March 2020 Residents’ Association meeting minutes

Tuesday, March 10 2020

Present: Paul FitzGerald, June Penhey, Nikky Winchester, Mel Galletly, Margaret Blair, Jonathan Harker, Iain MacLean, Bill Jackson, Pauline Morum, Nathan Waddle (PCC), Jenny Brash (GWRC)
Community: Brian Sullivan, Gillian Candler
Apologies: Kate Dreaver
Approval of previous minutes: moved Iain MacLean, seconded Bill Jackson, none opposed, carried.

PCC Update

Nathan explained that PCC are still building up to their long term plan. He recommended that village residents start thinking about what PCC should and shouldn’t spend rates money on.

GWRC Update

Jenny Brash explained that GWRC are preparing a business case for installing water meters across the region. The large water pipe coming over from Silverstream to Porirua needs upgrading.

Beach litter survey

Gillian Candler asked whether the RA would be interested in supporting and publicising the beach litter intelligence survey, which is funded by the Ministry of the Environment. The intention behind the survey is to find out what the litter consists of, as that will lead to strategies to reduce or stop the litter appearing. It involves checking a set area of the beach four times a year: the litter is collected, classified and all items are counted. 12 people turned up for the first collection, which found 496 items, weight 4.41kg. Approximately 70% was plastic. In total they found 330 items per 1000sqm.

Action: Jon to create page on RA website.

Financial

As at 10 March 2020:

00 account $2567.83
25 account $2714.99

There is an outstanding invoice of $440 reimbursement from PCC. $719 of the money in the Fundraising account is the maintenance fund for the Surfers Seat. $96.15 was paid for the mosaic for the Surfers Seat.

Action: Brian Sullivan will send photos of t-shirts and tote bags to Jon for uploading on RA website, to facilitate online sales. Jon to follow up.

Correspondence

No correspondence was received.

Action items

Action: Jon to add the information about memorials to the RA website once Margaret has collected the information.
Action: Jon and Pauline will meet as the new Fundraising committee, and present proposals to the Committee at the next meeting.
Action: Jon to update the RA website, monthly after each RA meeting.

Regarding the idea of a silent art auction, Pauline wrote to the Mana Arts Society and has spoken to some local artists.

Action: Pauline/Iain/Kate to continue investigating options for organising a silent art auction.
Action: Iain to write a letter of thanks to Pamela for storing the old station building for many years.

Jon explained that Neighbourhood Support NZ has taken over from local neighbourhood watch groups.

Action: Jon to put a link on the RA website.

He Ara Pukerua Heritage Group

Margaret explained that the group is continuing to work hard. Markers for some of the bollards are at the printers. Most of them won’t have a formal uncovering, but two or three will have separate small ceremonies involving the families of the people who are named on them. The Group has created its own Facebook page and will upload all the stories shared so far.

The group are looking at the position of the wide board on Centennial Highway, near the plaque commemorating the opening of the Coast Road in 1939. Bill Inge has been talking to NZTA about its placement.

Community Garden

The wood from Iain and Kate’s garage may be of use for the garden. The group had a meeting about a week ago to look at work plans and health and safety paperwork for PCC.

Muri Station platform building (lease from KiwiRail)

Iain is waiting for a response from KiwiRail to the application.

Community centre/community shed proposal

Iain hasn’t managed to find anybody who can do a feasibility study. He is still hoping to include some questions about this proposal in the Village Planning Survey. He will be meeting with the Kindy Association next week. Plunket has confirmed they have no involvement with any activities in Pukerua Bay. Bill Jackson to work with Iasin on the project.

Action: Iain to ask Internal Affairs if they can suggest anybody to do the feasibility study.
Action: Iain to talk to Bill about the community shed idea and send him the draft Village Planning Survey.

Housekeeping

Paul has talked to Anne Johnson about updating the letterhead. Anne will be getting a redrawn skink from Pauline Morse

Action: Jon to put the revised logo on the website.

Motion: Remove Brian Sullivan and Pauline Morse as signatories from the PKBRA bank account as they are no longer committee members. Proposed Iain MacLean, seconded Nikky Winchester. None opposed, motion carried.

Action: Paul to write a proposal about changing the RA structure and the Constitution.
Action: Iain to ask PCC to send their monthly updates to secretary@ and chair@ and remove all other names from their mailing list.
Action: Nikky to share action points with the Committee by the end of the week after each meeting.

Other business

Action: Jon to ask Dave Petterell about posting information on the website about the upcoming Surfers Seat event.

The Civil Defence team are keen to re-engage with the community, review their plan and get more people involved. The Hub team are working withWREMO to have a stall at the School Gala.

Meeting ended: 9.09pm
Next meeting: 14 April 2020

Appendix: Porirua City Council Village Planning update

Received from Porirua City Council:

Community food forest garden (Muri Reserve)

It’s great to see the renovations underway on the former northbound Muri Station. Please keep all the receipts for the works, as they need to be submitted to Council before 30 June for accounting purposes.

He Are Pukerua heritage project

Nine of the ten heritage bollard panels are currently being printed. The tenth (and final) panel is with the Pataka Team – awaiting final confirmation that there is no known Te Reo name for Mount Welcome.

Plans are also well underway to complete the heritage panels in the former southbound Muri Station building, Northern Lookout (Wide format), Pukerua Bay Station (Wide format) and remaining bollard panels, including one along Centennial Highway.

Pukerua Bay community hub initiatives

This project – which focuses on creating opportunities for community connections – has an operational budget allocation of $4.750 to support initial research and a local programme of activities. As previously agreed, it makes sense to engage a professional researcher to design the required questionnaire and assist with data analysis (with some input on a pro-bono basis and practical support from the community hub team). We understand Rebecca Davis has met with Jude Varcoe to discuss possible research approaches.

It was great to meet with you back in February, to discuss how we can move forward with this initiative in a way that aligns with broader village planning objectives.

Ara Harakeke shared pathway extension

This project includes surfacing of the Ara Harakeke shared pathway between the Pukerua Bay shops and Wairaka Road (SH1).

As noted previously, the lowest tender price exceeded the available project budget by around $45,000, thus prompting consideration of a ‘lesser’ option. However, NZTA’s recent decision – to contribute $45,000 from the Stage Highways Minor Improvement Fund – means we can now complete the full length of the pathway extension this year. We’ll also be able to install some handrailing (where necessary) and maintain the unofficial access to the school.

We’re managing the traffic management plan component in-house (to save costs) and hope to be able to confirm a start date for the work within the next week.

Muri Reserve way-finding signage – Te Araroa Trail

This project includes installing directional signs in agreed locations through Muri Reserve (linking the end of the trail at the former Muri Road Station site to Pukerua Bay Station) and an information panel and map at Muri Road Station (which has already been incorporated into the large MetLink sign).

Last year we agreed (with the Te Araroa Trail Trust) that the remaining focus should be on improving signage from the station to the main track (although negotiations to locate signs on KiwiRail land have been somewhat protracted). We’re still waiting for the C.E. of the Te Araroa Trail Trust to confirm whether he’ll sign the new deed (for signs on KiwiRail land) or amend the existing one. We’ll let you know as soon as we hear back from him.

Drinking fountain at the skate park

This project includes the purchase and installation of an ‘all-access’ water fountain in close proximity to the Pukerua Bay playground and skate park – including establishment of a new water connection.

Feedback from Te Araroa Trust representatives has confirmed the overall suitability of the proposed location from a track user perspective.

Our preliminary costing had assumed we’d be able to connect to the Council watermain in the car park at Pukerua Bay Station. However, KiwiRail (the land owner) subsequently advised they would require a set-up fee for a new agreement, as well as an annual fee of $823 plus GST. Wellington Water then suggested a new connection in Sea Vista Drive with a longer trenching run but no ongoing annual charge from KiwiRail.

Access from Sea Vista Drive is challenging due to the narrow land parcel width and concrete pathway. It is proposed to directionally drill the water pipe to a depth of 600mm under the path (thus minimising the amount of disturbance). While the longer pipe ‘run’ and drilling-related costs will impact the overall project cost, we believe this will provide a more cost-effective long-term solution.

We’re currently exploring other possible sources of funding to meet the $11,000 shortfall and hope to get back to you soon.

Pukerua Bay Village Plan

We’re pleased to be able to support your Association (via staff time and operational funding) to develop a new Village Plan for Pukerua Bay. As recently discussed, we’re also keen to explore opportunities to align the community engagement process for the Village Plan with the community ‘research’ step to inform development of your proposed community hub initiatives.