This coming Thursday there is another of those sessions where the public get to learn what the District’s highly paid bureaucrats have been doing.

The item 8.5 on the Agenda, “Paraparaumu Airport Waitangi Tribunal Claims” at page 141, while in the name of Ariana Reweti, Iwi Partnerships Advisor, has the present Mayor’s fingerprints over it. The letter from lawyers Russell McVeah about expected procedures under the Local Government Act seems to have had no effect — not that it’s unusual with KCDC. As Louisa Carroll says, Guru is far above the law.

According to this item on the Stuff website, the present Kapiti mayor “has vowed to take leave from office and join an occupation — if it comes to it – as local hapū battle to get ancestral land back by hook or by crook.” No doubt plenty of Kapiti Ratepayers will be pleased if he does, and will help by supplying him with a tent and organising food parcels for him.

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Otherwise, the main item of interest on next Thursday’s meeting Agenda appears at the end at page 155 under “Public Excluded” items — “Strategic Property Purchase — Prioritization”. That is the extent of the info. So what are they buying now? And will the public be told what it is, how much Ratepayers’ money they spent, and what they plan to do with it? Not if Council boss Mr Maxwell and his top bureaucrats can help it: Secrecy is their mantra.

Most political philosophy is just an elaborate justification for theft and fraud. What’s called the silent majority is really the ignored majority, who for the most part are happy being ignored. Their lives revolve their families, jobs, friends, and community, not the media, publicity, polls, or politics. They’re sick of elections well before they’ve seen […]

The Corruptocracy, by Robert Gore — STRAIGHT LINE LOGIC

Kamala Harris is Joe Biden’s choice for U.S. Vice President if he wins.

“We’re looking at over 220 million Americans who just in the last several months died,” said the Vice Presidential candidate.

I’m sorry, what? pic.twitter.com/tcWe9AcGTN

— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) October 23, 2020

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Why is it that Left wingers love proclaiming much exaggerated statistics for this virus?  Is it an attempt to distract attention from and discussion about other more important issues?

Probably the most honest statistics we’ve seen have been those of the Queensland government — it says only 6 deaths there out of 1,160 cases, a fatality rate of 0.52%.

See the earlier post for more pics.

Source with article

This took place in fine weather and as usual there was a mix of new stalls and many that are familiar.

This was probably the last Spring Market that will have the low stone wall between the pedestrian area and the Main Road vehicle thoroughfare as the intention is to demolish it about next July. The community and elected representatives have tried to change the KCDC/NZTA’s joint mind, but “Tear Down this Wall” has been their consistent attitude.

22 months ago Waikanae Town Centre lost its Heart when Waikanae Library was suddenly closed due to the discovery of toxic mould.

A newly landscaped Mahara Place, designed with a Library Plaza opening out from a redesigned Waikanae Library entrance, was conceived in 2018 and opened in October 2019 at a cost of over $1 million. 

In December 2018 the library closed and Mahara Place experienced a 50% drop in patronage.  Residents experiencing social isolation no longer had a Community Hub; those who could not afford modern technology no longer had access to a suite of computers; our Information Centre disappeared; a smaller pop-up library can only provide a fraction of the resources and community activities that were available at the old library. Waikanae needs its Community Hub back to provide all this and more to reflect the needs of our modern society and revitalise the town centre.

Please support our passionate group of Waikanae residents by signing this online petition to urge KCDC to rebuild our library as a Community Hub as quickly as possible by prioritising it in the upcoming Long Term Plan. 

Let’s make this happen for the benefit of all our Waikanae residents, young and old!

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Sue Lusk’s petition has 376 signatures so far, sign it here

… the stoats in the study ate surprisingly few birds. –Will Harvey, The Press, Monday 31 August 2020

Unexpected findings

By Roger Childs

Stoats are on the hit-list of the Predator-Free NZ movement and have been commonly blamed for killing myriads of birds. But a recent Department of Conservation (DOC) research study in three South Island National Parks – Nelson Lakes, Aspiring and Fiordland — has shown that they prefer small mammals, reptiles and insects. In many remote and high country areas stoats are also very useful in keeping rat numbers down and some conservationists see this as highly desirable. 

There are always consequences from targeting particular so-called pests. A few years ago in North Sydney foxes were targeted using 1080 poison. The result was a major increase in rabbits and bandicoot numbers in the residential areas. Sometimes it’s best to leave nature to balance things out.

Give stoats a break?

If only rats are taken out, stoats eat large quantities of native insects and lizards, an undesirable result.

There are plenty of sceptics on the logic behind the predator-free policy: for starters one public enemy — the possum — is not a predator. As it happens most birds are, especially the raptors like falcons and hawks.

Stoats are predators. However, according to DOC scientist, Jamie McAulay, they have a strong preference for ship rats. In the South Island survey of stoats there were no bird remains in the stomach contents of the Aspiring and Fiordland samples. Even in the Nelson Lakes where there are no rats, birds made up less than 2% of the stoat diet.  

The survey found that stoats have a “highly flexible” diet and like wetas and skinks. However the scientists involved in the sampling in the National Parks noted that much more information is needed.

Leave nature alone?

Rats have been in New Zealand for well over a thousand years and stoats for over 200. Most of the country’s birds have survived and those that didn’t like moa, Haast Eagles and huia were exterminated by humans, especially by the early Polynesian inhabitants and their predecessors. 

Realistically, rats, stoats, mice, ferrets and possums will still be here in another thousand years. As it always has, nature will sort out an equilibrium within the wider environment.