Iain MacLean

Good turnout for beach clean up

24 November 2018 / Iain MacLean / Coastal, Event

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.

Good turnout for beach clean up Read More »

Repairs starting on SH1 footpath next week

17 November 2018 / Iain MacLean / Road safety

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.

Repairs starting on SH1 footpath next week Read More »

Pukerua Bay Residents’ Association — 2018 Annual Report of the Chair

29 October 2018 / Iain MacLean / Annual Reports, RA / agm

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. …

Pukerua Bay Residents’ Association — 2018 Annual Report of the ChairRead More »

Pukerua Bay Residents’ Association — 2018 Annual Report of the Chair Read More »

Coastal erosion workshop

11 August 2018 / Iain MacLean / Consultation, Erosion

We had an interesting session this afternoon with coastal researchers, Jim Dahm and Bronwen Gibberd, who are working for Porirua City Council to get information about coastal hazards and erosion, and starting to prepare long-term plans to prevent them getting worse.

We had a small turnout (about 10 locals), but they were mostly people who had lived at the beach for many years and could tell the researchers a lot about the beach and how it has changed over the decades. …

Coastal erosion workshopRead More »

Coastal erosion workshop Read More »

Community garden progressing well

6 August 2018 / Iain MacLean / Community Garden, Working Bees

It’s been a busy month in the community garden — we’ve had three working bees and made a lot of progress.

Today we finished the first phase of planting in the garden for this year. So far, we have:

planted feijoa trees between part of the garden and the neighbours as a screen that will also produce delicious fruit
planted all the fruit trees — apples, pears, nashis and plums
planted the support trees around the fruit trees to provide protection and to help fix nitrogen in the soil for plant growth
mulched around all the trees to keep down weeds and help the soil retain water over the driest part of the year.

We still have to put in some wind breaks by the trees to protect them from the wind that comes from the northwest, which can be pretty strong at times. Of course, we’ll need to keep the grass down, but we’ve got a scythe and some keen users so we can do it without disturbing the neighbours with noisy machinery. Spring and summer will be busy with making sure the trees are OK, and well watered during the dry season. Fortunately, the council installed a tap for us when they built the access onto the site, so we have a permanent and reliable water supply.

We also have to start planting the smaller support plants, which will help accumulate minerals for the trees and build up the soil health, and we’d also like to get some berry plants in there, too. We’re trying to follow permaculture principles to create an ecosystem that has a wide range of plants, soil biota and insects that all support each other.

It looks like we have got more funding from Porirua City Council under their Village Planning programme again this year, so we’ll be able to do more planting over the next 12 months. We’ll look at establishing a different range of plants from the pipfruit trees we’ve planted so far — perhaps more stone fruit, or maybe some citrus. We can’t wait!

Community garden progressing well Read More »

Coastal hazards and resilience community workshops

2 August 2018 / Iain MacLean / Consultation, Erosion

Porirua City Council is running workshops on coastal hazards, which includes the erosion the Pukerua Bay beach is suffering. They sent us the following information. If you’re interested in this, head along to St Marks, Rawhiti Road, Saturday 11 August, 2pm–4pm.

As part of the District Plan review, we [PCC] have engaged the Focus Resource Management Group to help us understand the coastal hazard risk in Porirua. Principal members Jim Dahm and Bronwen Gibberd have a great deal of experience with the assessment and management of coastal hazards in New Zealand, and a long history of consultation with communities. Utilising their experience and local knowledge from those living next to the coast, we are now seeking to engage with those affected by coastal hazards in Porirua.

We will be running a coastal hazard seminar series to provide information about the coastal hazards and provide opportunity for the community to discuss the work in more detail with coastal hazards experts as well as Council staff. We are keen to talk directly with affected residents, and with other members of the community who have an interest. Through robust research and engagement with the community, we hope to ensure that the District Plan assists in building resilience to our coastal hazards.

Coastal hazards community workshops:

Plimmerton School: Saturday 11 August 10.00am – 12.00pm

St Marks Church Pukerua Bay: Saturday 11 August 2.00pm – 4.00pm

Titahi Bay School: Sunday 12 August 10.00am – 12.00pm

Paremata Boating Club: Sunday 12 August 1.00pm – 3.00pm

Pāuatahanui School: Sunday 12 August 4.00pm – 6.00pm

Local knowledge and views are essential to building a thorough understanding of coastal hazards in Porirua. We are interested in changes anywhere on the Porirua Coast and Harbour. Any information you can provide will be helpful and appreciated including:

any observed shoreline changes over the last 50-100 years.
how your property or the local coast been affected by erosion or flooding.
any old photos, early descriptions, old maps, etc.
any information on past coastal storms and their impacts (e.g. photos or observations of erosion damage and sea flooding).
people or groups who may have useful information (e.g. long-term residents, local historians).

For more information please see the PCC website – https://poriruacity.govt.nz/your-council/city-planning-and-reporting/district-plan/coastal-hazards/

Coastal hazards and resilience community workshops Read More »

Fruit trees planted in community garden

22 July 2018 / Iain MacLean / Community Garden, Working Bees

We had another great day in the community garden yesterday and planted most of the fruit trees. Rob Oscroft shows what we have achieved.

Fruit trees planted in community garden Read More »

School reneges on hall partnership

20 July 2018 / Iain MacLean / Hall, School

Pukerua Bay School Board of Trustees pulls out of 45-year agreement on local hall

The Pukerua Bay Residents Association is very disappointed that the Pukerua Bay School Board of Trustees (BoT) has decided to pull out of a partnership that saw the school and the community jointly build and then manage our local hall for the past 45 years. …

School reneges on hall partnershipRead More »

School reneges on hall partnership Read More »

Marking out the garden

7 July 2018 / Iain MacLean / Community Garden, Working Bees

Today a small, keen group worked in the community garden to prepare for our working bee tomorrow to get ready for planting the fruit trees arriving this month.

The community garden is really a ‘food forest’ that will eventually include a wonderful mixture of fruit trees, berries, herbs and support trees that will grow into a self-sustaining ecosystem. We’re developing it following permaculture principles to create a diverse and integrated system that is rich in plant, insect and microbe life, and recycles nutrients and doesn’t need many inputs from us. …

Marking out the gardenRead More »

Marking out the garden Read More »

Penguin signs go up in the Bay

15 June 2018 / Iain MacLean / School, Wildlife

Penguins could be one step safer at Pukerua Bay, with a new sign providing tips and information to visitors. Little penguins or kororā are occasionally seen and heard by residents at Pukerua Bay beach. Kororā usually come ashore in the evening and return to the sea in the morning. But when they are breeding or moulting they stay on land all the time. As their name suggests, they are tiny at around 33 centimetres long, and as they are flightless, they can easily be attacked by dogs.

Children from Pukerua Bay School joined Councillor Dale Williams and local residents to celebrate this initiative on Thursday 14 June. The children planted around the sign and placed hand-painted penguins nearby.

Designed by Pukerua Bay resident Anne Johnston, the sign has been adapted from a sign placed at Paekakariki by the Kāpiti Coast Biodiversity Project. The Pukerua Bay sign was created with support from the Hutt Mana Charitable Trust, the Department of Conservation, the Kāpiti Coast Biodiversity Project, Porirua City Council and the Pukerua Bay Residents’ Association.

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