Houghton Valley Community Newsletter
17 November 2011
Last Saturday at Houghton Valley School: A feature of the long established school fair has been the extent of the community’s involvement beyond families with children at the school. Last Saturday was no exception. When a call for help went out through this email newsletter many locals responded with goods and offers of assistance on the day. People ‘came out of the woodwork’ to drop off hundreds of plants at a stall run by those involved with the community garden. Along with a raffle of vegetables this raised several hundred dollars for the school.
Great food and coffee at great prices, great music for – and from – young and old and the rain held off just long enough. Friendly, a generous spirit and plenty of what people wanted. Local MP Annette King was an early visitor (has she got something else on right now?) went away with plenty of plants to tuck into her garden.
It’s not a new House!: Residents along the Hornsey Road ridge below the Mt Albert water tank, with assistance from the WCC, have started a hillside bush regeneration project. A large area of established blackberry has been cleared in preparation for autumn / winter 2012 planting. The area will include the bus stop area, along with the bare part of the gully across the road. We have been working on developing Road Reserve land on this corner recently stripping it of Cape Ivy, blackberry, Kooch Grass, Ivy etc and replacing with natives. We will be applying for a grant to fund the provision of materials to build some steps and a walking track to connect the road with the southern Walkway on the ridge above. The gully was used as an informal community tip in the past and we are having all surface rubbish removed. We will keep you informed of progress as it happens! – James of Hornsey Rd
LOCAL CONTACTS:
The following was compiled for a leaflet handed out at the school fair; it’s an up to date list of contacts for local activities.
- Houghton Valley Community Garden: Turn up at 2 pm any Sunday to see what’s going on; see also the Houghton Valley Facebook Page;
- Hornsey Rd Neighbourhood Group: If you live in Hornsey Rd you might know what’s going on, otherwise contact James;
- Archaeological Dig: Will take place early next year on the site of the original dairy farm in Houghton Valley. See future issues of the newsletter or contact Grant;
- Friends of Buckley Rd Reserve: Planting group, contact Kate and Ian;
- TRiG – View Rd Reserve: Te Raekaihau Restoration Group for tree planting and weeding, contact Jenny;
- Alice Krebs Lodge: For bookings contact Brenda;
- Te Raekaihau Coast Care – seashore at Te Raekaihau Point: Planting and coast care group, contact Sunita;
- Upgraded Esplanade/Houghton Bay Rd intersection: Contact Norman for more information;
- Civil Defence Register: Contact Norman to register any useful resources you have;
- Houghton Valley PlayCentre: For session times see: http://www.wellingtonplaycentre.org.nz/index.php/find-a-centre-mainmenu-39/58-houghton-vally-playcentre.html (Link not current)
Regards, Grant and Norman