Monthly Archives: May 2015

Gambling Venues Policy Submission

News

This is the text of our submission to WCC on this topic:

Submission on Wellington City Council Review of the Gambling Venues Policy 2010.  The Newtown Residents’ Association has been an Incorporated Society since July 1963.  We are residents and business owners from Newtown, Berhampore, Mt Cook and the surrounding suburbs, who take a keen interest in the community and local issues. We discussed this policy review at our monthly meeting on May 18th 2015. We wish to place on record our dismay at the harm caused to families in our community by problem gambling on ‘pokies’ – non-casino gaming machines. Continue reading Gambling Venues Policy Submission →

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The future plans for Keep Newtown Clean

News

At the NRA meeting on Monday 18th May our President, Claire Pettigrew, and Hine Sullivan, WCC grafitti officer, jointly presented a brief history of Keep Newtown Clean and a proposal for the future to change from a monthly clean up to having special events four times a year. This year these would start the first Saturday in September, again in December, the end of February for a special clean up before the Festival, and again the first Saturday in June.

Their talk was illustrated with a power point presentation, which you can link to here.  

The meeting agreed to welcome Keep Newtown Clean into the Association.  We are now looking for enthusiastic volunteers committed to keeping our suburb looking its best – do please get in touch if this sounds like you!

Notes about the May 2015 meeting

Consultation, Meetings, News

You will find the minutes of the meeting here.

This was a well-attended meeting, with a number of people attending especially to hear from the Salvation Army about their plans for redevelopment.

Salvation Army

Ian McLaren, TSA Property Secretary and Guy Cleverley, Architect, talked about the plans and answered questions, with input from Mark Ashby, Planning Consultant.  You will find a full account in the meeting minutes.  It was emphasised that the plans are at a preliminary stage, with many details still to be worked through.

Following the discussion a motion was put to the meeting: That the NRA supports the concept in principle, subject to consultation going forwards and to neighbours’ concerns. Proposed Tom Law, seconded Evelyn Hopkins. This was countered by a proposal from the floor – That we do not support it until we have received all the documentation.  A vote was taken for and against supporting the concept, with a majority in favour of support but a sizeable minority dissenting. We look forward to continuing consultation as the plans develop.

Keep Newtown Clean

This will be the subject of a separate post.  In brief, the NRA has been asked to bring the Keep Newtown Clean project under the Association’s umbrella, and following discussion agreed to do this.  The plan is to move from a monthly clean-up to events four times a year.  We will be looking for a volunteer co-ordinator – or group of co-ordinators.

WCC Gambling Venues Policy Review

Submissions on this policy are due on Friday 22nd May. George Darroch from the Problem Gambling Foundation spoke to the meeting about the work of the Foundation and about their observations of the harm gambling is doing to local families. Following discussion the meeting agreed unanimously that the NRA

  • Supports a ‘sinking lid’ for gaming machines
  • Supports the money from gaming trusts coming back to the community where the gaming machines are located,
  • Advocates for a gaming machine-free southern ward.

Following the meeting these resolutions formed the basis for the NRA submission to the WCC on the gambling venues policy.

The next NRA meeting will be on June 15th, 7.30pm – as usual,  at the Newtown Community Hall in Daniell St.

May 2015 Meeting

Meetings, News,

The next Residents’ Association Meeting is on Monday May 18th, 7.30pm,  at the Newtown Hall, 71 Daniell St. All welcome!

The agenda includes –

The Salvation Army are coming to discuss their plans for a new development on Normanby, Riddiford and Donald MacLean Streets. Read more about the plans… They are keen to obtain feedback and answer any questions.  This is one of the biggest property developments in our suburb for many years, and the discussion should be of interest to all in Newtown.

The Gambling Venues Policy review closes at 5pm on Friday 22 May.  We will be discussing the issue, and hope to have the input of a Council Officer familiar with the topic.  We will then be looking to form a small group to work quickly to write a submission based on our discussion.  If you are interested, please come – or please let us know by emailing on newtownwellington@gmail.com

Discussion on the future of Keep Newtown Clean.

If you have other items, or questions, please email us, as above.

Newtown Library Temporary Closure, 13th May till 22nd July 2015

News

The Newtown Library in Constable Street is being refurbished!

The WCC website says:

“Newtown Library will be temporarily closed for scheduled maintenance and upgrades.

The library will be closed from 13th May 2015 until 22nd July 2015 inclusive.

Newtown Library was built approximately 25 years ago and requires scheduled maintenance and upgrades. Contractors will be replacing the skylights, installing heating systems, ventilation systems and efficient lighting. Interior painting and replacing vinyl will be done at the same time.

Newtown library

Wellington City Libraries are providing these services for our Newtown Library customers during this time:

  • Free shuttle between Newtown and Ruth Gotlieb (Kilbirnie) libraries Monday to Friday
  • Reserves available for collection from Smart Newtown
  • Issue periods extended for the duration of the closure
  • Return fees waived for books returned to other libraries
  • More seating and newspapers available at Ruth Gotlieb Library (Kilbirnie)
  • Access to our 24/7 online services

We encourage you to “stock up” from May 1st to take advantage of the extended loan period. You can stay updated about the project through updates to this page, the WCC call centre (499 4444), and our Facebook and Twitter updates.

If you have any questions or require further information about the closure please contact Andrea Thomas or Sharon Macintyre by phoning 830 1255 or emailing enquiries@wcl.govt.nz.”

Submission to the Wellington City Council on the Long Term Plan

Consultation, News

The NRA President and Secretary – Claire Pettigrew and Rhona Carson – made an oral submission to the Council on 5th May 2015, to back up the written submission the Association put in earlier.

We spoke about concerns about Council services – e.g. rubbish, drainage etc.  There was a report in the Dominion Post the next morning about the hearings in which we got a mention – quote: “Big ideas were fine, but the basics had to be working first, President Claire Pettigrew said.”
We also asked the WCC to continue to support the Newtown Festival, and were encouraged by the affirmation from the Chair that  “The Newtown Festival is already an iconic Wellington event”.

Salvation Army new building development

News
You may have heard that the Salvation Army are planning to redevelop the block bordered by Normanby St, Riddiford St and Donald McLean St – with the exception of the property on the corner of Donald McLean St housing the TAB and Le Manaia (which was the Zoo Bar) and the Mission for Youth building in Donald McLean St.  The plan is to have all their services in one place – and to sell their present properties in Constable St, Rintoul St and Riddiford St North.
The NRA Executive and others were invited to see and discuss the plans on 22/4/15, and the developers explained that
  • The building will be 2 stories tall, with graduated heights along Normanby St, so that it eases in from residential houses to the facility.
  • It will comprise of:
    • main hall
    • community ministries/drop in centre
    • family store
    • addiction treatment
    • early education centre
  • It is intended to be a mixed-use project that also works as a community facility (i.e. meeting room/hall hire).
  • The hall will be in the middle, with other rooms all around and large amounts of glass so people can see in and see the activity, giving a sense of vibrancy to that block.
  • 36 carparks will be accessed from Donald MacLean St.

In order to achieve this the plan is to demolish the existing buildings on the block.  As well as the little shops and cafes on Riddiford St the Salvation Army

  • Intend to pull down 2x pre1930s buildings on Donald MacLean St (currently converted into garages) – no restriction as this zone is classed commercial.
  • Intend to pull down 4x pre1930s buildings on Normanby St (currently 3 rented, 1 uninhabitable) – one has no restriction as is classed as commercial, but the other 3 will require consent as they are classed residential.

They have accepted an invitation to come to the Resident’s Association meeting on 18th May to explain the plans to a wider audience.

To have a look at the areas affected follow this link to the google satellite map of the streets concerned.