August 2018 Residents’ Association meeting minutes

Tuesday 14 August 2018

Present: Iain MacLean, Brian Sullivan, David Olsen, Kate Dreaver, Jonathan Harker, June Penhey, Paul FitzGerald, Jenny Brash (GWRC). Community: Mel Galletly, Gillian Candler, Rob Oscroft, Rachel Prebble.

Apologies: Pauline Morse, Beccy Davis, Guy Marriage, Ann Jebson (PCC), Dale Williams (PCC).

Approval of previous minutes: moved Iain, seconded Paul, none opposed, carried.

Matters Arising

Actions/Motions from July meeting:

Beach erosion: a workshop took place at the weekend. PCC coastal consultants to gather history, anecdotes, RA community survey results, historical photos, films and other information about the beach, so they can gauge how it has changed over time. Three zones: Brendan Beach which accumulates sand, middle beach which is relatively stable, and the boat-ramp end that suffers storm damage. This will feed into both short term mitigation strategy and long and very long term planning.

Action: Iain to contact Plimmerton, Whitby, Pauatahanui RAs and arrange a presentation evening about Ta Awarua O Porirua Whaitua Committee.

Action: Kate to email Capital Journeys about the Wairaka Road corner garden.

Motion: talk to Dale at PCC about making the area a picnic area instead of the current plan to do re-vegetation tree planting. Iain to advise.

Financial

The community garden has been busy! Rob Oscroft has three receipts from Palmers Garden Centre ($20), Mitre10 ($129.32) and Twigland ($299.85), totalling $449.17 and fruit trees were purchased from Edible Gardens, two invoices $312.50 and $1105, and trees were bought from Appleton Nurseries $617.55

Motion: to reimburse Rob $449.17, pay the Edible Gardens invoices ($312.50 and $1105.00) and Appleton Nurseries invoice ($617.55). Moved Iain, second Jonathan, none opposed, carried.

Balances:

$5247.89

$2386.68 fundraising account

Correspondence

July Neighbourhood Support Group newsletter.

Predator-free Pukerua Bay update

Gillian Candler. There are now 22 “DOC-200” traps in the various reserves in Pukerua Bay, as well as around people’s homes. We’ve got funding for lizard protection in the scientific reserve and re-setting “Good Nature” gas canister traps. There will be a trial done first similar to the ones done for Whitirea and the Paekakariki escarpment, to sample the lizard populations with tracking tunnels. Hope to be in place by summer.

A wasp eradication scheme was done in Pukerua Bay this autumn using Vespex, after $445 was raised in community donations. Keen to repeat it next year if funding can be raised.

Action: Jenny will see if there is GWRC money available (e.g. from biodiversity funding) for local predator free projects.

Community Garden

Discussions, consultation with Gary Williams permaculture specialist and hydro-engineer. Working bees have been held to get it all started. So far there are 15 feijoa trees, 11 apple trees, and about 20 pears and plums, planted around the top (south) end of the Muri Reserve. There are also about 100 support trees, to provide wind shelter, nitrogen fixing, and building up the soil. This will lead into developing the ground layer planting, for plant diversity, soil conditioning, pollinator and predator insect habitat, and so on.

Community/School Hall

Our legal advice has confirmed our position. The school OIA request has been extended to 14 September. Repeated attempts to engage the school Board of Trustees about the hall have been continuously deflected or avoided. There is no hall account information since 2015, and improvements made to the hall should be being covered by Ministry of Education property funding.

Celebration of Hall 45 year Anniversary

Kate raised the possibility of holding an event to celebrate the hall’s 45th anniversary (it was opened in early September 1973). If the current dispute with the school Board of Trustees can be resolved, it could be worth proposing a celebration for the hall.

Village Planning funding

To be ratified next week, $14,500 approved for 2019.

He Ara Pukerua, including 2019 calendar: next year’s fund-raising calendar to include days for recycling and rubbish collection, school term dates, RA meeting dates, and other events such as the School Gala and Matariki. Working title is “Our Bay Our People”. First candidate is Ray Brown, several photos have been donated. Anne Johnson to do the design, and will be printed locally.

Community garden: $7000, Muri Reserve way-finding signage $1047, pathway extension $5000

Engine braking

emailing NZTA to get a list of the steps required to get the signs in place. One meeting to go, to get signs installed at either end of the village.

Porirua City Council update

Muri Road safety work (2016/17): Last month PCC reported Downer’s progress removing the outstanding flax, replacing damaged road markers and connecting two new street lights. Downer has advised that all work has been completed. PCC want to know if we would like to plant out the roadside where the trees were removed (at the north end of Muri Road) or whether they should arrange a contractor to do it.

Muri Reserve Te Araroa Trail way-finding signs: (2016/17): the directional signs are currently being manufactured. Some landowner permissions are still outstanding and these will need to be obtained before the signage is installed. PCC has added this project to the project list and recommended funding finish remaining items (including installation) in September this year.

Community garden (food forest): The 2017/18 year stage of this project has been completed. PCC delivered 70 m³ of wood chip to the site for use as grass and weed suppressant, and four loads of heavier wood chip were delivered a few weeks ago. PCC transferred the remaining planting budget ($4,377.36) to the RA for purchase of agreed items in early July, as the Council Nursery was unable to supply some of the required plants.

Heritage trail (part 2): Part 2 of this project for this part of the project has now been completed. PCC recently approached NZTA on the RA’s behalf to arrange permission to install a heritage bollard adjacent to SH1 to mark the ‘tank trap’ at the northern end of Pukerua Bay. PCC will be in touch once they hear back from NZTA.

Ara Harakeke footpath from shops to Wairaka Road: As noted previously, PCC is now taking a greater lead with this project. ENGEO (the Council’s engineers) have been engaged to develop plans to stabilize and repair the affected area, and to reinstate the existing footpath on its current alignment. The investigation phase was completed a couple of months ago and we understand design work is underway. The shared pathway project is being accommodated through the ENGEO design process using the plans previously developed by Stantec. PCC have carried forward our 2017/18 budget allocation for this project ($40,000) to the 2018/19 financial year.

SH1 noise from trucks engine braking: PCC have passed our residents survey information to the Roading and By-laws teams, and the NZTA. PCC anticipate this feedback may result in the installation of further ‘no engine breaking’ signs.

Roaming dogs

Dogs that worry sheep can sometimes get a taste for it and will try to escape to repeat offend. Farmers are within their rights to destroy dogs disturbing stock.

Access track onto Muri Reserve

PCC to fix.

Other business

Damage to the SH1 pedestrian refuge by the shops. NZTA to repair. Houses and wide loads are often moved on trucks at night and can cause such damage.

The new noticeboard at the shops has been erected.

Two cafe owners are doing their sums about setting up a coffee cart in Pukerua Bay.

Meeting closed: 9.27 pm

Next meeting: 14 August 2018

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