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Newsletter No. 59

Houghton Valley Community Newsletter

10 May, 2012

Traffic intersection update: We have recently heard from the WCC traffic engineer’s office that a new revised plan for the Houghton Bay Rd / beach intersection will be sent to us next week for the community to comment and have input. When asked when construction will start, Stuart Bullen, team leader traffic, said, “We are looking at starting in June / July time for construction if in agreement with the community”. The consultation process will probably take place somewhere in Houghton Valley, so if you would like to be involved, let us know and we will keep you in the loop.

Seedling and seed exchange at the Community Garden: In a couple of weeks there should be some broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage seedlings to exchange for seeds / seedlings / or for a koha. If you are interested, come down to the community garden on a Sunday afternoon and stay for a cuppa on the camomile lawn.

Resources for Houghton Valley School art class: “We need some old toys (metal if possible but anything considered) to deconstruct and reconstruct; ball bearings, springs, old dvd’s and videos, stereos to pull apart, wire etc. If you think you might have something lurking in your basement/garage please bring it in to school for us to use. Thanks.” – Caroline

A community record: The Houghton Valley Community Facebook Page has had a small makeover. You can see more photos and information on the projects happening in the area.

Regards, Norman and Grant

Newsletter No. 58

Houghton Valley Community Newsletter

26 April, 2012

TRiG Working Bee: The next working bee will be this Saturday 28 April. If you are keen to help with weeding, and preparing for planting of 500 trees, meet us up at the Alice Krebs Lodge between 2 – 5 pm. Thanks, Jenny from Houghton Bay Rd.

Thinking ahead for the School Fair: Donations of produce are sought to make preserves to sell at the Houghton Valley School Fair in October. Do you have, or do you know people who have more rhubarb, lemons, mint, feijoas (especially feijoas!), apples, quinces, chillies, tomatoes etc than you know what to do with? I am always keen to receive donations of produce to make into preserves and cordials to sell – no matter how small or large the donation, it is very welcome. Donors are given a jar/bottle of what I make as a thank you! – Sarah 

Art Club Exhibition: from Linda of Houghton Bay Rd. The Wellington Art club celebrates its 120 year history with an Art exhibition on 28 – 29 April from 10 am – 4 pm at their studio gallery, 27 Chelsea St, Miramar. There will be a historical display, talks, painting demonstrations, refreshments as well as the original art by the club members. All welcome. [No attachment]

Possibilities for the community: two messages from Miranda of Hornsey Rd … Houghton Valley residents are very blessed. We have the trees, birds, a community garden, easy access to the beach, great neighbours – all we need now is a local cafe! While the Lyall Bay and Newtown cafes are relatively close to us, they are just not close enough to qualify as our ‘local’.  There already has been some informal discussion around this most important – possibility such as: a cafe bus / caravan (Community Coffee anyone?) which could move between the beach at Houghton Bay, the community garden and Hornsey Road and anywhere else it was needed – school fair and other local events for instance. A local person may be thinking of starting up a local cafe close to home.

 Also, I am looking for a studio to rent for two days a week. It would need to be affordable and suitable for community art/craft classes. All spaces and arrangements considered. Many thanks – Miranda 

A map of Houghton Valley bush walks and centres of interest:

Review of Bus Services: Regional Councillor Daran Ponter has provided information from Peter Glensor, chair of its Economic Wellbeing Committee, about the bus review. Around 6000 responses were received; the committee meeting in late May will consider these and recommend the next consultation steps for this city-wide review. Daran Ponter has commented on the quality of the submission put together by local residents following a public meeting, submitted in the name of the Houghton Valley Progressive Association. 

Regards, Norman and Grant

Newsletter No. 56

Houghton Valley Community Newsletter

29 March, 2012

Welcome to those who have just joined the Houghton Valley community email – there are 158 on the list now.

Bus review: Christine Fowler, the president of the Houghton Valley Progressive Association submitted our submission late on Sunday. Many thanks to Linda from View Rd for compiling everyone’s points of view into a comprehensive document. It is attached for you to read along with a document from Councillor Daran Ponter which gives a regional overview.

Archaeological Dig: If you want to check out the photos taken by Shar, go to the Friends of Houghton Valley Facebook Page.

TRiG working bee: “The weather is looking good for this Saturday, so if you are keen to help with weeding, meet us up at the Alice Krebs Lodge  between 2 – 5 pm.” – Jenny

Message from Amy: Dear Grant and Norman, I have a new foodblog with daily recipes – it’s just for fun, motivated by a love of food and sharing so I’d love to share with the local community if you think it would be appropriate to mention it in the newsletter at some point please do – might be of interest to other parents. Thanks.” – Amy (Houghton Bay Rd). [Link not current.]

Regards, Norman and Grant

Newsletter No. 55

Houghton Valley Community Newsletter

15 March, 2012

Welcome to the new members of this community email news group (there are now 141 people on the list).

Houghton Valley Public Meeting: Wellington City Bus Review, Monday 19 March, 7.30 pm in the Houghton Valley School Hall.

Due to considerable local interest, the Houghton Valley Progressive Association has arranged for  Councillor Daran Ponter from the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) to present information about the review of the Wellington City bus service and how the proposed changes will affect bus users in the Southern suburbs. Under the proposal all city bus routes and timetables will be changed. The review is complex so Daran’s presentation will help to summarise the issues that affect us directly. If you are a bus user and haven’t already attended a public meeting about the proposed changes you are encouraged to attend this one.

Traffic Intersection update: The roadworks opposite the Pines is finished but the work on the intersection on the corner of Houghton bay Rd and The Esplanade hasn’t yet started. We enquired and have been told that work has been delayed due to further design work now required. We will keep you posted.

TriG working bee: “The weather is looking good for this Saturday, so if you are keen, come up to the Alice Krebs lodge at 2 pm. Bring metal rakes and any other tools you might find useful for tradescantia consolidation and general pruning/weeding.” – Jenny

Regards, Grant and Norman

Newsletter No. 54

Houghton Valley Community Newsletter

11 March, 2012

This is a special mail out to inform everyone about upcoming meetings which will be the last chance to discuss the proposed changes to No.s 22 and 23 bus routes.

Councillor Daran Ponter has indicated to Linda Cameron (from View Rd) at a meeting in Kilbirnie on Saturday that so far there has been little feedback from Houghton Valley residents. Therefore on Monday 12 March (tomorrow) at 7.30 pm at the Newtown community and Cultural Centre (corner of Rintoul and Colombo Streets) and on Tuesday 13 March at 7.30 pm in the Kilbirnie Community Centre (on Bay Rd, next to the Post Office) there will be presentations by Daran Ponter. These are opportunities to find out more about the changes to bus routes and express your views. According to Daran, the changes will have major implications for the Houghton Valley Community, whether you are a regular bus user or a homeowner in the area.

The key message is that if Houghton Valley Residents want to voice concerns about the changes to the buses then we need as many people as possible to send in submissions and attend meetings. The closing date for submissions is Friday 23 March 2012.

Booklets entitled ‘What do you think? Proposed changes to the Wellington Bus Services’ are available from Kilbirnie library and there will be copies available at the meetings (there is a questionnaire at the back that you can fill in). You can also obtain information on freephone 0800 … and send a submission by accessing the Metlink website: http://www.gw.govt.nz/wellington-city-bus-review/. [Link not current.]

Regards, Grant and Norman

Newsletter No. 53

Houghton Valley Community Newsletter

1 March, 2012

The archaeological dig turned out to be a great success. On Saturday night we (the dig team) ended the day by sharing a meal with the Mayor (see image attached) and then collapsing in a tired but very happy heap.

[Actual image missing, but nearly 200 others are on our Facebook Page.]

Feedback on the day and follow-up e-mails was gratifying: 

  • “Splendid day – well done!”
  • “Just want to thank you for organising such a delightful and educational experience today.  You must be happy with the end result – we fully appreciate that this did not happen without a huge amount of thought and effort from a team of people. So glad we made our way down the valley for the afternoon session.”
  • “I really enjoyed the archaeological dig – it was a very interesting afternoon. Could you please add my name to the mailing list so that I can be kept informed of community events.”
  • “Prompted in part by the splendid show …. the Restieaux Farm dig over the weekend I am writing to ask if I might be included in your mailing list for the community newsletter.”
  • “I wanted to make a special thanks too on behalf of the PlayCentre, we raised $220 from cake koha. A great effort we feel!”
  • “Thank you very much for inviting us to join the dig on Saturday.  It was a grand occasion and we really enjoyed it. We received lots of interest and sold a lot of our magazines, which was great.” – Historical Society
  • “Great project in the valley this weekend! Could you add us to your email list?”
  • “You took a big risk and it paid off.”
  • “My wife came home and couldn’t stop talking about it.”

The Dig Team: Alistair, Dave, Estelle, Finn, Grant, Heather, Jacob, Kate, Ken, James, Jenny, John, Louis, Lucy, Mary, Miranda, Norman, Pat, Ross, Sandy and Shar would like to know what you thought of The Dig  as an event to get local people together? We would also like your feedback too and suggestions about where to from here.

No 22 and 23 Bus: the proposed changes to all the city’s bus routes, which has major implications for people in Houghton Valley, is subject to an an extensive consultation process. This includes public meetings in Island Bay on Monday March 5 and Newtown on March 12. Is anyone planning to attend either of these, and if so would they be willing to provide a report for the next issue of the newsletter?

Update on the proposed roundabout for the beach intersection: We have recently been advised commencement work has been delayed as more design work is required. In turn the Council has been advised the community requirement is to review and sign-off on this ‘final design’.

EVENTS CALENDAR

TRiG (Te Raekaihau Restoration Group): Next Working Bee 3 March (2 – 5 pm) will be at the Alice Krebs Lodge to do some weed control.

Common Sense Organics: Coming up this Saturday, 3 March is the sponsor day of their Kilbirnie branch. They will donate 5 % of that day’s profits to the Houghton Valley Community Garden. Last year we were given over $300. So if you are thinking of buying organic food, do it on Saturday.

Regards, Norman and Grant

Newsletter No. 52?/Te Kawakawa Commons

Houghton Valley Community Newsletter

16 February, 2012

This newsletter is missing, and should have included the build up to the Archaeological Dig. The post below may have been part of it.

13 February, 2012

Mt Albert Aerial Noise: Thanks to all those who supported our plight to WCC by signing the petition. It seams we have finally after about 3 years had a cessation of the harmonic emanating from the communications towers. The WCC had contractors scale the towers on a noisy day and find the cause of the fluting, and capped them off.

If anybody hears any further noise, please let me know and I will go back to them. Please record the day, time and wind direction/speed if possible. (http://www.windfinder.com/forecast/wellington) – James

Clean Fill: If any of you or any of your associates are wanting clean fill for any retaining wall or landscaping work … let me know. We have between 20 – 40 m3 available made up of topsoil and rotten rock. We can help load it to your vehicle from our driveway. – James

Newsletter No. 51?/Bus Review

Houghton Valley Community Newsletter

2 February, 2012

This newsletter is missing, but the post below may have formed the basis for it.

January, 2012

Wellington Bus Review: The Wellington Bus Service Review is due to go out for public submissions in February 2012. The Review will propose a significant shakeup of bus services in the Wellington City area. It will affect all suburbs South of Grenada. The review is essentially focused on two key things:

  • Consolidating existing routes and services into a more efficient system (e.g. so we don’t have empty buses running in some areas and times of the day, and overcrowded ones at other times);
  • Increasing the reach of our bus services (i.e. frequency, evening and night services, and services into areas that are currently not, or are poorly, served)
The review will place an emphasis on:
  • Hubbing: Where feeder services come to a hub, allowing you to join a primary service (in these instances commuters will have to interchange, increasing the need for safe and weather-proof bus stops, and integrated ticketing, but will also in many cases extending the reach and frequency of bus services).
  • Through-routing: where more bus services are joined up so that we remove the number of buses terminating at the Wellington Railway station and increase efficiency.

It will be important that you make a submission on the Review, putting forward the issues of concern (good and bad) to your communities. To assist in this process, Councillor Paul Bruce and Daran Ponter are happy to come and present and discuss the Review with your Community Association. More information about the review is available at http://www.gw.govt.nz/wellington-city-bus-service-review/. [Link not current.]