May 22, 2024
Kia ora koutou,
If you need a beautiful and serene little spot to discover on a local walk, how about visiting one of our special little community gardens – Te Kawakawa Commons. It is up behind the bus stop near No 44 Hornsey Road, on land that is part of the Mt. Albert Reserve. (Go round the back of the right hand garage). Local residents cleared the gully of blackberry and have planted fruit and native trees and made several tracks to wander round on, and seats to sit on.
Weeding on Te Raekaihau
Saturday 25 May, 10 am – 12 midday
You thought Te Ohu o Te Raekaihau had finished the weeding season … well so did they, but an opportunity came up that couldn’t be missed. Have you ever been curious about what the view is like from up that driveway by the Te Awaawa entrance to the reserve near Princess Bay? Now is your chance!
In line with the group’s no-sprays policy, they are walking the talk with Tom the WCC Ranger. There is a small area of planted reserve land next to the house at No. 44 The Esplanade that was going to be sprayed by Council contractors. The group has negotiated to help with manual weeding instead. The young plants need releasing and a few other weeds probably also need to be dispatched. The owners have kindly let us use their right-of-way.
Meet at the Te Awaawa track entrance which is by 44 The Esplanade at 10am, Saturday 25 May. If you are late, just walk up. They will provide tools and gloves but please bring your own if you can. In the event of bad weather we will postpone to Sunday.
Koha Coffee
Saturday June 1, 10.30 am – 12.30 pm
Andrew is back hosting a few Saturday Koha Coffees for those that can’t make Sundays. This one is on King’s Birthday Weekend, so if you are staying local, take a visit to our very own local at the Houghton Valley Hall (80 Houghton Bay Road). Bring some kai or a koha and chat with neighbours and get to know about what’s going down round this neck of the woods.
Report on the Lifting the Creek submissions
A few community members made an oral submission to the Wellington City Council’s Long Term Plan and the Greater Wellington Regional Council’s Long Term Plan – both on the same day. The Regional Council is very positive about the project. The City Council is stuck in a holding pattern waiting for an engineering report, which is due to come out soon. We won’t really know what they think until then, but we will keep trying.
In a newly surfaced box of archive material we found a picture of residents showing Councillor John Gilberthorpe the leachate problem back in 1989. Accompanying correspondence indicates that residents have been trying to get the issue fixed since the early 1970s. It seems that a proper solution has always been deemed too expensive for something that is more an aesthetic issue than a health one, when there are alway higher priorities. The situation has been improved over the years, but then standards have gone up at the same time. The problem isn’t fixed yet.
Houghton Valley Progressive Association report
The AGM last Sunday was attended by 15 people, a good proportion of the membership. Thank you all for coming! After a report on what had been achieved over the last year, there was a good discussion on what can be done next. The new committee is now up to 5 members, which is a heartening trend.
The new Constitution was voted in, which will see some more exciting changes, including a change of name. More on that later!
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