from The BFD

The Police have become overbearing and threatening in their dealings with Licenced Firearms Owners. They have been aided and abetted by an out of control Police Minister, Stuart Nash.

Currently, they are ramming through legislation for a gun register despite the fact that no gun register anywhere in the world has been either

A) cost-effective.

B) a useful tool in crime prevention.

On top of that, they have proven that they cannot be trusted with private data after a massive data breach that potentially exposed more than 30,000 LFOs.

Then we have the alarming statistics regarding criminal elements within the Police who are accessing existing databases and selling information to criminals. In a Stuff article this week, we read about a bent copper who spent a year selling database information from Police systems to criminals.

Read the rest

As we have mentioned before, any improper behaviour you may experience by a Police officer should be the subject of an immediate complaint to the Independent Police Conduct Authority — website   In our experience, most police officers are good, but there is definitely a small minority who are not and the IPCA is keen for these to be weeded out.

Another of Roger Brent Smith’s great bird photos taken around Kapiti.

One of the popular places for bathers in summer.

In this issue–

• Feedback on Richard Mansell’s talk last month
• The forthcoming December session – David Hadfield on his famous ancestor Octavius Hadfield– Tuesday 17 December
• Possible sessions for 2020

Thanks to our November speaker: Richard Mansell

It was great to have the chief executive along to speak about the evolution of Coastlands over the last 50 years. It has been an amazing on-going development in central Paraparaumu and does great credit to the earlier founders, and Richard and his staff.

He illustrated his highly interesting session with maps and aerial photos showing how the landscape of central Paraparaumu has been transformed in the last 50 years.

The talk was much appreciated by the members.

The December speaker: David Hadfield

Octavius Hadfield was a sickly young man when he arrived in New Zealand as a missionary in the 1830s. He was not expected to survive for long, but extraordinarily he lived to become Archbishop of New Zealand and died at the age of 90.

Octavius and his wife Kate, the daughter of Northland missionary Henry Williams, had a huge impact on the Kapiti area, and being fluent in te reo, they enjoyed excellent relations with local Maori. Over the decades, Octavius Hadfield was a frequent thorn in the side of colonial governments as he was determined to see the native people treated fairly, especially with regards to the sale of land.

Come along and hear his great-great-great grandson, David, talking about his famous ancestor.  It should be a very interesting and informative talk covering the many roles Octavius Hadfield played in Kapiti’s and New Zealand’s history in the mid to late 19th century.

Tuesday, 17 December at 7.30 pm
Kapiti Uniting Church
10 Weka Road, Raumati Beach
Enter via the main church door.
Gold coin koha. Thanks
A light supper will be served following the talk.

2020 – shaping up the programme of topics and speakers

• Kapiti’s Changing Coastline (Professor Mark Dickson) – confirmed for Tuesday 31 March
• Gallipoli – Myth and Reality – confirmed for April
• Whareoa Farm (Ann Evans) – confirmed, probably May
• Paraparaumu’s First Retirement Village – Seven Oaks
• The history of Paraparaumu airport
• Key figures in Kapiti’s early-mid 19th century history – Wiremu Kingi, Te Rauparaha and Octavius Hadfield
• Suggestions for topics and speakers are always very welcome.

All the very best for the festive season.
—Roger Childs and John Robinson, Coordinators of the Kapiti Historical Society

A message from the council.

Waimea Domain boardwalk
The decking of the boardwalk is being replaced. The bridge is not having the decking replaced as the whole bridge will need replacing in a few years and the current surface is adequate. The work will take 2–3 weeks and the track will be closed during working hours but accessible in the evenings and during the weekend.

Waikanae River trail, north bank
We are resurfacing the Waikanae River trail on El Rancho land between the Expressway footbridge and the Otaihanga Domain Oxbow bridge. Works are expected to take three days and will involve scraping and widening the soft material off the track surface and bringing in new gravel. The track will remain open and will be actively managed around the work site to ensure the safety of users. Work will commence in the next couple of weeks.

For both Waimea Domain and Waikanae River trail there will be signs in place to let people know that this work is being undertaken and we will inform people through our usual channels.

Waimanu Lagoons tidal flushing
Every year during the summer period we flush the Waimanu Lagoons to control the weed and algae (if present).  We will be undertaking the first tidal flush before Christmas (likely the week of 8 December, depending on weather and tides) and three or four  times over the summer period.  The lagoon will be drained, the control gate closed and a low water level maintained for approximately 3 – 5 days depending on dry weather to allow the weed and/or algae to burn off.  A letter will go out to residents near the Lagoons early next week to let them know this is happening.

Dept of Conservation media release

The Waikanae Estuary Care Group will be stocking up their plant nursery to help restore the Lower North Island’s second most valuable estuarine environment following a $20,000 grant from the Department of Conservation (DOC) Community Fund.

The Waikanae Estuary Scientific Reserve, established in 1987, protects a natural mosaic of freshwater and coastal ecosystems in what is today an urbanised area. The Waikanae Estuary Care Group has been working hard since 2006 to maintain and restore the estuary.

The Care Group will receive $20,000 over the next 21 months from the Community Fund, which will go towards growing of some 3500 native eco-sourced plants in the Care Group’s own nursery in the estuary.

“This grant will support and grow our existing work to improve the Waikanae Estuary for both the flora, fauna and the public,” says Robin Gunston, chairman of the Care Group.

“Increased urbanisation has seen the estuary habitats reduced in area, and they are also subject to an increasing range of pressures about their use. A key part of the Care Group’s work is not only to restore but demonstrate to the public how they can protect and care for the Scientific Reserve that they use regularly, but often take for granted.”

An additional 2000 plants will be specially sourced and grown to go alongside the main estuary path, aimed at radically enhancing the public perception of the Scientific Reserve. The nursery will be updated, with renewed shade house growing and plant-out capacity. Planting will be enhanced by environmentally friendly plant shelters, which are more effective and reusable.

Read the rest

This page on the American National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website contains short clips of the sounds that the various different types of whale to be found in the oceans make. There are some that appear from time to time in the waters off the Kapiti Coast.