Although only a distance of about 500 metres, this is where things begin to get controversial as it is a built-up area. It’s clear from the diagramized photo that they intend widening the footpath (sidewalk) on the west side, although why isn’t clear as there are very few pedestrians along here.

The only businesses apart from the Maison 8 café, are Bohanna Motors, the A1 Homes and Harcourts offices. All have their own parking areas, so the conversion of the western road shoulder in this section into the Politically Correct cycle lane isn’t going to bother them.

It is acknowledged that the Waikanae River bridge isn’t wide enough for the Politically Correct cycle lane on both sides.

It’s not clear from the reference to “a single lane” if the northbound double lane just before the Te Moana Road intersection is going to stay as such — hopefully it will, but we have a strong sense of foreboding about that.

As we have said before, we don’t really see any need for changes, except some provision for north-south pedestrians at the Te Moana Road intersection.

The following NZTA statements are reproduced verbatim.

Proposed changes

• Re-configuring the road markings to cater for a painted median, a single traffic lane, and an on on-road cycle lane in each direction.
• The painted medians will be retained and re-marked in the centre of the road to enable people to turn into their driveways.
• New raised islands in the painted median.
• New pedestrian crossings and a shared path along the western side of the road, from the Waikanae River Bridge to Te Moana Road, to enhance the connectivity and safety for pedestrians and cyclists.
• A new kerb along the shared path including the installation of new drainage infrastructure.
• A new crossing point will be installed with raised medians in the painted median to encourage cyclists onto the shared path where the road corridor and river bridge is too narrow to cater for on-road cycle lanes. The crossing will be located on the north side of the river bridge.
• New lighting and signage along the shared path.
• A new cycle warning system installed on the approaches to the river bridge.
• New road signage appropriate for a local road.
• New feature landscaping and tree planting to improve amenity.
• Re-configure the lanes at the Te Mona Road signalised intersection to suit the traffic movements, volumes and to incorporate the on-road cycle lanes.

• 

  As the section looks now, just north of Maison 8.

• 

  As it will look after widening the footpath.

A magnolia denudata.

Eion Cameron of Waikanae Law gave an informative talk yesterday to an audience of about 25 on this financial ‘product’ aimed at retirees.  The main advertiser of them at present is Heartland Seniors Finance as the banks are not keen and the last major bank which offered these, and no longer does so, was ASB.

Eion said that he is only involved in legal work with one or two applications a year.

There are pros and cons with reverse mortgages: the main pro is that you can realise some of the equity in your house without having to leave it, and spend it on things that will enhance your lifestyle.

For some the advantage is that unlike a regular mortgage, regular repayments are not required, so relieving the drain on their cash-flow.  There are a significant number of retirees over 65 for whom government superannuation is their sole income.

The cons are several, including the compounding interest, and the fact that the interest rates are 1.5% to 2% above what bank home loan rates are.  There are also set-up costs: a building inspector’s and valuer’s report are required (probably about $1,000 for the two), the lawyer’s fee which Eion says is likely to be be about $2,000 (double what it is for a normal mortgage), and the provider also charges ‘draw-down’ fees.

The providers are more conservative about the construction and state of a house than banks are (don’t expect them to approve a mortgage on a house with monolithic cladding).

In Australia, the law is that if the total amount outstanding on a reverse mortgage at the time the house owner dies exceeds the value of the property, the provider has to write off the excess: it can’t form a charge on the rest of the estate. That is not the case in NZ.

How much you can borrow depends on your age: at age 60 you can borrow 15% of the property’s value and that increases by 1% for each additional year of your age.  At age 75 you can borrow 30% of it.

Our feeling is that for a lot of people a better option may be to rent a spare bedroom to a lodger; there are students and contractors who may need somewhere to stay for a year so so.  You could also go the AirBnB way, although that would require more work commitment.

That something is, of course, an SUV (visible on the right) on the south bank: this has a fragile eco-system which vehicles will damage.  This pic was taken late last year, we hope that there won’t be a recurrence this whitebait season and then summer.

This relates to the council’s intention to borrow $30 million from the Local Government Funding Agency to reinvest it in ‘financial markets’ in the expectation of making a net return of 3.5% on the money (net of the KCDC’s average interest cost of about 4.6%, meaning that it expects to make at least 8.1% gross).

Guy Burns’ media release about that was issued the day following the presentation of the proposal by council staff to a council meeting and was reproduced verbatim on here.  In it Guy Burns, although identifying the fact he is the Deputy Chair of the Paraparaumu-Raumati Community Board, used the first person (“I”) throughout, meaning they were his views and not those of the PRCB, as he has in all of his media releases since late 2016.

Michael Scott, who is the chairman of the Operations and Finance Committee (which consists of the whole council except David Scott who the council has made persona non grata), issued the media statement below in response.

Beach FM wrongly claimed that this was evidence of a spat between the PRCB and the council and said so on both its website and its Facebook page.

“It’s clear that Guy Burns isn’t going to let the facts get in the way of some more grandstanding,” says Operations and Finance Committee Chair, Councillor Michael Scott.

“The simple fact is Councils finances are looking better than they have been in at least the last five years,” Cr Scott said. “We are declaring a surplus of one million dollars across the organisation” said Cr Scott. “Perhaps Mr Burns just missed that in the papers he didn’t read for yesterday’s meeting.”

“The discussions for a resilience fund and a growth fund have been the subject of public workshops during the development of the LTP” says Cr Michael Scott.

“A draft LTP was available for comment where this concept was specifically set out for discussion.  Nothing has been slipped into anything,” says Cr Michael Scott.  “The fact that Mr Burns seems to have just stumbled across them is of concern,” said Cr Scott, “perhaps if he wasn’t away for 5 months at a time Mr Burns would have a better grasp what was happening at the council table.”

“Cr Scott is urging Mr Burns to get to the briefings and if he doesn’t understand then ask questions, not burst aimlessly into print.”  “The simple fact of the matter is council has not drawn down one cent for these funds.  We are still diligently working through a structured process,” said Cr Michael Scott.

The media release above was put on the council website but was intriguingly removed yesterday, and Mayor Guru made a statement that he welcomed Guy Burns bringing this plan to the attention of the ratepayers.

Despite that, in the PRCB the assertions by Beach FM have caused some obvious unhappiness. Board member Bernie Randall has issued this statement about Michael Scott’s statement.

“Cr Scott’s personal attack on Community Board member Guy Burns must be condemned.  He can dispute the facts if he wishes but suggesting Guy Burns approved leave of absence for 5 months (without pay) has affected his grasp of Council issues is wrong. This is just another attack by him and Mayor Gurunathan on Community Board members who they believe step out of line.

“Mayor Gurunathan has accused me of being a quack. But he got that wrong as it is the medical profession that are sometimes referred by that name, not the legal profession. Now a personal attack by Cr Michael Scott on Mr Burns who is raising an important issue concerning Council investment.

“Councillor Scott is fully aware, that during Mr Burns’ absence, I attended all Mr Burns’ meetings and briefings where allowed and kept Mr Burns fully informed. I say, ‘where allowed’ because Community Board members can only attend such briefings at the whim of the Mayor and on one occasion the “open and transparent“  Mayor requested myself and Kathy Spiers to leave the briefing. This was in conjunction with LTP matters.  Who knows what Councillors heard behind closed doors.

“Cr Scott needs to debate the facts with Mr Burns and not get into a personal attack.”

In the meantime, the Chair of the board, Jonny Best, sent this unilateral e-mail to members today:

Hi All,

It has come to my attention that the Paraparaumu/Raumati CB facebook page is not being used in the purpose that it was set up for.

Recent posts have been misleading with links promoting and individual board individual members views – this is not what a board page should be used for.

I am hoping we can catch up to discuss this further, but until that time edit rights have been removed from Bernie.

Regards,

Jonny

What the dynamics are between the PRCB members, including the two ward councilors, we don’t know exactly, and here in Waikanae they probably don’t matter particularly.

What does matter is how much careful scrutiny not only Crs Michael Scott, Vining and Benton, but all councilors give important matters like this that require it.

Karl Webber, who took the pic, says that dates are a treat for Korimako, Kaka and Tui. 🙂

About the Kapiti girl who sat for artist Frances Hodgkins.

by Malcolm Warr (1939- )

Although the proposed changes in the Elizabeth Street to Ngaio Road block have raised a lot of opposition from Waikanae people and their representatives, there are changes intended all along this section of the former SH1, most of them uncontroversial.

One question that has been asked is whether the KCDC intends to restore the 100 km/h speed limit that used to exist in the ‘rural’ parts of this road.  The answer, from what we can assess, is no: widening the Politically Correct paved shoulders for the benefit of cyclists means a corresponding narrowing of the traffic lanes, and in general the narrower the lane, the lower the speed that is safe.

We’ll just cover those sections from the Otaihanga roundabout to Peka Peka.  These statements by NZTA are reproduced verbatim.

Otaihanga Roundabout to Waikanae Bridge

Proposed changes

• Narrowing Otaihanga roundabout to a single lane to suit the traffic movements and lower traffic volumes since the Expressway opening.
• Widening the road along the western side north of the Otaihanga Roundabout to cater for a wider shoulder.  A new retaining wall and embankment will be required to support the widening and new lighting will be installed.
• Minor alterations to the road markings (the painted median and traffic lanes) in specific locations to widen the on-road cycle lanes to enhance cyclist safety.
• New road markings to demarcate the on-road cycle lane.
• The painted medians will be retained and re-marked in the centre of the road to enable people to turn into their driveways.
• New road signage appropriate for a local road.
• Extending the existing footpath along the western side of the road, on the south side of the Railway Overbridge and Waikanae River Bridge. The footpath will also be upgraded and become a shared path to enhance the connectivity and safety for pedestrians and cyclists travelling to the townships.
• A new kerb along the extended footpath including the installation of the new drainage infrastructure.
• A new crossing point with raised traffic island in the painted median to encourage cyclists onto the shared path where the road corridor and bridge is too narrow to cater for on-road cycle lanes. The crossing will be located on the south side of the railway overbridge and river bridge.
• New lighting and signage along the shared path.
• A new cycle warning system installed on the approaches to the river bridge.

• 

  As the road north of the roundabout looks now.

• 

  As it will look after widening the paved shoulders for cyclists.