Category Archives: News

Notes of the July 2024 meeting

Meetings, News
  • Carol Comber updated the meeting with progress at Mount Cook Mobilised and Mt Cook Connect. Newtown Residents’ Association has an umbrella agreement with MCM for funding applications, as MCM are not an incorporated society, and Carol is the contact person involved with both Associations.
  • There was a discussion on the initial effect of changes to Berhampore parking. The parking changes appeared to be working OK so far, with a lot of free car parks, but the plan had only been operational for a short time.
  • Progress on 177 Owen Street redevelopment into a public park. Removal of the old buildings was underway at the time of the meeting.
  • Safety in Newtown – two months ago two Newtown focused police officers came to the Association meeting, and recently we have heard that there are City Council Safety Officers focussing on what is going on in Newtown, and working with DCM and local police. It was noted that there seemed to be fewer safety concerns over the past month. However there was a ram-raid at the Coromandel Dairy during the night on Wednesday 10 July.  A speeding car crashed through and broke the doors then took off again. Nothing was taken.
  • Newtown Residents’ Association Constitution. The Incorporated Societies Act 2022 requires all societies to re-register by 2026, and we are planning to have an updated Constitution ready to present to our AGM in September.  We talked about updating the Association’s Objectives, and a couple of volunteers agreed to have a look at this.

See the full minutes below.

Minutes of the Newtown Residents’ Association Meeting 15 July 2024Download

Notes from the June Meeting

Consultation, Meetings, News

This meeting was on June 17th 2024. These were the topics discussed.

The Parking Scheme for Berhampore and West Newtown – due to start on Monday 24th June.

Attendees affected by the new parking scheme talked about their experiences of applying for permits, and their concerns. DM Laurie Foon took notes, in order to follow up with the WCC Officers responsible for the scheme.

Laurie Foon passed on some information

-for the first 3 weeks of the scheme only warning tickets will be issued.

– there will be a review of the scheme after the first 6 months.

The new park at 177 Owen St

This is the former Workingmen’s Bowling Club site. When the WCC Councillors discussed the Park proposal on June 6th they agreed that the existing club buildings could be demolished (too costly to fix) and the site developed into a neighbourhood park for community use and small events. There is already $1,500,000 in the budget for this. Cr Nureddin Abdurahman proposed an amendment to request that toilets be included, but when put to the vote the result was 9 for and 9 against, with the Chairperson’s casting vote being against. The official Council policy is that toilets aren’t needed because there are other public toilets within 5 mins walk – at Newtown Park.

Since the Council meeting Rhona Carson, Steve Dunn, Cheryl Robilliard and Jane Patterson have had a meeting with Sanjay Patel and David Halliday, the WCC Officers overseeing the project, to discuss the plans further. The intention is for demolition of the buildings to start in the near future, and the redevelopment to happen within the year. The plan is for a large open space for general recreation and events, including BBQs, seating, a children’s play area and a stage.  There is some continuing discussion about the best position for the stage.

The discussion at the meeting agreed that the decision not to include toilets was short-sighted. The Association is likely to to look for an opportunity to have this reconsidered.

Community Garden at Carrara Park

Currently the plots are kept in order by a few neighbours (who are Association members), but new gardeners would be welcomed. Recently the Association applied to the WCC Community Garden Fund (known as Stone Soup) for a grant, and have received $115 (inc gst) to be spent on compost, seeds, seedings etc for refurbishing the beds.

Wellington Heritage Festival

Assciation President Rhona Carson is still in the process of gathering information for a series of applications for events during the Festival in October-November.

Alex Hockley, the WHF CEO, said that there were about 140 events confirmed so far, with several from Newtown.

Judicial Review

There was a brief discussion of the news that the Live Wellington Trust has filed for a Judicial Review of the WCC decision to reject the District Plan Independent Hearings Panel recommendations about the extent of Character Precincts in inner city suburbs.

See the full minutes here.Download

LIVE WELLington files for a Judicial Review

News

LIVE WELLington is an advocacy group for density done well.

On Monday June 10th, LIVE WELLington lodged judicial review proceedings in the HighCourt. These ask the Court to review the District Plan decision on character areas made by the Wellington City Council and the Minister for RMA Reform.
The group (comprising more than 150 members) has been involved in the District Plan
process from the beginning.
LIVE WELLington believes that with smart urban design, Wellington’s iconic character areas
can be retained at the same time as new, denser housing is introduced to the inner city and
central city areas.
A statement from LIVE WELLington follows:
“The evidence presented during the recent District Plan process was clear –
Wellington has sufficient land to meet housing needs and protect character areas.
The idea these are in conflict is false.
“Unfortunately, some councillors involved in decision-making have held a fixed and
narrow view that character housing stands in the way of ‘affordable’ housing. As a
result, they have refused to engage with the evidence and arguments put forward
that paint a different picture.
“Sadly we now need to go to Court to support evidence-based decision-making by
our Council.
“Wellington City Council rejected recommendations put forward by the Independent
Hearings Panel on this issue. The Panel spent months listening to evidence and
preparing careful and detailed recommendations in accordance with the law.
“Among the evidence presented was that future growth needs can easily be
accommodated without zoning for six storey heights across three quarters of
Wellington’s inner-city suburbs.
“The Independent Hearings Panel recommended that 206 hectares of the current
307 hectares (two thirds) of character areas in Wellington be retained. This would
still be compliant with the National Policy Statement on Urban Development and
would accommodate 30 years of Wellington growth.
“The paltry reasons provided by the Council for their rejections of these
recommendations indicate the move was based more on political performance than
evidence or reasoning.
“The Council essentially refused to change the character areas from those set out in
the proposed District Plan when first notified. These largely mirrored those set out in
the draft Spatial Plan, some years earlier.
“The Council has repeatedly ignored both the evidence and its own officers’
recommendations on this issue.
“RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop likewise provided very few details regarding his
reasoning and the matters he took into account, when accepting the Council’s
recommendations.
“LIVE WELLington is dissatisfied with the approach decision-makers have taken
throughout this process. They have refused to even listen to points of view different
to their own, or accept the evidence-based recommendations of the experts they
appointed.
“A judicial review is a request to have the District Plan decisions regarding the
character areas reviewed by the High Court.
“This is not a decision we have entered into lightly however we believe the approach
taken by the Council and the Minister need to be tested against the law.
“LIVE WELLington is taking this action to ensure decisions reflect the evidence. This
shows that iconic character areas can be retained at the same time as new, denser
housing is introduced to the inner city and central city areas.”

Notes from the Newtown Residents’ Association May Meeting 

Meetings, News

This meeting was held on Monday May 20th 2024, at St Thomas’s Community Lounge.

President Rhona Carson welcomed meeting attendees, introduced guests Community Police Officers Sergeant Mike Byrne and Constable Ash Sutherland, and thanked Cr Nureddin Abdurahman for coming after a long day of Long Term Plan hearings.

Cr Nureddin advised that the Workingman’s Bowling Club building is likely to be demolished, although he opposes this. It was noted that this was after being abandoned for a number of years.  There will be a Council report on this subject soon, and a WCC Social and Economic Committee meeting on 29th May to discuss the report and vote on the way forward.

Cr Nureddin asked for views on the Long Term Plan suggestion of charging for parking in suburban centres – including Newtown.

Community Policing
Mike Byrne and Ash Sutherland talked about the role of the Community Policing Team. There are five officers covering most of South and East Wellington, and Ash is assigned to Newtown.

Ash introduced the topic of people being concerned about those sleeping and begging around Newtown. There was discussion of some specific examples of reactions from and concern about these people. Synthetic cannabis use is currently a significant issue in Newtown.  Mike suggested a YouTube video entitled Seattle is Dying.

The Community Policing team are not ‘reactive’.  Calls to 111 or other urgent calls are usually assigned to offer areas of police who deal with front-line, short-term actions. Community Policing takes a wider view of what is going on in the community, working on long-term solutions along with various agencies who can help.
Mike advised that there are two phone numbers to call police on:

.
Electric Scooters
There was a recent meeting with Ralph Sheppard, Community Relationship Manager for Flamingo Scooters.  The main point is to report problems to the Council using their FixIt app, saying where and when  the scooter is causing a problem, and the brand.  Ralph is confident that Flamingo will get these notifications and take action. They can caution the hirers, and prevent them from hiring if they are persistent offenders. It was noted that Flamingo (the pink scooters) is one of two brands of scooters for hire, the other being Beam. There are also privately owned scooters.

Heritage Week this year will be marked by a number of talks and exhibitions in Newtown. 

See here for the full minutes.Download

Submission on the WCC LTP, 2024-34

Consultation, News

The key issues for the Long-term Plan for the next 10 years are described in the consultation documents as being how much to spend on the three waters network to fix the pipes, how to manage waste collection and recycling, and whether or not to sell the WCC Airport shares to set up a ‘resilience fund’. Other proposed changes include a proposal to introduce parking fees in suburban centres, including Newtown and Berhampore.

We agree that these are all very important issues, but we know that there are a range of different views among our members about how they should be dealt with. Because of this we didn’t take a position on any of these issues in our submission.

Our submission covers local issues that might otherwise be overlooked. These are the topics –

  • Redevelopment of the former Bowling Club at 177 Owen Street
  • Toilets for Carrara Park
  • Proposing a future project – more parks and playspaces
  • A request to extend the Pōneke Promise programme, or something similar, into our local area
  • More funding for the arts and cultural sectors
  • A request to upgrade the Newtown suburban town centre
See here for the full submissionDownload

Notes from the March 2024 Meeting

Consultation, Local Events, Meetings, News

We met at the St Tom’s Community Lounge on Monday March 18th.  These were some of the issues discussed –

District Plan
The recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel with regard to character precincts and the City Centre Boundary were rejected by a majority of WCC Councillors, who passed amendments to revert to the boundary and precincts which were in the Proposed District Plan.

The next and final step is that Chris Bishop, as the responsible Government Minister, will decide whether to accept the WCC recommendations or to endorse the IHP recommendations. 

There was a brief recap of the preferred Newtown Housing proposal for intensification, mostly in the suburban centre.

Road Safety 
A resident from Roy St pointed out the lack of pedestrian crossings in Newtown. There is particular concern about the safety of children in the area. The meeting agreed to look at following up this issue.

Water Leaks
Wellington South Community Patrol recently counted 36 leaks. Tom Law outlined some examples. 

Festival Feedback 
There was strong support and thanks for everyone, particularly Marion Leighton and others who were instrumental in providing an excellent morning tea for official guests. 

Wellington Heritage Festival 
Alex Hockley, CEO of the Wellington Heritage Festival Trust, outlined plans for this festival, noting that there is more time this year – from Saturday 26th October until Sunday 17th November.

There was considerable interest in potential events in Newtown. Examples include walking tours, static talks, open buildings etc. 
Telling stories inside the buildings they apply to will add to the making the story more compelling. 
Expressions of interest are required by the end of April. 
Rhona volunteered to contact Newtown Community Centre, Newtown School and the Zoo, to see if other organisations are thinking of participating, and/or have ideas to suggest.

See the full minutes here.Download

Minutes of the October meeting 2023

Consultation, Meetings, News

This meeting was held at 7.30pm on Monday 16 October 2023 at the Community Lounge, behind St Thomas’s Church, 200 Riddiford St. These were some of the topics covered –

Merania Roa, the candidate for Vision NZ in the recent Rongotai Election, thanked us for the invitation to our Meet The Candidates meeting.

Kāinga Ora’s new developments in Newtown – people are moving into the new apartments in Owen St.

Carrara Park Toilets Petition and the positive response from the Councillors.

Water Leaks – the Community Patrol has reported 165 leaks across parts of the city. One piece of good news – a longstanding leak in Rhodes St has been fixed.

Berhampore and Newtown Parking Scheme – a large part of the meeting was devoted to discussion of concerns with the details of the scheme.

See the full minutes here.

Berhampore- Newtown Parking Plan

Consultation, News

This proposed plan is based on the WCC Parking Policy which was agreed in 2020. Our Association supports the principle of residents having priority for parking on the residential streets. However we have concerns about the details of the proposal that was presented for consultation, and we are disappointed that the Parking Policy agreement for Area Based Planning wasn’t put into practice.

See here for the Newtown Residents’ Association submission on the Plan

Minutes of the 2023 AGM.

Meetings, News

This meeting was held on Monday September 18th 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:  Michelle Wolland 

Committee: Carol Comber, Steve Cosgrove, Marion Leighton, Sam Somers, Penny Sturgess, Hilary Watson

The main other topic was a discussion of the need for Constitutional Changes, required by the Incorporated Societies Act 2022. A copy of proposed changes to meet the new requirements was circulated. These will be considered during the year and voted on at the 2024 AGM.

The AGM being concluded the meeting went on to discuss arrangements for the Meet the Candidates Meeting to be held on September 25th.

NRA Minutes 2023 AGM

The 2023 Annual General Meeting Notice

Meetings, News

This meeting will be on Monday September 18th, 7.30-9.0pm., at the Community Lounge, St Thomas’s Church, 200 Riddiford St.

The AGM is when we discuss the year’s activities.elect the Association’s officers for 2023-24, and plan for the future. 

Agenda:

Apologies

Minutes of the NRA AGM 2022 to be approved (please review – the minutes will be taken as read at the meeting)
Matters arising from the minutes – if any

The Presidents’ Report to the 2023 AGM

President’s Report

The Treasurer’s Report and Annual Accounts

Treasurer’s Report and presentation of accounts for 2022-23

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 – 
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2022/0012/latest/LMS100892.html
and a summary of the 1908 Act compared to the 2022 Act: https://is-register.companiesoffice.govt.nz/law-changes-for-societies/key-changes/

The Current Rules of the Newtown Residents’ Association

A copy of the Rules at present.

Draft Revision of the Newtown Residents’ Association Constitution

A proposed Draft of a Revised Constitution

Any other business.

Minutes of the August 2023 Meeting

Consultation, Meetings, News

Notes from the meeting.

This meeting was held on Monday August 21st, 7.30pm at the St Tom’s Community Lounge, 200 Riddiford St.

Association President Rhona Carson opened the meeting by thanking everyone who helped with the Newtown Residents’ Association 60th Anniversary Celebration on 29th July.

She then introduced the visiting speakers.

Kāinga Ora – Josh Clark introduced himself as the Stakeholder Relationship Manager for the Wellington Area. He outlined the housing developments either under construction or planned for Newtown and the surrounding area. These include 80 homes in Rolleston St, which are almost completed, and 301 homes at Arlington St where construction is in the early stages.

In Newtown 36 homes at 175 Owen Street are in the final stages before completion. There will be an open day for the community in November. In addition work is underway on 21 homes at 131 Coromandel St & 9 at 124-130 Coromandel St 

Newtown to Berhampore transport project and Newtown Parking Plan

Bri Peters, Nicola, and Paul Barker from the WCC Transport project team outlined the three parts of these plans.

Metlink bus priority plan looks at improvements to Bus Stops and the way they are designed.

The Newtown to Berhampore Cycleway will run from Riddiford St through Rintoul St, Luxford St and Adelaide Rd. to join the Island Bay cycleway.

The Parking Management Plan follows from the city-wide plan and parking priorities which were approved in 2020. The proposal is that a large proportion of what is currently unlimited on-street parking parking will be designated P120, with no time limit for residents holding a residents’ parking permit. It is recognised that this will be a big change for hospital staff currently parking on the street, and WCC and the Hospital have been consulting about this.

Public consultation on all 3 parts of the project will start on September 12th and run till October 8th.  

See the full minutes here.

Petition: Request for Toilets in Carrara Park

Consultation, News

Our on line petition is now live on the WCC website:  
https://wellington.govt.nz/have-your-say/petitions/petitions/current/2023-08-request-for-toilets-at-carrara-park. 

If you have ever been to Carrara Park and wished that there was a toilet there, or if you have avoided going because there are no toilets, please sign it! The end date is set for 2 weeks from today, which is 5 September, but we are hoping for a lot of signatures by the time of the oral submissions to Council on 31st August.  

It would also be helpful if you could write a note of support and send it to newtownwellington@gmail.com before our President, Rhona Carson, presents the oral submission on Thursday 31st August.

Toilets for Carrara Park

Consultation, News

Our Association has made a submission to Wellington City Council on Te Awe Māpara – The draft Community Facilities Plan, asking again for toilets in the Park.

Back in 2020 James Barber wrote a Scoop article about the lack of toilets in Carrara Park – https://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=132403 – well worth reading! Nothing has changed since then.

We are hoping that this time we will be able to make such a strong case that the Council will finally approve it. If you agree with the cause you can help. One of the factors in assessing priorities for facilities is ‘Community advocacy • The community expresses an aspiration for a change to community facility provision to meet needs’ (p 49 of the draft plan). We’re hoping to generate a level of community advocacy that can’t be ignored!

We are launching an online petition, and will add a link when it is approved.  If you have ever been to Carrara Park and wished that there was a toilet there please sign it! It would also be helpful if you could write a note of support and send it to newtownwellington@gmail.com before our President, Rhona Carson, presents an oral submission on Thursday 31st August.

See here for the text of the written submission.

60th Anniversary Celebration

Local Events, News, Other

Our Anniversary on Saturday 29th July was a very enjoyable event, held in Newtown School Hall. During the day we set up display boards with photos and other information about the Association and it’s activities – including Newtown Festival – and also contributions from other Newtown organisations and other Residents’ Associations elsewhere in Wellington. There were displays of the history of Newtown Library and Newtown Community Centre, information tables for the Wellington South Community Patrol, Predator Free Wellington and Predator Free Mt Cook Newtown, and photos, posters and pamphlets from many other groups and organisations including Seeds to Feeds, Renters United, the Zoo, EkeRua ReBicycle, St Tom’s Church, and WREMO. It was a good opportunity to remind people that Newtown School Hall is the emergency hub for Newtown.

There was a slide show of Association activities – you can see the slides here, although its not quite the same without the special effects created by Committee member Michelle Wolland. We also had a screen showing Newtown Festival videos – many thanks to Rowena Tun the Timebank coordinator for both supplying the screen and setting up the videos.

The highlight of the occasion was the afternoon tea starting at 2.30pm. A crew of Association members organised this. Sandwiches, slices and savouries came from the Friendly Bakery in Riddiford St, and we highly recommend them if you are planning something similar! And a ‘thank you’ to Lynda McGregor, who donated a tray of the legendary cinnamon rolls from her market stall, The Little Bread Loaf. The centrepiece was a splendid cake made by committee member Carol Comber, who had cleverly created a cake which divided into sections with different flavours and characteristics, including vegan and gluten free.

Kaumātua Peter Jackson was the first speaker and following a karakia he gave a brief outline of how the Te Āti Awa and Taranaki iwi came to be in Wellington, and talked of how the area we know as Newtown was basically a swamp. There is no record of it having its own name in pre-colonial times. Kaumātua Peter also told the story of how his father (Sam Jackson) gave Wellington Hospital the name Ngā Puna Waiora because of the streams that ran through the site.  This is echoed in the name Te Kura Ngā Puna Waiora (Newtown School) and now also the reopened Newtown Community Centre, Te Whare Hapori o Ngā Puna Waiora. 

The president Rhona Carson then spoke briefly, welcoming attendees and introducing the next speakers.

Deputy Mayor Laurie Foon and Councillor Nurredin Abdurahman, our Southern Ward representatives, both spoke and talked about the importance of community, and doing things together. Cr Nureddin had recently returned from visiting Ethiopia and reflected on the advantages we enjoy in our community.

Martin Hanley and Anna Kemble Welch  joined Newtown Residents’ Association soon after moving here in the early 1980s. Martin spoke about how he, Anna, Peter Frater and Chris Renwick (now deceased) responded to a WCC invitation to organise Carrara Park carnival in 1995 and then the Newtown Festival Street Fair in 1997.  Newtown Festival was run by the NRA for twenty years then separated into the Newtown Festival  Trust in 2017, but it is still run by the same people.

The final speaker was Hilary Watson, who was a member of the Association in the 1970s and 1980s and rejoined a few years ago. She spoke of memories of Owen O’Connor,  the Association President when the name was changed to Residents’ Association, who was a great champion for Newtown and died much too young.

Hilary then joined Carol Comber in cutting the cake, concluding the formalities.