Our part of town has the unusual distinction of being home base to not one but two of the country’s top harrier clubs.  Wellington Harriers Athletic Club (WHAC) lives on Alexandra Road in the winter and is based at Newtown Park in the summer track season.  Wellington Scottish Harriers is based at Prince of Wales Park in Mt Cook.  Members of both clubs are involved in the fantastic childrens’ athletics programme that runs on Saturday mornings at Newtown Park over the Summer.  While both clubs have members from all over the city bit it was still a buzz to see people from each of these locally based outfits recognised at the recent Wellington Sportsperson of the Year Awards.

Congratulations to Louise Evans McDonald from WHAC who won Administrator of the Year, and Peter Wrigley from Scottish who won Official  of the Year.  Louise’s award relates largely to the huge role she has played in recent years in children’s athletics in the city.  Peter officiates at a huge range of running and walking events and the 2012 London Olympics were his second as a race walking judge.  He has also achieved the rare feat of finishing in excess of 100 marathon races.

The initial round of community engagement finished in late April, and the formal consultation on the draft policy starts on 2 July.  Those with a particular interest in the issues might well check out the reports considered by the WCC Strategy Committee of 20 June (Report 3 and Appendices).  Of particular interest are the comments from the Medical Officer of Health based on an analysis of alcohol related visits to the Hospital Emergency Department.  “This analysis shows that problem binge drinking and “preloading” is predominantly taking place in the Southern, Lambton and Eastern wards. The Mt Cook, Te Aro, Newtown, Brooklyn, Island Bay, Miramar/Strathmore Park and Kilbirnie/Melrose stand out as problem areas.”  Food for thought!  Although one or two sceptics have wondered whether data from the Hospital Emergency Department really captures the incidence of alcohol related harm, or merely records proximity to and the accessibility of the Hospital.

Next week is National Volunteer Week.  According to the 2006 census data, Newtown, Berhampore and Mt Cook all have lower rates of volunteering than the averages for Wellington City and the Wellington Region.  Regard that as a challenge, people!!

The Association’s paper looking at the lessons to be learned from last year’s major works around the intersection of John and Riddiford Streets and, Adelaide Road has been further refined since the drafts we posted on our website.  Now entitled “The John Street Protocols” this was confirmed by resolution at our June meeting, and officially presented to the full City Council meeting on Thursday 27 June.

Communities accept that at times there will be a need for major infrastructure works in our neighbourhoods. Our policy paper The John St Protocols looks at performance measures for such works being expanded to include steps to understand any negative local impacts, and positive steps to mitigate those as much as possible.

A public works project that achieves its engineering and financial objectives but leaves behind it a frustrated and disillusioned community does damage to the council’s reputation, and should not be regarded as a successful project.

The Association extends its sympathy to our near neighbours affected by the Priscilla Crescent lanslip.  The slip, near the Berhampore golf course, happened, with what appears no warning, at about 4.30am on Saturday 1 June 2013. As a result the Council and emergency services evacuated a number of houses above the slip in Priscilla Crescent and Breton Close.
A phone call at 6am with a request to open Newtown Hall in Daniell St in Newtown marked the start of a further step in the response of the Wellington City Council to assist affected resident who were unable to return. Cups of tea and toast were provided in the reasonably warm shelter of the hall by volunteers and Wellington Region Emergency Management staff.  About a dozen people took advantage of the help provided at Newtown Hall.  These folk were allowed to return to their homes around 11am.
Initial reports were that around 90 people were evacuated before daybreak, including about 30 residents of the Kilmarnock Heights Rest Home which was near the foot of the slip. The residents were evacuated to Huntleigh Rest Home in Karori but were allowed to return to Kilmarnock in the late afternoon. Access to the premises is limited due to slip rubble across the road. Anyone visiting Kilmarnock is asked to take care.
However, about 30 residents were unable to return to their houses. Council welfare and housing staff have found accommodation for those residents who could not find their own temporary accommodation. Residents were allowed to quickly go into six of the houses to gather essential items. However two of the houses are deemed too unsafe to enter given the fact the slip has undermined parts of their foundations.
CityCare, Council staff and many other experts are are still investigating the cause which at the time of writing has not been finally determined.

The Dompost reports that Netsafe has surveyed Newtown and found 55 wireless internet connections they could access freely.

Unsecured wireless internet means that your wireless router provides others with free downloads, and it allows hackers to access everything on your network !

The Dompost story on stuff has more details of Netsafe’s survey, and sensible advice on security.

Getting it sorted should not be a problem for those who are members of the Wellington Timebank.  The Timebank has several IT savy people on its books capable of giving advice and assistance ins securing your wireless.   To learn more about the Timebank and how to join see check out their website or drop Hannah a line at wgtn.timebank@gmail.com

Council staff and Cityhop have consulted the Newtown Residents Association and the Newtown Business Group over trialling a designated car-share carpark in Newtown’s Wilson Street shoppers’ car park.

You can view the City Hop Proposal from WCC  and  our Newtown Residents’Association Submission  here.

What is Car Share?

It is a convenient and reliable way for people living in the city and for businesses to have access to a car when they need one, without the cost and hassle of car ownership. Cars are parked at a central location and can be booked online for an hour or a few days at a time.

Car Share works well for all road users

Car share is the fastest growing congestion-buster in the world which takes many private cars off the road – and out of parking sites. Research shows up to as many as fifteen cars are removed from roads by each car share vehicle.

Cityhop is the only car share company operating in New Zealand so far, and their presence in Wellington is at a very early stage. It’s a fantastic opportunity that innovative Newtown will be the start up of a fledgling transport hub – a key part of establishing this new initiative in Wellington.

Across the Tasman, Sydney provides nearly four hundred on-street car share parks.

With 22 Cityhop cars operating successfully Auckland has championed car share as an important traffic management strategy

How does Car Share work?

People join up to the car share club and receive an electronic smart card which acts as the access to the car. Once booked the device unlocks and locks the car door so that the user can then turn the key in the ignition and drive off – very easy. Cars are parked on street and in convenient locations. Users return the car to the location they got the car from.

Members are charged on a per hour basis that includes petrol, servicing and all the other associated costs related to car ownership. Instead of thousands of dollars just to keep one privately owned car on the road each year, Cityhop has a modest membership fee, then $15 per hour of car use during daytime (that’s petrol included).  The best deal is a yearly membership at $10 per month, no application fee and free membership for other family members. (six monthly membership is also available).

What are the gains from Car Share?

Car share cars are within one to three years old, so have all the benefits of modern technology, energy efficiency safety features and cleaner fuel . (The median age of vehicles shed by car sharing households is eleven years)

Not investing in a car also frees people to choose the best way to travel each time – whether that’s a walk in the fresh air, jumping on a bus without parking hassles, enjoying a cycle ride, travelling with others, hiring a taxi or driving a local Cityhop car with a maximum 100km daytime limit

The transport money saved by individuals who car share can be then saved or spent in the local economy.

This Newtown start up will be convenient for local residents and good for local businesses and as support grows there will be more cars available in our Newtown hub.

With Newtown pro-actively leading the way Cityhop car share will in time expand like a snowball through Wellington!