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Progress on resolving future hall management

The Pukerua Bay School Board of Trustees (BoT) and the Pukerua Bay Residents Association (PBRA) have met to discuss the future management of our local hall, in an attempt to find a way forward.

We met last Thursday night (22 November) to discuss options for how the hall committee might be involved in the future management of the hall and what role they might have.

The Board outlined its responsibilities as the property manager, and its obligation to develop a policy that reflects those responsibilities and is consistent with the Ministry of Education’s and legal requirements.

The hall committee described the strong feeling of attachment that many people in the community have to the hall, which they have developed over many years of children attending the school, and the hall being the centre of many community events over the past 45 years.

The two groups agreed that everyone in the community shares a guardianship role over the hall and that a relationship between the hall committee and Board should build on that.

We spent quite a bit of time clearing up differences in the interpretation of events in the past 15 months and acknowledged that we could have communicated better over that time.

The administration of the booking system remains a sticking point for the hall committee. They would like to explore other options that reflect their expectations and that would be acceptable to the Board while addressing the Board’s concerns and legal liabilities.

There is genuine goodwill between the two groups to find a way forward. A smaller group of us will continue to meet to find some agreements we can take to the wider group for ratification.

Those present at the meeting were all the members of the BoT, the new school principal Chris Els, deputy principal Andrew Wooster, the Hall Committee and PBRA chair Iain MacLean.

Conor Twyford (BoT) & Iain MacLean (PBRA)

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Good turnout for beach clean up

Bags of rubbish collected from beach

A good turnout of locals and friends netted many bags of rubbish from the beach to the south of Pukerua Bay this morning.

The clean up was organised by the Sustainable Coastlines group (thanks Ben, Oliver and the rest of the crew), with the support of Kathmandu.

Around 30 people started from the pou at 10am and heading along towards Wairaka Rock with bags and a determination to strip the beach clear of rubbish.

The group got almost halfway along the coast to Hongoeka and brought back all the rubbish they found, apart from a very long, heavy plastic pipe and a large sheet of plastic that they couldn’t manage along with all the bags. But they did manage to bring back a large plastic float, which took two people to carry.

A lot of the rubbish was small pieces of plastic, often mixed in with the seaweed near the waterline – hard to see, but if you took your time, you could find a lot of it. There were a lot of bottle caps, small wrappers, pieces of string or rope and lids of all sorts. The pieces might seem too small to bother with, but small pieces are the right size for fish and seabirds to try to eat, and therefore dangerous.

Most of it appeared to have washed up on the beach, rather than being dropped there, but it all comes from somewhere – washed down a stormwater drain or blown into the sea from somewhere – so it’s a good reminder that it is just as important to pick up the small pieces of litter as the big pieces.

Well done everyone, and thanks for all the hard work.

Photo of girl signing sheet of paper Signing in before heading out
Photo of gloved hand and piece of green plastic rubbish Some of the pieces of plastic were very small and hard to see
Photo of gloved hand picking up large piece of orange plastic conduit pipe Some of the larger pieces were very obvious
Photo inside bag showing mixture of rubbish Bags filled up quickly with all sizes of rubbish
Photo of two people carrying bags of rubbish by some rocks
Coming back with the booty
Photo of some bags of rubbish, including large plastic items Just some of the rubbish collected
Photo of people sitting on grass and seats eating food The workers enjoying a tasty lunch laid on by the organisers
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Repairs starting on SH1 footpath next week

Fantastic news! Repairs will start on the retaining wall under the footpath on State Highway 1 between the shops and pedestrian bridge next week. The footpath will be closed during this time, and you’ll have to go around it (along Te Motu Rd and Rawhiti Road, or cut through the school).

We received the following media statement from Porirua City Council yesterday:

Pukerua Bay work underway

A section of footpath in Pukerua Bay will be closed for six weeks, starting next week, due to retaining wall work.

General Manager City Infrastructure Mike Evans says the work is scheduled to start on Wednesday 21 November.

“Work will be done on the footpath just south of the pedestrian overpass at Pukerua Bay (between the shops at Pukerua Bay and Te Kura Road) and the footpath will be closed while the work is being carried out.

“For safety reasons, pedestrians will not be able to access the footpath and will need to use the Rawhiti Road overbridge instead.

“The contractor will put up signs and barriers, and we are advising cyclists and pedestrians to be cautious when they are in the area and use the overbridge when they are travelling between the shops at Pukerua Bay and Te Kura Road. During this time, the road shoulder will also be closed, so cyclists are also advised to use the overbridge.

The work is weather dependent but is expected to take around six weeks. “We appreciate everyone’s patience while the work is being carried out,” says Mr Evans.

We will issue main updates through the Pukerua Bay Residents Association and the Porirua City Facebook channels and on poriruacity.govt.nz/pukerua-bay-works.

It was thought the speed limit was going to be reduced, but Capital Journeys has told us that isn’t going to happen.

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Make your Mark Community Workshops

This month, Porirua City Council are running “Make your Mark” community workshops which are open to the public, to engage with and get feedback from residents about the Growth Strategy and draft District Plan.

In case you haven’t been to one, there’s one tonight (6pm Thursday 8 November) and another next week (6pm Tuesday 13 November). They are good opportunities to find out what’s planned for the region, voice concerns and provide feedback.

6pm, Thursday 8 November 2018 (ical)
Maraeroa Marae Health Clinic, 128 Corinna Street, Waitangirua (map)

6pm, Tuesday 13 November 2018 (ical)
The Salvation Army, 89 Warspite Avenue, Cannons Creek (map)

The workshops run for about 1½ to 2 hours and light refreshments will be available. They are interactive and visual, and will help council develop the formal Growth Strategy document which will be released in November 2018. It will also provide an opportunity to understand the major changes in the new draft District Plan from the current operative plan, and provide feedback.

Check out the Council’s Make your Mark community workshops page for more details.

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Summit Club Adventures Beach Cleanup

Beach Cleanup at Pukerua Bay: come and help clean up our amazing stretch of coastline!

10 am – 2 pm, Saturday  24 November 2018 (ical)
Pukerua Bay Beach car park (map)

This event is organised by Kathmandu and Sustainable Coastlines, and they would like you to sign up as a volunteer here if you wish to participate.

What to bring:

  • Sturdy, closed-toe shoes that you don’t mind getting a bit muddy. This is critical for health & safety: those not wearing closed-toe shoes will not be able to participate.
  • Warm and waterproof clothes. At least one warm top layer and a rain jacket.
  • Sun hat and sunscreen.
  • Reusable water bottle (filled up and ready to go)
  • Your old or unused mobile phone to recycle. As a charity partner of the RE:MOBILE phone recycling scheme, donating your old mobile helps us raise critical funds for freshwater restoration.
  • A camera (optional). We would love to see your event photos! If you use Instagram, use the tags #loveyourwater, @kathmandugear and @sustainablecoastlines to let the world know.
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Taking orders for our 2019 Pukerua Bay calendar

This year’s calendar is about the people of Pukerua Bay, some living and some who’ve passed on. All have contributed to the fabric of this lovely village that we share, and the photos and words reflect that. The calendar is A4 sized and would make a perfect Christmas gift for past residents, family, friends and neighbours, or even framing for posterity.

Print runs will be done in batches as orders accumulate, so please allow some time; we will make sure they arrive before Christmas. We are delivering them ourselves to Pukerua Bay and wider Kāpiti Coast addresses for free, and outside of that area please include $5 for postage for up to three copies anywhere in NZ.

Order now for Christmas!

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2017 Residents’ Association AGM minutes

Annual General Meeting

Tuesday 7 November 2017

Present: Iain MacLean, June Penhey, Brian Sullivan, Paul FitzGerald, Jonathan Harker, Pauline Morse, Kate Dreaver, Beccy Davis.
Councillors: Dale Williams (PCC), Bill Inge (PCC).
Community: Robyn Moore, Pauline Morum, Mack Morum, David Olsen, Jenny Olsen, Joy de Geus, Janice Rodenburg, Paul Clegg, Lee Begg, Janka Thomas, Robert Oscroft, Gay Hay, Ashley lair, Margaret Blair, Fiona Sutton, Guy Marriage, Damian Harriss.
Apologies: Jenny Brash (GWRC). Continue reading “2017 Residents’ Association AGM minutes”

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2018 Annual Report of the chair

This has been a very productive year for the Residents Association. The He Ara Pukerua heritage group has installed information boards at heritage sites, the community garden and food forest has plants in the ground, and we have supported a number of community activities. Unfortunately, the year’s achievements were marred by a dispute with the school Board of Trustees over the management of the hall. Continue reading “2018 Annual Report of the chair”

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Appreciation from Motorists

We’ve received some lovely positive feedback from truck drivers and other motorists who were stranded in Pukerua Bay last week due to the accident and spill clean-up, thanking locals for their time, care and refreshments. We’d like to pass on their appreciation, and add ours as well, to all those residents of Pukerua Bay who helped out on the day!

“You guys rock, thanks for the food drink and your generous donations of time and chat talking to my fellow drivers. What you have done as a community far outweighs all expectations.”
— Mark Salisbury

“From all the truckies that were stranded yesterday, a huge thanks to the residents that came out to provide water and food. Community resilience at its best.”
— Axel Alexander

From us here in Pukerua Bay, you’re welcome!  🙂

We’ve also had an offer from Mainfreight to contribute something for the upcoming AGM in appreciation. Thanks again to all involved; pop along, and we’ll see you there!