As commented before, when it comes to work on trees you want caring professionals, not cowboys — you’d expect property businesses to use them (and the one next to us does), but not the Wellington City Council.

It should never have happened, but Wellington City Council arborists have admitted to accidentally removing two mature native trees from a reserve in Hataitai.

The reserve got an accidental tree makeover after some over-zealaous pruning by the council tree team last week.

Residents Murray and Lynne Biggs were “shocked” by the destruction and said the beautiful trees were home to green geckos, tui and other native bird species that nested in them.

Full stuff story

‘Don’t be developed out of Pittwater’ rally at Mona Vale’s Memorial Hall, Sunday, 29 April 2017. Jenny Stone’s eloquent address: The importance of the social contract between governments and citizens, and the consequences of it failing. The importance of environmental design – invest in inclusive public spaces. Mona Vale Library and Village Park are perfect […]

via “Public good should prevail over private interests” – Jenny Stone — Pittwater Forever

On the KCDC website — here:

Today’s photo is of a mottled petrel/kōrure chick on Whenua Hou/Codfish Island off the southern coast of New Zealand.

via Photo of the week: Mottled petrel/kōrure chick — Conservation blog

The council wants the hedge to look like this so it can install a footpath alongside the cycle lane. From the amount of apparent overhang it may only be suitable for children, though.

“Kapiti Coast District Council has had enough of Vince Osborne hedging his bets.

“The 7-metre-high, sculpted macrocarpa hedge planted by his grandfather in the 1930s at Waikanae Beach now looks likely to get a council trim after his own cutting work was deemed too slow.

“In January, the Osborne family were ordered by the council to cut the hedge’s roadside frontage after complaints about road safety.

“Osborne’s work on a compromise, cutting a corridor along the bottom of the hedge, started and stopped in late March. On Monday the council announced it would finish the job.”

Full Joel Maxwell story

“You’d be forgiven for thinking shopping malls like their customers to return again and again.

“But on the Kapiti Coast north of Wellington, repeat shoppers have been slapped with $65 parking fines – for returning too quickly between visits.”

This story by Joel Maxwell from a few days ago suggests that it could.  The Coastlands mall is run by Colliers who engaged Wilsons Parking for their parking enforcement.  From our experience, neither of these businesses are ones you would want to choose in their respective fields.  The latter often features on the Fair Go TV program.

There has been a large number of comments on the Kapiti Coast Facebook page about Coastlands — none of them positive.

It’s potentially good for the Waikanae town centre, though — if the Park and Ride carpark for train commuters was operating!  At present parking in the town centre is as bad as ever.

Although there has been no commercial development announced (and hopefully there won’t be) near the ‘Ewy’ interchange in Waikanae’s Te Moana Road, there has been plenty around the Kapiti Road one in Paraparaumu in the past two or three years; it could well replace the Coastlands area as the Paraparaumu town centre if it continues.

Another positive outcome — but much less likely — would be that Dougherty abandons his obsession with spending huge amounts of Ratepayers’ money on the existing Paraparaumu town centre.  As commented before, it has had more than its fair share.

A little housing is visible here, but only a little — and that’s the way we want it to stay!

A view taken this morning of the north face of the women’s loo.

On the ground at this standpoint was this litter, which must have been dropped there by a freedom camper pest.  There is a bin nearby, but these people were just too lazy to walk the short distance…

By artist Vanessa Owens for this childrens book, available at the Tutere Gallery and Creative Space in Tutere Street.