The above amateur video shows the aftermath of mini-tornado damage on Tuesday, uploaded yesterday, and this stuff article has a picture of it in action.

It isn’t the first time such has happened: a more substantial tornado went through the northern outskirts of Waikanae in July 2011 which uprooted some large trees on both sides of SH1 and damaged some farm structures.

The earthquake and severe weather happening at the same time as the “supermoon” has led some to speculate that there is a connection between the events.

Best known as a the father of Sam, a co-founder of TradeMe who did better than any lottery winner a decade ago when Fairfax bought it for $700 million, former economist Gareth Morgan is clearly someone with too much time and money on his hands.

His decision to go into politics with his own party was announced two weeks ago — complete with a logo, the Red Peak design from last year’s flag referendum (with the colours repositioned), but without any policies.

The Opportunities Party sounds rather like what a group of investors or developers would call themselves, but Gareth Morgan says he is concerned about inequality and poverty — is that not what one or more existing political parties say, too?  But his logo has both red and blue in it. Hmm.

To date Gareth Morgan has only managed to raise the ire of cat lovers by wanting cat curfews and reduced numbers of them. With 47% of households having a cat according to the last census, that wouldn’t seem the best basis for trying to get votes from people. Ho hum.

“Oh no, not Gareth Morgan!”

Address to the council on 10 November. There has been no response.

First, I wish to express my appreciation for you going back to having Public Speaking at the beginning. I note it is now called Public Forum.

However, I find it a major step back by not having it web streamed or it being recorded. The streaming allows other ratepayers to hear concerns raised. They are now excluded. Where does this stand with openness and transparency?

The refusal to record is a major breach of the right to have a public record of what was said and discussed with elected representatives. It needs to be recorded so there is no issue in the future as to what was actually said.

It avoids misunderstandings between Councillors, ratepayers and staff. If answers are given to questions raised, or if issues are raised, it is vital that those answers and issues are recorded so everyone can be held accountable for what they said.

Without a public record there is no institutional memory, and more important no one will be able to quote what had been said because there is nothing to quote. You are denying the public to be part of the institutional memory. It gives the appearance of their participation as being valueless.

I understand that a reason given for your decision was that recording would be off putting to people participating. I have never heard anyone raise it as an issue, or say they would not speak because it was on record. We the people want it recorded to keep it all open honest and transparent.

I notice that the Mayor in his column celebrating the great solution he had reached with the Public Forum idea failed to mention first, there was no recording; secondly those watching on live streaming would be excluded. Is that being open?

Council could/should consult in the issue –- a blanket ban on recording won’t work, there has to be reasons, and reasons need information, and information needs consultation.

Council could always ask the individual speakers in the public forum whether they want to be recorded or not –- pretty easy to use and on/off button surely.

Please rectify these glaring defects now.

We saw on the news yesterday reports of more looting in Christchurch from evacuated homes; rather appropriately, this happens to be Fraud Awareness week.  Like everyone else we get the creative fiction e-mails from Nigeria and the announcements that we have won lotteries we know nothing about.  However, fraud doesn’t stop there.

From Sue Lusk’s Destination Waikanae Facebook page:

Just be careful out there with scams in all their nasty forms – Elise had a scammer phone the landline yesterday saying they were from EQC and asking if she would be home today as they are checking properties in Waikanae for earthquake damage. She asked for a number to call them back on and of course they got off the phone.

Ginny has also shared the Stuff Link from EQC and the police underlining that this is a real problem: stuff article

If you’re not sure whether you’ve been targeted by scammers, come and see us at Citizens Advice Bureau Kapiti. We can also help you figure out what to do if you have fallen for a scam already.

“Like” Scams NZ to keep tabs on known and new scams as well

And please don’t hesitate to ring the Citizens Advice Bureau in Kapiti for advice on this and anything else that is worrying you – from employment issues to tenancies to faulty appliances – we can find help for you on just about everything – phone 04 298 4944 or e-mail kapiti@cab.org.nz

Not just the threat of over-development by opportunist developers, Dougherty’s obsession with “Managed Retreat” affecting their property value, but the possibility of tsunami.

In reality, the risk of tsunami is mainly on the Pacific coast rather than on the Tasman coast, and we would have thought the fact that most of the beach area is built on sand dunes means that the risk of damage from an earthquake is a lot bigger than that of a tsunami.  See this post from September last year.

Regarding the subject of the petition shown above, we doubt that on the Tasman coast there would be enough time for an official warning before a tsunami would happen — if it’s a bad earthquake, then take the decision to move east to higher ground there and then.

It doesn’t rain, but it pours — literally.  There is a lot of water with big puddles on the road between Waikanae and Paraparaumu today, so reduce speed.  We’ve also heard that SH1 in Pukerua Bay is closed by a slip.

It should serve as yet another reminder to the council that the storm-water system needs upgrading; we hope there won’t be too many instances of flooding.  After Christmas, however, we can look forward to the opposite — the long dry spell.

Age unknown, but it shows that the sand dunes on the north bank were quite substantial in the past, now much reduced in height. Possibly by Anita Gaskin (1919-2011).

Although not much in Waikanae, more a case of some rocking and rolling at midnight and overall we’re shaken but not stirred. 🙂  It was bizarre to have the wind chimes above our sliding doors sounding although the doors were closed.

According to the council Facebook page there may be some sediment in the water supply, but if you let the taps run for a bit that should clear.

Copious rain plus warmer temperatures have seen the usual spurt in garden growth (including weeds!); here a scene with an acacia tree, a pine nut tree and to the right a cabbage tree.  To the left a silver birch seems to be at the end of its days.