2015 Residents’ Association AGM Minutes

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Annual General Meeting

Tuesday 3 November 2015

Attendance

Present

Committee members: Kate Dreaver, Jonathan Harker, Iain MacLean, Pauline Morse, June Penhey, Dagmar Pesendorfer, Geert van de Vorstenbosch.
Porirua City Council (PCC): Bronwyn Kropp.
Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC): Jenny Brash.
Community: Jenny Dawson, Rachel Prebble, Gay Hay, Pamela Gerrish-Nunn, Jacqui McIntosh, Nick Markwell, Nick Vincent, Fiona Sutton, Bernard Knapp, Margaret Blair, Brian Sullivan, Lee Begg, Ted Coats, Gillian Candler, Dale Shirtliff, Yvonne Fletcher, Paul FitzGerald, Phil Wiles, Angela Fisher.

Apologies

Anita Baker (PCC), Barbara Donaldson (GWRC), Euon Murrell (PCC), Tim Sheppard (PCC).

Minutes of the previous AGM

Motion: to adopt the minutes from the 2014 AGM: moved Iain MacLean, seconded Ted Coates. Motion carried.

Matters arising

None raised.

Chair’s report

Presented by Iain MacLean.

  • Continuing focus on initiatives in the Village Plan, which for this year include the Muri Reserve development plan, the community food forest garden, the Green & Gold Trails, and road safety improvements for Muri Road and a new footbridge under the SH1 road bridge.
  • Work to establish the Pukerua Bay community food forest garden on Muri Reserve continues; acquiring a lease for gardening activity from the council and negotiating with Kiwirail access to the site near the closed Muri Station platform.
  • Local government amalgamation
  • Neighbourhood Support Groups set up around Pukerua Bay with the help of local Police officers, following a spike in burglaries.
  • Beach Bash
  • Road Safety
  • Civil Defence (Geert van de Vorstenbosch)
  • Submissions to councils
  • Working bees – weeding corner planting on corner of Wairaka Road and SH1.
  • Acknowledgements.

The full report is published here: 2015 Annual Report of the Chair.

Discussion

Gay Hay asked about the date for the weeding bee on the corner of Wairaka Road and SH1; it was called off due to the lack of a NZTA approved traffic management plan. Any further weeding bees on that corner garden will require one. The weeding bee was publicised through the Facebook Pukerua Bay Trading page, the email list and a notice by the shops.

Motion: to adopt the Chair’s report. Moved Iain MacLean, Seconded Geert van de Vorstenbosch. Motion carried.

Financial Report

2014-15 financial report as circulated, summarised here:

Income $258.66
Expenses $394.64
Depreciation $987.19
Net loss $1,123.17
Total assets $7,104.86
Total liabilities $108.50
Net assets $6,996.36

The defibrillator donated by the Plimmerton Rotary Club in 2014 was depreciated at diminishing value rate of 30% p.a. The generator purchased for Civil Defence and community use, depreciated at diminishing value rate of 20% p.a. Cash includes $1500 grant for the Green & Gold Trails.

Motion: to adopt the financial report. Moved Iain, seconded Nick Markwell. Motion carried.

Friends of Mana Island: Whitaker’s Skink Project

Presented by Dale Shirtliff and Gillian Candler.

Mana Island was a sheep farm for a long time; then a DSIR research farm. Sheep all got Scrapie and were culled; farming ceased and land passed into Department of Conservation (DoC) control. After extermination of rodents and Friends of Mana Island (FMI) volunteer tree-planting efforts, weta and lizard populations rebounded, as well as several reintroduced native bird species. Between 1992-98, Whitaker’s Skink made up 2.7% of observed lizards in Pukerua Bay. It has been zero for the last few years. In 2012 FMI provided volunteers to clear 200 DoC mustelid (stoat, weasel, ferret) traps, 48 of which are around the Pukerua Bay Scientific Reserve, including the beach. These are baited with rabbit meat and sometimes catch hedgehogs and rodents.

Pitfall traps are only set in summer to catch live lizards, for counting purposes. They are baited with pear. Unset traps have a stick for them to use to climb out; please do not remove these sticks if you find an unset trap!

Friends of Mana Island was formed in 1999 to work with DoC to restore Mana Island and maintain its pest-free wildlife refuge status. This includes transferring and establishing a population of Whitaker’s Skinks onto Mana Island. Interest and participation from members of the public is welcome!

Kapiti Biodiversity Project

Presented by Gay Hay and Ted Coats.

The Kapiti Biodiversity Project is using a Ministry for the Environment grant to support volunteers to improve biodiversity on the Kapiti Coast. Four main areas are covered in the initial work — Queen Elizabeth Park, the Paekakariki–Pukerua Bay escarpment, the Whareroa Farm Reserve and part of Perkins farm/Middle Run.

There are six streams of work. These are

  • Birds, including blue penguins
  • Lizards
  • Weta
  • Rare dune plants
  • Native freshwater fish and other aquatic life
  • Increasing animal pest control across the region, including in urban areas.

A key focus is on ‘citizen science’ and public education.

Gay is involved in the work surveying and monitoring lizards in the area. Their aim is to protect the existing lizard populations to allow them to stabilise and grow, using improved pest control. The main restoration groups are working in the southern end of the Kapiti Coast, from Pukerua Bay to Queen Elizabeth Park. There has been a lot of focus on birds, but not much on lizards. This project aims to bring lizards to the fore in restoration work in this area of the coast.

The project also wants to reduce the number of key introduced mammal pests that prey on native bird, lizard and invertebrate populations. They are targeting mustelids, possums, feral cats, rats and hedgehogs in Queen Elizabeth Park, Whareroa Farm Reserve, Perkins farm/Middle Run and the escarpment between Paekakariki and Pukerua Bay. As part of this, they want to encourage more animal pest control in Pukerua Bay.

At this point the meeting was interrupted by a fire alarm, and the arrival of the a fire truck. The meeting broke for a cup of tea and a biscuit.

Muri Reserve development

Residents were surveyed in September and October 2014 on possible development ideas for Muri Reserve. The survey was done online with SurveyMonkey and 39 people responded to it.

For most of the questions there was a clear result, apart from the path into the reserve from Sea Vista, where there was a small majority in favour of having a path. This was similar to the majority that favoured a formed path around the edge of the amenity part of the reserve.

People were clearly in favour of a boardwalk across the wetland, having better walking access into the natural zone for picnics or resting areas, using the amenity zone for public events, and having a community garden or food forest in the reserve.

On the other hand, they were not in favour of a memorial garden or a BMX track.

The suggestions for the use of the old shelter on the train station platform included as a storage shed for the community garden/food forest, a shelter for walkers or information centre for the area. The other general suggestions for the reserve show people greatly value having a green reserve in the area and want limited development, especially in the natural zone. However, a few suggested the amenity zone could have more sports facilities on it.

Community Food Forest Garden

Presented by Jonathan Harker.

There have been efforts in the last year to obtain the required gardening activity licence from the council which has involved a fair amount of paperwork, and requires writing up a maintenance plan to satisfy the Reserves Act, amending the district plan, and other such things. This is ongoing; we drew up a respectable 50 year project plan document in February after a meeting of interested folks, and Jonathan is also composing a site analysis to support an application to PCC for the licence. We also need to negotiate pedestrian access with KiwiRail across the closed Muri Station platform. We’re hoping to get started planting winter next year.

Hall Committee

Presented by Rachel Prebble.

Suggestion for the Hall Committee, which runs the hiring of the school hall outside school hours, to be included under the umbrella of the PBRA, as its constitution allows the freedom to do, in order to better serve the community. Governance, asset management and financial responsibility will remain unchanged with the Ministry of Education and School Board of Trustees.

The Hall Committee has $30,000 to spend, and has commissioned a survey to collect community feedback on how it should be spent to improve the hall. Options include:

  • acoustics improvements,
  • installing a projector,
  • black-out curtains,
  • installing a lighting frame for stage lighting,
  • wall display mounts,
  • floor repair and polish,
  • new sound system,
  • improved toilets,
  • improved heating.

General Business

None raised.

Election of committee members

Nominations: Brian Sullivan (nominated by Gay Hay, seconded Kate Dreaver), Paul FitzGerald, Nick Vincent. All nominations accepted and gratefully carried.
Standing down: Geert van de Vorstenbosch, moving north to Raumati.

Conclusion

Meeting finished: 9.45 pm
Next meeting: November committee meeting moved to Tuesday 17 November 2015, due to a clash with the PCC district plan rural issues meeting.