Weaving the Harakeke - Minutes 21st Oct 2024
- NZ Empowered
- Jun 1, 2024
- 11 min read
Minutes from the 21st October 2024 - Upper Hutt
Attendees - 13 People.
Major Takeaway
Local Water Done Well - It is concerning that there were outs in the DIA guidelines for councils to not have to consult about Local Water Done Well plans with their communities. It is encouraging that Hellen is pushing within council for Community Hui and information sessions on Local Water Done Well to inform the community of information, plans and directions relating to Local Water Done Well and the options Upper Hutt has.
As Local Water Done Well is such a topical item which will be around for some time we have made it's own article which we will be updating with details as they come to hand.
Mary Beth highlighted that she believes that the Fast Track bill can’t change the decisions from Plan Change 49, and without Plan Change 50 changes Guildford cannot go ahead with the Silverstream Development. We are awaiting more information from Mary Beth and/or Jason to verify and confirm this. For more on the spur and the Guildford Development see this article.
Items Carried Over
Hui Format
Following discussions, it has been decided to continue Weaving the Harakeke fortnightly at the Marae. Easier for people to diary and remember. This will have a continual review.
At this stage there will be no day Hui leading up to Christmas unless there is a minimum of 3 people requesting and able to attend. Heather has expressed that she is hoping the Hui will break into working groups outside of the Monday night Hui to look at particular topics requiring community action, e.g. Spur, Local Water Done Well etc .
Currently promotion of the hui is limited to the size of the room. Heather is still following this up.
Hui Outcomes
We were able to get a reporter to listen to information that was learnt from the Hui along with other information we had, and encouraged the reporter to seek out further information and recheck the facts and figures.
Items for discussion.
Fast Track.
There are currently active people and groups in our community focused on this. It was agreed at last meeting that we offer our support in collaboration.
On 18th Oct 2024 report went to government from the select committee to Government with some changes suggested.
Another report by the panel to Government will be by Christmas 2024 and implementation of the new Resource Management Act by mjd 2026.
In Plan Change 49 Variation 1 the Silverstream Spur road was dropped out and classed as open space.
Mary Beth believes that it can’t change the decisions from Plan Change 49 and without Plan Change 50 changes Guildford cannot go ahead with the Silverstream Development.
AP – Mary Beth, Jason to provide info on this and where detail can be referenced
Mary Beth asked for council to define “in principle”.
Dictionary Definition - As a general idea or plan, although the details are not yet established.
Hellen says council need to take on the chin that they haven’t defined “In Principle” and by default it would be the dictionary definition as no other definition was stated by council.
Plan Change 49 etc can still be contested up until the 15th November 2024, but this requires no action from the community at this point unless you disagree with the outcomes.
Hellen suggests that readers go the the agenda and minutes of the Policy Committee meeting held on the 16th of October for all updates on RMA changes and district Plan Review Status
The next plan changes which are going through council is Plan Change 46 Subdivision Engineering and Esplanades which will have components which are critical for Guildford Silverstream Development fast track.
Housing numbers for projections of growth are from “2023 Housing and Business Development Capacity Assessment”
Upper Hutt Council is challenging the Regional Plan Change 01 - Not happy with some of the explanations e.g. peat lands.
RAMSAR's international definition of Peat lands
Peatlands are landscapes with a peat deposit that may currently support a vegetation that is peat-forming, may not, or may lack vegetation entirely. The presence of peat or vegetation capable of forming peat is the key characteristic of peatlands.
Hellen has provided other points Council didn’t get any relief from, which are as follows:-
• Lack of regard to the national Policy Direction and Principles of Natural Justice.
• Unplanned greenfield development being prohibited
• Unnecessary requirements and unreasonable implementation timescales for rural properties
• Requirement for earthworks consent for minor infrastructure works
To name a few but officers investigating a collective response working with other Territorial Authorities on a response. A paper will come back to council for a decision on what appeal process we will take if any.
You can send letters to the ministers to voice unhappy that communities don’t have a voice within the Local Water Done Well process and what you would like to see happen.
Upper Hutt Council pushed that local representation should be on the board but it’s unknown if that will be a council officer, community person or councillor. We are hoping that we can get a template which can be modified to individuals needs, this will ideally include links to information.
Click the email envelope to email all members of Upper Hutt council to voice your opinion.
Heather asked if we could come up with a plan so we can hit the ground running given the number of days we might have to reply to the fast track outcome?
Suggestion of some sort of update to the public on the fast track and what it means. As the meeting got quite busy at this point we are unsure of the response to this question. Assume we will need to await the release of the bill to understand more. Apologies for not providing more info at this time.
Question. Clarity around how or if the Fast Track process and projects like the Guildford Timber Company (GTC) Silverstream development can affect Plan Change 49 and Plan Change 50. Also Plan Change 46 is next in line for consultation and involves infrastructure.
This will be the time for us to suggest the concept of 'limits to growth' in an increasingly finite resource bank (the Planet).
3 Waters should not be taken over 'hill and dale' to satisfy stranded subdivisions such as the Guildford's plans. 3 Waters should not extend beyond the current lower valley limits. This will save money and water, deal with storm water and support better river health.
Local Water Done Well (LWDW)
We all need to start to work together on a plan for Upper Hutt. If there is no plan submitted in September 2025 then Central Government will appoint a commissioner and impose a plan one on us.
This Porirua site is relevant to all local councils and a wealth of information
Upper Hutt Council information
Masterton information
Local Water Done Well FAQ sheet are released fortnightly by DIA on Local Water Done Well and can be found at the bottom of the DIA Local Water Done Well Site linked below.
Here is DIA's 11th October FAQ document
Information that Council’s may use to guide them through the next 12 months of Local Water Done Well provided by Russell McVeagh (Commercial Law Firm)
Russell McVeagh Local Water Done Well Timeline
It was highlighted that the phrase “In Principle” will be used a lot more within government and councils in the future.
Hellen has been pushing within council for Community Hui and information sessions on Local Water Done Well to inform the community of information, plans and directions relating to Local Water Done Well and the options Upper Hutt has.
Paul F raised that it was concerning that there were outs for councils to not have to consult about Local Water Done Well plans with their communities. But it was encouraging that Hellen was pushing for Upper Hutt Council to inform and hopefully consult with the community.
One very good point was, what do we own what do we share?
We don’t own Waste treatment,
We don’t own Water assets (Twin Lakes)
Upper Hutt is home to the 'twin lakes'/ Te Marua water storage and treatment plant that supplies water to Upper Hutt, Porirua, parts of Lower Hutt, and the western suburbs of Wellington City.
Here is a YouTube video from South Wairarapa explaining Local Water Done Well
Ultimately there is many ways the councils around the region could go. Wairarapa could all be one, Kapiti and Horowhenua could go with Horizons Regional Council along with Palmerston North, or Wellington Council could go it alone. These are all options which the councils around the region are assessing.
Here is an excerpt from Councillor Connelly (Greater Wellington Regional Council) provided by Hellen.
Greater Wellington Regional councillor Ros Connelly said the region’s households paid an average of $1711 a year for three waters – tap, waste and storm – via rates but 50 or more years of underinvestment had left the region in a parlous state. A proposed new regional entity, given government powers to borrow more to fix and replace pipes, would charge per-household for water usage. That would be capped at $3000 to $4000 a year, for each household including renters. $4000 a year equates to $333 per month. The region’s water infrastructure was in such a poor state we were approaching “network fault runaway” – when more was being spent on fixes than the cost of replacing, she said.
By Sept 2025 UHCC needs to come up with our city’s plan of what we are doing and with who!
The next Upper Hutt Council Risk and Assurance Meeting will have an update of Standards and Poor’s rating. At the moment we are on the cheapest repayment rate for any council.
It has been suggested that the attendees write to Mayor and copy in all council members stating that we as a community want to be informed and be able to be kept up to date with thinking, plans, options and decisions around Upper Hutt’s Local Water Done Well decisions.
It was suggested that a template letter could be created for all to use to email to the council.
- Mary Beth would like to see some modelling on wastewater/storm water.
- Kate suggested that there is also Kapiti council who have wastewater/stormwater strategies which can been looked at as possible candidates to adopt.
- Paul B asked, have Wellington Water or anyone done any modelling on going alone or going with others? - The answer was, there have been modelling done from Wellington Water. However, the Local Government Minister wasn’t happy so is also doing his own modelling..
- There was a recommendation that there be an action point on all attendees to consider sending a letter into Wayne etc about the consultation and expectations of the community.
- Christine asked, Is the amalgamation of Water the start of amalgamation of councils? The answer was a simple, "It could be".
- Roz initiated discussion about the council imposing a line where UHCC does not supply water services too. Maybe a height line or a boundary around the city.
Housing
Agenda Questions :
More information required about the population projections in relation to house build and size?
Where are the statistics coming from with regard to projected population?
Are they taking into account a current aging population and deducting those figures from the future projection?
What is the population per bedroom or population per house size?
Housing figures are shown here:
Some hard hitting questions were raised around population metrics, which we believe may be hard to find answers to.
Postgrowth Discussion
This is more commonly known as Degrowth. Several touched on this throughout the hui when discussing water, housing and te taiao.
Discussion around Guildford being touted as affordable homes yet in a current article stated they were million dollar homes. Articles have not been able to be sourced.
Mary Beth raised that legislation was put in place with the intensification strategy. Fast Track report states that the project needs to be aligned with current strategies. Intensification Planning Instrument which is the changes that needed to be made to the district plan to allow housing intensification also with the Future Development Strategy. Fast track criteria says the project in question needs to be consistent with local strategies.
Med to High Density Plan which was done and there was a fund to incentivise the infilling. But wasn’t used at all and so council removed it.
Additional Items to table:
Working Groups - People coming together to do working groups. Heather will arrange for people to meet to discuss focused topics.
Day Hui? There was feedback that if there is enough interest for a quorum (at least 3 people) then yes these would be great.
Roz was unsure about Directorships. There used to be a committee called growth/partnerships. Can there be one called postgrowth?
Council Definitions - Roz requested for council to remove the reference as “resources” when referring to the land.
Coming to Xmas - Upper Hutt Autism group (UHAG)has had an offer of making Ginger Bread houses. If anyone wants to order one it would be really appreciated.
UH Connection in Library - Kate thanked Tracey for her efforts to get the Upper Hutt Connection printed and put into the Library for those who don’t have access to email or prefer to read hard copies of the local news.
Council Involvement - Paul B asked if other councillors, officers or directors would be able to attend the Hui. Hellen replied “Sure if there is a need and relevant topics”
Action Points:
AP - all attendees – Consider email to the ministers, and if other community members wish to they would be more than welcome and encouraged.
AP - all attendees – Consider sending a letter/email into the Mayor and cc in all councillors about the consultation and expectations of the community, and if other community members wish to they would be more than welcome and encouraged.
AP - Heather is still following up larger room. DONE - A larger room is available at the Marae.
AP - Mary Beth, Jason to provide info on this and where detail can be referenced
AP - Heather to supply links to the articles on Guildford development million dollar homes. - Haven't been able to source these at the moment
AP - Heather. Would like feedback on whether people want a day hui. Also would people prefer the workshop hui to be day or evening. Idea is that I book a space for us to work on any action plans in a shared space. Also an opportunity for bigger discussions to extend beyond the time limited hui.
Previous Hui Action Points carried over
AP – Hellen to provide a map of the proposed road realignment.
AP – Heather to investigate Motorhome usage of the land where Ammu and Longhorn used to be.
AP – Hellen to provide % Rates vs % User Pays for Maidstone facilities
What’s Next
Next Hui: 4th November 2024
Please forward any agenda items or questions to weavingtheharakeke@gmail.com at least 5 days before the Hui so we can create the agenda and allow respondents to find info to respond.
Please be aware as the Hui are only one hour in duration, questions may not always be answered on the night but will do our best to follow up.
Items requested to be added to the next agenda
Add Item to agenda – Council Structure and how we best engage.
Add Item to agenda – Transport plan under District Plan Review. Regional Deals ( LGNZ has looked at Manchester and will affect Waka Kotahi)
- https://www.dia.govt.nz/Regional-Deals-Strategic-Framework
This Hui is getting through an amazing amount of information and discussion in one hour. The amazing amount of work and effort going into this by attendees is not un-noticed. Thanks to all who is attending, discussing and finding/sharing information.
Any questions, concerns, feedback or you would like more info, please email them to weavingtheharakeke@gmail.com and we will do our best to have them answered.
We also have a Facebook Page which is for the community to discuss these kind of topics openly and respectfully. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1160276101835948
This was a very active and lively Hui. We apologise if there is anything we have missed or not recorded quite correctly.
Minutes are created best we can as a representation of the discussions had at the Hui.