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.

The Laura Rosier History of Newtown is now online

News

Laura Rosier (1927-1994) came to Newtown with her family as a baby and lived here for the rest of her life. She and her husband Vaughan were active members of our Residents’ Association. Laura spent the 1980s and early 1990s researching and compiling a history of Newtown, but sadly she died suddenly in February 1994. What happened to the manuscript after that is outlined in the Introduction to the book.

After a long hiatus the book was edited, and we have now uploaded it to our Local History page.

Here is a selection of photos as a preview – click to enlarge

Clockwise – The Newtown Hotel, cnr Constable and Riddiford, 1904. The same building converted to the Ascot Theatre, 1969. The Last Tram, coming along John St, 1964.

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!

Notes of the August 2024 Meeting

Local Events, Meetings, News

The meeting was held on Monday 19th August at the St Thomas’s Community Lounge. This is quite a long post because of the number of discussions and news items.

Association President Rhona Carson welcomed everyone, particularly our Council representatives DM Laurie Foon and Cr Nureddin Abdurahman, and introduced Jesse Gale to talk about MacAlistair Park restoration.

MacAlister Park Restoration Group
Jesse Gale attended to introduce this mahi to the group. Geoff Simmons, the group convenor who made the initial approach, was unable to attend. Geoff, and friend Ed Hearnshaw (now deceased), started the group (called ‘Charlie’s Angels’) around ten years ago to restore the Prince of Wales Park. They group has applied to WCC for funding for new tools, but as they aren’t a legal entity they need another group to ‘umbrella’ this, and they are asking if the Residents’ Association can provide this – which we agreed to.      

There are about 20 adult members, with other whānau, who go out about once a month to return gorse and unusable land to native bush. The plants are provided by the Council. The exact days of activity vary; they are usually a weekend day. If anyone is interested in getting involved Geoff Simmons is the contact – geoffsimmonz@gmail.com.  Map reference link

Berhampore and Newtown West Parking
Rhona had asked for feedback about the Parking Plan, and had received written and verbal reports from some people unable to be at the meeting.  These were positive, with the people concerned finding it much easier to park outside their homes. Those at the meeting were generally in agreement.

Some are unhappy about the need to pay for a parking permit, and wonder why Newtown and Berhampore are the first suburbs with this requirement. Cr Nureddin explained some of the background to the parking changes, particularly why Newtown was the first suburb to get these changes.  Rhona summed up the history of parking concerns in Newtown, with requests for more residents space for parking.  

A question was raised about whether the rules applied on public holidays.  DM Laurie will check this out. There are no CBD parking restrictions on public holidays.  

Newtown Community Consortium Meeting at Black Coffee, July 26th
This meeting was organised by Duncan McLean and Paige Simoneau from the Newtown Business Group. The purpose of the meeting was to gather ideas, voice concerns and create partnerships within the community for support and safety. There was a very good attendance with nearly 50 people present, including representatives from various agencies –social services, WCC, Police and others – and many local residents.

DM Laurie Foon and Penny Sturgess both went to the meeting and reported their impressions of it. There was a lot of positive feeling for Newtown, but also many concerns about safety and security.
DM Laurie added that Downtown Community Ministries (DCM) are out on the streets, and she has been very impressed with their work.  It is better to donate to DCM than to beggars. The Fixit App is very useful to log any troubling events (but call 111 if there are threats to safety).
There is likely to be a Community Cleanup event on 15 September. [Now confirmed].

Interest in Emmett and Green Streets having Historic Heritage designations
DM Laurie and Cr Nureddin have been talking with local people about progressing this mahi.

Wellington Heritage Festival
Alex Hockley (Wellington Heritage Festival CEO) reported that the brochure of events would be released soon. About 150 events are being held throughout the region.  Twelve are in Newtown, and six of these have been initiated by the Newtown Residents’ Association – there will be more information about these coming soon. The Festival is running from 26 October to 17 November.

Newtown Mini-Events
Newtown Festival has arranged with WCC for Wilson Street and Newtown Avenue to be able to be closed a few times a year for live events.  These will be well publicised ahead of time. An advance notice – the Latino Community are organising a Day of the Dead Festival to be held on Saturday 2 November outside Viva Mexico, in the Wilson St carpark.

Newtown Festival Sunday 2nd March 2025
More than 240 people have already applied for stalls (about 400 are expected), and expressions of interest for performers are coming in. See https://www.newtownfestival.org.nz/ for both those links.

Cancer Society Relay for Life
The Society are interested in having this at Newtown Park in March next year; still to be decided.

Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards
Congratulations to Newtown Tool Library who got runner-up for the environment awards. See here for the list of winners. [Additional note – Wellington Community Choir who rehearse at Te Whaea at 7pm on Wednesdays were the runner up in the Arts and Culture category, and several other local organisations including Smart Newtown, Quick Kai, Wellington Timebank (all from Newtown Community Centre) and Wellington City Mission were finalists. Congratulations to all involved!]

Te Aro Zero Waste
The Sustainability Trust and Wellington City Council have created a partnership to offer more services. Instead of making the trip to the WCC Landfill Tip Shop you can now go to the Sustainability Trust premises at 2 Forresters Lane to drop off items for recycling or reuse, purchase secondhand items, and more. See https://sustaintrust.org.nz/tearozerowaste. Open hours Wednesday – Saturday 10am – 4pm.

Affordability for Sports in Wellington
Cr Nurredin informed us that a report has been prepared on this subject and will be reviewed by Council soon.

Gillies McIndoe Research Institute – 7 Hospital Road
Graeme Carroll drew our attention to an important recent activity at GMRI.  Dr Swee Tan, the lead researcher on the Glioblastoma Phase II clinical trial is recruiting patients recently diagnosed with glioblastoma as participants. The trial will investigate a safe combination of repurposed drugs that is hypothesised to regulate cancer stem cells. If you wish to know more about the Phase II trial, see https://www.facebook.com/GMRINZ/  – a post from July 22 – or email info@gmri.org.nz for more information.

177 Owen Street (previously known as Workingmen’s Bowling Club) redevelopment
The bowling club club rooms have been demolished and work is progressing on creating the new Park, including extensive sound checking to determine the optimal stage placement.

Newtown Residents’ Association Membership
Rhona reminded people that the new financial year started on July 1st and membership renewals are now due. The Membership Form is here. There are also paper membership forms available at meetings.

See the full minutes below.

Minutes NRA Meeting August 2024

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