A pic by Corrections NZ.  The south bank of the river suffers more from deluges than the north bank, and the track is also used by vehicles, unlike the north bank which is used by cyclists, walkers and horses only.

The Council’s decision to hold a public forum at the beginning of certain meetings is a great idea. This will encourage public participation, which so many of our newly elected representatives said was very important during the campaign. At the moment, however, there is a major shortcoming with the public forum format in that it does not keep a public record and in particular an audio transcript. I think it is necessary to examine the issue of record keeping for the public forum.

What are the advantages of having a public record of these public forums and the issues that are discussed?

The advantages of having a public record include: –

·         We have an accurate record of what was discussed with our elected representatives

·         Future misunderstandings can be avoided.

·         Everyone will be accountable for what they have said.

·         There will be a clear list of actions, which need to be taken to resolve certain issues… etc.

Without a public record of the forum the community are denied their place in the Council’s institutional memory.  This devalues the communities’ voice in the forums, furthermore there is no institutional memory of the forum and should council members change we run the risk of repeating previous conversations and the forum having little impact.

Community participation improves the quality of decision-making and by having it as a matter of public record it makes collaboration between the Council and the community much easier.  Community participation gives us in the community confidence that our concerns are being given proper credence and respect; that we are a consideration in decision-making; which we are entitled to be.  Public records also give those that are unable to participate access to what has been said and to remain informed of the issues being raised by other members of their community, empowering them to offer support or to raise a counter opinion, should they be moved to do so.

Despite the fact that the forum is an informal process, keeping public records allows the council to demonstrate both accountability and transparency, two edicts that are necessary for maintaining a democracy, and fulfilling a promise made by this Council for this triennium.  Isn’t it time that the Council upheld the values of democracy and made good on their promises?

So Councillors, I am asking you to stretch out your arm and press the button for audio recording, allow the community a record of the decisions and discussions that take place as we go forward into the future; not as two disparate groups; but as a community; open, transparent, and empowering.  Together let us make break down the boundaries that exist between people and politicians and together be accountable for our future.

–Salima Padamsey

As stated, that figure is what has been paid to outside lawyers so far and does not include the time of Dougherty’s in-house legal team.

In the media statement by then Deputy Mayor Mike Cardiff on 4 October this year, he said:

“I do not have the level of confidence that is required for Council entering into this Court action with CRU. For Council to alter the recommendations determined by an independent review panel, as far as I am concerned, requires a further resolution from Council.

“This has not happened and I have not seen any written evidence from the independent review panel to support the direction Council is taking. Surely we could avoid court action if a meaningful consultation process had been enabled.”

Do we need say any more about the way Dougherty runs things that we haven’t already said?

We watched the one-hour Fair Go special last night which made us wonder what happens in Kapiti.

Organic biodegradable waste isn’t much of a problem and a lot can be reused in your own property: compost from food scraps; mulch from green waste.

As was shown in the program, the biggest problem is with huge quantities of plastic.

The council’s webpage on the subject is here.

In Sweden less than 1% of waste ends up in landfills and a lot of combustible material is burned to create electricity.  Article

Would it make sense to do that in Kapiti?

This has been one of the proposals for dealing with both parking congestion in Waikanae, and improving the public transport service for people in Otaki.

The central government’s attitude seems to be to extend the Expressway from Peka Peka to Otaki so that Otaki people can speedily drive their cars all the way to Wellington.  Hmm.

According to this stuff article from March 2014, the Wellington Regional Council (at least at that time) considered the cost of doing this “too expensive”.

“New trains would be required, with toilets, as the trip to Wellington would take more than an hour.”

Well, it’s only another 15 km which should take 12 minutes — and with track improvement work, particularly in the difficult Pukerua Bay to Paekakariki section, the present schedule could be accelerated to compensate.  It is after all the North Island Main Trunk and still sees a lot of freight traffic, justifying such investment.

As for trains with toilets — surely people could wait a little longer?  At Waikanae they need to find other toilets anyway (such as in the Mahara Gallery building) when the station agent isn’t at the station, which is a lot of the time.

The success of the extension of the electrified section to Waikanae and the big shortage of car parking near the station is a clear justification for an extension of the wires.

While the views of Cr Cootes of Otaki on the subject are unknown, previous Otaki councillor and now the Kapiti seat holder on the GWRC, Penny Gaylor, has stated her support for electrification to Otaki.

Having mentioned it in the earlier post, here is a pic of some native plantings.  The orange plastic fence marks an eroded part of the bank from the recent ‘our water is precious’ deluge.

Another section of eroded bank is in this pic taken nearer the state highway.  A ubiquitous sign warning about poison is visible on the right.  Hopefully, the pooch in the river didn’t encounter any of it.

The interchange comes complete with two sets of traffic lights. 🙁

An exact opening date for it all hasn’t yet been announced, but our hunch is about the end of January.  Watch this space…

Click for a big version. And if that isn’t perfectly clear, in Dougherty fashion the NZTA has also produced this animated video:

We just thought we’d remind you to cheer you up, that is if you benefit from the great god of seasonal turnover.  Of course, some shoppers will have taken advantage of the Black Friday sales yesterday — an American practice which has now spread around the world (an e-mail we got from Norway shown as an example), which could have the effect of slower buying.

Even for those who don’t like the Christmas ordeal but like associated events, the poster below gives a date to mark on your calendar.