Another little garden delight in Te Moana Road at the east end where it meets the Main Road is this display of white roses.

This is on the north side of the intersection; a similar, but smaller display is on the south side.

But — the median strip is dull concrete: a strip of fake grass here, too, would be helpful, KCDC?

 

For those who didn’t get to to visit the display in Mahara Place today, here is a large version of the council consultants’ design (click for full size).

They are inviting comments so make sure you contribute them.  If enough people say the same things they may even get heeded. Their webpage

A few immediate comments of ours:

• On the Main Road, ditch the unneeded cycle lanes and the wide grassy median strip; keep the existing two lanes on each side all the way.
• Mahara place needs colour! Particularly it needs some colourful pavers to replace the expanse of dull grey.  Perhaps take the pattern of the fence between the Marae and Te Papa Motokā (see earlier photo) and use that?
• Make the fake grass patch installed in the last few days 3-4 times bigger and permanent.
• Curved paths are more appealing than straight ones.

 

Info from the KCDC (almost as in answer to our earlier post on pesky vehicles on the Waikanae Beach sand spit.)

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The Kāpiti Coast District Council starts its annual summer beach patrols this weekend with assistance from the Police, warning people about where they can and cannot drive.

Environmental Standards Manager Jacquie Muir says that Council staff will be working closely with the Police to ensure that beaches are safe for all users, at all times.

“The stretch of beach from the Paraparaumu Boating Club north to Waikanae is the area most densely populated with walkers and people playing in the sand or water. This is why our beach bylaw restricts cars driving on that part of the beach,” she says.

“The only reason vehicles should be there is to launch or retrieve boats at designated spots or if they have specific permission to park for easier access.

“The Council will provide details of offenders who have previously been spoken to, and request that the Police issue infringements to them.”

Under the Land Transport Act, the Council has no power to issue infringements for moving vehicle offences and it is up to the Police to enforce at their discretion.

More information about beach safety

This investigative article about the Horowhenua district is from journalist Veronica Harrod. Read her bio at the end of the article. She raises points which are puzzling people NZ-wide, and lifts the curtain somewhat to let you see what is going on in meetings you are not entitled to attend. (From this site’s perspective, […]

via Massive rates rises predicted in Horowhenua that will subsidise land developers reaping potential profits of over $100 million — Rangitikei Enviromental Health Watch

Which is the case at present with not only flowering shrubs and bushes, but various trees as well.  This display is at the beginning of our street, shown in an autumn post earlier.

A label of the relatively short-lived Kapiti Independent Brewery from the first half of the 1990s.

The nikau is important as NZ’s only native palm tree and its only drawback for gardeners is that it is fairly slow growing.

The place to see plenty together is the obviously named Nikau Reserve on the east side of the Main Road between Waikanae and Paraparaumu.

DOC fact sheet

We wrote to the Retirement Villages Association and asked them,

1. Is it a requirement of membership of their Association that staff employed at the retirement village are vetted?
2. If not, it is nevertheless a recommendation of the RVA to its members?

The reply below:

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Good morning Eva,

Thank you for your email, to assist answering your question the following is the minimum standard that the village operator must comply with. This is as covered in the Retirement Villages Code of Practice 2009, variations included April 2017.

Part 3: Minimum requirements to be included in any occupation right agreement

Staffing of retirement village

1               Staffing policies, processes, and procedures

1            If a retirement village has staff, whether paid or unpaid, the operator must have, maintain, and implement written policies, processes, and procedures for staff selection, training, and ongoing supervision.

2            The operator’s staffing policy and procedures must set out the:

a            appropriate qualifications needed for staff employed for specific positions

b            appointment process for staff without appropriate qualifications, if the potential staff member can demonstrate appropriate work experience

c            appointment process for staff without appropriate qualifications and experience, if the potential staff member demonstrates a willingness to undertake the appropriate training and is willing to be supervised as required

d           requirement for a recognised first aid qualification for particular staffing positions.

3            The operator must have an induction process to familiarise staff with this Code of Practice, their own staff codes of conduct, and any management practices and what it covers.  All staff must complete this process.

2               Information about staff

1            All staff will carry identification while on duty so residents can check their identity.  The operator must inform residents and intending residents about staff employed at the retirement village, including:

a            roles

b            relevant qualifications (for example, first aid, nursing) and experience

c            specific qualifications or training relating to residents with particular needs (for example, strokes, dementia-related conditions)

d           skills in communicating with residents with limited ability to communicate (for example, sign language, speech therapy)

e           skills in communicating with residents who speak languages other than English

f            if staff are on site and, if so, when they are at the retirement village.

3               Staff qualifications and experience

1           Staff should be appropriately qualified and experienced for their role and the responsibilities to be carried out.  The operator must:

a           use an appropriate process to select staff

b           take reasonable steps to make sure that a new staff member is suitable for the position at the retirement village

c           check a prospective staff member’s references and past employment.

4               Staff supervision and ongoing training

1           The operator must provide ongoing training and ongoing supervision to make sure staff competence is achieved and maintained.

2           If a staff member does not meet the requirements for the role they are employed in, they may still be employed by the operator.  However, the staff member must:

a           be supervised by a suitably qualified and experienced staff member

b           take part in training to meet the requirements for the role.

Staff employment, without Police checks, has resulted in a number of instances where, if the Police checks had been completed the village may have been alerted to potential risk to residents through the employment of that person. As you can see from the Code of practice, Police checks are not mentioned as a minimum requirement, however, we are aware that the majority of village operators do have Police Checks completed on all prospective staff as part of their selection process.

The RVA does recommend and support this as a requirement of employment.

If I can be of any further assistance please call to discuss further.

Kind regards,

Ed Thomas, Association Manager, Retirement Villages Association

P: +64 4 4990448, M: +64 21 901617

W: www.retirementvillages.org.nz

We mentioned in this post from last month that all vehicles are banned south of the Waimeha Stream mouth and north of there only blokarts are allowed.

But the tyre tracks on the sand spit shown above indicate that there are vehicles that regularly travel over it, and the reason is clear from the example below seen this morning — SUVs containing whitebaiters.

Fortunately, the whitebaiting season ends on 30 November.

But what are these vehicles doing driving along the beach if there is a ban?  The question was asked by a Kapiti News reader a few weeks ago and it transpired that the council has issued 24 exception permits to these people.  Why?  The reason given by a KCDC staff member was that they were handicapped.  Really?  The man we observed this morning looked perfectly able-bodied.

It’s apparent to us that these people are simply too lazy to walk from the parking area at the south end of Tutere Street to where they place their nets and chairs — at most about 200 paces, as we measured it.

Instead, these lazy sods get a council permit to drive from the Waikanae Boating Club ramp to the area.

Apart from the natural sculptural effects of the sand and wind being ruined by car tracks, this area is home to nesting oystercatcher birds.

Not acceptable, KCDC.

Comment from Professor John Robinson:

Who would chose to live in a construction site?

That is the state of the sandspit at the mouth of the Waikanae River.  Left alone, the wind blows sand into fascinating patterns, but these are obliterated, churned up by vehicle tracks.  What can be a pleasant walk is ruined, with SUVs driving through and parking there during the whitebait season.

This should be a wildlife refuge, a place for the many birds that come here.  But they are frequently disturbed and a nesting area for oystercatchers has been driven through. There is no respect for nature.

Council has put up signs prohibiting vehicles on this beach.  BUT they then give permits to many to break that rule.  One reason recently given is so unfit people can get there to set up their heavy, unwieldy nets –- which is patent nonsense as only fit people are to be seen.  A few permits –- which should never be given –- left unpoliced becomes in practice an open invitation to drive over the beach.

It is important to move human activity away from areas of special environmental value.  This is recognised by the Marine Reserve along this very coast.  A sandspit is a special place, and must also have particular protection, not this willful destruction.

John Robinson

This extract from Wikipedia with very recent figures shows that in motor vehicles per capita terms, NZ is ahead of Australia and not far behind the US.  In fact that has long been the case: figures published by the Motor Trades Association in the 1920s showed the same.

This is why planning for likely traffic congestion with the relentless population growth  — a massive 40% likely in Waikanae in the next few years — is an unfortunate necessity.

Can people be coaxed out of their cars and on to buses and trains?  We’re hopeful, but not optimistic.

It also states that AM and PM peaks have fallen 60%.  Even better, heavy vehicles are down 70%.

This was one of the slides screened at this morning’s breakfast ‘Tea and Toast’ meeting organised by the council at the Community Centre for the benefit of business owners in the town centre as well as other interested Waikanae people.

Both council and NZTA staff were there to take comments and answer questions.

There is also a display of the information and plans presented at the library until Saturday and on Saturday there is additionally the open 3 hours in Mahara Place already mentioned.

“Revocation Corridor” means the old SH1 or, as is probably going to be officially confirmed, the Main Road.

That Elizabeth Street volumes are “relatively static” is what you’d expect since there is no alternative to it.  As we’ve commented before, they’re sure to increase before long with the new subdivisions.

And as we commented before, the reduction of the two lanes in each direction to one in any part of the main road between New World and the Te Moana Road intersection is a bad idea.

Crs Mike Cardiff and Michael Scott, as well as the Community Board members, think that too, but it wouldn’t hurt for more locals to tell the council and the NZTA.