana Road is a different situation, however, and these areas will become prime retail real estate. We’ve already seen this on Kapiti Road in Paraparaumu with the Kapiti Landing Development — the above illustration comes from this website where there are more.  The Kapiti Landing isn’t all — more developments are underway close to the off/on-ramps.

Will this happen on Te Moana Road?  It’s quite possible.  But how much can the council do to prevent this, and if it tried, would the result be expensive court battles?  We know what lawyers for property developers can be like — unscrupulous, devious and deceitful, to say the least. They don’t come cheap, but when many millions of dollars are involved the developers don’t care about ethics or cost, let alone the character of the community and the environment.

Another photo from the Kapiti Museum website.  This was where the BP service station was later built, now just a vehicle repairer (see earlier).  The signpost points to the then motor camp (see earlier). Was that a basic bus shelter in the centre?

But don’t feel smug — the conservatively estimated $210 million initial cost of the threatened Wellington ‘super-city’ and the rates hikes then and thereafter will be much worse.  New Zealand Herald article

This is what it looks like at present — totally bland, as it has looked for umpteen years… Hopefully the proposal to install a cultural pathway to the marae from Mahara Place will be done.  At the same time that concrete block wall should be rendered and a mural painted on it.

That wood fence across the street would benefit from a coat of paint, too.  As it is on the sidewalk side, the responsibility for that rests with the council and the WCB.