Local Happenings

September 4, 2020

eDNA results

The eDNA sampling of our local stream near the Hungerford Road playground has produced some encouraging results. Not only are there Koura (freshwater crayfish) but there are signs of a native fish, the banded kōkopu. (Photo from NIWA.) These creatures are surviving in our very fresh but only inches deep spring water, cut off for 70+ years by the landfill pipes.

Not surprisingly, the results found no fish life in the stream once it had entered the pipes below the landfill. And when you see what comes out into the sea after a long dry spell you can see why!

This photo was taken by a surfer, Dominic Geers, and featured in a recent NZ Herald article.

Seed to Feeds

The Seeds to Feeds event people are asking Houghton Valley if they want to participate again this year, growing food over the summer months and hosting a community dinner in early March. We need to get a volunteer team together before we can commit to the project. Things to get involved with include:

• Event planning
• Food growing at the community garden or your own backyard
• Meal preparation
• Setting up the hall
• Assisting with serving and cleaning up

If you would like to be involved, please contact Jenny.

Report on Hungerford Rd Maintenance Plan

The plan is to start this December but if that is not possible, then February 2021. The works will take about 2 – 3 weeks. The key impediment is the steepness of the road and the safety issues that raises as it is at the limits of heavy vehicle capacity. This will mean barriers and a rota of road closures for the west and east sections of the road. There is also a possibility that works needed in View Road could be incorporated into the same time frame.

The road will be closed during work hours. Buses will be re-routed to Houghton Bay Road and off-street parking and access during the works will be negotiated with work crews. Rubbish collection and deliveries will be allowed access and it was stressed that all care will be taken to ensure disability and other high-needs access will be assisted by the crews when informed. It is important that services such as taxis and Uber are informed when booked during this time.

Locals offered suggestions about points of congestion such as school pickup times and placing signage well away to allow detours. There was considerable comment over issues of speed on Hungerford Road and the intersection at the top. These comments were taken back to WCC planners to see if improvements such as signage and traffic calming could be incorporated into the work.

As this Sunday is still Level 2, Katy will postpone Koha Coffee, hopefully only until the following Sunday. You can check our local Facebook Group for the new date. If you are new, you may need to sign up for the Facebook Group, but it is there for other local news in between the newsletters.

The Koha coffee will still be 10.30 am at the Houghton Valley Community Hall, next to the Playcentre. A warm welcome to new residents as well as the regulars.

Update on the Runway Extension

The following is an excerpt from the Guardian of the Bays 2020 Annual Report.

Things are on hold at the Airport (WIAL): the Civil Aviation Authority has still not decided on the required safety margin for any runway extension; the COVID-19 emergency has pushed out expansion plans for months, even years; and while WIAL says it still plans to extend the runway, they have delayed the timeline to some undetermined future.

However, the runway extension is only part of a much wider airport expansion. WIAL is stretching its boundaries into Miramar (e.g. the golf course), Moa Point (where it now owns half the residential properties) and Rongotai/Lyall Bay (e.g. the control tower, retail space and plans to utilise that industrial land for plane parking). The airport is also planning some major changes along the breakwater and on the Southern end of the runway at Moa Point.

There has been discussion on the desirability of the airport passing into public ownership so that the focus is on public service rather than the goal of maximising profits for the private sector for whom the environment, social disruption, public health and climate change are peripheral concerns. Yet WIAL continues to look to ratepayers and taxpayers to subsidise its activities – with as few strings attached as possible.

Rongotai Candidates Meetings

If you are interested in hearing our local Rongotai Candidates speak, here are a few options hosted by local residents’ Associations:

• Kilbirnie Community Centre: Saturday 19 September, 2.00 – 3.30 pm
• St Annes Hall Emmett St, Newtown: Thursday 24 September, 7.30 – 9.30 pm
• St Mathews Church, 98 Washington Ave: Wednesday 30 September, 7.30 pm
• Gateway Baptist, 33 Park Rd Miramar: Monday 28th September, 7.30 pm

(149 recipients, 96 opens)

July 30, 2020

Is anybody there?

Continuing our stream awareness theme, this week a trio of residents conducted their own stream life survey of the little stream near the Hungerford Road playground both before and after it enters the pipe beneath the landfill. They used a Wilderlab eDNA mini kit to take samples of the water in the stream near the bridge over the side stream and from the pipe 6m below the field. The kit collects genetic material shed by organisms through the loss of skin, hair, scales, fluids and faeces. While we are sure there is life in the clean water, we want to know if anything is surviving in our buried stream.

Community Meeting for Hungerford Rd Maintenance

There is a meeting tonight (Thursday 30 July) at 7 pm at the Houghton Valley School Hall put on by Wellington City Council and Fulton Hogan to discuss the major maintenance and resurfacing of Hungerford Road this coming paving season, and the impact this will have on residents and through traffic. The most local residents were advised in a mail drop, but others are welcome to come and see what is proposed. There are various options, and they would like to explain the reasons for the work and the various constraints of the job.

This Saturday August 1 at 10.30 am at the Houghton Valley Community Hall, next to the Playcentre. A warm welcome to new residents as well as the regulars. Andrew is hosting.

(148 recipients, 88 opens)

July 4, 2020

Remembering our creek: the photos above are of the same place, but getting on for ninety years apart in time. The site of the basketball court near the Hungerford Road playground used to have a house owned by the Herlihys. It was built next to the creek that runs down our valley, which you can just see in the foreground. All the old houses were built near our waterways as that was their source of water. In the 1940s, landfilling began and the creek was put in a pipe and the stream gully filled in to create the current recreational fields.. Before the basketball court was built, the area had a short stint as a bowling green. The creek is still there, somewhere …

Events in the valley in July: There are a few events coming up in Houghton Valley, something to brighten up the wintry month of July. They are:

This Sunday July 5 at 10.30 am at the Houghton Valley Community Hall. We welcome back our community Koha Coffee get togethers after the enforced break. Katy is hosting.

Houghton Valley Progressive Association Meeting

This will be held on Sunday July 12 at 4 pm at the community hall. You are welcome to come along and find out what is afoot in our community. It’s membership time again, come along with the very modest sum of $10 to support our community representative. There may still be some cards of the hall’s colourful banners left to give away.

Kae Miller Trust Founder’s Day Celebration

Take a walk up to the Alice Krebs Lodge on the Te Raekaihau Headland on Saturday July 18 to arrive at 2 pm. The Trust celebrates its Founder, Kae Miller every year. Bring a spade, gloves and sturdy shoes to help with some tree planting, and stay for some afternoon tea afterwards.

(144 recipients, 93 opens)

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

(144 recipients, 101 opens)

 

March 18, 2020

Haewai Feast-ival cancelled!

The seeds-to-feeds organisers have decided to cancel the six community dinners this week in the interests of public health. But the food is going to be cooked anyway for those ticket holders who have elected to pick up their dinners instead. Houghton Valley meals will be cooked locally and delivered to the hall for distribution.

However, we did manage the foraging walk

A group of about 10 people spent the spectacular weather on Sunday morning up on the Te Raekaihau Headland, foraging for wild weeds and flowers, and headed back to Grant’s place to make a salad with some supplementary homegrown lettuce and capsicum, and delicious bread.

Several of the people on the walk were from other seeds-to-feeds projects and we enjoyed comparing notes. Some knew lots about foraging, so we all shared our knowledge as well as the lunch.

(143 recipients, 101 opens)

March 5, 2020

Update on our Haewai Feast-ival

Sunday 22 March 4 – 7 pm: We hope you are intending to come to our Seeds to Feeds community event, if you haven’t booked a ticket yet do so soon! To update you on what’s been happening, we are now going for a yummy vegan and gluten free meal featuring fresh, organic, locally grown fruit, vegetables, edible flowers and weeds sourced locally. The event is BYO.

Children are welcome! There are toys at the hall and the play centre next door to help keep them entertained. Tickets are by Koha, whatever you can afford. Proceeds from the event will go to the HVPA towards looking after hall.

Are you growing anything for the Feast-ival?

Do you have any garden produce that you are planning to contribute to the community meal? If so, could you please contact Marleen so that she can co-ordinate with you about getting it to the cook just before the event.

Foraging walk and lunch, 15 March 10.30 am

Come and see what foraging opportunities there are in Houghton Valley! We will start at Grant’s in-the-teeth-of-the-Northerly vegetable garden in Hungerford Road, then scramble up to the Te Raekaihau headland looking for edible weeds as we go. Kae Miller, who lived in the Alice Krebs lodge up on the headland was well known for foraging and we will continue her tradition of finding and eating edible weeds. Afterwards we will head back to Grant’s place to prepare and eat a wild salad.

Only a few places left! The walk is fairly rugged, so bring sturdy shoes, something to carry your wild provender in, and a Koha towards the extras to supplement the wild salad lunch.

A successful dishcloth knitting session

Five of us got together for some concentrated knitting, crocheting and eating on Sunday 23 February. We had visits from monarch butterflies and the fantails and brainstormed suggestions on what to do with marrows that somehow grow gargantuan overnight. We plan to do it again soon, keep an eye out on the local Facebook Page.

Greenfeast!

Local residents are growing lots of healthy green things … but we will have other colours, tastes and and textures at the meal too.

Koha Coffee

Koha Coffee is coming up this Saturday, 10.30am at the community hall. Come and enjoy coffee, goodies and a chat with other locals.

(143 recipients, 92 opens)

February 13, 2020

Haewai Feast-ival, Sunday 22 March, 4 – 7 pm

Planning is well underway for our Haewai Feast-ival. This event is a partnership between the local community and the Seeds to Feeds project. You are invited to come along and enjoy a Mexican themed vegetarian meal cooked by chef Sukie of Southgate Road, featuring fresh, organic, locally grown fruit, vegetables, edible flowers and weeds sourced from Houghton Valley Community gardens, Te Kawakawa Commons, local residents and our very own back-door wild larder. The meal will be supplemented by other organic produce grown, processed or made close to Wellington City. The event is BYO, just make sure what you bring is as local as possible! Don’t forget we have our very own Meadery, which is open on the weekends from 11 am.

The Seeds to Feeds organisers have sent us an early invite to make sure everyone in Houghton Valley gets first dibs to come. There will be only 65 tickets available so get in early before the invite is made public. The event has a ticketing system, but payment is by Koha, whatever you can afford. Proceeds from the event will go to the HVPA towards looking after hall.

Introducing our fringe feast-ival …

Make your own dish cloths, 23 February 1 – 3 pm

As part of the lead up to the Feast-ival, Te Kawakawa Commons Community Garden is hosting a dish cloth knitting and crocheting get together.

Come and learn how to create sustainable cloths you can use again and again while enjoying the quiet and beauty of the garden (and admiring your growing meal!) If you can’t knit or crochet someone will help get you started. Bring one ball of pure cotton (Countdown, New World and Kilbirnie Sewing Shop all have it.) Size 8 / 4mm needles and a crochet hook if you want to crochet. There will be spare needles and hooks to borrow too.

Te Kawakawa Commons is in Hornsey Road, Melrose (next to the closest bus stop to Houghton Valley on the uphill side). If wet, it will be at the Houghton Valley Community Hall, 80 Houghton Bay Road. The get-together is free but you will need to register. Contact Aileen.

Foraging walk and lunch, 15 March 10.30 am

Come and see what foraging opportunities there are in Houghton Valley! We will start at Grant’s in-the-teeth-of-the-Northerly vegetable garden in Hungerford Road, then scramble up to the Te Raekaihau headland looking for edible weeds as we go. Kae Miller, who lived in the Alice Krebs lodge up on the headland was well known for foraging and we will continue her tradition of finding and eating edible weeds. Afterwards we will head back to Grant’s place to prepare and eat a wild salad.

The event is limited to 10 people. The walk is fairly rugged, so bring sturdy shoes, something to carry your wild provender in, and a Koha towards the extras to supplement the wild salad lunch.

Other hall events

The Houghton Valley Progressive Association will be holding its next quarterly meeting on February 23 at 4 pm in the community hall. You are welcome to come along and see what else is happening locally.

The next Koha coffee at the hall is Saturday March 7, 10.30 am.

Meal in progress …

Te Kawakawa Commons is growing vegetables, herbs and flowers.

Grant from Hungerford Road has a great set up for growing vegetables, some of which will make their way into the Feast-ival dishes.

More sites featured next time!

(141 recipients, 96 opens)

January 17, 2020

A Seeds to Feeds event in Houghton Valley!

Houghton Valley Community gardens and Te Kawakawa Commons have joined the Wellington Seeds to Feeds Festival, which involves growing local food over the summer and preparing a feast during Local Food Week (16 – 22 March). We will be holding a community celebration with a delicious 3-course meal prepared by chef Sukie (with a few unusual flavours thrown in for good measure) in the Houghton Valley Hall on March 22, from 5 – 8 pm.

A requirement of the event is that people book a ticket, giving a Koha to the hosting organisation. In this case it will be the Houghton Valley Progressive Association. There will be more details about this, and how to book a ticket, closer to the event.

We will also have a few more newsletters than usual to keep everyone in the loop with what is happening. This first one is mainly just to set the scene.

Meanwhile we have to grow the food …

The Seeds to feeds sponsors have kindly provided vegetable and edible flower seedlings for our local gardens to grow food for the event, but we have a few gaps. If you have any of the following that might be available in late March – garlic, onions, potatoes, pumpkin, rhubarb, lemons, feijoas, eggs, honey – please contact Ness.

And if anyone wants to try making chutney, fermenting vegetables, growing mushrooms, making wild yeast bread, home-brew or yoghurt from locally delivered milk please let your creative juices start flowing!

Building up to the event

We are planning a small foraging walk in March to scout out what will be available from our local wild landscape to add to the cultivated produce. More details later. We are also hoping to hold a kimchi making session.

Growing food a problem? – Nah

It is probably fair to say many of us do not feel we are equipped with the skills to grow food here in our rollicking South Coast climate. So over the next few months we are going to feature the life and stories of the food plants that survive and even thrive locally despite the cold, wind and salt. Dave McArthur has started with the story of his apple trees:

Green apple tree

Twenty years ago I inherited a property in Houghton Bay Road infested with German Ivy up to the house. When I cleared it back I discovered one lump of ivy was actually a long-smothered apple tree with about three pale leaves. Once freed, it blossomed, as can be seen here. It blew over in the June 2013 storm and now braces itself against the hillside. The winds do the thinning, and this crop of 200 apples will flavour my porridge each morning till October when new apples are forming.

Red apple tree

Clearance of another lump of German Ivy proved to be a broken-off, dead tree. So I removed it and made that area a lawn. I mowed it for four years until one spring when I spotted a single leaf on the ground. It looked like it was growing! Closer inspection revealed it was fixed to something under the soil and so I left it. The photo shows it today neatly braced against the hillside with 130 apples on it, after adapting to and being thinned by the Southerlies.

A thank you from the school

On behalf of the school we would like to thank the Houghton Valley Progressive Association, and the local community for your kind support for the 2019 school fair.

The fair generated a total profit of $33,000, which is the most money ever raised. This money will go towards equipment and resources not funded by the Ministry of Education, and will make a big difference to the school.

Special thanks for the use of the community hall for storage and for the pre-fair clothes sale, and the loan of trestle tables. Also thanks to Grant and the community gardeners for their support, to Andy for the pottery wheel, to Dave Mc for his unflagging energy and kindness, and to all our neighbours who help out or donate items for the fair.

The enthusiasm and support of so many local people is what makes our fair so much more than just a fundraiser. We hope you enjoyed the day, and hope to see you at next year’s fair!

(140 recipients, 105 opens)

December 13, 2019

Rongotai College Volunteer Day

Houghton Valley community was again a beneficiary of the annual Rongotai College Volunteer Day on November 29. About 20 students and staff formed teams with local residents to perform a range of tasks, including washing our community hall and clearing back vegetation around it, helping reconstruct the Houghton Valley Community Garden with our new WCC funded planks and clearing a weed infested area in our community forest. Fine weather and enthusiastic crews made for a very rewarding day.

Thanksgiving Dinner at the Hall

The community hall came alive at the end of November with a local celebration of Thanksgiving. Locals and their friends and children, as well as deputy Mayor Sarah Free, brought along a feast to share, and a great time was had by all.

Seeds to Feeds and Local Food Week

Houghton Valley is setting up a team to organise a Seeds to Feeds programme: growing food in our community garden and private gardens and culminating in a shared local-food-only dinner at the community hall on Sunday March 22.

Anyone interested in helping growing food in their own gardens, looking after crops in the community gardens, planning the event and setting up the hall, helping with preparing dishes (we have a chef on board already), preserving, fermenting, foraging or whatever … please contact. We will have a meeting sometime soon to start the ball rolling.

The Tracks in Houghton Valley

Dave McArthur reports on the tracks in Houghton Valley:

There are now many tracks weaving through the regenerating forests of our valley. Most residents are aware that these are on WCC community lands, but it may be a surprise to some to learn that a number of our popular tracks were originally designed and constructed by locals and are often maintained by locals. Volunteers, both residents and visitors from overseas, have donated many thousands of hours this century to the creation of these wonderful community connections.

This volunteer work has involved considerable community discussion and with the WCC officials. There are many pros and cons, such as the consideration of the risks and benefits in managing reforestation, fires, soil erosion, noxious weeds, wind damage, vandalism etc. While WCC officials are often very helpful, some substandard storm water discharge poses considerable challenges because they can destroy paths overnight.

Photos: Ed, Kate, Georgia and their turbo-charged, drain-digger dog Charlie, are the latest team of volunteers to repair the Fantail Guide Track and upgrade the High-Hill Track near our Community Hall.

Naming the tracks: A project in the pipeline is that of naming the tracks in the Buckley Road Reserve. Some have unofficial names, but we would like to do a poll next year to see what ideas and preferences you have. Meanwhile, over the summer, get out and explore our tracks and brainstorm ideas for track names.

(139 recipients, 97 opens)

November 15, 2019

November 16: Pre Fair Clothes Sale

Houghton Valley School are trying the successful pre-fair clothes sale again this year. It will be taking place at the community hall on Saturday November 16 (tomorrow!), from 1 pm to 4 pm. Refreshments will be available while people browse. There have been some great clothes donated, so come along for some good deals.

November 23: Houghton Valley School Fair

Our community Fair is nearly here! Saturday November 23, from 10 am – 2 pm. As always, we can promise you delicious food, great entertainment, activities for all the family including pony rides, a petting zoo, kids’ sumo and heaps more games on the school field. We will have books, crafts, plants, toys and clothes for sale, and you can get yourselves a bargain in our silent auction with items worth thousands of dollars. Check out our Facebook page for more information.

Bring your own bags, coffee cup, plate, etc to help support us in our aim to be waste free. If you would like to donate books, toys or clothes, chutneys, lemons or crafts to the Fair please drop off at the school office during school hours, or contact Karen and we will come and pick up.

You can also bring plants for the gardening stall run by the local community. If you are potting up seedlings, do them now so that they are reasonably established before the fair. If they are already potted, make sure they are weeded and watered so they look their best.

All money raised at the Fair goes towards supporting our children’s learning.

November 30: Thanksgiving Dinner at the Hall

While people of the Northern Hemisphere prepare to give thanks before settling into winter, why not take the time to celebrate Thanksgiving at the onset of Summer? Join us for a community wide Thanksgiving potluck dinner on November 30, 4 pm at the Community Hall. Bring a plate to share. If you are feeling daring, have a go at a preparing a traditional dish such as Candied Yams or Pumpkin Pie. Roast Turkey will be provided as a main course. Bring family and friends to come celebrate what an amazing community we have here in Houghton Bay.

RSVP to Jessica. Please let her know what dish you are bringing and if you would like to carpool with someone.

Earthquake Preparedness

Dave McArthur reports on the earthquake preparedness meeting held recently:

“On September 24, Te Kura o Haewai (Houghton Valley School) hosted Ana Faatoia from WREMO for a second session on disaster preparedness. This time Ana had us enact our community response two days after an earthquake of 8.2 magnitude off Kapiti cut off all services to the valley for an extended period. The school buildings remained intact in this scenario. Our task was to establish recognizance, communication and social support systems using the school facilities and WREMO equipment.
 
The corporatization of Wellingtons City’s ‘Civil Defence’ in the early 1990’s resulted in the number of Houghton Valley residents formally involved in the system dropping from about 45 to zero. This WCC reform, combined with the advent of Tomorrow’s Schools in the late 1980s, meant the use of the school has involved very fraught decisions ever since. The situation has been clarified somewhat now and select local residents have been given access rights at times of an emergency.”

(136 recipients, 98 opens)