The caveat in the PWC report is below: all the information that the report used was provided by the council — there was no independent investigation and assessment of it all, despite what the present mayor claims.

There are health benefits from being associated with green spaces. –Dr Catherine Knight

The value of green spaces

by Roger Childs

About 60 people attended a meeting at the Performing Arts Centre last Thursday to hear speakers on the Greening of the Kapiti Environment. Those addressing the group included environmental historian Catherine Knight, former KCDC Biodiversity Officer Rob Cross, Whale Song promoter Marco Zeeman and a member of the local iwi. 

Catherine Knight emphasized that green space is good for us and referred to research that showed that people in hospitals and rest homes who have views of nature, had better morale and more positive feelings. A Danish study has also concluded that children who can look out on the natural environment are less likely to have mental problems.

Towns and cities around the country have been working on creating more green spaces in  their urban environments in recent years and Kapiti has a unique opportunity to improve on existing natural areas such as the lower reaches of the Wharemauku Stream.

The flow of the Wharemauku Stream through central Kapiti

The Stream flows out of the hills behind Paraparaumu, under the old State Highway, beneath the main Coastlands complex, under the expressway, round the south side of the airport and into the sea at Raumati Beach. Some 200 years ago it was a larger meandering waterway used by native waka and was a source of food for the resident hapu.

Over the last 50 years it has been subject to occasional flooding and in 1976 overflowed its banks west of Paraparaumu and formed a huge lake. The northern 300 metres of Kiwi Road was flooded and one local resident rowed a boat up the street! 

The building of the expressway has resulted in the development of major wetlands between Paraparaumu and Raumati, and today flooding is a thing of the past, as any overflow from the stream is dissipated into a labyrinth of channels and terminal ponds to the south of the walkway.  

There are two groups which have worked for years on improving the Wharemauku environment — one in Kaitawa Reserve close to the hills and the other in Paraparaumu on banks and along paths close to Rimu Road and Ihakara Street.

However, concerns remain over the state of the stream, especially —

• pollution from nearby businesses 
• toxic material in the tributary drains 
• the periodic dredging of the main stream to increase its depth 
• the weeds and blackberry along and near it banks.

Possible development

One specific proposal is the well-advertised Whale Song project of Marco Zeeman. This project would see a group of large whale sculptures raised above ground and a number of paths, bridges and buildings developed in the section west and south of the Rimu Road bridge. Some reservations were expressed at the meeting and former KCD Biodiversity Officer, Rob Cross, suggested that ecologists should be consulted before it gets the green light. There is a danger that instead of greening the environment beyond some token plantings and grass verges, a cultural overlay would be imposed on the natural landscape.

The Raumati section

The lower reaches of the Wharemauku need to be remembered in any development programme as the stream passes under the expressway, south of the airport and west of Weka Park as it winds through suburbia and into the Tasman Sea. In this section it goes under Alexander and Matatua Roads via culverts and is crossed by four foot and cycle bridges. Untidy banks are a problem in this area.

The meeting was essentially an awareness raising exercise and there will be on-going discussions on the future development of the Wharemauku Stream. 

Frederick Douglass wikipedia page

There were some 15 of them.

(Photos by Bernie Randall)

from theBFD

We’ve set up an email address so you too can submit letters to the Prime Minister. We will format your letter in a suitable child-like font, perhaps make it look like crayon, so she will read it, then we will publish it and send it on your behalf.

Send your letters to lettertopm[at]thebfd.co.nz and we will send it on your behalf, complete with stars, glitter and the works.

If the Prime Minister wants to treat us like children, then we will speak to her as a child does. Maybe we will then get some action on the things that matter.

Dunedin has been good to me. My wife Teagan and I have a home and a business here and our son Luka was born here. I felt that committing to the Highlanders for another few years in some small way says thanks for all the support we have enjoyed over the years. –Aaron Smith, Highlanders match record holder

Barrett’s heroics

By Roger Childs

It came in threes for the youngest of the All Black Barrett brothers – three tries, three conversions and three long range penalties. This was enough for the Hurricanes to comfortably beat the Highlanders on Friday night and for Jordie Barrett to create a record for points by a player in a Super Rugby Aotearoa match. 

The Wellington-based franchise went to Dunedin very much the underdogs with three losses out of three so far in the competition. However, under the roof at the Forsyth Barr stadium the visitors shot out to a 10 point lead after 12 minutes. Mid way through the second half the Hurricanes were 27-12 ahead but they would have been mindful of last weekend’s melt-down at the Sky Stadium in Wellington when they blew a 26-7 lead against the Chiefs to lose the match.

Although the home team picked up two second half tries it was not enough to give them a victory to celebrate Aaron Smith’ record breaking 154^th game for the Southerners.

Too many mistakes by the locals

The Highlanders had their chances and spent three times as much time in the opposition’s 22 as the Hurricanes. Unfortunately opportunities to score were not taken as there were a number of handling errors and penalties given way. Mitch Hunt playing at first five did not have a good match summed up in the second half when he dropped an easy high kick from man-of-the-match Jordie Barrett. The Southerners may well have fared better if Josh Iaone had been in his accustomed position at first five.

For the Highlanders Shannon Frizell and Pari Pari Parkinson made strong carries in the loose; Iaone was dangerous from full back with his tricky running and Ash Dixon lead from the front in the forwards. Folau Fakatava replacing Smith at half back, was lively and caught the Hurricanes napping late in the second half with a quick tap to put Thomas Umaga-Jensen in for an excellent try on the right flank.

For the visitors in addition to Barrett’s starring role, Salesi Rayasi was strong on attack and kicked well; Scrafton was impressive in the lineout and the tight, and Dane Coles returning from injury had a lively game.

It was an even contest in the forwards and basically the differences in the two teams was the sharpness of the the visitors when they got the chances to attack.

Proud night for Smith

Following the match Aaron Smith was presented with a claymore sword in recognition of his service to the Southern franchise and his record in becoming the team’s most capped player.  His wife was also present and small son Luka wore a Highlander jersey with the half back’s number 9 on the back. Captain Ash Dixon led the enthusiastic haka to honour their record breaking team mate. 

by K.R. Bolton

Any hope of calm descending in the wake of the unfounded allegations made against Kapiti residents by Otaki iwi and haka participants at the KCDC meeting of 25 February and repeated by a Stuff journalist has gone after the figurative fires have been stoked by the intervention of local artist Homai Haumaru. 

A purported ‘Far Right Group’ at KCDC — a very mixed bag indeed

Having previously expressed outrage on the supposed heckling and jostling of ‘children’ at the KCDC meeting of 25 February, about which there should now have been sufficient information for him to realise the Stuff claims were fiction, on a social and artistic medium in Otaki called Hori, Mr Haumaru has inflamed matters.

Through masterful sleuthing, he claims to have found the two culprits who allegedly incited the alleged events against the ‘children’ — Dale Evans and myself. According to this latest addition to the legend, Mr Evans, representing the Ku Klux Klan, and myself (representing unreconstructed ‘neo-Nazism’) have aligned to form a ‘far right group’ that took up the entirety of the space allotted to the public, symbolically on the ‘far right’ (sic) side of the public gallery. From this strategic position that was directly opposite the main body of the public, around twenty ‘white supremacists’ — which presumably included the five women holding ‘just vote no’ signs, ‘named and shamed’ by Cr Jackie Elliott — could hurl abusive broadsides towards the large party of iwi reps and haka ‘children’, apparently with impunity. 

‘So we found them these are the people who just happen to be on the “far right” Dale Evans front and center is a known racist piece of shit. And behind him is Kerry Bolton a closet neo Nazi or maybe he’s out of the closet I am not sure? These two and their white washed group of bull bag mates behind them are the ones responsible for the way our Otaki tamariki were treated at the council meeting’.

And what an unlikely bunch, headed by the Jewish Mr Evans, myself, a miscegenationist on two counts (Jewish and Raukawa), who would have been classified a ‘race traitor’ in Nazi Germany; the Jewish Mr Ruthe; a member of the Labour Party; the spouse of a Chinese woman; but, other than my wife, the rest of this ‘far right group’ (sic) are unknown to me. 

Punching out teeth, and other Lessons in tolerance

Nonetheless we — the ‘far right group’ — are invited to the Hori art gallery where we will be helped to ‘understand the language of the monkeys’. 

Now, this last quip is especially perplexing. According to the Otaki school complaint to KCDC, someone in the audience remarked ‘why should we have to listen to this monkey language?’ If we take the scenario presented by Mr Haumaru and by Ms Ngarewa-Packer (Maori Party MP) in an NZ Herald article, someone of ‘us’ yelled that across the room. For anyone to have heard this from that side, it must also have been heard by some councillor, and indeed much of the chamber. 

It is also Ms Ngarewa-Packer who resurrected an old picture of Dale Evans in one of his stunts, dressed in a makeshift Klan outfit to make a point that had nothing to do with ‘racism’ [it was to demonstrate the nuttiness of then Mayor Rowan’s idea of having a hoodie day —Eds.] Nonetheless, this in itself was sufficient to evoke hysteria, with calls for him to be removed from ‘office’. What ‘office’? It is indicative of the dribbling confusion gripping the mob. 

While Cr McCann claims special powers of observation and hearing that are not possessed by any other councillor, Crs Martin Haliday and Bernie Randall, who were seated closer than Cr McCann, state that they heard or saw nothing to verify what is alleged to have taken place according to the Stuff journalist’s report; even the superpowered McCann does not mention the ‘monkey’ claim.  

I can only conclude that they did not hear anyone call out from the ‘far right group’… seated at the far right, and on the same side of the chamber as themselves, the comment about ‘monkey language’, because it did not occur. Others in the main body of the audience did not hear this either. 

Mr Haumaru then suggests that should we show up to his soirée he might very well knock our teeth out, and we be ‘taught a lesson’. What Mr Haumaru has been led to believe by ‘woke’ Pakeha is that ‘children’ were abused, and jostled, with allusions to ‘monkey language’. For my part, I thought the haka excellent, but some women and elderly crammed among the increasingly loud and vigorous performance did not look so enthused, and there were real concerns for the safety of several seniors.  

Poi dance… ah, what poi dance?

Furthermore, vital new information has emerged from yet another witness who was not present, Catherine Scullin of Beach FM radio who refers to ‘children doing a poi dance’. Cr Handford, being interviewed by Ms Scullin, did not see fit to correct her. 

The result, and presumably intent, of Mr Haumaru’s posting has been a burst of anger from dozens of messengers who have posted incitements to violence especially against Mr Evans and myself, and in particular the former, whose residential whereabouts has been described by someone who must be of especially gutless character. Others have called for the boycotting of businesses, and for ‘racists’ to be run out of town. That is to say, a lynch mob hysteria has been quickly incited, and a witch-hunt proclaimed: ‘ere be the [imperial] wizards afflicting our village’. Drive them out. Beat them, and in one instance, ‘bring in the MOB’ (sic).

One post suggests sending in a masked group to beat up Dale Evans, whose health problems render him an invalid. Such heroism. Someone thought that I had a ‘sick wife’, but that allusion did not deter the mob-psychosis. However, not a single one of these erstwhile defenders of ‘liberty, equality, fraternity’, seem to have been present at the KCDC meeting. They are imbibing any bilge that Stuff feeds them, augmented by councillors whose integrity is questionable, and it is they who should accept responsibility for any of the threats should these be actioned, having given credibility to nonsense.

Given the moronic freneticism, histrionics and easy manner by which these individuals were able to be whipped up, their banal insults directed against Mr Evans, myself and the ‘group’ (sic) seated on the ‘far right’ are nothing but projections of their own ignorance, the unleashing of their own repressed shadow unconscious, and the demonization of individuals held up as scapegoats for the irresponsibility of KCDC, Beach FM and Stuff(ed) journalism.

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There is more to come on this episode, and on the Guru Gateway (a.k.a. Gurugate) saga generally. As Karl Webber of the local Hapu says, the present Kapiti mayor and the Chief Executive Mr Maxwell have to own this. The mayor seems to regard anyone opposed to his Gateway as somehow ‘racist’: ridiculously, they include the Mana Whenua / Hau Kainga, and also the Marae trustees and Kaumatua at Ati Awa.  Watch this space folks, there are going to be repercussions. —Eds

by Jordan Williams

You’ve got until the end of tomorrow (Sunday) to make your voice heard on the Climate Change Commission’s radical plans to upend the New Zealand economy. Our submission tool means it takes just two minutes.

Submissions close tomorrow night.

Yesterday I joined former Senior Economic Advisor to Sir Bill English, Matt Burgess, to interview the Commission’s Chair, Dr Rod Carr. You can listen to the podcast here.

The key concession: Dr Carr admitted that the Climate Change Commission has chosen not to take a least-cost approach to reaching the zero carbon target.

That is alarming. It basically means the Commissioners consider they have a blank cheque to impose their preferences to plan our economy, society, and even cities. As I explained earlier, many of the Commission’s draft recommendations don’t even reduce emissions — and the Commission’s own analysis shows we are already on the pathway needed to achieve our international emissions goals.

If you agree that the Government should be looking to hit climate targets for the least economic damage, we need you to add your voice by making a submission.

Countless left wing groups are getting their supporters to file form submissions. Rod Carr has said publicly that he is seeking a ‘mandate’ to impose the radical reforms listed in the email below. That’s why we need two minutes of your time right now – to prevent the Government claiming it has public ‘support’ for these plans.

Ironically, it appears that many of the climate lobby groups haven’t got to grips with the Commission’s analysis. In many cases the planned interventions do nothing to actually reduce emissions, and in some cases actually slow us down – but with huge economic damage.

Send submission now <<<

from Rangitikei Environmental Health Watch:

On businessinsider.com.au

• JAB Holding owns some of the most famous chains in the world, including Krispy Kreme, Panera, and Pret A Manger.
• On Wednesday, Pret A Manger announced it had reached an agreement to acquire British sandwich chain EAT.
• JAB is owned by the secretive German Reimann family, which has a net worth of at least $US19 billion.
• Here is the breakdown of all the chains that JAB Holding owns.

READ MORE https://www.businessinsider.com.au/jab-holding-owns-panera-bread-krispy-kreme-pret-a-manger-2019-4?r=US&IR=T

RELATED: ‘Krispy Kreme’ Offer Free Doughnuts For ‘The Vaccinated’

Krispy Creme is also giving free donuts to those who WON’T get jabbed for COVID by Mark Crispin Miller (25 Mar 2021 14:59 EDT)

A NZ District Health Board initiates a one-off free meal scheme for port workers who take the covid-19 injection

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And from satirical website The Onion:

Krispy Kreme Offers Vaccinated Customers Free Ride On Glaze Conveyor Belt