Posted by Waikanae watchers | Filed under Uncategorized
No More Meth — Kapiti Coast Walk-In
26 Saturday Aug 2017
26 Saturday Aug 2017
25 Friday Aug 2017
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inThe undesirability of the existing level crossing in Elizabeth Street because of the significant and ever-growing population to the east of it and the resulting congestion — as well as occasional complete blockages — has been a topic talked about on here ever since this blog began in January 2015; in last year’s election pamphlet we made a feature of it, stating that an underpass to replace the level crossing and so separate the road and the railway completely should be an essential infrastructure project.
The council has now decided that something needs to be done, but rather than the obvious and sensible solution of an underpass, has opted for just an emergency crossing when the main level crossing is blocked by a stationary train for various possible reasons.
Even with this, there will be no work done until the next financial year: July 2018–June 2019.
The report on the council website is here.
Both the NZTA (whose interest in the old SH1 will cease in the next year or so) and KiwiRail have given their approval for it, but in the latter case:
“Kiwirail has emphasised that it approves an emergency access on the basis that Council will not abandon pursuing a second permanent access to Waikanae East in the future either using the Hadfield Road crossing or planning for the construction of an underpass/bridge over ‘old SH1’ south of Waikanae or in Waikanae town centre.”
Neither the present Waikanae Ward Councillor, Michael Scott, nor the Council as a whole have ever expressed enthusiasm for an underpass, so “will not abandon pursuing” should be replaced with “will pursue”.
The problem for the council, of course, is the cost of an underpass and we looked at that in this post from 9 September 2016 in which we pointed out the estimate of $40 million for the elaborate proposal referred to in the report from 2010 is vastly in excess of what would actually be sufficient.
We think that with the present councilors, an underpass will only be favoured if:
A. Congestion becomes so bad that residents protest on the streets, or
B. There is a fatal collision in the level crossing.
To the details of the ’emergency’ crossing at the Goodmans site:
“Establishing an emergency route through the Goodmans site would involve the construction of a new level crossing at a layover location off the side of SH1, approximately 60m north of the Waikanae River Bridge. This crossing would be protected by gates on either side of the rail corridor, and would only be for use by authorised emergency services vehicles with a verified height of 4m or less as requested by Kiwirail. The NZ Fire Service Technical Details on Crossing Requirements stipulate a 4m minimum height for safe passage of their general appliances and its proposed to use the higher type used by the Waikanae Fire Station (the higher pump rescue tender appliance) to design the crossing. After crossing the railway line, the route would pass through the Goodmans yard to Anne Street.
“The primary concern associated with the Goodmans crossing is the potential for a stationary freight train to block both Elizabeth Street and the proposed Goodmans emergency crossing. The proposed crossing is located 480 metres to the south of the Elizabeth Street crossing. Although freight trains passing through Waikanae are typically around 650 metres long and can be up to 900 metres long, nearly 90% of the approximately 90 trains that traverse the Elizabeth Street level crossing on a typical 24 hour weekday period are short electric multiple units, of between 40 and 160 metres long. Therefore the risk of a long freight train blocking both Elizabeth Street and the Goodmans crossing site simultaneously is deemed to be low.
Waikanae people can at least be thankful that freight trains in NZ aren’t as long as they are in North America where 9,000 ft (2.74 km) is the standard!
It should be emphasised that this will be a crossing for emergency vehicles only and the gates for it will normally be locked.
Here are the overhead photos/maps relating to the intended Goodmans crossing:
24 Thursday Aug 2017
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in24 Thursday Aug 2017
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inIn a recent post we asked what the next government is going to do about the country’s unacceptably high number of homeless.
It’s just as much a legitimate question to ask those who advocate bringing in more ‘refugees’ from other parts of the world – shouldn’t the priority be to help those who are here now, in many cases all their lives?
Unfortunately, those who ask that question often get labelled as ‘racists’ and ‘fascists’ by those who want more ‘refugees’.
The term refugee implies someone seeking asylum from persecution by a despotic government; not simply someone who is poor as a result of warfare or a natural disaster in their home country. How many of the ‘refugees’ that enter NZ every year fit that description? Not a lot, we submit.
If the intent is to increase foreign aid, then why not do that directly?
Bringing people into your country to live with you is no different to bringing people into your home – you want to know all about them first.
Immigration officials must ensure all immigrants are:-
Australia now has a lot of problems as a result of this not being done adequately with the ‘boat people’ from Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as migrants from certain Middle East countries.
And everyone who has been following it closely knows the disaster that has been occurring in Europe in the last few years as a result of millions of unvetted migrants (some of whom are genuine refugees, but most not) flooding in seeking an easy life; particularly due to the stupidity of certain politicians in Germany and Sweden.
‘Charity begins at home.’
23 Wednesday Aug 2017
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in22 Tuesday Aug 2017
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inHi Geoffrey & Eva
Just wondered if you were aware that 1080 will be poisoning the land behind Waikanae in September. This article
Note the Comments that follow the article.
Here’s what the CEO of SPCA has to say recently about 1080.
1080 poisoning is a horrible way to die and it is indiscriminate in what it kills. The Department of Conservation (DOC) is dropping more 1080 poison this year than ever before across huge swathes of our forests, despite the inevitable damage it will do to a wide range of ‘non-target’ animals and birds.
We are saying there has to be a better way.
These 1080 drops are not surgical strikes that only knock out so-called ‘target’ species. On the contrary, 1080 poison is a weapon of mass destruction that leads to the agonising deaths of many ‘non-target’ species, including deer, pigs, and, yes, native birds. DOC is dropping many tonnes of 1080 poison bait across New Zealand’s forests and streams, potentially killing every living thing within the drop zones. This is unacceptable and there is much evidence to suggest that it is not the answer to the problem: the target species, particularly rats, always seem to bounce back, which necessitates more 1080 poison drops.
It is simply not a sustainable way to manage wildlife in New Zealand. Are we going to keep dropping 1080 poison all over New Zealand forever? Is that the future we want?
Moreover we appear to have set up a double standard regarding the welfare of pest species, such as rats, stoats, and possums. The law permits the elimination of these and other inconvenient species and turns a blind eye to how inhumanely they are killed. We as a country have decided there are two kinds of animals: those we care about and those we don’t. If I fed 1080 poison to my dog, the SPCA would prosecute me with vigour. But if I fed the same poison to a possum there would be no repercussions at all.
Ric Odom, CEO of the Royal New Zealand SPCA
Could be worth a mention in Waikanae Watch.
Best wishes
Roger Childs of the Kapiti Independent News
Comment from Jocelyn Prvanov of the Waikanae Community Board
Hi there Roger,
No I wasn’t aware of this drop. As the board chair I am not informed about these.
I am aware though that the use of 1080 is controlled activity and is carefully monitored by the EPA [Environmental Protection Authority]. I also understand that there is no large scale alternative, and that this chemical is only used where necessary.
Kind regards
Jocelyn
Jocelyn Prvanov
Waikanae Community Board Chair
We did mention this in a post on 3 August and, needless to say, are very unhappy about it. Hunters and trappers provide an alternative, and in fact could be one of the things that have tourist potential. [- Eds]
22 Tuesday Aug 2017
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inIt’s a question that has arisen from the Barcelona terrorist attack last week as this Daily Mail UK article reveals:
In this case a close friend and employer of the boy’s father has taken it upon himself to help the devastated parents by starting a Go Fund Me page in his attempts to recuperate the inevitable costs the parents now face and the page has been inundated with responses since its introduction on Monday afternoon. With a target set of $1 million, fundraisers have managed to accumulate $76,817 in just 10 hours.
Regardless, the general question remains and it’s something worth checking.
Unless you’re planning a trip to a country noted for them like Pakistan, Iraq or Yemen, the likelihood of being caught up in an attack is very small and other forms of misfortune faced by travelers would have much greater risk attached to them. So why exclude terrorism?
22 Tuesday Aug 2017
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inMaurea waikanae. Karl Webber says: “Browns Island / Tahoromaurea, at the south end of Kapiti Island, probably named from the same, and means a scattering or Maurea; there would have been an abundance of these there back in the day.”
21 Monday Aug 2017
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inThe latest WCB Facebook page post says this:
Gutted at plans for a shared Gallery and Library in Waikanae are on hold.
The majority of the Waikanae Community Board is gutted at the decision made last Thursday to defer funding for the integrated Public Gallery and Library in Waikanae. This decision was made by the Council’s Operations and Finance Committee, chaired by Waikanae Ward Councillor Michael Scott [the other members are the remainder of Council as a whole and one Māori representative], as part of the plans approved to the capital expenditure programme for 2017/18 financial year.
Even more alarming, this project has been put on hold for possibly five to ten years.
Although the Council says it is still committed to funding its share of the Mahara Gallery upgrade on the current Gallery site, but this is dependent on the Gallery raising the required funds by the June 2018 deadline. In the meantime, the Council intends to look how it can extend the life of the Library.
Although this project has been budgeted for since 2006, there have been u-turns in its design, and the Council was left in a situation where it was unable to secure a suitable site. Furthermore, the $9 million price tag was not inflation-proofed and is now estimated to be in the order of $12-15 million, excluding the price of any land purchase.
While it is laudable that measures are being taken to reel in spending and debt, Waikanae Community Board members have been blindsided by this turn of events and is very disappointed that this project has been targeted. They believe Waikanae is severely lagging behind in KCDC infrastructure investment although Waikanae is the fastest growing part of the Kapiti Coast, and thus where the growth in rates is. Waikanae businesses have been in a state of flux not knowing what is happening to their Town Centre but now they will have to wait much longer. This also puts other work planned for around the Waikanae Town Centre in uncharted territory.
Waikanae Board members are not going to sit back and wait five or ten years. They believe that throwing money at a Library building that could be gutted or pulled down is a waste so they are starting discussions on the best way forward.
We’ve said several times on here that Paraparaumu Town Centre has had its fair share, Waikanae hasn’t. The existing Mahara gallery building is too small to do justice to what is available to display and is a boring building — see the earlier posts. And that’s the way it’s going to be for a while yet.
The schedule above is what the council bureaucrats wanted chopped from the capital expenditure plan this year — $7.5 million from $34.6 million (click for full view) — and it sounds like it was rubber stamped by elected members.
The biggest component of the reduction relates to the Paekakariki seawall:
Peer review has highlighted unacceptable level of risk with original proposed
design. Work now focused on alternative design option which has slowed
down the project and delayed start this financial year.
Well, we have warned about the need to avoid yet another expensive white elephant, so this bit is good, anyway.
The curious word in the phrase above “The majority of the Waikanae Community Board is gutted” is of course “majority” — so who isn’t? Michael Scott? We’ll report when we find out.
Update
It’s clear that the initial post at top was a public manifestation of the spat between Jocelyn Prvanov and Michael Scott, that was first noticed in September last year (see the post “a litttle schism apparant”.)
Here for the sake of balance is Michael Scott’s reply
I am disappointed to see this post – it is sadly inaccurate and seems to have caused some mischief where there needs to be none.
The Operations and Finance Committee (OFC) realigned funding for a number of projects. Let’s look at what we actually did in terms of Waikanae:
There was a budget in the 2017/2018 financial year for the Mahara Gallery Upgrade of $240k. We moved $15k into the next financial year leaving the balance still available for this project . This protects that part of the budget we were unlikely to spend and makes it available in the future. The balance of $225k remains in place.
Regarding the library – we need a new one, but we can’t afford the rapidly increasing cost of one, until we are certain what form a new supermarket building might take. We had a development budget of $267,734. for the 2017 – 2018 financial year. The simple fact is were were never going to spend it, we left $50k for ongoing scoping and option work
The Mahara upgrade including the cultural thread is still in place as is the Highway hand back project – both of which the WCB is regularly updated on. There is $600k in the current years budget for this ongoing work.
We have to live within our means which equals borrowing only for those project we can deliver, paying back debt as soon as we can and closing the unfunded depreciation gap. Council remains committed to the Mahara Gallery and making the library safe and as user friendly as we can make it until we replace it
regards
Michael Scott, Waikanae Ward Councillor, Chair – OFC.
20 Sunday Aug 2017
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inRaumati South Resident’s Association President Trevor Daniell says:
“Much of the Park was under water and local Maori could canoe from Raumati to Paekakariki. From the 1860s, QE Park was farmed by pakeha settlers and the drainage of the ancient swamps began.
“The area is low lying and naturally reverting back to native bush and wetland, but, huge amounts of money are spent maintaining drainage and spraying chemicals in the interests of farming sheep and cattle. Where stock is not grazing, native plants and grasses have established themselves.
“We urge Greater Wellington Regional Council to stop draining and filling in the swamps (such as near Poplar Avenue) and retire the land from farming and let nature do its course, with a little assistance from community planting of indigenous trees, shrubs and grasses.”