In its 15 years of operation, Relish in Elizabeth Street has become an institution for those living east of the railway line, noted especially for yummy cakes, but owners Alan & Anne have decided it’s time to retire.  Today is the last trading day.

The premises began life as a house, built in 1925. Presumably a real estate sign will appear outside next month.

(Kapiti Observer Collection, KCDPL)

From the Papers Past website

Bernie Randall of the Paraparamumu-Raumati Community Board says the Jacobs report on this — accessible on the NZTA website here — vindicates his approach to the Human Rights Commission.

The Jacobs report makes a number of important recommendations. “Six houses require mechanical ventilation to avoid opening their windows to loud expressway noise and this should be carried out without any delay owing to the hot summer,” says Mr Randall. He says the extra electricity cost for this should be borne by the NZTA.

The report recommends, among other things, removing the rumble strips on the left hand edge lines along the urban part of the expressway and fixing approach surfaces to bridges to make them smoother.

Bernie Randall is calling on Julie Anne Genter, the Associate Minister of Transport, to urge NZTA to quickly implement the recommendations of the report.

The Minister should also urge NZS to immediate carry out a revision of NZS 6806 the road noise standard, as the current standard does not appear to be fit for purpose.

The home is literally the centre of the primary health system. When homeowners experience disturbed sleep this causes stress, reduced work efficiency and poor life quality, according to Bernie Randall.

Media release from the KCDC:

Wayne Maxwell is currently Group Manager, Corporate Services with the Kāpiti Coast District Council.

Mayor K. Gurunathan says he’s confident Wayne is a great fit for the Council and Kāpiti community.

“We carried out a robust, thorough recruitment process and we’re delighted to be able to appoint Wayne to the position. He has a proven track record of leading and managing in changing and challenging environments. Local government is a complex business and we needed to choose someone who can promote growth within the realities of our financial constraints.”

The position attracted over 40 applications and four candidates were shortlisted for an interview with the full Council.

“All four candidates were of high calibre, with a broad range of experience in senior roles here in New Zealand and overseas.”

“A member of the Council’s senior management team for the last four years, Wayne is an experienced, respected manager with a great knowledge of the wide range of Council activities and services, and has demonstrated what he can deliver for this community and the council.”

Wayne has over 15 years experience in local government, including roles in strategy, operations and finance. Before joining the Council he worked as an advisor for a range of councils across the country, and held the role of Director of Strategy at Wellington City Council.

Wayne said he’s delighted to be appointed and looks forward to building new relationships within the community he calls home. “I’m honoured that the Mayor and Councillors have put faith in me to build on the direction this Council and community is heading in. We have some challenges to work through, but I’m confident that strong relationships with stakeholders and our community, and good policies and plans will help us deliver the outcomes that are so important for the Kāpiti region.

“I love Kāpiti and my family and I are well-established here, so I’m honoured to be able to take on this role within a community that has such an exciting future.”

Wayne will take up the position on Monday 22 January 2018 and has been appointed for an initial term of five years with an annual remuneration commencing at $295,000. This is $17,000 less than Mr Dougherty’s salary at the time of his departure.

Our views

This appointment makes sense as there will be no loss of ‘Corporate Memory’.  In contrast to Mr Dougherty, Wayne Maxwell has impressed us as being very competent, as well as pleasant to deal with.  What he is like as a superior, however, we don’t know:  the measure of that will be the rate of staff turnover.  Some staff turnover in an organisation like the KCDC is normal and in fact a good thing as poor performers shouldn’t stay.  But the overall rate shouldn’t exceed 20% a year.

One of the obvious signs of Mr Dougherty’s incompetence was his increase in the council’s ‘group managers’ from four to seven during his tenure, most disconcertingly of them his appointment of Tim Power as his internal legal counsel.

We hope that there will be no replacement for the job title held by Wayne Maxwell of ‘Group Manager, Corporate Services’, and other Dougherty appointments including Tim Power need looking at.  This will be an immediate saving for ratepayers of over $200,000 a year with potential for a lot more.

Two photos taken at roughly the same spot, but at obviously different heights. The first was taken as part of the Whites Aviation series of NZ from the air.

The Waikanae River in both photos flows from the bottom-centre west to the sea, the mouth is in the mid-centre of the views.

One of the photos that the library has put on its FB page from last Saturday’s Christmas celebrations in Mahara Place, created by people dressing up with props and a suitable background.

The full gallery is here

The ultimate guide to helping your family protect the native species in their garden this Christmas. Whether they’re new to backyard trapping or a veteran, there’s something for everyone.

via The Conservation Christmas Gift Guide — Conservation blog

First up will be the steam-hauled Eketahuna Express into the North Wairarapa on 6 January, and on 17 February the veteran-diesel-hauled Deco Delights Express to Napier, which is the Saturday of the annual Napier Art Deco Weekend — both are destinations you can’t reach by regular train these days, and the Manawatu Gorge is something you can’t now experience by car either.

Full details are on the Steam Inc website

Passing by today, we noticed the open sign was outside so called into this little,  rather distinctive gallery at 26 Park Ave, mentioned in a post 2 months ago.

It’s apparent from browsing the three books of Isobel McBeath’s paintings (in the second picture and available for purchase) that what is on display in the room is only a small representation of her prolific output of not only paintings, but handmade glass and ceramic sculptures over a number of decades.

The gallery is run by Isobel and her daughter Naida (there are two other daughters, both with names beginning with n — Natala and Narina, also an artist) and is likely to be open during summer weekends between 10 am and 4 pm and at other times by appointment.