The accompanying e-mail also referred to this page on the council website.

In this article on the Kapiti Independent News site a council officer states that people can take rubbish and recycling to one of the transfer stations on the Kapiti Coast.

“Recycling is free to dispose of at our transfer stations, rubbish disposal ranges in cost.

‘But if someone was to take a black bag full of rubbish it would cost approximately $4.40 – $5 to dispose of, which is a cost set by the operators of the transfer station.”

As a commentator on that article states, “The council could of course insist that the transfer station accept bags, if delivered [without charge].”

The council also likes to point out that there is now no rates component to cover rubbish collection. But haven’t rates continued to increase regardless — and very substantially?  Like the Rowan+Dougherty water meters, the abandoning of rubbish collection was just a rates increase by stealth.

Uncertainty about what the intentions are for this decorative low stone wall separating the pedestrian area and the road is no longer — the NZTA/Council want to remove it because it will interfere with their desired ‘Politically Correct’ cycleway!

It only runs about 50 metres from the entrance to Mahara Place and the premises at number 40, just to the south of the Frater Lane entrance.

How many cyclists actually use the Main Road — and how many would if the exalted cycleway was in place?

The first is easy to answer — hardly any; and we submit that would still be the case if the venerated cycle lane was there.  Main Roads are just not appealing places to cycle!

It seems from the plans that the trees would stay at least, but it’s possible that they would get moved too.

Seddon Street intersects on the right.

The Mobilgas station — where a Vauxhall Victor of about that time is parked — is now Lawrie Motors.   A Bedford supply truck is parked across the road at the Waikanae Cash Stores (still there, but without the sign on the roof and with a different name). As well as the truck, there look to be a couple of Morris Vans there, one may belong to the store as grocers often did home deliveries in those days.

This was held in the Baptist Church complex in Te Moana Road, one of two designated Emergency Hubs in Waikanae — the other is the Memorial Hall.  The Reikorangi Community Hall is also so designated.

The Baptist Church complex seems ideal as a hub as it was only opened in September 2014 and meets 100% of the Earthquake Code.  They think that in an emergency like that of the 2011 earthquake in Christchurch it could provide emergency shelter for 1,000 people.

After a sausage sizzle, the 80 or so who showed up were divided into two groups: pretend Hub Helpers and pretend Help Seekers.

A scenario was described that could apply after a bad earthquake near Waikanae and each of the Helpers assigned a role — the Reception and Information/Notice Board roles being the most important.  Notice boards for needs and providers of those needs are fundamental.

The Help Seekers would be dazed and confused, needing a variety of things: first aid, shelter if their houses were uninhabitable, and those just wanting to find out what is going on.

The scenario painted was a bit scary, but you need to prepare for the worst: smashed up roads, no telephones, power, running water, sewerage and so on.

After about 40 minutes of action a debrief was held where attendees imparted what they had learned.

Websites: happens.nz  neighbourhoodsupport.co.nz

“A team of researchers at the University of Massachusetts has conducted a study on gala apples to determine baking soda’s efficacy in cleaning the fruits.” From theorganicwellness.com Baking soda is a magical product with so many practical uses, such as curing heartburn, cleaning white clothes, and now, new research has found that this wonder ingredient […]

via Baking Soda Will Wash Off 96% of All Toxic Pesticides from Your Fruits and Vegetables – from a team of Researchers at the University of Massachusetts — Rangitikei Enviromental Health Watch

This is one of the tables in a briefing paper sent to Community Board members this week.

It acknowledges that inflation is just 1.5%, so we’re going to be hit three times that.  At least it isn’t as bad as the 6% increase that Waikanae people got last year, but still far from acceptable.

The funding extra depreciation on revaluations upwards of existing assets simply means “we think we are going to need to spend more to replace these items.”

Financial sleight of hand? It depends on what the asset is.  Are they saying, “we’re going to need stronger roads, bigger pipes and drains because of all the new subdivisions”?

If so why not obtain that extra cost from the developers and not from existing ratepayers?

From justherbalmedicine.com With certainty, turmeric is one of the most popular spices in the whole world and it has extraordinary culinary and medicinal properties. It has been used in Ayurvedic, Indian, and Chinese medicine for a long period of time. This spice has a unique flavor and a deep yellow color. People have used it as […]

via Honey with Turmeric: The Most Potent Antibiotic That not even Doctors Can Explain — Rangitikei Enviromental Health Watch

Last year we mentioned the Whittakers chocolate Kiwi ‘Easter egg’ and it is being sold again this year. A small portion of the sales from it go to help save the real thing.

For those not into native birds, however, there is this Star Wars character chocolate ‘egg’, made in Britain.

The appropriateness of bunnies as an Easter theme in NZ is questionable considering the amount of damage that wild rabbits do to the environment including good quality pasture.  In Queensland, keeping rabbits as pets is banned.

We also say no further purchases of Cadbury’s chocolate and confectionery in the light of their closure of the Dunedin factory, ending their long presence in NZ manufacturing. NZ Herald article

Buy Whittakers instead.

By Graham Rockett

If the visit by the environmental standards team follows the same pattern as the one’s they made last November to appraise stallholders at all local markets of the forthcoming implementation of Niki Kaye’s ridiculous and unnecessarily draconian Food Act, two ladies armed with clipboards and over-inflated self importance will attend, visiting any stallholders selling food. They truly are ‘jobsworths’, revelling in the power that the Council’s backing of the Food Act provides them with. The larger lady does all the talking whilst the other, smaller lady assiduously takes notes beside her on her clipboard… very much like Dame Edna and Madge, but sadly without the humour.

A classically nonsensical question levelled at a stallholder selling a few lemons on behalf of her friend last November was “Did you grow those lemons?” Apparently, as a result of this daft legislation you are only allowed to sell produce that you yourself have grown…. I know, I know…. it simply beggars belief doesn’t it? My answer to them would have been “No, I didn’t grow them, God did…. Good luck with that!”

Faced with such bureaucratic lunacy, many stallholders will no doubt be intimidated by the new requirements and the outrageous costs they would need to pay our hapless Council, the vast majority will conclude that it is not worth them working hard to prepare their food and then getting up at the crack of dawn to earn a meagre amount and so they will simply give up, thereby killing local markets.

Thank you Kapiti Council, we will remember this well at the next opportunity that we have to vote.

Because the initial visits last November were not well received (what a surprise!) in advance of their impending visit this Saturday, the environmental standards team have been canvassing elected members of Kapiti council, urging them to turn up at the Waikanae market this Saturday to support them on their power trip. Someone needs to remind these Kapiti Council members that elected members can so easily be rendered un-elected at the very next council election…

It is easy to find the Food Act online and I encourage people to check it out [links in the Tuesday post]. For example, there is an exemption in the Food Act for charities raising money for a charitable, benevolent, philanthropic or cultural purpose (take your pick) on no more than 20 separate occasions per year (so, at week 20, just change to a different purpose and carry on…).

(originally posted on Neighbourly)

Questions we have include:

♦ Why can’t the Caveat Emptor (buyer beware) principle not apply with these types of event?

♦ Why the unsubstantiated assumption that people who make the types of foods for sale at the Waikanae and Paraparaumu markets are dubious and don’t take the same care that they do with food for their own families?

♦ What will the council’s “$450 to $600 for verification” actually involve? A visit from the pair mentioned above to inspect local women’s domestic kitchens, and the taking of swabs to see if any bacteria can be detected in the lab?

Update

It seems these posts scared the council raiders off.  But they are sure to be back some time soon.

And this, one week before Obama’s visit? What is going on? What were the heads of DoC and the ‘bank that rules the world’ out purveying pristine South Island sights for? And what does Goldman Sachs have to do with the conservation of NZ’s flora and fauna? As we found out last century, the predatory […]

via Why were the heads of NZ’s Dept. of Conservation & Hong Kong’s Goldman Sachs touring parts of Southland recently in a six-helicopter entourage? — Rangitikei Enviromental Health Watch