Monthly Archives: July 2017

Notes from the July Meeting

July 27, 2017Meetings, NewsR.C.

Notes from the Newtown Residents’ Association Meeting July 17 2017

Association Membership The financial year runs from July 1st to June 30^th, so memberships need renewing now. Everyone is welcome to come to meetings – members and non-members. The difference is that members can vote and can stand for office at the AGM. It is also a great way of showing support for the work of the Association. The fee is still a gold coin, which can be paid at any Association meeting (the next meeting is on August 21^st). Email us if you would like to join but can’t get to the meeting.

Progress on Newtown Festival Trust Forming a Trust to run the Festival has been under discussion for several years, and the Association passed a motion in February asking for this to be expedited. The Newtown Festival Trust has now been established, with Anna Kemble Welch and James Coyle as foundation trustees. The intention is to bring three more trustees on board in the near future, and we are very pleased that Ian McKinnon has agreed to be one of these three. An application for charitable status has been lodged with Charities Services. When all five trustees have been appointed and Charitable Status has been granted the Newtown Residents’ Association will be asked to pass a resolution to hand over responsibility for the Newtown Festival to the Trust. We are very grateful to the lawyers, Chapman Tripp, who have been advising us and doing the necessary legal work on a ‘pro bono’ basis.

Cycling in Newtown Patrick Morgan reported that cycle ways through Newtown are about to be discussed again. Watch for Council engagement opportunities. [Since the meeting it has been announced that there will be opportunities to discus this with the WCC team at the Newtown Market at Newtown School on Saturday 29^th July, 8am-12 noon, and at St Annes Hall on Tuesday August 1^st 4pm-7pm. See more at http://transportprojects.org.nz]

Carrara Park gardens Lachie (Lachlan Marshall, the local Salvation Army officer) outlined how he and some Church associates became involved with maintaining the Park. They have been there every Tuesday morning since 6 May. He has been consulting with Linnéa Lindstroem, who was one of the founders of the Newtown Community Gardens group, Martin Hanley and Rhona Carson and others from the Association – our Association holds the lease to use the garden beds. Linnéa is willing and able to coordinate revitalising the Community Gardens, and there are ideas for raised garden beds (part of the original plans), and ideas for composting. A Council grant will fund materials for the garden beds. Ray Tuffin (WCC Liaison Officer) has had inquiries from childcare centres and older people for garden spaces to maintain.

General Election: Meet the Candidates Meeting Our Residents Association has traditionally hosted these meetings before elections, and would like to do so again. Voting opens on Monday September 11^th and it is proposed to hold the meeting during the week before. Patrick has offered to chair the meeting again, and the offer was accepted with acclamation. [It has now been confirmed that the meeting will be on Tuesday September 5^th, 7.30pm at St Anne’s Hall, Emmett St.]

Matariki event in Carrara Park – Saturday 29 July The Russian Orthodox Community are hosting this event, and have been consulting the Newtown Festival Office about logistics. People from a local Kohanga Reo have also been involved in the planning.

Residents parking on Constable Street A Constable St resident introduced this topic, outlining the extreme pressure on parking in this area. WCC have been approached about the possibility of Residents Parking – if this was implemented it would only be possible on one side of the street. The situation in Colombo St, where there is residents parking combined with time limited parking for non-residents, was described – this has been very successful. The discussion covered parking issues in Newtown generally, including the continuing concerns about how the proposed Mary Potter apartments might increase parking demand.

Cleaning up the Town Belt vegetation One of our members noted the amount of introduced weeds on parts of the Town Belt and asked if there would be interest in a working bee to remove them. It was noted that they would need to be replaced with suitable planting. We would need to consult with WCC, but it was thought that a working bee could be possible if this was approved.

Next meeting
Monday August 21^st, 7.30pm at the Newtown Hall, 71 Daniell St. Please email if you have suggestions of items for the agenda.

Submission on the Prince of Wales/Omāroro Reservoir

July 18, 2017Consultation, NewsR.C.

In February the Residents’ Association had a presentation from the Wellington Water Project Director Ulvi Salayev about the plans for the Prince of Wales reservoir.

See more about the plans here.

In June Wellington Water applied to Wellington City Council for a Town Belt Easement for the construction and operation of the reservoir, and the Council called for submissions. At the June meeting we agreed that our Association should make a submission, with a focus on the need for mitigation of the effect of construction on the residents in the neighbouring streets,

In our submission we are mindful of the need for mitigation of the effects of construction, but the main message is that we are keen to have an emergency water supply as soon as possible.

There has been some discussion about whether there is any option for changing the location of the reservoir, but our conclusion was that we didn’t want to pursue this. Wellington Water did identify 4 options, but on analysing them decided that the current site is the most suitable. This seems to be a pretty fixed decision and overturning it seems likely to be an enormous task – and then, if successful, going back to the drawing board and redoing all the calculations and studies and consultation, applying for new consents etc. It would surely add years to the process.

See our submission here.

June Meeting Notes

July 14, 2017Meetings, NewsR.C.

Notes from the Association Meeting on Monday 19th June 2017.

Future bus services.
Daran Ponter, from the Greater Wellington Regional Council, was the guest speaker, telling us about the new bus services which will be operating from 2018. Full details of all changes and affected routes can be found here, or pick up a brochure about Newtown services from Kia Ora Newtown. The aim is to increase capacity without putting more buses onto congested roads. The changes will involve higher capacity buses and simplified routes. The ‘spoke and hub’ model that was originally proposed has been modified, and the routes are now much more straightforward. Good news for University students is that their voices have been heard and the number 18 service will be retained at peak hours.
People at the meeting asked about the decision to replace the trolley buses before the promised electric buses are available. Daran explained the decision for replacement was made in 2015. It wasn’t unanimous but the majority ruled. The work has already been delayed, and it isn’t practical to keep putting it off.
There was also interest in the prospects for light rail, and Daran confirmed that ‘Let’s get Welly moving’ has reinvigorated the discussion.

Submission on the Prince of Wales/Omāroro Reservoir
The submission is due on 17th July. We discussed that the Association would make a submission that recognises the need for an emergency water supply. However the construction will have a significant impact on local residents, and we agreed that our submission will emphasise the need for mitigation of the effects of this, and also the need to protect the environment, in particular the Waitangi Stream tributary and the Papawai stream.