Tuesday, 8 February 2022
Present: Paul FitzGerald, Iain McLean, Kate Dreaver, Mel Galletly, Margaret Blair, Jonathan Harker, Pauline Morum, Pat Henley, Lenka Horanska, Stewart McKenzie (PCC), Nicola Ethridge (PCC), Chris Kirk-Burnnand (GWRC), Guy Marriage, Janice Rodenburg, Adele Hickford.
Apologies: Nikky Winchester, Moira Lawler, Kelly Olatunji
Approval of previous minutes: moved Jonathan, seconded Iain, none opposed.
Pukerua Beach Road
Deferred – Council have only just received the geotechnical report today; willing to hold a separate meeting with residents once council have had time to confer.
Porirua City Council – Town planning
Nicola Ethridge: thanks to the RA for providing feedback to Council. Councils are under pressure from central government to provide land for housing development. Porirua has high rates and rents compared to the rest of New Zealand. Need to provide higher density solutions. In the “Northern growth area” Council started strategic planning in 2014 or so, and have heard the strong signal to retain an autonomous identity in Pukerua Bay, a separate village.
Stewart McKenzie: background – the District Plan is the main tool for allocating land use and resources, which has undergone extensive review in the last five years. It is the first time in 20 years the review has been this extensive; partly due to central government changes – National Policy Statement on housing, intensification, etc. There were 400 submissions, 8000 points made; hearings divided into 8 streams and are in progress.
The new RMA Amendment Act 2021 mandates accommodating three-story housing, and up to six stories close to rapid transit stations, i.e. Pukerua Bay’s train station. This has meant that the District Plan urban zones will need to be redrawn and rewritten in light of the new legislation, without the ability to make submissions.
Intensified housing from this MDRS (Medium Density Residential Standard) must be balanced with things like natural hazards, heritage significance, proximity to SNA (Significant Natural Areas) and other landscape features; the initial proposals from Kaianga Ora last year were too sweeping and caused alarm.
Council are applying to the Infrastructure Acceleration Fund for $240 million to upgrade waste water capacity.
Pat: are Council considering a green belt between Pukerua Bay and Plimmerton? Stewart: Yes; also Plimmerton Farm will include 30% natural reserve areas. QE2 wetlands behind Muri Road will be preserved.
Kate: a distinct green belt is strongly indicated in our village planning and surveys. Nicola: Council are trying to challenge developers to better integrate high density needs with the hilly landscape and natural areas.
Several blocks to the south and east of Pukerua Bay are in the process of consent for residential development. The structure plan (suburb connectivity, walkability, bus routes, etc.) will have to be published as a variation to the District Plan, including the northern growth area, and needs to be notified by August 2022.
Kate: the next issue of Kōrero will include items about village planning, and intends to have a workshop session about urban planning. Stewart: Council will notify us once the structure plan has been adopted, and there will be a workshop session with council, community and interested developers.
Correspondence
None
GWRC Update
Chris Kirk-Burnnand: trialing an on-demand (using an app) bus service in Tawa in March, likely to happen in Plimmerton Farm too – hydraulic neutrality, i.e. water run-off should be the same as before development, so the roads are narrower.
Transmission Gully, three-quarters of consents are approved, but there are also some underlying engineering issues for some that need to be addressed.
Water safety and security removed from Mana bridge, due to abuse of staff.
Harbour siltation – nearly fifty culverts have not been cleared regularly enough. Fault lies with both councils, needs better funding to address improvements.
Let’s Get Wellington Moving are spending $7 billion, four times the cost estimate for TG, and we’re told overheads are 42 percent.
Three waters – needs to line up with local iwi and input. Planning is on-going.
PCC Update
Euon Murrell: relatively quiet, traffic light system means all meetings are remote. The village planning review has begun, consultants have been engaged. They will contact the RA at the point they are ready for submissions.
Pukerua Beach Road slips
The damage is not just from the heavy rainfall; repairs will require remediation of stormwater from further up the hill. One house has been red-stickered due to rockfall and flooding. Asking the council about remediation, vegetation, and hydro-seeding, as well as two walls that are damaged, at risk of collapse. The engineer’s report was only received by Council today; Council is willing to meet with residents before the next RA meeting. Walkways have had slips, as well as the road. Hanui Way and Hanui Road residents are also concerned. Some makeshift remediation has been done by local residents to alleviate runoff.
Euon will escalate clearance to the CEO if nothing has happened tomorrow (9 February).
Financial
BNZ $ 4562.08 Income: $ 360.00 2022 Calendar Sales from 19/12 $ 0.38 Interest Expenditure: $ 100.00 CGFF Workshop $ 704.95 2022 Calendar printing Invoices – Outstanding: $ 2000.00 Waka Kotahi Cairn Refurbishment He Ara $ 250.00 Korero, Tommy’s Real Estate
Motion: to accept the financial report; moved Paul, seconded Iain, none opposed.
Projects
Community Garden
Quiet over Christmas break, watering has been going on as usual.
Committee handbook
No news.
He Ara Pukerua
- Pukerua Bay School has contacted He Ara regarding heritage material.
- Oral submission made to Commissioners to include Pukerua Bay Tank Trap in Proposed District Plan. Heritage NZ supports our submission and Council officer recommends adopting our submission.
- Material prepared for three new heritage panels:
- Early Pukerua Bay shops
- Ngiti Woodhouse
- St Luke’s church
- Offer made to Kōrero editors to include heritage article in each issue.
- Meeting planned at Pukerua Pa site.
- Funding applications being prepared to Hutt Mana Charitable Trust and Trust House.
Kōrero newsletter
The first issue for 2022 is with the designer. It’s organised loosely around the theme of gratitude. We planned to publish in mid-to-late February, but it may be a little later than intended, due to high workloads. The next issue will be themed around the concept of urban planning and will be published at the end of April.
We are doing very well in attracting advertising and sponsorship but are not sure that we have the rates right yet — the rate for full pages is probably too low compared to the rest. Extra ads mean more pages, and more pages put the cost up. We want to make sure advertising is not too dominant. It’s a balancing act, but fortunately, we have the grant to help us get it right.
Village Plan Review
More progress has been made on transferring what we have learned from the survey to a document that will become the new Village Plan. This can be viewed here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ooYBViabq559BUGwEBAItMTaspnpoybp/edit
Comments are welcome on the sections headed “Proposed next steps” under each question number. However, please use the “suggesting pen” so we can keep track of and compare everyone’s suggestions. This can be found at the top right-hand of the page.
Ngā mihi!
The RA thanks Justine McDermott for many years of service in her role as Partnerships Senior Adviser at Porirua City Council, she has been a true friend of Pukerua Bay.
Action Items
Paua poaching: Paul suggests training up some VFO (Volunteer Fisheries Officer) training. Insufficient signage.
Dead penguins: dog attacks. Dogs should be on leashes at this time of year. There are signs, but people ignore them or don’t see them.
Speaker at next meeting, council engineer about the Pukerua Beach Road slips.
Mel: potholes fixed in car park by the shops.
General Business
Congratulations to the Pukerua Bay Hub for receiving a Wellington Airport Regional Community Award.
Post Transmission Gully meeting at Paremata Residents Association with CEO, mayor, councillor Leggit. Mana stretch of SH 59 will stay as it is for six months after TG opening, then consult. Promise was made to close the clearway immediately and revert to single lane with parking. Euon: those commitments were made 15 years ago when it was thought the road would return to council ownership, rather than being retained as a state highway. Commitment was also made to remove one of the Pauatahanui Inlet bridges.
Mask usage: we were approached about the shop owner not wearing a mask, with vulnerable or immuno-compromised people in the local community.
Paul: can we decorate the Wellington Electricity box across the street from the recently decorated Chorus box? Contacted their graffiti department, they have expressed support for the idea. There are several dotted about Pukerua Bay. Once the designs are done, they will coat it with an anti-graffiti lacquer.
Meeting closed: 9:40 pm
Next meeting: 8 March 2022