The Wellington Timebank is currently sponsoring an open t-shirt design competition.

This competition is now open for submissions from designers of any level from around the entire Wellington community.  This is an opportunity for artists to creatively express their ideas about what they want their communities to look like, and have a chance to have their work printed on t-shirts.

The theme of our competition is –Our Place: My Dream– Where do you see our community going? How will it get there? Envision a place where you would belong. Winning designs will be chosen by public vote and printed on t-shirts, with winning designers getting a free shirt.
The t-shirts will be sold as a fundraiser for the Wellington Timebank.

Submissions are due September 10th and must include the timebank logo (attached). To submit send a high quality digital copy to Hannah at wgtn.timebank@gmail.com or drop off a hard copy at the Wellington Timebank office in the Newtown Community Centre.

Please feel free to contact Marit at maolson24@gmail.com or 027 484 6844, or Hannah at the Timebank at 04 920 6708 or wgtn.timebank@gmail.com with questions or for more information.

Recently there has been an increase in burlgaries in Mt Cook, Newtown, Karori and Johnsonville.

Police are putting an operation together for the end of September to target offenders and their activity and also provide education for residents of the Newtown and Mt Cook areas.

Police are asking Newtown residents to remember to take basic security precautions such as locking all doors and windows when out, using alarms if they are installed and calling Police if they see any suspicious behaviour with people hanging around places where they shouldn’t be.

Items that are being targeted specifically are jewellery, I phones and cameras.

A simple precaution to take is to make sure items such are these are stored out of view.

We had a great session on the study and its implications for Newtown at the July monthly meeting.  Big thanks to Councillor Daran Ponter and Luke Troy from the Greater Wellington Regional Council for coming along to talk to us.

As highlighted in our earlier story, the big concern was the suggestion that the favoured Bus Rapid Transit option would involve demolition of the pedestrian friendly streetworks as far along Riddiford St as the Constable St intersection.  This was signalled as necessary  to accommodate the dedicated bus lane up the centre of the street.

What emerged from discussion at the meeting was that this last couple of hundred metres of the propsoed priority bus lane past the intersection of Rintoul St was arguably not actually a necessary part of the design at all.  This is acknowledged in a short note in an appendix to the study report.  Based on passenger data, there is little likelihood of the priority ever being extended from Riddiford up Constable to the East.  The more likely future development would be a southern extension along Rintoul St to Island Bay.  This being the case it would seem that the proposed priority lane could actually end at Riddiford and Rintoul with any significant loss of functionality, and avoid destruction of the current mainstreet.

Consultations on the study have now commenced, and run until 30 September.   We need a strong response from Newtown and its friends to make the point that the preferred Bus Rapid Transit is accepted ONLY if the southern leg of it ends at the intersection of Rintoul and Riddiford Streets.  However the focus of this round of consultation is at a very high level and what is to us the headline issue for our suburb is not identified.   We suggest people use any other comments panel at the foot of the online submission form to make our point

You can download:

• a short brochure giving quick over view of the study findings; and
• the more detailed study documents;

on the Greater Wellington regional Council website.

The NRAs response to Wellington City’s draft Local alcohol policy was discussed at the July monthly meeting.  It was noted that the proposed policy included three key points relevant to Newtown.  These were:

• the earlier closing for off licence liquor sales;
• the lower trigger for hearings on licence applications, and
• the midnight closing for local bars.

The first two were consistent with the NRAs earlier submission, and there was support for these.  There was some debate on the third.  Two concerns were raised.  The first was that earlier closing of the local bars might lead to a “midnight migration” downtown of people who had already been drinking when they might have been better left where they were.  The second was a concern at the possible impact on the merging performance and entertainment scene in Newtown.  The NRA Submission reflects this.

The second monthly Keep Newtown Clean day took place this Saturday  3 August.   It was another great effort with a diverse range of people from around town turning up to held clean up tagging around Newtown.  After the blitz on Riddiford St last month, this time the “citizen army” cleaned up most of the side streets off Riddiford and Constable St all the way to the top.  Big thanks to David Wilcock for organising this, and to the council satff and contractors who helped out on the day.  Remember this is now a regular event on the first saturday of every month.   Just turn up outside Newtown New World in your painting gears from 9:00am onwards.

Wellington South Community Patrol is based in Newtown and relies on motivated volunteers to help keep the suburbs safe. After receiving safety training from the NZ Police, we patrol our patch – acting as eyes and ears for the Police. We have recently purchased our own vehicle which is painted to be highly visible. Two patrollers are the minimum for any patrol, and we are in regular phone and radio contact. We normally patrol once a month, for up to four hours. Residents, motorists and the business community have strongly supported this initiative, which has recorded dozens of instances of helping people who may be at risk and calming potentially troublesome situations with our mere presence, or the ability to call on higher help. If you want to help keep your suburb safe – from Mt Cook and Brooklyn south through Newtown, Kingston and Berhampore to Island Bay and Owhiro Bay, come for a trial ride. You may just find it as satisfying as we do.
Get in touch, or check out our website, or Facebook Page.

We’ve had a storm, we’ve had an earthquake or two, by now we should be getting the message about being prepared for emergencies.  Anyone still not sure what to do about being prepared should have a quick check of the Get Ready Get Thru website.

Nominations for candidates wishing to stand for election to either the City Council or Regional Council remain open until noon on Friday 16 August.
If people want to check the preliminary electoral roll of electors, it is available for inspection
on the ground floor of the Council offices at 101 Wakefield Street – ask at the main reception desk – and is also available at all city libraries. The roll will remain open until 5pm, Friday 16 August.
If you’re not enrolled, you have to do so by 5pm on 16 August to receive a postal vote. If you enrol after this date you will have to contact the Electoral Officer to obtain a special vote. Voting will take place by post between 20 September and 12 October.
Newtown Residents’ Association is planning to hold a local meeting of candidates for the Council elections on Wednesday 4 September in St Anne’s Parish Hall, at the end of Emmett St.   St Anne’s Parish will be putting on supper at the end of the meeting. In addition don’t forget that the NRA is planning to ask all the local candidates to answer a questionnaire for us and to pre circulate their answers.  So we want you to tell us what issues you want to hear about.  Drop us a line to newtownwellington@gmail.com with ELECTION QUESTIONS in the title line and we will start building up the collection

NRA June 2013 Minutes_Draft

Despite the not very friendly weather the first Keep Newtown Clean Day on Saturday was a big hit.  Somewhere close to 40 volunteers from all quarters of the community turned out and cleaned pretty much all the tagging in Riddiford St South of the hospital.   This is going to be a regular event on the first Saturday of each month – just turn up outside Newtown New World at 8:00am (or soon after) in your painting gears and join the crew. The next Keep Newtwon Clean day is on 3 August.  You can check out the full display of photos of “cleaners” at work in Newtown Mall