Effectively an extension of Waikanae North, this is offering 39 lots, so nothing substantial in itself, in terms of the effect on Waikanae’s population, but there’s more to come in the Waikanae North development.

As a piece of trivia, there is another Manu Park: the largest natural reserve in the Peruvian Amazon.

Realtor’s listing

Propaganda video

Meet Falco, one of the newest members of the Conservation Dog Programme, aiming to become a fully certified protected species dog.

via Falco – the conservation dog-in-training — Conservation blog

Regular readers will be aware of the controversy over this.  The small group of us that met last Saturday are calling ourselves “Friends of the Waikanae Town Centre” and the first action has been to produce this survey to give local Waikanae people the opportunity to give their preferences.

Margaret Delbridge spoke to the WCB meeting on Tuesday about it and the WCB agreed to contribute $200 to cover the costs, mostly for printing paper versions for distribution in the town.

The paper version is shown below (the draft, some changes have been made), but there is an identical on-line version for responses on this Survey Monkey webpage.

It’s expected that responses will be collated and results presented a month from now.

These are its 4 substantive pages (page 1 is a standard preliminary).

Our comments

Most of the above can be readily agreed with, but there are some question marks:

A new library

Although it’s a horrible contemplation, you can help wondering what percentage of the population will still read books 10 years from now and whether there is thus any need for a new library.

Economic development

Simplified, this seems to say “we want to see more tourists arriving in the town centre”, which is in essence what Destination Waikanae has been trying to achieve for the past 4 years.  The question that raises in turn is, “what is there to attract them”?  That’s been regularly posed on here since this blog began, with some ideas. The Marae and a new Mahara Gallery have that potential, and more attractive open areas should help.

Bus route via Rymans

The consideration is good in principle and the lack of potential inclusion of the whole Waikanae North development in public bus coverage seems to be a lack of foresight by the council planner(s).

However, Rymans has its own regular courtesy bus for tenants to the town centre, so the need for a public bus isn’t great and the cost stated of widening the streets can’t allow it feature highly on an infrastructure priority list.

While on that general subject, you wonder if the council planners have similarly given any thought to future public transport needs in the massive Maypole company subdivision.

Waikanae Park

Does it need an “adult exercise gym” when these exist in the town centre?  Why the need for a $25,000 barbecue in the park?  Wouldn’t a food truck or two meet any catering need?

Waikanae Beach hall

The existing hall isn’t great and there should be a better one.  Gerald Rys of the local Beach Society said at the WCB meeting on Tuesday that the additional proposed rates in the Beach Zone will bring in $750,000 in the next financial year, so it’s only fair that they be used for the benefit of those in the Beach Zone.  Together with proceeds from selling the existing hall, there should be enough to do that over the next 2 years.

The ANZAC commemoration at the Memorial Hall today at 11 am (a traditional time as that was that hour that the armistice that ended World War 1 took effect) saw the hall packed with veterans, service personnel, scouts, guides and members of the public.  This year is the last that marks a centenary of the WW1 years.

Mayor Guru briefly recounted his family’s experiences in his part of Malaysia which had a Chinese majority and suffered under the ruthless brutality of the occupying Japanese of WW2 between 1942 and 1945. His own grandfather was one of those rounded up by soldiers in a square and sent to the construction of the ‘Death Railway’ between Thailand and Burma. He was never heard from again.

Chris Turver spoke of the number of NZ soldiers who served in WW1, and in the conflicts since — and of the numbers of those who were killed and wounded.  In the ‘war to end all wars’, enthusiasm by the population about doing their part to support the British in the battle of Empires in Europe soon turned to disillusionment, heartbreak and a daily grind as the war dragged on with no end in sight.  This was the worst conflict for NZ troops with 18,000 dead.  In WW2 more intelligent generals saw that figure reduced to a still hefty 12,000. In the most recent conflict, Afghanistan, which has now lasted nearly 17 years, there have been 10 NZ soldier casualties.

The slogan ‘Lest we forget’ was a danger a few decades ago, but the number of young people attending ANZAC commemorations now ensure that there is no likelihood of that here — and there is little likelihood of it either in the different battlefields overseas where the dead are buried — in Belgium, France, Italy, Turkey and Egypt among other countries — as locals keenly tend the graves.

(Council media statement)

“Last week we extended our pop up park [artificial grass patch] in Mahara Place, Waikanae, and added a second one down Mahara laneway. Because these spots are proving popular we’re going to continue the concept through to the Waikanae Library alcove in Mahara Place. By opening up the doors to the Library and with the use of colour and vertical planting, we’ll create a vibrant and inviting space for people to socialise, or just rest and relax. This temporary installation will happen over the next couple of weeks so keep an [eye] out, and make use of it once it’s in place.”

(Naturalhealth365) For many baby boomers, it’s an unpleasant irony – the generation that famously said “Never trust anyone over thirty!” is now, itself, experiencing the undeniable signs of cognitive decline due to aging. For example, the statistics on Alzheimer’s suggest we have a serious health crisis on our hands – especially as we move closer to 2050. […]

via Stop cognitive decline with these 10 great nutritional tips — Rangitikei Enviromental Health Watch

This was one of several topics discussed by a small group of us unhappy with the NZTA & KCDC proposals for the Main Road who met last Saturday.

NZTA & KCDC don’t actually propose a crossing here (they want traffic lights for the whole Ngaio Road intersection instead), but it’s where we’ve observed a lot of people crossing at peak commuter times in weekday mornings and evenings.

We are unhappy with the intention of putting traffic lights at the Ngaio Road intersection — a case could have been made for them in SH1 days, but not now.

Types of pedestrian crossings

For those interested, there are detailed pdf’s on the NZTA website on their design here and here, but a brief summary is as follows:

basic refuge islands on Te Moana Road

Refuge Islands
For pedestrians:

• These help to cross the road in two stages, treating each half of the road as a separate crossing.
• Vehicles have priority over pedestrians.

For drivers:

• Vehicles have priority, but…
• They need to be aware of people waiting to cross and slow down just in case.
  

  ---

Puffin Crossings
These are relatively new and are traffic light controlled, but instead of timers, detectors tell when people are waiting; they also “watch” the crossing and control the signals while they are crossing.  Pedestrians get enough time to cross — but the signals don’t stay on red for motorists once people have crossed.

For pedestrians:

• They must wait for the green figure signal on the poles next to/opposite where they wait to cross before stepping into the road.

For drivers:

• It has a standard traffic light sequence, but the lights change to green as soon as the crossing is clear.
  

  ---

Zebra Crossings (as they are called in the UK)
These consist of wide longitudinal white stripes on the road perpendicular to the crossing route, sometimes with Belisha beacons 

Pedestrians:

• Wait until traffic from both directions has stopped before attempting to cross.

Drivers:

• Look for people waiting to cross and be ready to slow down or stop to let them cross.
• Must yield when someone is on a crossing, unless they are on the other side of the road and it has a refuge island.
  

  ---

Pelican Crossings (as they are called in the UK)
Rather like a zebra crossing, but with traffic lights: the pedestrians push buttons to get a red stop signal for motorists and a green “cross” signal for them:

• They have timers for pedestrians, often showing a “don’t cross” flashing warning when there is not much time left, or a countdown in seconds.

Drivers:

• Stop when the red Stop light shows.
• Should be prepared to yield to pedestrians who are still crossing when the light has changed to green – they may be elderly or disabled.

We popped in this morning and had a brief chat with Chris the pharamacist.  As noted in the previous announcement, the centre has two full time doctors, and partners from the main Health Centre in the town will also have attendances there.

Chris says the pharmacy has a full stock of medical supplies, but resource consent bureaucracy has meant that while they can stock sunscreen, they can’t stock sunglasses — and other peripheral products that you may expect.

The same bureaucracy meant that they have made do with an external sign that is the maximum size that they can place before Resource Consent application rules apply.

There are car parks at the rear of the building, so concern by those in the street about congestion should have been alleviated.

by Apihaka Mack

WAI 1018 and WAI 609.

Ngātiawa Claimants are not represented by Ngati Toa and Raukawa controlled Te Atiawa ki Whakarongotai Charitable Trust (AWCT). AWCT is a member of KCDC of Whakameinga Komiti, also controlled by the Raukawa Chairman. This KCDC Committee does not represent any Ngātiawa Ki Kapiti whanau, Hapu/Clan or Treaty Claimants.

The Ministry of Justice has spent over $500,000 on WAI 1018 only in the last 10 years. They will not waste this investment by stripping Ngātiawa of all Treaty Claim Rights.

To cater for AWCT who have not attended a Waitangi Tribunal Judicial Conference for 10 years: their mandated status is being challenged with the Crown due to the Ombudsman’s 2012 investigation into the Trust Deed where registered “members were naive to believe they were beneficiaries.” The Crown breached their own Legislation in a mandated Iwi issue.

It is important to note the only links with Ngati Toa and Raukawa controlled Atiawa ki Whakarongotai is through through inter-marriages. If I marry an Apache American native, it does not make me an Apache — I still only have Ngātiawa Maori blood.  The majority of Ngātiawa have no Raukawa or Ngati Toa blood.

The Waitangi Tribunal has booked the first Treaty Claim Hearing for Whakarongotai Marae Trustees and Atiawa ki Whakarongotai Charitable Trustees, which will be held on 25-28 June 2018 at Kapiti Senior Citizens’ Hall, 2 Utauta Street, Waikanae.