Category Archives: Meetings

Notes from the November Meeting

Consultation, Local Events, Meetings, News

Merio Marsters Association President, welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Sam Somers (Treasurer) summarised the accounts. The Association has applied for an annual Council grant of  $1000, and Stone Soup Community Gardens grant of $300 has been approved for the Carrara Park garden beds..

Projects:

Carrara Park – WCC announcement to have toilets open 26 June 2026. You can follow progress here Carrara Park public toilet – Projects – Wellington City Council

A community event to celebrate Carrara Park is open for suggestions and discussion. 

Merio reported on the recent meeting with WCC Connected & Newtown Safety Plan team: Billy Murray, Joel Berryman and Delly Ranginui – previously reported in the November Newsletter, more details in the full minutes.

  • The safety team has been invited to our February meeting to provide us with updates and changes to safety projects/plans in Newtown.

Guest Speaker:  Julie Anne Genter, our MP for Rongotai

  • The Electorate office has been assisting people with various functions. Many support services have been made more difficult to engage in.
  • Newtown Heart, our association, and Salvation Army have been working with Council to do cleanup operations.
  • The latest Mt Victoria tunnel proposal has been expanded today. It was noted that there is no funding for this project yet. It was noted that this project will directly affect neighbouring suburbs, but Newtown will affect indirectly.  This media release from Waka Kotahi lists ‘information’ days: https://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=175749. Note that details are sparse and there are four weeks to make submissions.

Councillor Updates:

Cr Nureddin Abdurahman thanked the Association and Salvation Army for organising candidate meetings and generally helping what was a very positive campaign.

He spoke briefly about Council activities, including listing various Council committees, which are in this article https://wellington.govt.nz/news-and-events/news-and-information/our-wellington/2025/10/deputy-mayor-announced

Other business:

Neighbours of the burned out house at 285 Mansfield Street talked about their concerns.

Ban on Fireworks.  Following from last month’s meeting, we have written to the Council asking that previous discussions be reviewed. There was some discussion around the issue.

Andrew Wison (Salvation Army) updated the meeting on social issues around the City.

An awareness and shared information drawn to new changes for 70+ year olds renewing their driving licences, for example: to be registered and seen by GP, cognitive, eye tests, etc

Merio encouraged attendees to reach out to isolated vulnerable members in our community, so external support can be provided during the holidays period. To everyone in attendance, Safe holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

The formal meeting was followed by supper and an enjoyable social time.

See the full Minutes here.

Notes of the Newtown Residents’ Association October 2025 Meeting

Meetings, News

20 October 2025 7.30pm, St Thomas’s Church Community Lounge, 200 Riddiford St.

This meeting began with the second part of the 2025 AGM, then continued with the October monthly meeting.

Merio Marsters opened the meeting and noted that it was her first full meeting as President.
 
Resumed Annual General Meeting
 
The 2025 AGM on September 15th received the President’s Report and elected the Officers of the Association, then was adjourned until this October meeting.
 
Treasurer Sam Somers presented the Income and Expenditure and the Statement of Financial Position. 
 
It was noted that previous prudent spending by the Association has resulted in us having a term deposit which provides a significant addition to our income by way of interest.
 
Sam then moved a series of motions about the operation of the Newtown Residents’ Association bank accounts – adding new signatories and removing others. See the full minutes for the details of these – link below.
 
Review of Constitution changes, as required by the Incorporated Societies Act 2022.
 
The proposed new constitution was circulated in the Newsletter on 17 Oct 2025.

  • It was noted that our new constitution expects us to present the minutes of our monthly meetings at the following meeting.  We haven’t been doing this, and it was agreed that we should and we will!
  • It was agreed that we will retain the suggested wording to give executive members control over admitting members.
  • There was discussion about the number of executive members, in particular about the pros and cons of having a large executive (our current execuitive is potentially up to 16 members). However these Executive positions have been in our current constitution for a long time and were the basis of our elections at the earlier part of this AGM so it was agreed to continue it for now. There can be further discussion and possble ammendments in the future.
  • There were some other small changes to wording discussed.
  • After discussion about whether to allow proxy votes Rhona Carson /Steve Cosgrove moved -The constitution will not allow proxy votes. Carried 

Keith Powell /Steve Cosgrove moved – That this meeting thanks Stephen Pritchard and others who have worked on the constitution. Carried by acclamation.
 
Rhona Carson /Adam Awad moved -That this constitution, with the wording changes as discussed, should be processed as required. Carried
 
The Adjourned AGM was concluded at this point and we moved on to the October Meeting business.
 
A potential Fireworks Ban. There was discussion about Fireworks and their damaging effects.
Previous Councillors, Fleur Fitzsimons and Paul Eagle, were going to promote a local ban on fireworks, but it didn’t get anywhere then. 
 The meeting agreed that we will approach our current Councillors, Laurie Foon and Nureddin Abdurahman, to reopen the topic.. 

De-escalation Training – Andrew Wilson reported the next Salvation Army training in de-escalation would be on Tuesday 28th of October from 6pm to 9pm.

See the full minutes here.

Adjourned AGM – October 20th

Meetings, News

Monday October 20th 2025, 7.30-9.00 pm, at the Community Lounge, St Thomas’s Church, 200 Riddiford St.

The 2025 AGM on September 15th received the President’s Report and elected the Officers of the Association, then was adjourned until the October meeting to complete the following items:

Agenda –
Treasurer’s Report and presentation of accounts for 2024-25

Review of Constitution changes, as required by the Incorporated Societies Act 2022.

See here for a copy of the current Rules of the Association, and the

Draft constitution – Newtown Residents’ Association v2.1

Notes of the September Meeting

Meetings, News

This report includes a later update about parking plans.

This meeting, held on 15th September 2025, was the Association’s AGM, and Rhona Carson’s last as the Association President

President’s Report: Rhona commented that her report is very long, with a month by month record of events and activities. People are invited to read it online.

She reflected on some of the 2024-2025 Newtown highlights, including

  • The Owen St Park has been redeveloped and is now open for public use
  • Development of the Newtown Consortium – thanks to the Newtown Business Group.
  • Parking plans that have been implemented
  • Carrara Park toilets have been agreed
  • Newtown’s recognition at the Wellington Awards Evening
  • Thanks to the wide range of people who have worked to support Newtown community, which together builds a collective of people supporting the suburb.

The report was accepted with acclamation, with many thanks to Rhona for her work during 10 years as the Asociation Prestdent.

Treasurers Report  Treasurer Sam Somers has been busy running ‘it’s in the Ballot’ and hasn’t been able to complete the Treasurers Report, so this will be presented next month.

The Officers and Executive Committee of the Association for 2025-2026: (including people co-opted after the meeting)               

  • President: Merio Marsters         
  • Vice Presidents: No nominations       
  • Immediate Past President: Rhona Carson ex officio     
  • Secretary: Rhona Carson      
  • Treasurer: Sam Somers      
  • Executive Committee: Carol Comber, Steve Cosgrove, Steve Dunn, Martin Hanley, Marion Leighton, Jane Patterson, Stephen Pritchard, Hilary Watson, Andrew Wilson                                                  

Constitutional changes.

Rhona noted that the new draft constitution hadn’t yet been circulated to members,, so this item should be discussed and voted on at an adjourned AGM, 20th October.

It was agreed that the Annual General Meeting would be adjourned until 20 October to complete the AGM agenda.

General monthly meeting business followed.

About the new Owen St Park-

  • Mana Whenua are reconsidering their suggestions for a gifted name. The official opening will be delayed until a name for the park is decided.
  • A number of possible future events and activities for the Park were suggested

What is happening on our streets?

Andrew Wilson (Salvation Army Captain) reported that he has noticed a reduction in the number of ‘street people’. Some have moved to other places. Some who are housed are now hosting others, which can be problematic. People appear to have moved to other areas and might return. There are some people who have stayed, and new people are arriving.

Merio noted that Brian at the Rainbow Books shop has opened his shop and is giving away books. The community will support him. (https://jillscene.com/2016/01/08/the-coolest-little-bookshop-in-the-coolest-suburb-in-the-coolest-little-capital-in-the-world/)

Emergency Response. Andrew introduced the Emergency Response role of the Salvation Army in Newtown – a new role that he will be taking up shortly. He wants to build a group of people who know best how to use local resources and how best to respond. He will put together a plan and bring us and the community into this mahi.

Parking Plans. There was general consensus that there are now more parking spaces for residents most of the time.  Tom Law wondered when parking changes (and charges) will be rolled out across the rest of the city.

Steve Cosgrove agreed to contact Council to ask anout this, and the next day got this response from WCC Officer Paul Barker:

“We have rolled out the parking scheme used in Newtown to the suburb of Wadestown. 

We are currently in the process of preparing a business case to change the existing schemes around the fringe of the central area to that used in Newtown, we expect to present this to committee early in 2026 and then consult widely followed by detailed consultation later in 2026 with the first schemes if approved coming into play later in 2026.”

See the full minutes here -AGM Minutes NRA September 2025

Notice for the 2025 Annual General Meeting 

Meetings, News

Monday September 15th 2025, 7.30-9.00 pm, at the Community Lounge, St Thomas’s Church, 200 Riddiford St.

Agenda:

Apologies
Minutes of the NRA AGM 2024 to be approved (please review – the minutes will be taken as read at the meeting)
Matters arising from the minutes 

The Presidents Report

Treasurer’s Report and presentation of accounts for 2024-25

Election of Officers:

  • President
  • Up to three Vice-Presidents
  • Secretary
  • Treasurer
  • Up to nine (9) committee members

Review of Constitution changes, as required by the Incorporated Societies Act 2022.
See here for a copy of the current Rules of the Association

Any other business.

Notes of the August Meeting

Local Events, Meetings, News

The meeting was on 18th August 2025, 7.30pm at the Community Lounge, St Thomas’s Church, 200 Riddiford St.

These were some of the topics discussed –

Paul Fletcher, Priest in Charge at St Toms, introduced himself. He and his wife live in Mansfield St.
He has been here six months and is working out local priorities. His answer to a question about his mission was  “Working with youth and others”. 
St Tom’s Services are in the Newtown School Hall because the Church here is too small. They are repurposing the use of this space for appropriate groups.  This building might be replaced with community housing in the future.

Madeleine Taylor from Tiriti Action Group (TAG) talked about the work TAG is doing to raise awareness about the upcoming referendum on Māori Wards this local body election.  She was asked about a good way to deal with dissenters, and suggested some engagement tactics and recommended courses at https://www.tauiwitautoko.com/

Further discussion about Newtown concerns and street safety.

Cpt. Andrew Wilson from the Salvation Army talked about developing a community de-escalation workshop, as previously discussed at the May meeting. There will be a pilot session on the 3rd of September. 

Councillor Nureddin Abdurahman and Deputy Mayor Laurie Foon outlined the CBD issues, particularly the City Safety Plan, and why some people are moving from the CBD to Newtown. There is a Council paper coming soon on safety in Newtown. 

Paul Fletcher added that there are a lot of things going on in Newtown and people are working to support those who need help.

There was general agreement that this problem is complicated. People on Newtown streets  include known drug dealers, and there are beggars who live elsewhere and come to Newtown because we are a compassionate community.

On 18 July there was a fire, suspected arson, at 285 Mansfield Street. This was very alarming to neighbours. The house was occupied by squatters and is likely to be linked to the other problems. We are advised that Council officers are in contact with the owners.

It was raised that people need far more than housing. Andrew said that the Government has indicated that there will be no more money available for mental health and addiction work. The various agencies will continue to work on community-based solutions.

Updating the Newtown Residents’ Association Constitution

Stephen Pritchard has been working on updating our constitution as required by changes to the Incorporated Society Requirements. He outlined the process and undertook to get a draft circulated soon, in preparation for the AGM on September 15th.

See the full minutes here

Notes of the Newtown Residents’ Association July meeting

Meetings, News

This well attended meeting was at 7.30pm on 21st July in the St Thomas’s Community Lounge, 200 Riddiford St.

The main topic of the evening was a discussion about Emergency Preparedness, with Manomita Das from the  Joint Centre for Disaster Research (JCDR)  and Vania Szymkowiak from Wellington Regional Emergency Management Office ( WREMO).

Manomita Das is a Research Officer At Massey University whose Doctoral Thesis is about mobilising citizens for reducing disaster risks. Research into the use of communication to encourage community members to come together as collectives to jointly address hazard risks took her around a number of places, mainly in the Te Waipounamu.  See the full minutes for more details.

Vania Szymkowiak is the Kaitohutohu | Emergency Management Advisor, Community Resilience and Recovery, for Wellington Region Emergency Management Office.

She talked about the role of WREMO, which works with a very large number of organisations from Te Upoko o Te Ika a Māui. The kaupapa is about and focused on Community. More information here: https://www.wremo.nz/get-ready/community-ready/

See the full minutes for more details. Vania also shared these resource links after the meeting –

Information on workshops, and a Newsletter to sign up for  – News and Events

Budget conscious tips: Preparedness on a budget – from there people can move back to the main Home ready menu with other personal preparedness tips Home Ready.

A resource tool for Neighbours from Neighbourhood Support Tips + Advice | Neighbourhood Support New Zealand –   the page has lots of topics with advice as well as the plan Our neighbourhood plan.pdf .

The meeting concluded with brief discussion of Meet the Candidates Meetings, the new Park at 177 Owen St, and a notice about Te Toi Mahana Community Housing (which was City Housing) organising Football games for tamariki from age 8 to 13 on Monday afternoons in Carrara Park.

See the full minutes here – NRA Minutes July 2025

Notes from the Newtown Residents’ Association May meeting

Meetings, News

This meeting was held on 19th May 2025 at the Community Lounge, St Thomas’s Church, 200 Riddiford St. These were some of the topics discussed – see the full minutes for more details.

Newtown Parking Plan update
Most attendees have applied for Residents’ Parking Permits without any problems, although two people had an issue with finding acceptable proof of address. The Newtown East parking changes will start on June 24th.

Local Body Elections – Meet the Candidates Meetings
Captain Andrew Wilson, of the local Salvation Army, spoke with the meeting. TSA are happy to assist with the democratic process by hosting Candidate Meetings at their Hall at 4 Normanby St.

The meetings will be held on Monday evenings – 25th August for Greater Wellington Regional Council, 1st September Wellington City Council Paekawakawa/ Southern Ward and Māori Ward candidates,  and 8th September for candidates for Mayor of Wellington.

Wellington Heritage Festival – October 18th till November 9th
Paul Forrest is keen to repeat his talk about the history of the Town Belt and the associated walk. People at the meeting were also interested in another exhibition of Newtown historic photos. The Gallery at 247 Riddiford St was suggested as a venue – the Rice Pudding Gallery used last year is already booked. 

Newtown Issues and Concerns
Duncan McLean (Duncan McLean Denim)  and Paige Simoneau (Black Coffee) of the Newtown Business Group addressed the meeting.

Duncan talked about the clean-up Newtown events that the business group have organised with the MPs Office and WCC, and the difficulty of keep the streets clean. He also talked about how the increased number of rough sleepers is challenging. He called on all to work together and work on supporting each other.
He noted that the Council has $10 million dollars in the LTP Budget for Suburban Centre upgrades. Newtown and Johnsonville are likely contenders – and Duncan advocates for Newtown having priority.

Paige described the mahi she has undertaken with business and community organisations, including the ‘Newtown Consortium’ public meetings. She said they are organising workshops, including ‘Eyes On’ training for businesses at Newtown Community Centre on 22 and 26 May https://ourcbd.co.nz/, to address challenges with interacting with some in the street community. There could  be more de-escalation workshops coming up which could be available to residents as well as organisations. Paige emphasised that Police and Council encourage everyone to report concerns; businesses can register with ‘Eyes On’ for reporting, others can report to the Police (111 or 105 if not so urgent) or Council – either Fixit or a phone call.

Andrew Wilson, Salvation Army, added his experiences, including the resources at their large local site. He talked about his background with Salvation Army work in different areas.
The issues of concern in Newtown are systemic and it will take many years to fully resolve, but there are things that can be done in the meantime. Giving people respect and humanity is the first stage to getting them back on track. De-escalation is a complicated challenge, but can be summarised as: Acknowledge; Engage and explain effects; Suggest consequences. It is important not to take a negative interaction personally.
It is also a good idea to have a plan, particularly one that tamariki can learn to apply when walking down the street, on their own or in groups, if they feel intimidated – eg, take shelter in a nearby shop.

The vacant site at 198 Adelaide Rd
This is the former TipTop site next to Woolworths Supermarket. The site was bought by a developer, but their proposal for housing didn’t get Resource Consent from WCC- the rumour was that this was because the proposal was for a relatively low-rise development in an area zoned high rise. The site is now going to be used as a car park, which will provide extra parking for hospital parking.
This solves a parking problem but it is unfortunate that it doesn’t help with the extra housing we want for Newtown. It is noted that the Ferguson Street Ioane Vito Centre is for sale – that would be an excellent place for a housing development.

See the full minutes here.

Notes from the April 2025 Association Meeting

Consultation, Meetings, News

This meeting was at 7.30pm on Monday April 14 at the Community Lounge, St Thomas’s Church, 200 Riddiford St Newtown. Our local City Councillors, DM Laurie Foon and Cr Nureddin Abdurahman, were at the meeting to discuss the WCC consultations on the Long Term Plan Amendment, Annual Plan and Wellington Water Done Well. The deadline for submissions to Wellington City Council is Monday 21st April.

The Newtown Parking Plan

Paul Barker Wellington City Council Street Transformation Manager, attended the meeting to talk about this. He outlined the parking plan, which is already operating in Berhampore and Newtown West  and is due to begin in Newtown East on June 24th. For more details go to https://www.transportprojects.org.nz/current/berhampore-and-newtown-parking-scheme – the interactive map comparing the current parking regulations with the new ones is very helpful.
 
The first phase of the Parking Plan has been reviewed, and the WCC Koata Hātepe | Regulatory Processes Committee meeting on Wednesday 9th April agreed to investigating the need for more restricted spaces in Berhampore, and extending the zones for residents’ permits to include residents in the local commercial centre. Permits are allocated in priority order – currently there are nine priorities. Local Centre could be a tenth priority.

Residents in Newtown east will receive a letter and a leaflet in early May – this will have information on the parking changes and how to apply for a resident parking permit and visitor permits. Applications for residents’ permits will be open from mid-May. The application is done online or by phone. 

The discussion covered a number of issues, including how to help people from refugee and migrant communities where there is a language barrier to find out about and understand the new rules, the site specific parking issues around the Zoo and Newtown Park, and assurance that Constable St residents living inside the Local Centre Zone who are currently eligible for a parking permit will still be eligible in future.  See the the full minutes for these and other topics.

A discussion of the WCC open consultations followed – Long Term Plan amendment, Annual Plan and Local Water Done Well. Submissions close on Monday April 21st.

DM Laurie Foon clarified that anything that is not listed in the consultation document is remaining in the LTP and is not being consulted on. This includes the Arts Funding, which was agreed in the previous round of consultation.  

LTP amendment consultation

Cr Nureddin outlined the process leading to the amendment about not selling the airport shares, and listed some of the proposals for funding changes resulting from this.

As usual the Consultation Submission Form focusses on these projects and asks submitters whether they approve or disapprove of various options. It is important to realise that submissions don’t have to be limited to these projects, anything can be mentioned in a submission, and feedback can be about projects from any area of the city.

For instance there is local concern about when the Carrara Park toilets will be installed. This was approved by Council in August 2023 but when Cr Nureddin enquired about progress  the answer was that nothing has happened yet because it is scheduled for year four of the LTP (the next Council). We thought it had higher priority, and we will request that this be brought forward and included in the current Annual Plan.

There was also discussion about the new 177 Owen St Park, now under construction and making good progress. The request for a toilet in those plans was defeated – there is a Council policy of no toilet if there is another public one within 5 mins walk. We could reopen this request.

Another local issue is that there is money in the proposed LTM for Suburban Centre Upgrades, Newtown and Johnsonville are likely candidates.

Annual Plan – Deputy Mayor Laurie Foon spoke about this

There is a proposal that the Council provide $700,000 each year to Taranaki Tenths Trust to maintain Mātai Moana Reserve on Miramar Peninsula. This is something we could consider supporting. https://wellington.govt.nz/your-council/projects/matai-moana-reserve

Commercial rates for Air B & B providers are suggested in the Annual Plan. Any submissions on this topic will be of interest. Cr Nureddin noted that this is a very tricky issue.

The projected rates rise is 12.2%. This includes 1.4% for the waste minimisation fund.

Local Water Done Well

This is a very big decision. The options are

A multi-council water services organisation with all the Greater Wellington Councils. The water related assets, debt, revenue and liabilities would be transferred to the new entity. The costs would no longer be included in Council rates, households would be charged directly for their consumption.

A Wellington-only water services organisation – similar to the above but solely owned by WCC and only applying to Wellington water services.

Continuing with existing arrangements, WCC owns the assets and services are contracted out to Wellington Water.  

Water meters are probable whichever option is decided.

Cr Nureddin noted that with existing arrangements it would take 660 years to fix the pipes.

We can feed back into this process if we have concerns about: The potential for privatisation, Lack of Council control over the new entity, Potential of the new entity to avoid any targeting of charges.

Transferring 3 waters to a regional entity would mean that  City Council would have reduced assets to secure borrowing.

See here for the full minutesDownload

Notice of Meeting, April 2025

Consultation, Local Events, Meetings, News

This meeting will be on Monday April 14th, 7.30-9.0pm, at the Community Lounge, St Thomas’s Church, 200 Riddiford St.
(it isn’t the usual 3rd Monday of the month – the 3rd Monday in April- 21/4/25 – is Easter Monday)

The agenda will include:

A discussion of the WCC open consultations – LTP amendment, Annual Plan and Local Water Done Well.

The Newtown Parking Plan – due to commence in Newtown East on June 24th.

Other Newtown News

All welcome! We hope to see you there.                              

Notes from the Newtown Residents Association March meeting.

Consultation, Local Events, Meetings, News

This meeting was 7.30 pm 17th March 2025 at the St Thomas’s Community Lounge.

Rhona Carson, Association President, welcomed the guest speaker, Welington City Missioner Murray Edridge, and other attendees.

Rhona passed on thanks from Martin Hanley, Newtown Festival Director, to all who contributed to the Newtown Festival on March 2nd.

Car parking for Association meetings: It was noted that the McDonald’s car park time limit has changed from 90 to 60 minutes and people are being prosecuted for parking there for 90 minutes. The P60 on-street parking restrictions apply between 8am and 6pm, so parking on the street during meetings is recommended. See the official information here.

Guest Speaker

Murray Edridge, Wellington City Missioner, talked about Whakamaru, the new building which opened in November, and the work that WCM does from there and at other WCM facilities.

He noted that the situation for those challenged in the community is as dire as it has ever been. There is an increase in the homeless population, exacerbated by the decreased availability of emergency housing.

Several WCM services are focussed on housing options. In Wellington. These include Te Pā Pori, the Tory Street Supported Transitional Housing Facility; Te Pā Maru, the previous Night Shelter on Taranaki Street which now provides accommodation for substance users; Te Ō – a Kāinga Ora complex in Mt Cook, where WCM provides 24/7 support to the residents; and Whakamaru, the new facility, which has transitional housing as well as a range of other services.

These services include:

  • Craig and Gail’s Café – a vibrant community hub open to all where there is no ‘us and them’. Customers pay what they can.
  • There are meeting spaces with excellent connectivity and services. These gather people in.
  • Social Supermarket
  • Laundry and showers
  • Medical Centre and other practitioners: social workers, support workers, financial mentors.
  • Crisis Recovery Café. People in distress can drop in to the Café at any time 24/7 to seek support from staff who are trained and supported to provide it.

Murray answered questions about the services. He also praised the staff and volunteers who make the services work – including some of our members at the meeting who are part of the WCM team.  He was thanked and warmly applauded for his contribution.

Neighbours’ Gathering at Carrara Park Rhona invited attendees to this event on Saturday March 22nd from 1pm – 4pm We at Newtown Residents’ Association are hosting this event to celebrate Neighbours Aotearoa.

Update on the new Community Park, 177 Owen St – work has started on the Park construction. The WCC officers have been consulting with Manu Whenua, who are going to give a name to the park.

Urban Renewal: Adelaide Road, a case study on Brownfields Redevelopment. A panel discussion was run by the Urban Development Institute (UDINZ) on 6 March at Whakamaru. Hilary Watson, Steve Dunn and Carol Comber attended.
Hilary reported back and referred us to this review of the meeting: https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/360605726/ripe-development-failed-plans-adelaide-road

Consultation and development of a plan for Adelaide Road was initiated by WCC in 2008, but little has been completed.

Ian Cassels spoke on the panel about the successful development of the ‘Monark building’ on the corner of King Street.

WCC consultations.  Consultation on the Long Term Plan (LTP) amendment, the Annual Plan, and the Local Water Done Well, will be happening from March 20th to April 21st.

There will be 2 in-person consultations in our ward. The first consultation meeting will be at Newtown Library Saturday 22nd March 10.30am – 12pm, the second at Island Bay Library, Thursday 10 April, 12–1.30pm. 

Date of the next meeting: 14th April. The 3rd Monday in April, 21st April, is Easter Monday. Rhona proposed moving to 14th April – still 4 weeks between meetings, and allows time to discuss the WCC consultations before submissions close.

See the full minutes of the March Meeting here.Download

Newtown Residents’ Association February 2025 Meeting

Local Events, Meetings, News

This meeting will be on Monday February 17th, 7.30-9.0pm, at the Community Lounge, St Thomas’s Church, 200 Riddiford St.

The agenda will include

  •  Ingrid Downey, Project Manager Dwell Housing Trust, describing their plans for new housing in Gordon Place.  Dwell have bought the Wellington City Mission property left vacant when WCM moved to Whakamaru, and they already owned another property – this will all be redeveloped.
  • A progress report on Newtown Festival – which will be on Sunday 2nd March.
  • A discussion about pedestrian safety – see below.
  • A review of other local issues and events.

                  All welcome! We hope to see you there.         

Minutes of the 2024 AGM

Meetings, News

This meeting was held on Monday September 16th at the St Thomas’s Community Lounge.

The meeting received the President’s Annual Report and the Treasurer’s Financial Report.

The following people were elected unopposed as Officers of the Association:

President:  Rhona Carson

Vice Presidents:  Jane Patterson and Martin Hanley

Secretary: Rhona Carson 

Treasurer:  Sam Somers

Committee: Carol Comber, Steve Cosgrove, Marion Leighton, Stephen Pritchard, Penny Sturgess, Hilary Watson, Michelle Wolland.

President Rhona Carson thanked all the Candidates, in particular Michelle for her service as Treasurer over the past 4 years and Sam for being willing to take up the role.

Rhona also noted that she is intending this to be her last year as President. By the time of the next AGM she will have been President for 10 years, and she thinks it is good for any Association to have a process of renewal. Hopefully over the next year a willing and able candidate to be the next President will come forward.

A matter arising from the 2023 Minutes was continuing discussion of the need for Constitutional Changes, required by the Incorporated Societies Act 2022. This revision is still a work in progress.

Other Business included a discussion about Wellington Heritage Festival events in Newtown, and information about the Wellington City Mission move to their new Oxford Tce base, Whakamaru, in November.

See the full minutes for this – and more.

Reminder of AGM on Monday 16th September

Meetings, News

The meeting will be 7.30-9.00 pm, at the Community Lounge, St Thomas’s Church, 200 Riddiford St.

Agenda

Apologies– please send any apologies to newtownwellington@gmail.com
Minutes of the NRA AGM 2023: to be approved (please review – the minutes will be taken as read at the meeting)

Matters arising from the minutes 

The President’s Report

Treasurer’s Report and presentation of accounts for 2023-24

Election of Officers:

  • President
  • Up to three Vice-Presidents
  • Secretary
  • Treasurer
  • Up to nine (9) committee members

Review of Constitution changes, as required by the Incorporated Societies Act 2022.
See here for a copy of the current Rules of the Association.

Any other business.

Notice of Annual General Meeting

Meetings, News

The 2024 Newtown Residents’ Association AGM will be on Monday September 16th 2024, 7.30-9.00 pm, at the Community Lounge, St Thomas’s Church, 200 Riddiford St.

The AGM is when we discuss the year’s activities and plan for the future. We will also elect the Association Officers (President, Vice President(s), Secretary, Treasurer) and other Executive members for 2024-2025. If you are an Association member you are invited to consider putting your name forward for one of these positions  – you are welcome to contact us at newtownwellington@gmail.com  if you would like to discuss this.

If you need to renew your membership here is a link to the membership form. There will also be paper membership forms at the meeting.

At the 2023 AGM we announced a review of the Association’s Rules, and the necessary changes to comply with the Incorporated Societies Act 2022, and this year we plan to present an updated Constitution for approval.

Before the AGM there will be an updated post with a more detailed agenda, including links to the President’s Report and the Financial Report.       

All Welcome!