A reader has sent us this event notice: the 11 August local screening unfortunately clashes with the Destination Waikanae meeting (previous post).  However, it has screened at the Wellington Film Festival and may make a limited return.

Destination Waikanae meeting 11 August 2016 at 6.30 p.m. in the Cardiff Room, Waikanae Chartered Club.

“Come for wine and nibbles and to talk to each other about what we want for our town and the town centre, and the tools we have at our disposal to better promote ourselves, our businesses and our lovely environment with the expressway coming past by the end of the year.”

Notorious Sydney property developer Frank Theeman (1913-1989)

The 1970s was the decade when conservation consciousness came to the fore on both sides of the Tasman as a result of developers wanting to destroy streets of charming old buildings and replace them with ugly high rises.

One developer with the worst plans was Frank Theeman who wanted to see the destruction of the earliest part of Sydney, The Rocks, but the redevelopment of the mile-long Victoria Street was almost as bad.  This leads from the inner city area of Potts Point to Kings Cross and featured a stately row of Federation-style terrace houses with their filigree ironwork.  Frank Theeman planned to replace them with 45-story apartment towers and an office block.  In the early 1970s Theeman bought properties in this and in Brougham Street. Tenants were forcibly evicted.

Juanita Nielsen opposed Theeman’s plans and became the first journalist in Australia to be murdered for what she wrote.

Juanita Nielsen (1937-1975) was a resident of Victoria Street and publisher of the alternative local newspaper, NOW. She was at the centre of a residents’ action group to prevent the demolition. In 1972, the local community successfully lobbied the Builders Labourers’ Federation to impose a green ban on the site and prevent demolition. The residents also ensured their homes were constantly occupied. Through her paper, Nielsen publicised the fight for Darling Street and became a target of local stand-over men with commercial interests in the development.

Juanita Nielsen disappeared on 4 July 1975. Her body was never found. Harry Trigg, a local nightclub owner and associate of Frank Theeman, was convicted of conspiring to kidnap Nielsen. Both his former girlfriend and his receptionist claimed later that he was also responsible for her murder though these allegations were never proved.

Some of Victoria Street ended up being destroyed, but most of it was saved and Juanita Nielsen’s house at number 202 is now a heritage listed building.

Sydney Morning Herald article and video

There have been reports of graffiti appearing in Waikanae and a reader has sent us this — a French artist has replaced the meaningless scrawls where they appear with type versions of the letters he thinks the graffitists are using.  Something different.

We used to have a lot of these small birds in our garden, not so many now.

Info

For some background, here is a stuff article from 2013 on the Collmog Bridge at Otaki — editors

Open letter to KCDC Councilors

Due to the late and unexplained cancellation of the Regulatory Management Committee meeting after our advisement that we wished to attend to raise our concerns and complaint of our current treatment by KCDC staff, we provide copies of what we wanted to say [below].

Bullying, persecution,vexatious, retaliatory and threatening behaviour, unreasonable, inconsistent bias, non-compliance with the KCDC’s own policies, misleading and deceptive presentation of legislation, withholding of information, are all words that sum up the KCDC treatment of us.

Having purchased a property — subject to KCDC compliance sign off — and title issuing, we have been victims of a self protecting bureaucracy that is not prepared to see JUSTICE done, nor the correction of their past incompetence and complete lack of oversight.

The Mayor says, “It’s the putting right that counts” — Yeah, right!

KCDC Propaganda says they are, “Caring, Dynamic and Effective” — Yeah, right!

The CEO [Dougherty] has even told us it is all our fault. What!

We came to your RMC meeting at the start of this triennium where the CEO
stated that council had already been lenient for the previous 18 months
since the Collmog Bridge was condemned and proven to have never been 
compliant(!) from the day it was built.

Councilors called for an independent external inquiry. Staff decided that was not necessary. We wonder why.

Yet here we still are with no access to our property, and the Council is now
threatening a $200,000 fine and demolition of the temporary sheds we have
built to store construction materials, due only to the fact that the Council
has not cared about our plight, not been ‘dynamic’ in their approach and has been anything but ‘effective’ in putting right this injustice.

The KCDC has not even carried out the required inspections, monitored, or
as claimed, done any ‘ongoing management’ for the past 2 years, has no plan
moving forward when the consent expires on 28 August 2016, and is stating
it will just give the developer further extensions of time — disgusting!

We make a formal objection to contemplation of any time extension and
refer you to your previous resolution of more than 2 years ago.

“That the Committee requested that Council review progress after 4
months (31 May) to ensure a satisfactory building consent had been
submitted and if satisfactory progress was not made by 30 September 2014, then Council would consider approaching the Environment Court.”

When is enough, enough, and when will this Council apply ‘Natural
Justice’ to this situation, and utilize the legislative powers it holds
to mitigate?

And now staff have precluded us from putting our concerns to you, and
further are refusing to even put this matter on the agenda for the last
meeting of this Triennium, even though we have patiently waited for the
extended and unreasonable 2 year deadline to complete (28 August 2016)

The fact that the ‘Machine’ does not want any bad publicity and the Chair
of this Committee wants everyone to think that she has been Caring, Dynamic
and Effective during her reign at council, we would like to point out that
her ongoing lack of oversight of the Collmog Bridge rectification has
been appalling.

.The photo is an example of the standard of workmanship being
undertaken with the alleged repairs, although no work has been done for
over 16 months: ‘unsupervised cowboys’ comes to mind: would you
drive over a bridge with this sort of welding?!

‘Regulatory Management’ one would assume entails following
Regulations and the act of Management; but alas not at the KCDC.

Gary & Lynne Hertnon

A recent pic on the Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club site.

As those who read the local papers know, the Otaki Gorge Road (turn right when going north on SH1 from Waikanae just before the Otaki River bridge) was reopened two weeks ago following closure after a major landslip.  Stuff article

The Otaki Forks is a good area for those into hiking, although we prefer doing that when the weather is warm and dry.

Rather appropriate — try this with your local election candidates! 🙂

No, this is not a paid plug for Lockwood, but an issue that is relevant with the massive subdivisions planned in Waikanae — trustworthy builders.

Like all occupations, there are good and bad practitioners and when it comes to a major investment for anybody, you want to ensure that things are going to be done right first time.   The cost, to say nothing of the distress, of putting right bad work done by cowboys is likely to be substantial.  This is where the council comes in — inspections have to be meticulous and by the book, not just for the benefit of the homeowner, but because of the council’s own legal liability from passing something that isn’t up to code.  Some builders don’t bother with getting permits, of course — if buying an existing home, always check with the council that alterations have been permitted.

A crucial step to take is to check out the contractors, including by going to their previous customers and seeing what they have done. Check with their suppliers, too – do have have a good credit status? If not, avoid. Reputable professionals are happy to be checked out; it’s the crooks who don’t (and there is no shortage of the latter).

Reader’s Digest contracts Catalyst Research to undertake an annual ‘New Zealand’s Most Trusted’ survey, which uncovers the most trustworthy professions, people and brands across various categories.

The Home Building category was introduced in 2013 as a response to the many issues that the building industry has faced in recent years and to acknowledge the importance of trust with what is often the single biggest purchasing commitment a person can make.

We have been setting an industry benchmark for craftsmanship and design in home building for 65 years and remain humbled and grateful for this recognition.

We continually strive to reflect modern home building changes that have brought us into the forefront of contemporary home design, without losing any of the strength and durability the system is recognised for. Our building system is precision engineered and has been proven in all situations, standing up strong in cyclones, earthquakes and all kinds of extreme environmental challenges.

Our commitment to CodeMark, sustainability and now Lifemark Accreditation, is not only a recognition of our devotion to excellence, it is a continued challenge to us to keep improving our systems, our design and our relationships whilst keeping our eyes firmly focussed on the future.

After six decades of producing naturally solid, safe and secure homes and buildings, so many people live in or have spent a part of their lives in a Lockwood home.

Many of them have become passionate brand ambassadors and have voted for us.

Source

Again who is responsible for this is a matter of conjecture.  As the person who sent it to us said, Michael Scott is really more guilty of being ill-mannered towards someone who may have ‘asked for it’ at least in part.

We don’t want the forthcoming elections to be characterized by personality attacks; what people do — or want to do — is more important.