An article on the KC News website is reproduced below.  It only requires a visit to the present building to realise that it is inadequate for the purpose, and frankly a boring building, but it could be the star attraction for the town centre that Destination Waikanae has been clamouring for.

Opportunities for a complete new building would be presented if the Countdown supermarket decided to relocate, as Cr Micheal Scott has proposed, but that depends totally on Countdown, and we somehow doubt that it wants to.

Plans to build a new purpose-built integrated Public Gallery and Library in Waikanae are still firmly in the Council’s sights following the renewal of an agreement for the Mahara Gallery Upgrade.

The new agreement between the Kapiti Council, the Mahara Gallery Trust and the Field Collection Trust recognises opportunities created by the Council’s planned refurbishment of the Waikanae Library and work to transform and improve the Waikanae town centre.

Group Manager Corporate Services Wayne Maxwell says the Council has been working with the Mahara Gallery Trust and Field Collection Trust to achieve the upgrade of the Gallery since 2009.

“At the same time we’ve been planning for the refurbishment and upgrade of the Waikanae Library,” he says.

“The close proximity of the two buildings presents us with a unique opportunity to create a shared gallery and library facility. This will significantly improve the built environment at Mahara Place and will enable the Mahara Gallery to provide a high-quality venue and visitor experience.”

Council has made provision for funding its one-third of the estimated $5,205 million project cost in its Long term plan.

The Mahara Gallery Trust has fundraising efforts underway to raise the remaining two-thirds of the total project cost.

Mahara Gallery is the Kapiti Coast District’s Public Gallery, and plays a key role in the cultural life of the District. Its exhibition programmes and cultural creativity are recognised and acclaimed locally, regionally and nationally.

The Gallery has a Partnership Agreement with the Council, which provides the major part of its funding. The Gallery also receives support from private funders and volunteers.

The Field Collection, a significant art collection with strong local links, has been offered to the Kāpiti District to be stored and displayed at Mahara Gallery. This generous gift is conditional upon the Mahara Gallery premises being upgraded to professional museum standards.

The Field Collection contains 44 works collected and created by three generations of the Field family, including Isabel Field, her sister Frances Hodgkins, their father William Mathew Hodgkins and eight other notable artists.The Field family was significant in the early history of the Kāpiti District, and contributed greatly to the development of the area.

Frances Hodgkins is regarded as one of New Zealand’s most famous painters, with an outstanding international reputation. Her work is highly regarded by art lovers, public galleries, collectors and researchers. Although Frances lived in Europe for many years, she regarded Waikanae as her ancestral home.

The Gallery and the Council have worked together on the concept of expanding the gallery premises, both to secure the donation of the Field Collection and to enable the Gallery to operate fully as the District’s Public Gallery. In 2012 the Council received the community’s support to commit one-third of the costs for the Mahara redevelopment in conjunction with its planned Waikanae Library upgrade.

This is the on tap facility at the Salt and Wood cafe in Ngaio Road where you can bring your own 1.5 or 2 litre bottles to fill up with one of the eight varieties available. During the summer we hope to try them all (you tend not to feel like having cold drinks so much in the winter or spring).

As craft beers they are going to be more expensive than the big brewery offerings in the supermarket, but there may be ones that you prefer to those.

Former Reserve Bank Governor and National Party leader Dr Don Brash stated today on the Paul Henry show on TV3/Newshub that all charities running businesses should pay income tax on their profits, the same as companies.

It clearly annoys him that one way for businesses to avoid paying tax is to register themselves as charities — and it annoys us big time too.  Such a sham charity operates the large property renting business next to us, and pays no tax.

There should be a level playing field for all commercial enterprises and distortions created by legal loopholes such as this need to be eliminated.

A better known example is Sanitarium Foods owned by the Seventh Day Adventist Church which makes big profits “but doesn’t pay a dime in tax.”

“One way to do it would be to make the payment to the shareholding charity a deductible payment and then have them pay tax, at the same tax rate as any other company would, on what is left,” Don Brash says. This is similar to charitable tax law in Australia.

A photo taken in 1969 showing the first shops to be built in what became Mahara Place.  The single story had the second story added later.  The chemist became a fish & chip shop.

These have now been published by the Greater Wellington Regional Council.

The proposal is to split the existing bus route into two:

The existing route 280 will go straight from the railway station west along Te Moana Road to the beach where it performs the north-south circuit as now.

A new route 281 will cover the streets nearer the main town centre (all north of Te Moana Road), before it crosses the railway line and goes up Elizabeth Street, turns left into Winara Avenue and does a circuit around that and Kotare Street.

The two routes do not meet except over the most eastern part of Ngaio Road and at the railway station.

There are a few streets that gain a bus service: the east end of Te Moana Road, Marae Lane, most of Ngaio Road, the short Totara Street, Rimu Street, and of course all the streets proposed east of the railway line.

The main losing street is most of Ngarara Road.

No doubt those who still won’t be served by a reasonably close bus stop — Reikorangi Road is an obvious street which isn’t — will be arguing for coverage.  The GWRC is inviting comments, the webpage with a feedback form is here

Some of them anyway: outside the premises of the recently opened Salt and Wood barbecue restaurant at the corner of Ngaio Road and Omahi Street — premises previously occupied by physiology and audiology clinics — there are patches where veges and herbs are growing.

According to this stuff article, the restaurant dining area sits 80 people and has a 12-metre bar, and customers are able to fill their own containers with North End beer. A view of the brewery is to be had from the seating area.

This type of establishment is common in America, particularly in Portland, Oregon, where there are currently 58 craft breweries in the city and 84 in the Portland metro area. However, Salt and Wood is one of the few in NZ.

Presumably with her boyfriend on the right. Our interest was naturally aroused with this pic we stumbled upon, but on further investigation it turned out to be Waikanae Beach in Gisborne.  Nevertheless, our Waikanae Beach also had a motor camp in the 1950s.  One notes the Humber Snipe or Hawk from about 1955 in the background.

We weren’t able to attend this, so here follows a condensed version of Sue Lusk’s report on the DW Facebook page.

We commented on the practical significance of what it all means for the District Plan last year and in other posts on what property developers are thinking.

It should be noted that this group’s stances may not necessarily represent the views of everyone, though.  The apparent catalyst for it all — the Waikanae Medical Centre’s purchase of the property at the beach end of Te Moana Road for premises there — is controversial and the proposal has local supporters as well as opponents.

The Olde Waikanae Beach Preservation Society (OWBPS) was resurrected following one of the earlier public meetings and this group made a submission to the Waikanae Community Board on 24 March 2015 [see post].

At a meeting in January 2016 it was decided to continue the work of the OWBPS through a more formally incorporated body to be called the Waikanae Beach Residents’ Society Incorporated (WBRSI). This body would extend membership beyond the Olde Beach and include the wider Waikanae Beach area.  WBRSI was registered as an Incorporated Society on 5 February 2016.

The aim is to preserve and protect the special character of our local Waikanae beach community.

You can now sign up as a WBRSI member to collectively keep up to date and contribute to local happenings, and ensure the special character of our area is not diluted or lost through badly planned, unnoticed or ad hoc commercial and other developments.

Background

The Waikanae Beach community enjoys the feel of an old-fashioned and peaceful seaside village with its unspoilt natural beauty and relaxed holiday atmosphere. Some of us live here permanently and many spend weekends and holidays here. We have chosen this area because it is a safe, family-friendly and a special residential area.

Waikanae Beach is now and will in the future be undergoing substantial change. Soon the new expressway will be operating. Inevitably, improved access and increased popularity, both as a residential area and holiday destination, will likely attract more commercial and other activity.

Although the local community understands changes will occur, there is a widespread interest that future commercial or other development should be carefully planned to preserve the special character of Waikanae Beach as much as possible. To do this we need to ensure that our collective views are heard at Kapiti Coast District Council annual, district and long term planning processes. Also there is a need to ensure input into the current Waikanae Beach Community Futures Project now being conducted by KCDC. We need to ensure that a sufficient amount of our rates are used for the betterment of Waikanae Beach.

What’s happening now?

Membership of WBRSI is open to residents and property owners in the wider Waikanae Beach area extending from the Waikanae river to the south, the motorway to the east and Pharazyn Reserve to the north.

You can become a member of WBRSI emailing — waikanaebeachresidents@gmail.com — for an application form.

Although WRBSI is a body made up of volunteers and has not been incorporated for profit, a small membership fee of $10 per family per annum will cover administrative and operating costs (such as hiring the community hall from time to time for meetings).