Above are the maps of the roads involved in our area.

There are more roads where limit changes are proposed in the remainder of the District.

The proposed reductions all seem motivated by safety concerns and sensible drivers are likely to concur with them.

But if you think otherwise, you can tell the council that via this page on its website which has all the info and feedback forms.

a Kapiti Coast Ratepayer anticipating what this year’s Rates increase will be

So says Cr Michael Scott who is currently the Chairman of the Council’s finance committee.

The 2016-2017 financial year ended last 30 June. As everyone knows, the Rates hike was just under 6% for the current financial year which ends this 30 June.

What will this year’s Rates hike be?

Of the $73 million Council revenue in 2016-2017, $56.5 million or 77% came from Rates.  The rest came from Fees and Charges ($8.9 million), Grants and subsidies ($4.7 million), Developer contributions ($2 million) and other operating revenue of $0.7 million.

Michael Scott says that the Residential Ratepayer provides the “vast majority” of the Rates collected (we think it’s about 95%) and there is no enthusiasm in the Council for creating “extra pain” for businesses or rural.  But assuming (and it’s an assumption) that business Rates increased by the same 6%, based on simple arithmetic the total Rates take for this current year should be $60 million.

The take from “Fees and charges” and other operating revenue could be $10 million.

“Grants and subsidies” doesn’t seem to be a guaranteed source — it all came from the NZTA in 2016-2017.

However, there is ample scope for substantially increasing the paltry $2 million from Property Developers considering the subdivision frenzy currently happening.  Doubling it could eliminate the likely shortfall in the $80 million target and so eliminate the need for any Rates increase this year…

None of this, of course, examines the Council expenditure side of the budget, a subject of fierce criticism.

A painting by Kapiti artist Eva Saunders, fitting for the experience of the last few days.

The Cyclone Gita remnants passed close by to Wellington and Waikanae, and although not as windy as some had expected (including the Met Service), there was still plenty of rain.

Fortunately, the rain wasn’t all at once and there were lengthy periods without any as shown in the rainfall graph.

As can be seen, the heaviest downpour in Waikanae was actually in the early hours of Thursday and that combined with ‘coastal inondation’ from powerful waves caused some damage to the Waikanae Beach sand dunes, although nothing a bulldozer can’t put right.

Total rainfall since Monday evening is 103.5 mm which is close to double the average total for February.

I attended my first Beyond Pesticides forum in 2014 in Portland, Oregon. I have been a member of and donor to Beyond Pesticides ever since. And I have purchased only organic food since attending that forum, because of a field trip to a community of farm workers that convinced me that growing our food without […]

via Beyond Pesticides: The voice of reason about pesticides — Death of a Million Trees

Horrible — and as we had to tell a certain local property businessman a few years ago, causing an animal unnecessary pain and stress is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act.

Arriving home from a wander around the neighbourhood just two days before Christmas, Hannah Candy’s cat Blue was bloody and swollen with a gash on her neck.

Unsure of what had happened and what was wrong, Hannah, a resident of Waikanae Beach on the Kapiti Coast, took Blue to the vet and was prescribed medicine.

The swelling went down after a few weeks.

However when Blue, a domestic birman, was almost back to normal, Hannah noticed a lump on her neck.

Full story on the NZ Herald (Kapiti News site)

A classic car, a Packard Super Eight.  About 300 pre-1947 cars participate in the Festival (cars more recent than 1946 are frowned on).

Participants in the  Bicycle Belles event.

Children’s cart derby

the Depression dinner march

A gazebo on the shore.

by Bernie Randall

Napier’s Art Deco Festival was held last weekend. A large crowd, both young and old with many dressed in the clothing of the 1920s and 1930s, came to celebrate the 1930s ambiance.

A shoeshine stand and depression dinner march attracted interest from visitors enjoying the sights and costumes. Vintage cars and flashy gazebos were on display while Bicycle Belles rode bicycles from yesteryear along the walkway on Marine Parade. On Sunday youngsters attired in period costume raced down Tennyson St for the soapbox derby.

It was all very enjoyable and a wonderful celebration of the community and its spirit.

(See also this post from 2016)

The KCDC isn’t the only local council that behaves like a secret society where bosses decide what the people they are supposed to serve can and cannot know.

This has just happened in the Horowhenua with their District Council. Info request denied regarding their Economic Development Board. Quite a lot going on there at the moment, to read more go to investigative journalist Veronica Harrod’s page. Her articles are frequently on the Horowhenua District Ratepayers and Residents Association Inc page where you can keep up […]

via Local councils slammed for failing to supply information — Rangitikei Enviromental Health Watch

Guy Burns of the Raumati-Paraparaumu Community Board is concerned that Kapiti Coast District Council’s development of a draft Long Term Plan ignores organisational spending, even though staff and contractor expenses make up around half of the total operating expenses. Debt has ballooned and staff numbers have sky-rocketed in recent times.

“I acknowledge Councillors are attempting to reduce and defer capital works expenditure, but they seemingly have turned a blind eye to the organisational structure of KCDC.

“Staff costs for the full-time-equivalent 323 people are huge. The development of the Long Term Plan is a golden opportunity to focus on Council’s systems and structure.

“During the 2016 election campaign, some current Councillors indicated they would support a review of staffing levels. I’ve urged individual Councillors to use the development of the Long Term Plan to look at the big picture of organisational structure and use this opportunity to undertake a review of the organisation with the goals of efficiency, effectiveness and productivity.”

About 40 people came along this morning for the opening of this volunteer social service premises in a Mahara Place building, and to hear former Mayor and Waikanae resident Iride McCloy explain why it is needed and what it will do.

Attendees as well as Mayor Guru (right) included Crs Mike Cardiff and David Scott as well as Tonchi Begovich and James Westbury of the Waikanae Community Board.

The approximately 40 m² space is on the ground floor in the back of the retail frontage, and accessible also from the service lane from Ngaio Road.  In the square, the door is adjacent to the library and next to Dri Sleeper.

With its high population of seniors, Waikanae has a particular need for services like the ones to be offered: “We are here to help people having health, housing, financial or relationship concerns.”  The latter include mental health problems from isolation, particularly after a spouse dies.

“We will work with them to provide hands-on help that is free, impartial, independent and confidential.”

A Citizens Advice Bureau if you will, but closer to home for Waikanae people than the one in Coastlands and more attuned to Waikanae’s demographics.

Volunteers will be trained by Volunteer Kapiti.

We’ll keep in touch with Iride to report further.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has yet again been caught exaggerating ‘global warming’ by fiddling with the raw temperature data. This time, that data concerns the recent record-breaking cold across the northeastern U.S. which NOAA is trying to erase from history. If you believe NOAA’s charts, there was nothing particularly unusual about this winter’s cold […]

via NOAA caught adjusting big freeze out of existence – maintaining the lie — Rangitikei Enviromental Health Watch