May 8, 2020
The Haewai Feast-ival Takeaway Evening
In a quick turnaround due to measures to contain the escalating Covid-19 spread, the Seeds-to-Feeds dinner we were planning on March 22nd became a prototype of the “click-and-collect” system we are now experiencing. The twenty odd ticket holders that had already bought tickets before the sit down dinner was cancelled were happy to come and take away their soup, salad and bread made from locally grown or moderately locally sourced food, all in biodegradable containers. As some ingredients had already been ordered, there was enough to provide a few meals and spare veggies to people in the community that needed a little love.
The event made $391.75, which the Houghton Valley Progressive Association will make available for community projects to enhance food production.
There are more photos posted on the Seeds-to-Feeds Facebook Page. There are also photos from the other events, they were all very different! Across the six events there were a a total of 464 creative, locally characterful and delicious meals. 160 of these went to people in need in the community, including some who were self-isolating.
The event has gained funding to support even more groups next year. The aims of the Festival are to:
- Strengthen local communities by connecting people around local food;
- Increase food production in Wellington, and;
- Strengthen Wellington’s local food production system by returning proceeds to the community groups.
A great vision indeed! The Houghton Valley team want to do it again next year, and hope many more of you will be keen to help improve our local food production.
Wellington Residents’ Association Forum
This forum meets weekly on Zoom and the list of discussion points include WCC communications and resident engagement as well as the library, parks and reserves, consenting, landfills, water, resilience and planning. The forum is chaired by Eugene Doyle from Owhiro Bay.
In the aftermath of the storm surges recently the forum has highlighted some communication problems with WCC and WREMO. NIWA is setting up a trial of an Ocean Swell Warning system and alerts will be sent to residents. The initial agreement was reached on Friday and it is intended that MetService data would be used to provide public warnings to seaside communities and to Residents’ Associations. Representatives from the organisations will meet to discuss details of the trial in the next week or so.
Through Eugene, the HVPA queried if the wastewater connections from recent development in the valley had been fully inspected. They had the following reply from Chris Scott at WCC:
“…yes the connections have been inspected and passed in respect of the new private sewer and storm water for the developments at 235, aka 241 Houghton Bay Road. Further inspections will be carried out when any new buildings are connected into these laterals to confirm continued compliance.”
As well as Zoom, the forum has a Cloud store for reports and proposals. Please get in touch with Ken if you want more detailed updates.
Keeping up with Council News
There is now a link for all the press releases being sent out by WCC to Residents’ Associations. As this is usually only hours before those items are on the news HVPA doesn’t plan to forward them unless it is of significant local impact. Recent WCC releases have included:
- Work restarts on Convention Centre, Town Hall, St James;
- $1.2 million Karori Event Centre fit-out gets Council approval;
- No change to recycling collections at Level 3 for Wellington City Council;
- Near-misses on south coast prompt call for everyone to slow down, take care.
The links are: https://wellington.govt.nz/your-council/news and https://www.facebook.com/wellingtoncitycouncil/.
If you want to add your voice to those calling for the Council to update the Wellington public about its intentions for the Wellington Central Library, your response is welcome on http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=127830&cpage=1#comment-1759567
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