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Minutes Tuesday 12 November 2024
7:30 –9:00 pm RSA Wairaka Rd

Attending: Paul FitzGerald, Margaret Blair, Jonathan Harker Iain MacLean.
Apologies: Chris Kirk-Burnnand Ross Leggett, Judith Frost-Evans
Community members: Jerri Bassi

Election of Chair, Vice-chair, Secretary, Treasurer

Moved: Paul proposed that all nominated positions be reconfirmed for the next year. Seconded Jonathan. All in favour. Carried.
Noted: Quorum for normal meetings is 3.

Council updates (none)

Last month’s minutes a true and accurate representation

Moved Iain / seconded Paul. All in favour. Carried. Jono and Jane abstained as not present.

Matters arising

Paul to contact PCC about a barrier at Raroa Reserve. Heard nothing.

Email from Megan Christian about publishing a contact for PKB Residents’ Association. Paul agreed to provide his.

Fireworks: Communicated to ask people to be considerate on Facebook. Not particularly successful.

Garden: Note: 18 Dec is the deadline for spending the Grant from Food Crops.

KiwiRail bill: Discussion of ways we might be able to reduce the access fee of $471. We will follow up with Chris from GWRC about his conversations with KiwiRail. Paul to contact KiwiRail re rail corridor beautification.

Financial report as at 12 November 2024

BNZ   		$ 12,113.28
Income:		
$    20.69  	Interest
$  400.00	CGFF Tea Towels 
$    10.00	CGFF Book Sale 
  	

Expenditure:
   	
$      2.00   	Fees	
$  828.00	He Ara Website 
$    60.77	CGFF Pavilion
   			

Invoices – Issued 
$ 0   		Korero
Invoices – Paid
$ 0		Korero
		  	
Account balances as a 12 November 2024
Res Assn 000    		$   459.15
He Ara 001		$   337.82
CGFF 002		$ 1643.60
Kōrero 066		$ 1158.77
Surf Seat 067		$   174.73
On Call Acct	025	$ 8339.21	CGFF  		$1000.00  Tree Crop Grant
					CGFF		$1000.00  Donation
					CGFF		$  500.00  Payment
					He Ara		$5000.00  Donation
					Korero		$  750.00  Pelorus Grant
					Residents	$    89.21  Interest

Notes: Tree Crop Grant to be used by 18 December 2024,  balance $473.90
$  471.59	CGFF Kiwi Rail		Due 30 November 2024

Moved Paul / seconded Iain. All in favour. Carried

Correspondence

14 September: Carolyn from PRA – Village Planning to “secretary@pukeruabay.org.nz”
(lost in system, Iain and Kate responded 3 & 4 Nov) See General Business
3 Oct 2024: Keryn Lavery – Parking tickets at the train station.
(Jane to respond that Paul will forward onto Ross Leggett and Megan Krishnan – done)
29 Oct 2024: Jerri Bassi – Next meeting (Jane responded)
Jono to point the emails to the generic google email address

Project updates

Community Garden Food Forest

Apologies for not acknowledging Kate and Iain in report to AGM.
Please record our gratitude and their generosity. This cash was to cover Insurance and Rail access for the next year.
Pelorous Trust application underway. We need proof of Incorporated Society status and proof of ID of two Office Holders from RA. This will be addressed in the next RA meeting.
Date to celebrate pavilion completion. Maybe in the new year or Wellington Anniversary weekend for an open day.
Issue of no mulch. Ara talked to the PCC arborist multiple times to no avail. Jane suggested trying Bruce Pryor.
Rongoā garden progress. Sacks and cardboard covers all the area now. Compost and topsoil to go on 16th. Still searching for mulch. Plants have been ordered from PCC nursery and waiting for invoice. They will store the plants for us until needed. Prep of brochure underway. We will prepare a report to supply the Tree Crop Association. The site still needs to be blessed.
Pest monitoring. Keep swashing!
Scything. Ashley went to a scything course at Pāekakariki and picked up some great information. Perhaps we could demo at the next celebration.
Summer watering. To be discussed later.
Plan for garden /calendar as fundraiser for next year. We need to work out what time. The calendar would be sold at the same time as an event. A separate meeting is required.
Tea towel report. 14 left.
Comet. The Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) was spotted from the Pavillion deck by a community member on the 20th October.

He Ara Report November 2024

He Ara Report Novemb

He Ara website www.hearapukeruabay.nz was launched on 9 November as part of the Wellington Heritage Festival. Chris Els, principal of Pukerua Bay School cut the virtual ribbon. This was a very successful event with a great turnout (from age 2 to 98), great stories and great connections. Thanks to the RSA for their help.

Photograph of Pukerua Bay Meals on Wheels volunteers appeared in the DomPost History Corner on the same day as the launch. Again great feedback.

We continue to work on more stories to add to the site.

No response from PCC re the gun emplacement.

He Ara team visited St Alban’s church at Pauatahanui.

Pou Panel – blessing to be combined with Rongoā blessing at the Community Garden.

Kōrero

Final edition of the year is at print.

Climate Action Rōpū

We’re having another meeting tomorrow where we will discuss:

• Strategy
• Advertising
• Funding
• Upcoming events:

o Porirua Climate Assembly
o Treaty Principles Bill Hīkoi support and signs (likely to be in PKB late Sunday afternoon)
o Crop Swap
o Recycling
o Kōrero

General Business

Draft AGM Minutes

Draft minutes to be emailed by Jane to the RA before we post on the website.

CGFF Funding Application

Motion – Pukerua Bay Community Garden and Food Forest has the approval of the RA to apply for funding from Pelorus Trust for funding Kiwirail – $462 and Aon Insurance $713 in 2024/25.
Margaret moved/ Paul seconded. All agreed. Carried

Plunket rooms

We’ve contacted PCC and they’re getting back to us. We continue to show an interest in it.

Southbound Rail Replacement Bus stop

Message from resident concerned that a person was lurking but was waiting for a bus.
Paul sent a letter to Thomas Nash (which was forwarded to the transport committee) about the lack of a bus stop and the distance from the railway station. He also suggested they move the stops to Teihana Road West. Chris KB has sighted the letter.

Kenepuru Hospital After Hours

Report from Pamela Gerrish-Nunn
Public meeting on Wednesday October 9 2024 at Raumati Uniting Hall organised by Barbara Edmonds MP on behalf of the Labour Party about threats to the after-hours service at Kenepuru Hospital.

The meeting, attended by about 50 people, was chaired by Barbara Edmonds.
Speakers were Hon Ayesha Verrell, shadow Minister of Health; Jenny Smeaton, representing Ngati Toa; Sarah Dalton, executive director of ASMS (Association of Salaried Medical Specialists); Janet Holborow, mayor of Kapiti Coast. Also present, representatives of the Ministry of Health, former MP for the area Graham Kelly, and Maori TV.

It was pointed out that this was already an issue in the 1990s, and had latterly been raised in July 2023, to no effect. At present the after-hours service runs from 10 pm to 8 am and services 80,000 people, from Tawa to the Kapiti Coast. A survey taken by Barbara Edmonds in April this year found that 91% would be upset if the service closed, with transport to wellington being the principal problem of that eventuality.

Ayesha Verrell said after-hours health facilities are the envy of other jurisdictions and should be treasured not thrown away lightly. She reported that it had already been recognised that on any occasion when the Kenepuru facility was not operating, Wellington Hospital experienced an extra load, showing that, contrary to what some say, it is used by a substantial number of people. Latest figures show that about 37,000 people had used the after-hours facility in Kenepuru over one year. She believes the wrong model is in use for the sustainability of this service. The situation is exacerbated by political game-playing and obfuscation by government.
Sarah Dalton said that, far from closing it, her union would like to see the service developed as a full-fledged ED. It contributes to mitigating the high amount of preventable health problems in this area, and could be crucial in the event of a natural disaster.

Barbara Edmonds pointed out that this area has the highest density of over-60s in the country and one of the highest populations of 5-year-olds. She has written to all the councils in the region (May 2024) for support on this matter, and all have come on-side.
Jenny Smeaton observed that part of the unsustainability of the service was that it is dependent on GOs opting for the overtime.

Janet Holborow noted how the local population keeps on growing, and pointed to the number of retirement homes in the area, meaning the service is going to become more and more important, perhaps necessary for people living as far north as Levin.

Discussion from the floor brought up the additional point that the casualisation of staff for the facility is not only ad hoc but very costly, in comparison to a properly budgeted and stable staffing set-up. A work-force plan is what’s needed, and government investment in local health-care – the opposite of what is on the table. Other small-scale but locally crucial facilities around the country are also under threat, e.g. Dargaville and the West Coast. The unsustainability of such facilities is the canary in the coalmine, regarding the provision of public health in this country, and we should all be on the look-out for ‘privatisation by stealth’.
Public protest was noted as a possible further action.

Muri Road concerns

Jerri noted contacting PCC and Metlink with some concerns which were addressed. Contacted PCC about the ‘footpath’ on Muri Road especially with the logging. PCC won’t do anything as it’s a ‘rural area’. The road is already being broken by the logging trucks on the sides, breaking up the asphalt. While supportive of new housing Jerri is concerned about the construction of the houses and allowance for drains etc.
Iain explained that in the new District Plan freshwater areas haver protection and is confident that Pukerua Holdings will do the right thing. But, as FOTS pointed out there is limited facility to monitor activities.

Q: Are there any more meetings planned by the council? RA pointed out we have had quite a lot of consultation with council planners which informed the district plan. The structure plan in on pukeruabay.org.nz
Jerri also wrote to Metlink about expanding the carpark on the east side. He was told there isn’t space.

Changes to constitution – sent to all members.

Iain has corrected some of the numbering.
Iain is offering to maintain the membership list as per constitution.

Village Planning Hui

A report on the 8 September Village Planning hui has been written and will be sent to the attendees. We will contact the groups who weren’t there to see if they want to be part of the approach to PCC. Our next step is to agree on how we expect PCC to engage with RAs and VP groups and send a delegation to discuss this with PCC.
Note: The notes in the August minutes on the website about the Village Planning Hui (which took place on 8 September) need to be moved to the September Minutes.

Meeting ended 9.30pm